SPIDER GWEN: EXPOSED CHAPTER 3: DARK WATERS

Waking up on a new day, Gwen felt like the hot streak of bright days kept going and going. She was starting to think that the days of torment might finally come to an end. 

After a few minutes of reflecting and smiling in her bed, the phone notified her of a new message that came through, picking it up, she saw it was from Agent Specter. To her surprise, it was an invitation for breakfast at his house on Steinway Street. This was quite a treat, as she could reconnect with his son, who she hasn’t seen since he was nearly consumed by Earth-56 Venom Peter. That event was quite frightening to him, but she was relieved after hearing from Marc that Daniel overcame that incident and was his usual cheerful self. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door and her dad opened the door slightly.

“Gwennie, breakfast is slightly delayed. Get ready, we’re invited at-”

“I know dad, I just got the text. Lemme get dressed and I'll meet you there.” 

“Meet me there? Aren’t we driving together to Marc’s house?”

“Not while in costume.  Daniel doesn't know my real identity. Besides, seeing Spider Woman always brightens his day.”

“Ah, kids these days… all want to meet their heroes.” replied George, giving a chuckle “I’ll be waiting for you at Marc’s house then. Don’t be late.” After getting a nod of approval from her, George then went to get ready and also searched his wine cabinet for something worth giving as a gift.

Less than half an hour later, both George and his daughter, who was in her hero outfit, were already entering the Specter household on Steinway Street. For Gwen, it was refreshing to come back to Marc’s house, this time to enjoy some quality time with him and his son. Last time she set foot inside was when he was in critical condition after Vladislav tried to assassinate him and other thugs tried to kidnap Daniel before setting the entire house on fire. This time, she was with Daniel in the living room, telling her about some of her recent adventures, captivating the child’s attention and imagination.

“...was waiting above all of them, holding all the webs I created, until the goons came where I was supposed to be hiding. The moment these morons were in the right place, BAM!” Spider Woman said while mimicking with her hands how she neutralized all the Murder INC goons back in Bryant Park “It was all concrete dust and bricks everywhere, with all those criminals out cold, ready to be webbed and prepped for being handed over to the police.”

“Wooooooooooooooooooaaahhh! That 's so cool! I wish I could see you in action sometimes. Would be a perfect chance to take some pictures with you fighting bad guys.” said little Daniel, pretending to take pictures with an imaginary camera. 

“I wouldn't advise that… it’s very dangerous to try and take a photo of me in action… you could get seriously hurt.” replied Spider Woman, lowering her head, visibly distraught over this remark. Some time ago she went on a crazy interdimensional mission, meeting other versions of Spider Man. There, she learned that most of them not only were versions of her best friend, but also all of them were working as photographers for various news stations. It also brought back when her Peter was also proving to be very skillful in handling a camera. As a matter of fact, it was her idea to be photographed by Peter when she was in costume, as back then when she used her powers in order to get notoriety, fame and eventually, make a fortune out of it, she sent those photos to the Bugle in the hopes of getting some media attention. Nowadays, after his death, those pics are now shown more when she is constantly reminded of her involvement in that tragedy... 

“Something wrong, Spider Woman…?”

“Huh? Ohhh… it’s nothing, just lost for a moment.” Gwen decided to quickly change the subject and kept telling stories of her fighting goons, in the most kid friendly fashion, of course. 

Minutes later, both were already starting to sense the smell of bacon and eggs, along with the sizzling sound of several frying pans. In the kitchen, Marc was handling the pans and knives with ease, like he was pretty much in his element, enjoying every moment. The smells of the eggs combined with bacon and pancakes gave the impression it was a top tier diner inside. 

“Damn, didn’t know you got skills that would make a Michelin star chef raise an eyebrow.” said George while handing him a rag to handle another hot pan handle.

“Believe it or not, I did actually take cooking classes when I was at the Academy. I had a thing for culinary… even my instructor said that I could have become a professional chef.” Marc replied as he was focused on flipping the pancakes with one hand and the eggs with the other, flipping them in one swift move of both wrists, doing a stunning performance “In hindsight… I should have become a chef, instead of an agent.”

George nodded, knowing well how a decision can alter so many things in someone’s life. 

“Besides… being widowed, forces you to improve, when you raise your child alone, you learn extra things, trying to be both parent figures for him.”

“I know. Being a single parent is hard…” said George, giving a deep sigh and lowering his head, as a memory of his wife Helen came back to him. Ever since she died, he took the mantle of acting as both parent figures for his daughter “Guess we both were dealt a hard blow…”

“I got the Lord to thank him for keeping me sane, otherwise I would have already lost my mind. Both when Samantha was killed and when that freak turned me into this…” At that point, he could hear the alarm from his oven going off. Having both hands busy, he used his tail to quickly open the oven door, letting the kitchen and also the living room be filled with the smell of chocolate and blueberry muffins, catching everyone’s attention.

