(Spiderman) The Amazing Story of Altered Fates: Chapter 8 – Life Moves On

Chapter 8 – Life Moves On

When Peter opened his eyes, he almost couldn’t believe how easy it was. One part of him remembered waking up easily every day, usually with a golden curtain of hair in his face. Another part of him remembered only falling asleep when he had exhausted his body beyond its limit and waking up aching all over.

He sat on the edge of the bed and began looking around the room.

He once again woke up in the master bedroom, which he now knew belonged to him and Gwen. He remembered talking with Gwen about where they were going to live back in New York. They owned a penthouse in Oscorp Tower now, but they chose to remodel Aunt May’s house and live here instead, trying to keep her alive in small ways.

Peter looked again at the queen-sized bed he was sitting on, the two nightstands on each side both the same black color as the bed’s frame. On his nightstand lay his web-shooters, which, considering what he did the last time he woke up, was a smart choice not to leave on him. Next to the shooters was a picture of Peter with Gwen from their wedding day and another picture of him, Gwen, and May from their graduation. Gwen had a picture of the two of them after his proposal in London.

The white door of the walk-in closet was closed, as well as the velvet red curtains that hid the window and created darkness in the room.

In front of him was a long, large, dark marble desk that had all kinds of products Gwen used, as well as books and notebooks Gwen went through in her free time. Above the table, a TV was mounted on the wall. The PI logo was barely visible on its thin bezel.

Just as Peter finished scanning the room, the lights turned on without any visible reason. Peter knew it was a smart system he designed for programmable light. Knowing he was asleep, Gwen probably programmed the lights to only react when she was in the room so Peter could rest without triggering the system every time he turned on the bed. If the light turned on, it meant…

And just like Peter expected, the door opened and Gwen walked into the room, her PI true-wireless earphone in her ear as she spoke, “Thanks, Curt. I promise Peter and I will make it up to you for all the extra work you’re doing this week.” She listened to something the man said on the line before she chuckled and picked the bud out of her ear, setting it on the marble surface of the desk.

She gave him a sweet smile he returned with his usual goofy one before she sat next to him on the bed.

She turned her head to look at him. “How do you feel, Pete?”

He could hear the fear she tried to hide behind her calm words. Peter could more than understand it. She was afraid of losing her husband, of losing everything they built together.

Peter caught her chin between his fingers and pulled her into a short kiss. Once he pulled back, he looked into her dazed eyes and said, “A lot better, thanks to you, my sunflower.”

Gwen’s eyes gained a glimmer of happiness, her soft smile turning beaming with relief. She jumped into Peter’s arms and said loudly with a wet voice, “Oh Pete, I was so worried. I’m glad you came back to me.”

Peter held her close and responded, “I could never leave you for too long, love.”

He heard her sniffling in his arms. He kept holding her until she pulled back. Once their eyes were locked, he had a point he had to make. “But Gwen. I’m not just the Peter you knew before.”

She smiled softly at him again, this time with no fear hiding behind it, and said, “I expected it, Pete. And from what little you already told us, your other memories can’t be easy to deal with. But I did promise you I will always be there to help.”

Peter smiled widely at her. “You did, and I couldn’t ask for a better or prettier guardian angel.”

Gwen’s smile turned wistful slightly, and she glanced down at her stomach before saying softly, “Soon I won’t be the only one to help you.”

Peter took time to register her words in combination with her sightline. When it finally sank in, his eyes widened, and he felt warmth he had only felt three times before. “Are you… Am I… Are we going to be parents?”

Gwen bit her lip and nodded gleefully.

Peter screamed with joy before he dove toward Gwen, causing both of them to lie on the bed as he held her close and kept yelling giddily.

When he heard her calling his name, he realized what he was doing and quickly jumped to his feet, rambling, “Oh damn, I’m so sorry, Gwen. I was so happy I wasn’t thinking. Did I hurt you? Oh no, what if I hurt the baby… I’m already a terrible dad…”

“Peter!” Gwen screamed his name with a laugh to get his attention. Once he closed his mouth, she shook her head amused and said, “I’m fine, the baby is fine. It’s just 7 weeks old. You will be a great dad, Bug-boy.”

Peter sat back next to her. He took her hand and asked something that had been on his mind since he opened his eyes. “So, the serum?”

