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Laura's POV
After a few minutes, Laura found herself sitting in a corner booth of a quiet cafe, enjoying a stack of strawberry-flavored pancakes, savoring each fluffy and sweet bite. Across from her, Dante had returned to his normal appearance, no longer bonded to the symbiote that smelled like nothing else in this world. He'd traded the flaming skull for sunglasses, though they did little to make him less conspicuous. A few bold women had approached them to ask for his contact.
Laura wasn't excluded as some teenagers had targeted her, calling her cap cute and whatnot. She would've seriously stabbed them if it wasn't for Dante warning her with his eyes.
So she stopped paying attention to her surroundings and started working her mind to understand everything that had happened in the last thirty minutes.
The first conclusion was simple—Dante wanted to treat her as more than a weapon. His actions had been consistent since the moment they had met on that island facility. He hadn't lied to manipulate her, instead tried to convince her. Even the way he had defeated her without hurting her had proven his intent.
This alone changed nearly everything.
His promise to give her a normal life, a family wasn't a lie to manipulate her—it was real. The happiness bubbling up at that realization was immediately smothered by anxiety.
The SHIELD chapter of her life wasn't closed. Not yet. Whether Dante could deliver on that promise depended entirely on SHIELD's decision.
'If Fury doesn't agree, I'll kill him.'
She glanced up at Dante, who sat with his face leaning against his knuckle, lazily sipping a smoothie through a straw. His eyes were half-lidded like his mind was somewhere else entirely.
'...Killing Fury will cause trouble for him. I'll just scare him.'
She amended the plan. Dante was looking out for her. The least she could do was avoid making his life harder.
"Hey, Dante," she called, pulling him out of whatever world he had drifted into. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you mess with my brain?" she asked, unable to suppress her curiosity anymore. "Be honest."
"I changed some stuff." He didn't bat an eye. "Haven't you noticed you haven't gone feral in a while?"
Laura wrapped her lips around the straw of her milkshake, staring at him without expression. "Why do you think I asked?"
"Oh." He looked at her with a bored look. "Do you hate it?"
"I can live without going berserk."
"That's good."
She rubbed the back of her head. Finding the words to express gratitude felt harder than any kill she had ever made.
'Why is it hard?'
She saw him yawn and frowned. "Sleepy?"
"Just tired." He shook his head and folded his arms on the table, using them as a makeshift pillow. "I'll take a nap. Don't assassinate me…"
Laura watched him settle in, his breathing evening out almost immediately. It made sense. He had fought mutants and a swordswoman, then sprinted all the way here in symbiote form while keeping both of them invisible.
'He thinks I won't run?'
Perhaps he wanted her to run so he could avoid fulfilling his promise.
Her lips curled up in a devious grin.
'I'm your responsibility now.'
Even if she ran away, SHIELD would find her easily. Where would she even go? She had no place to live and not a single dollar to buy food.
She quietly slid his tray toward herself. He had barely touched his pancakes, and they had already gone cold.
'Stupid guy. How can he hate pancakes?'
She shook her head and speared a piece with her fork. A thought struck her in the middle of savoring the sweetness: if she stayed with Dante, maybe she could eat pancakes every day without having to kill anyone. Once again, she felt the urge to draw her claws out and stab Nick Fury in the chest—the only obstacle standing between her and such an amazing life.
She was halfway through Dante's share when his phone rang. He lazily reached into his pocket and pressed it to his ear.
"Yeah?"
His head suddenly snapped up. Laura watched in real time as the exhaustion melted from his face, replaced by surprise and then something grimmer.
"I'll meet you outside."
Laura sensed the urgency in his voice and quickly stuffed the last piece of pancake in her mouth. She had a feeling he would grab her, throw her on his back, and start running. Better to finish her pancake before he did that.
"We have to leave." He lowered the phone and pushed back the chair to stand up. "Romanoff needs our help."
Laura swallowed and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Where?"