“Whoa, that smells awesome. Can’t believe you can cook this good!” said Spider Woman, already feeling hunger creeping in just from the delicious smell. A few minutes later, Agent Specter was ready to call everyone to the table. But, before the hungry heroine could lay a finger on those pancakes Daniel tapped her shoulder, stopping her.

“Ahm, not yet. One thing to do before we eat” he said with a smile as he took his father’s hand and George took Marc’s other hand, all of them readying for prayer before breakfast. Letting a silent giggle, she took her dad’s and Daniel’s hand, praying along with everyone at the table. While silently saying one with her eyes closed, she remembered the beautiful times when she and George were having dinner with the Parkers, a moment she would do anything to relive them again. After finishing, it was time to dig in and enjoy the delicious food that was making the symbiote inside her already tremble in excitement. 

While Marc and George were eating slowly and well mannered, the same couldn’t be said for Gwen and Daniel, both seemed to be in some sort of food competition due to how fast and how much the webslinger and the little kid were trying to stuff their mouths with food. 

“Kids these days…”   Marc and George said in unison,with an ironic tone, making them both crack a laugh.

“Good God, can’t believe something as simple as breakfast can be this delicious.” said Gwen as she was savoring each bite of those puffy well made pancakes with perfectly fried eggs and bacon on top. The delicious smell of those muffins waiting for dessert were like a tease to encourage her in finishing her meal, as their small talk at the table then began shifting to various topics. 

As the talk at the table went on, Gwen did learn that Marc, despite his deep dislike for his new look, was coping quite well in making the best out of the situation. Well enough to live at his house along with his son and not hide in Janet’s lab. It was good his old townhouse-like home had high enough ceilings for him to move freely, as being a 10ft tall lizard creature did come with a disadvantage in having issues standing to full height in many normal houses. One annoyance that she did find funny was an incident that happened when he came back home for the first time after he was turned into Lizard 2.0, in the form of his neighbors calling Animal Control, scared of his appearance and unaware at first that it was their well mannered and kind neighbor who just came back to his house. When the eager catcher came thinking it was just an alligator and wrapped his catch pole on his neck, he was in for a real shock to realize what he just caught. Unfazed and annoyed, Marc’s only reaction was to bite off the wooden pole, chew it and spit it back in the terrified catcher’s face before going back inside his house. At first these instances were annoying and stopped only when the situation was clarified by one of his Avenger mentors, clarifying the confusion.

“So… guess there is no danger of you having any visit from a vet…” said Gwen, trying to crack a joke, but quickly realized it might not have been a good one, after seeing Marc giving that look.

“Is not funny… They even tried pulling me into their truck, but it was futile. It was like trying to pull a two ton car with the handbrake on. I simply stood there arms crossed until Clint finally came and explained things to them, calling them off. Anyway… let’s get down to business…” he said while pulling the muffin tray to the center of the table, inviting everyone to help themselves with some as they were still nice and warm. He then also pulled out a file and opened it, revealing a series of locations and photos of various warehouses “...it’s time to move in on Mister Negative’s gang. They already started to seize territory after we brought The Hand to a standstill and put Murder INC on the retreat again.”

“So soon? Normally gangs start to seize territory a few months after a major police operation. Negative seems to be either extremely bold or impatient. But for what…?” asked George as he took a sip of coffee, looking at the file with his daughter.

“This is what we need to find out. And this is our starting point. All these marks on the map are locations of Fisk and Hand hideouts that got hit by the Demon Gang. We are not sure what they stole, as these goons pretty much cleaned everything up. We don’t know if there were drugs, guns or even money. Here is where you come into the equation, kiddo.” replied Marc, pointing towards a location marked in green marker “This is the last Fisk hideout that has not been raided yet. You will work with Agent Cage on this one. The frequency of these burglaries suggest the next one will take place tonight. We need to stop this one, intel suggests this could be Fisk’s main weapons cache.”

“Alright, then I guess me and Luke will be pulling a night shift then.” said Gwen as she raised her muffin and took a bite out of it, getting a sugar rush and making the parasite inside her feel good again. 

Suddenly, her phone began ringing. It was Harry, who called to invite her to join him at his dad’s ceremony. Enthusiastic to spend time with him, she quickly agreed and after a short conversation, hung up, giving a warm smile, happy she will spend some more time with him.

“Hehe… can almost see the hearts floating in the air over there!” said George, looking at her, giving a chuckle.

“Really nice to see you reconnecting with your past. Good recipe for a love story, pun intended.” said Marc, joining on the fun atmosphere.

“What? no… is not like that… is…” tried Gwen to explain, but eventually couldn’t find her own words, as deep inside she did harbor feelings for Harry, but was still conflicted and feared the moment he might find out the truth about who is behind the Spider Woman mask. 