Gwen nodded with a small, soft smile. “Yeah. It did its work. But you did sleep for over a day straight.”

Peter looked surprised, and it was evident in his voice as he spoke, “A day? Well, that explains why I feel so rested. It’s been a while since I felt like that in either timeline.”

Gwen giggled before saying, “Don’t say it around Curt. We owe him a week of paid vacation, by the way.”

Peter chuckled. “Fair enough. So you knew all along this day would come.”

Gwen raised an eyebrow at him but answered, “Since Max came to this timeline, it was obvious you would too. We just didn’t know when. But once we took over Oscorp and turned it into Parker Industries, one of the first projects Curt and I worked on together was the serum.”

Peter looked at her with awe and asked, “Why?” When she just looked confused at him, he elaborated, “If you knew that one day the Peter you love might disappear to be replaced with another version, why invest in him? Why not move on?”

Gwen put a hand on his cheek and told him with a voice so full of conviction it filled Peter with joy, “Because I always knew that I would love every version of Peter Parker.”

Peter couldn’t help himself. He dove toward her lips and kissed her as deeply as he could.

Once they broke apart, Peter hugged his wife tightly and asked, “What now, Dr. Parker?”

Gwen smiled and closed her eyes before answering, “Life, Mr. Parker. Life always moves on, and we are with it.”

Epilogue – 7 Years Later

“Uncle Peter, look what I just learned to do.” Fifteen-year-old Raven screamed from above him. Yes, above him.

Apparently, Raven’s dad was a mutant, and that was why he left both Raven and her mother, Morgan. Raven’s own mutation kicked in on her tenth birthday. She could grow and hide a set of magnificent wings that, just like her name suggests, wouldn’t be out of place on a raven.

Morgan and Charles came to Peter and Gwen in the middle of the night with a scared goddaughter crying and hiding behind her new pair of wings.

Peter and Gwen enlisted the help of Dr. Curt Connors, and between the three of them, they figured everything out. They created a serum that healed her DNA enough so she could conceal her wings on command, and after she learned that, all parties concerned were satisfied with the results.

They were on a floor at the PI Tower that Peter turned into private training rooms. Right now, there were three people in the room training. The room was one Peter personally designed. The walls were white and looked metallic with a similar surface, but when a danger or a heavy body was detected flying toward one of the walls (or ceiling and floor), the material immediately softened to absorb the blow without damage or harm to the hitting body.

Across the floor, there was a variety of different obstacles at different heights to test the agility of the two young wannabe heroes.

Since Peter took on an apprentice to replace him as the main Spider-Man a year ago, Raven demanded he teach her as well so she could help under the code name ‘Guardian Angel.’

Peter was very hesitant to allow this even after Charles and Morgan voiced their support of her. That was until Gwen pointed out that their own child would want to be a hero one day and it would be better if there were two experienced heroes in the same age group to help. He stopped resisting and went all out to make sure that if his goddaughter was going out there, she would be ready for it.

Peter was returned to the present when Raven used her wings to create a very powerful gust of wind that actually caused a few of the obstacles to tear themselves out of the floor and fly toward the dark-skinned man across from her.

Peter was about to shout and intervene, but the boy immediately jumped over the first obstacle sent his way, slid under the next one, but before it could pass him, the boy used his web shooter to grab the obstacle and sent it flying back toward the next one, causing both of them to fly sideways. He flipped over the last obstacle and used it as a jumping stage to stick himself onto the ceiling.

Raven floated in the air, her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide. She removed her hand and called toward the boy on the ceiling, “Oops. Sorry, Miles. I practiced it only in Uncle Peter’s garden. I didn’t think what it would do in a closed environment.”

Miles dropped from the ceiling and, with a flip, landed on the floor. He stood and smiled at the flying girl. “Don’t sweat it, R. I enjoyed the exercise. You did awesome. It’s a great move.”

Peter narrowed his eyes when he noticed his goddaughter blushing and rubbing the back of her head with a soft smile. Peter didn’t like it at all and decided to intervene.

He didn’t have any problem with Miles per se. He was a good kid. Peter met him over a year ago. Miles was trying to fight local thugs in a Spider-Man costume that looked a few sizes too small for him. But what surprised Peter was that Miles had all his spider powers and more.