"Let's meet up with her first."
***
Gwen's POV
Empire State University University, 2:21 PM
Gwen stifled a yawn in the middle of Professor Ramirez's lecture on applied thermodynamics, her pen tapping absently against her notebook. Last night had been the craziest one of her life. It was also a sleepless one—if you ignored the nap she'd been forced to take by a telepath.
She was bored after wrecking her mind for a solution. Being mind-controlled was unpleasant. This powerless feeling of someone knocking her out with a thought was even worse.
'I can weave in conductive fibers and other materials to simulate the Faraday cage effect.'
But it would only work if the mysterious woman had used waves such as electromagnetic waves or similar radiation to affect her mind. It wouldn't do jack if the woman just used magic—bullshit but quite believable after she had watched a man kill people with just one word.
'I have to understand the mechanics first.'
Maybe she will find a solution in the future. She had someone knowledgeable to consult, after all. Dante might be an opportunist who exploited her sense of responsibility and blackmailed her into doing favors, but he wasn't terrible. At the very least, he was reliable. She could count on him to show up when things went sideways.
She glanced at her phone under the desk. No texts from him, or anyone else for that matter. Dante was supposed to contact her about lab work on the symbiote samples. He was probably sleeping after last night's chaos, or spending quality couple time with his girlfriends. That would also explain why Felicia hadn't bothered showing up to class today.
'Girlfriends.'
MJ had gotten together with Harry. Felicia had apparently started a weird relationship with Dante. And everywhere Gwen looked in the lecture hall, she spotted couples.
'Only my ass is single here.'
She shook off the self-pitying thought and returned to doodling an improved spider-suit in her notebook, glancing at her phone every few seconds.
A student in the third row suddenly shot to his feet, grabbing his backpack. "I gotta go. Sorry, Professor."
He didn't wait for permission. He just sprinted for the door.
Professor Ramirez had his mouth slightly open in bewilderment. "My lecture—"
"It's a family emergency, Prof," the guy said and slammed the door behind him.
"—Is done," The Professor finished weakly. He blinked at the closed door, then at the class. He sighed and began packing up his things. "Alright. I guess we're dismissed."
Professor Ramirez left just like that.
Someone in the back row laughed. "Twenty bucks he forgot he had a date and she's pissed."
"Shut up, Marcus." Another student held up her phone, her face pale. Gwen knew her from Chemistry elective lectures. "Something's happening in the city. Like, really bad."
Her voice was almost drowned out by the shuffle of students packing up, but Gwen had caught every word.
Gwen had a bad feeling in her stomach so she pulled up the news app on her phone.
BREAKING: GANG VIOLENCE ERUPTS IN ROOSEVELT ISLAND
VIDEO: Bikers Demonstrate "Superhuman" Abilities
NYPD Suffers Multiple Casualties, Establishes Perimeter Around Roosevelt Island Crisis
Gwen played the bikers video. It showed a biker grabbing a Honda Civic by its rear bumper and flipped the entire car onto its roof with one hand. Another video auto-played. This one showed a biker casually destroying a concrete wall with a punch.
"Gwen." MJ leaned over to peek at her phone. "You don't actually believe this stuff, do you? It's probably some viral marketing stunt. You know how the internet is."
She would have the same reaction if she hadn't fought these symbiotes. Every single biker in the video was bonded to a symbiote.
"They do it all the time," Harry said with his usual good-natured smile. "Let's grab something in the cafeteria. I'm starving."
Harry was still oblivious to the chaos his father was brewing. How would he know something happening miles away from here?
Gwen scrolled down and froze. She found one footage showing a familiar back.
Her heart began pounding.
'Dad…?'
She clicked the video with a shaking finger. MJ and Harry both leaned in, alarmed at Gwen's sudden change.
The video was blurry, shot from someone's phone with zoom. But Gwen would recognize her father anywhere. Her heart was beating louder and louder as she saw him confront the symbiote host. He drew his weapon and fired.