Later that evening after the sun had set, Gwen was already waiting for Agent Cage, overlooking the warehouses in question, just off the eastern edge of Inwood Hill Park. It was a neighborhood just at the northern edge of Manhattan, made out of several warehouses, some even connected together in a small disused dock that small boats used, half a century ago. 

“God, this place is already giving me the creeps…” she said to herself, looking for any signs of life, but it looked like nobody was getting near this place, not even hobos. |It seemed as the perfect place to store stuff that would raise questions, hence why Fisk and The Hand were more than determined to keep them secure. After both factions were crippled, the entire place seemed abandoned now. 

Suddenly’ a sharp sound of a high pitched siren along with the revving of a V8 motor startled Spider Woman. It was Agent Luke Cage, pulling over next to the light pole she was hanging from upside down by her own web. 

“You know, you can’t trespass or conduct illegal searches around here, right?” said Agent Cage in a joking manner after turning the siren off and shutting down the engine.

“And I thought we would do this search more… quietly, instead of waking up half of the neighborhood with that thing!” Spider Woman replied and then dropped from the lightpost, feeling a bit annoyed by the sudden scare. 

“AHEM! This is a Dodge Charger SRT-8… not just a thing, mind you.” Luke said feeling somewhat offended by her remarks as he softly petted the car’s hood as if it were a beloved pet, in which the webslinger rolled her eyes beneath her mask.

“Being stealthy is for occasions when you are doing some… out of the books work. But…, I hate being stealthy, and that’s why I brought a warrant. So, what do you say? Should we do some perfectly legal searches?” He then pulled out a piece of paper containing the search warrant.

“I like the sound of that.” she replied while giving a small fist bump. Afterwards, they turned their attention to the main warehouse, more precisely, on the large door “So, your warrant covers breaking down doors?”

“Not without a lot of extra paperwork. Hence why Marc thought it all out: if you … break the door and we coincidentally find it open, it can be considered probable cause of a break-in and search what is inside.”

“That’s a lot of loopholes right there.” replied Spider Woman, cracking her fingers and heading towards the large doors. After tapping them lightly to see how tough they were, she then started pulling them apart, barely managing to open them. Despite her superhuman strength, these doors were brand new and reinforced, like they were designed for bunkers, not rundown warehouses.

“Weird place to put such expensive blast doors…” mumbled Cage, intrigued over this detail and turning on the flashlight on his tactical suit “Alright, we’re in business. Let’s tread carefully, not to disturb any evidence of clues.” 

“Got it. By the book.”

The search went on and to the naked eye, there seemed to be nothing amiss… until both of them spotted some faint scraping marks on the floor near certain containers that looked old and dusty. To add to the suspicion, the container had faint hand marks near it and a slight line, like it was cut.

“Luke? Is this suspicious enough?” she said, pointing at the hand marks. Trusting his gut, Luke then tried something and asked Spider Woman to help him out. They then both pulled where the hand marks were and there it was: a secret cache, but it was…

“Empty. Dammit. They beat us to it.” said Cage as he looked at the empty gun racks and crates, but something caught his eye. “This area is quite clean, someone was here recently.”

“Wait… did you hear that? Comes from the warehouse next to us…” said Spider Woman, looking around and trying to hear the commotion clearer" I hear Demons. They’re here and cleaning up the other place.”

Pulling up his pistol and sneaking next to the exit, both of them took a look outside and could see at least 20 Demon thugs loading crates of weapons and explosives in two trucks. They were unaware that Spider Woman and Agent Cage were watching, focusing on leaving not even a single bullet behind.

“We can’t let them get away with that much firepower. No more subtlety. Time to go loud.” said Cage, readying his weapon, with Spider WOman nodding in approval. Then she leaped outside and with 2 lines of web, stopped the fleeing trucks in their trucks, trying to pull them back with all her strength. 

“All of you! On the ground!” shouted Cage, pointing his gun at the startled thugs, only for one of them to whip his pistol out of his hand with a negative-energy infused set of whips. Then, another thug from one of the trucks slashed the webs with a sword, freeing them from Spider Woman’s grasp, with one of the vehicles stopping  another one getting away. 

“Kill them! No witnesses alive!” shouted one of the Demons that got out of the stalled truck. With the other one gone, Spider Woman and Cage were now facing 20 armed Demons, ready to silence them… permanently. 

“Alright, time to give these noodle-eaters a good old fashioned whooping.” said Spider Woman, eager to start taking down more Demons. She immediately jumped into action, stripping some of their weapons and getting ready to incapacitate them, but Agent Cage wasn’t as eager to waste time with them.

“No! I’ll take care of these clowns! You get the truck that sped off. Don’t lose it!”

“Luke, 20 against one? I know you’re tough but this many will turn you into chop suey!”