To this day, Peter wasn’t sure where the spider that bit Miles came from and how it was able to give him powers. But at the end of the day, it didn’t matter—all that mattered was this kid was playing the hero without knowing what he was doing.

Of course, Gwen also pointed out that with a kid, a full-time job, and herself, Peter barely had time to be Spider-Man these days, and taking on someone who could help would benefit both the city and both of them.

And so Peter took Miles as an apprentice. Teaching him the ropes of being Spider-Man (or as Peter called him, Kid-Spider) and letting him design himself a suit Peter then had someone he trusted at PI create. Miles was becoming an even better Spider-Man than him. It would take time, but he would get there. Peter knew it.

So he did like Miles. What he didn’t like was the boy flirting with his goddaughter and her reacting positively. No, that wouldn’t do at all. He stepped forward and said loudly enough that it startled the teens, “Yes, it’s a powerful and useful tactic, little bird. But we will have to work on it more to see when it will be best put to use.”

Raven beamed at him. “Sure thing, Uncle Pete.”

Then Peter turned to Miles with a small glare in his eyes. “And those were very good moves, Miles, and very fast reaction. I’m impressed.”

Miles gulped nervously, rubbing the back of his head as he replied, “Umm, thanks, man. I try my best to honor your legacy.”

Peter saw what Miles was trying to do. His eyes narrowed further, but he spoke calmly. “So you will have no problem training some more. Let’s say…”

“Dad!” Peter was cut off when a little girl, six years old, ran into the room. Her long, straight brown hair floated behind her, and her big blue eyes were wide with wonder, like usual.

“May, how many times have I told you not to run into a training room like that? It’s dangerous.” Peter tried to scold his daughter.

The little girl giggled with a smirk that reminded him too much of the ones her mother gave him when he was in trouble. “Mommy told me to call you outside. She is waiting for you in the room.” The girl said. And if Peter didn’t know better, he would say she was smug.

Peter sighed heavily, nodded, and said, “Fine. Let’s go, little rascal.”

The girl shook her head and stepped toward Raven, who was just landing slowly, and said, “I will play with big sis and Miles.”

Peter was about to protest when Raven hugged May close and said, “Yeah, Uncle Pete. Go talk with Auntie Gwen. We will take care of the little spider here. Right, Miles?”

Peter was certain he saw a smug gleam in the teen’s eyes as if she knew what he was walking into. The “little spider” nickname came after May displayed her spider powers at age four. The girls saw each other as sisters since May was born. Her first word was ‘bird.’

Miles looked uncomfortable he was drawn into it but did speak. “Yeah, sure, man. Don’t sweat it.”

Peter’s lips pursed into a thin line before he walked out of the room.

Gwen was waiting for him in the observation room. It was a fairly large room in which the walls were filled with holographic screens, and the only furniture was comfy chairs around.

Gwen was standing in front of a screen that showed what was happening in the room he just left. Gwen’s hair was loose like usual, and she was wearing a lovely dress.

She turned to him with narrowed eyes and said firmly, “You should leave those kids alone, Pete.”

“But Gwen, he is flirting! With our goddaughter!” Peter whined like a child.

“Yes, I noticed. And so did Raven, even May caught on. I also noticed she was quite responsive to it, and that’s why you should leave it alone. Am I understood, Mr. Parker?” She shot back at him with her CEO voice.

Peter nodded meekly as he always did when she used that voice. He decided to change the subject before things got worse for him. “You brought May with you? Are Mom and Dad okay?”

Since their retirement, George and Helen always enjoyed babysitting their grandchildren (and they included Raven in this category). Usually, the only reason they would refuse was if one of them was sick.

Gwen’s face softened and she chuckled. “I can see why you would think that. But no, they are fine. It’s just that Howard and Philip brought their kids over, and with Simon home from college, I thought they had enough on their plate. Also, May wanted to play with her big sis, so it was perfect.”

They both turned to the screen to watch as Miles was swinging around trying to catch a flying Raven with a giggling May in her arms. All three looked very happy.

Gwen took a step forward and hugged Peter tightly with both her arms as she looked up at him and said sweetly, “Just accept it, Peter. This can be their fate.”

Peter put his arms around her and said gently, “We both know that fate can always be altered.”

Gwen’s smile grew even brighter, and she replied softly, “That we do, Bug-boy.”

They both leaned in and kissed each other for a long time.