The symbiote biker grabbed him by the throat, lifted him off his feet, and threw him. Her father's body flew through the air and slammed into a brick wall. He crumpled to the ground.
"Dad!"
The video cut off abruptly there.
Gwen's hands shook so badly she nearly dropped the phone. She minimized the app and dialed her father's number. It rang once, then switched to an automated message: "The number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable."
"Try Yuri," MJ said urgently, gripping Gwen's shoulder. She had also recognized George Stacy. "Harry, ask your dad to confirm this with the NYPD."
Harry was shaken after seeing Gwen's father being pummeled. MJ's voice brought him back. He fumbled his phone out.
Gwen quickly punched in Yuri's contact. The phone rang, but there wasn't any answer.
"Fuck," Gwen hissed, unable to stop herself from cussing out of anger. "I'm going—"
Harry grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "Wait, let me check up with Dad—"
Gwen yanked her hand free and glared at him. For a split second, Harry's face overlapped with his father. She clenched her jaw, swallowing the words she wanted to scream at him. He was innocent. He had no hand in this.
But if she stayed one more second, she wouldn't be able to stop saying something she'd regret later.
"I have to go."
She ran, praying that she had mistaken him for someone else. Was it selfish? Yes, absolutely. However, she didn't care in the heat of emotions. She had already lost her mother. Losing her father would break her.
***
Twenty minutes of swinging at her top speed brought Gwen across the Queensboro Bridge and onto Roosevelt Island.
The chaos was somehow worse than the videos had shown.
Gwen's spider-sense buzzed constantly, indicating danger everywhere on the island.
She spotted the NYPD perimeter first, patrol cars and barricades put up to block the bridge. Officers were crouched behind with rifles.
Then someone saw her.
"Up there!" A young officer pointed at her.
Another officer nudged his partner. "It's her. It's Ghost Spider."
Then someone started clapping.
The sound was hesitant at first, almost embarrassed, but more officers joined in. Within seconds, they were loudly cheering for her.
"Ghost Spider!"
"She's here! Thank fucking God!"
"We got a chance now!"
Gwen landed near the command post, barely registering the applause. Her gaze swept frantically across the crowd of officers.
'Where's Dad?'
She spotted Captain Yuri Watanabe standing near a patrol car, holding a radio. Yuri's face was still calm that made Gwen wonder if nothing happened.
Gwen strode toward her. "Where is Captain Stacy?"
Yuri's head snapped up as her eyes widened. She stared at Gwen for a few moments in pure disbelief before she stepped closer and whispered, "Gwen?"
Gwen wasn't in the mood to mask her voice. Not with her father's broken body replaying in her head on an endless loop. So Yuri had immediately recognized her.
"Where is he?"
Yuri let out a slow breath. Guilt or grief flickered across her face before she hid it behind a poker face.
"He... he had an accident. The paramedics already—"
"Accident?" Gwen's voice came out harsh and loud, audible to everyone paying attention to her. "Someone throwing him into a wall is an accident?"
Yuri flinched but stayed silent.
"Where is he now?" Gwen asked again in a colder voice. "Captain Watanabe, where did they take him?"
"The paramedics took him off the island." Yuri glanced toward the bridge, then back at Gwen. "I don't know which facility yet. They—"
"Find out now," Gwen interrupted her rudely. "In the meantime…"
Gwen narrowed her eyes on the distant sound of revving engines. The maddening laughter that echoed throughout the streets. Her spider-sense felt even more danger, urging her to avoid this location.
"Also, call another ambulance," she whispered, turning away from Yuri and pulling her hood over her head. "For them."
Before Yuri could respond—before anyone could warn her—Ghost Spider fired a webline to a second-story balcony and zipped away.
Behind her, she heard Yuri and other cops shout something, perhaps warning her to stay away.
She didn't stop.
These bastards had hurt her father. Now she was going to hurt them.
***
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