“It's not my first rodeo! Go after that truck! We lose it and a lot of people can get killed with what is inside it!” shouted Cage, grabbing one of the thugs that lunged to attack him, only to end up used as a club by the enhanced agent. Seeing he could fend off for himself and already lost track of the truck, she immediately went in the direction the vehicle went, swinging high above ground and also using her web wings in order to locate the fleeing demons.

“Come on, come on, where are they? If I lose one big truck full of guns and explosives I might as well give up on hero work all together….” she was already getting desperate, as it looked like the Demons slipped past her, but something caught her attention. Looking with the corner of her eye, she saw the wanted truck, already out of Inwood and racing towards Harlem, weaving through traffic and causing motorists to lose control and crash. As it was already a dangerous situation, the Demon driver was making it worse: if by any chance he would crash, an entire city block would end up wiped off the map.

“Units be advised: Motorists report a dangerous driver that nearly rammed them off the road. Suspect last seen in a large truck though west Harlem! Units in the area on non-priority calls, please respond." The police dispatch sounded in Spider Woman’s headset. Moments later, Agent Cage called.

“Spidey! I dealt with those demons back at the warehouse. What’s your situation? I just heard a call about a dangerous driver with a truck!”

“Not much better, Luke. Trying to keep up with them but the driver is willing to take any risk to escape.They’re all over the road!” replied Spider Woman, barely dodging an RPG that was fired from the truck’s rear straight towards her. The situation already was bad, now it has gotten worse. She had to dodge the Demon’s rockets while attempting to reach the truck.

“I’m on my way, try to keep them from killing anyone!” 

“Luke, don’t do anything crazy!”

“That is exactly what I am intending to do…” quickly replied Luke before hanging up. Just then, another rocket went past her head, missing her by mere inches.

“Alright, I have enough of this!” dodging another RPG, she webbed it and swung it back near the truck, causing it to explode on the tarmac. This caused the gunner to fall off the back of the truck, causing him some minor injuries from scraping against the road. The driver began to swerve and lose control, giving the heroine a window to catch up and attach herself to the truck’s cab. Suddenly, her spider sense slows everything down from her perspective, allowing her to see that both she and the truck were heading towards an impact with an oncoming bus. Moments later, the bus slammed head on into the large vehicle, launching Spider Woman off the cab and into the air. Recovering, she immediately fired a line of web to the out of control bus that crashed off a small bridge and on the subway tracks below. Pulling with all her strength, she was trying to stop the rest of the vehicle from falling even more, but the familiar sound of the subway train’s horn will make her want to hustle and pull like she never pulled before.

“Oh, give me a break…” she barely managed to say while using all her strength in her arms to slowly pull the bus back on the road while praying her web line wouldn't snap. Eventually, the crashed vehicle began to move, but the train was already in sight. Using all the strength she had available, managed to pull the bus out of harm’s way in the nick of time, just a second before the train came at full speed, avoiding a disaster. 

“Finally…fin-” she barely managed to speak while pulling the bus to safety, only for her spider sense to go off again. Looking to the source of the danger, she saw the Demon driver speeding the damaged truck towards her with the clear intent to run her over. Unable to let go and risk the bus falling again on the subway tracks, it looked like it was in checkmate.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Luke appeared from behind and went full speed and siren on straight in the speeding truck, ramming it head on at 100mph, pinning the ammo truck against a building and flipping over his mangled FBI Charger, coming to a full stop just 30 ft from the crash site.

Kicking the door open and crawling out of what used to be his squad car, Luke managed to barely stand up on his feet. The high speed crash did give him some injuries, but his tough skin and street life experience before joining law enforcement made him used to such punishment. Looking to his left, he saw the Demon driver also got out and was limping his way to get a clear shot at Spider Woman, who still struggled to pull the bus to safety. 

“Oh no you don’t-!” He then rushed towards the gunman and just as he was about to pull the trigger, gave him a strong right hook with whatever strength he had left, knocking him out and ending the crisis. Seconds later, as he was laying on the ground, Spider Woman came to his aid and helped him get back on his feet.

 “Luke, are you ok?”

“At ease…suspect down and no casualties. I’d say yes, I'm ok.” replied Cage, grabbing his side as the adrenaline went away, leaving room for the pain to settle. He then looked behind at his mangled wreck that used to be his FBI car “Guess the next place that thing is going will be the local junkyard. But I have no regrets.”

“I told you not to do anything crazy.”

“And if I'd listened to you, you would have been roadkill.” At this point, he could hear sirens in the distance, as local police were already closing in “You better go. I’ll take it from here.”

“But you’re injured. Maybe I should stay until an ambulance comes-”

“As I said: it’s not my first rodeo. Get out of here before the cops see you.” At this point, she listened to Luke’s order and swung away, heading home and eager to lay in bed, as her own body was beginning to ache from all the effort it endured.

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