Chapter Text
Why was it that every time he asked himself how things could possibly get worse, the universe took it as a personal challenge?
It felt like it had been that way ever since he first got bitten by that spider on the field trip. The fight, Uncle Ben getting shot, losing the internship, bonding with the symbiote, almost losing Aunt May to a heart attack, losing Eddie to Venom, Venom trying to expose his identity, Mark Allen becoming Molten Man, Black Cat saying she never wanted to see him again, breaking up with Liz, Norman dying, Harry hating Spider-Man, the Connors moving to Florida, and Gwen...
Once school had let out for spring break, he'd spent more time than ever on patrols. He'd spend time with Harry and Gwen, of course (how could he not; villain or not Harry had just lost his father), but any moment that he could spare was spent on the streets... and occasionally snapping pictures. The bills needed paid somehow.
Despite the heavy anti-Spider-Man atmosphere, the Bugle was starting to look like a smarter move the longer he worked there. Despite Jameson still yelling loud enough to cause hearing damage, the guy was a good (albeit biased) reporter who was surrounded by other good reporters. The Bugle staff usually knew about big crimes in New York even before the police did... which is how Peter knew before most of the city did that Doctor Octopus had escaped from prison again.
The second he'd been done at the Bugle that day, Peter had practically run from the building. He'd stopped long enough to use some of his rare cash to buy a handful of energy bars from a bodega before Spider-Man went on patrol; he'd learned the hard way that a growling gut on a patrol only got you seen faster. And the one he planned to take more-or-less guaranteed that he'd miss dinner.
He'd considered himself lucky when, an hour before sunset, he'd seen a tell-tale tentacle on the roof of a research lab in Staten Island. He'd swung over and landed silently on the roof before crawling into the building through an open window.
He hadn't counted on seeing Gwen there.
The second he saw that familiar blond hair, he'd nearly smacked himself. Of course, she'd told him that she was looking at summer lab assistant jobs. She'd told him that morning that she was looking at a potential job in Staten Island. Clearly, it was this place... and Doc Ock was about to crash the party.
He'd spent several minutes crawling around, avoiding being seen and wondering what to do. Gwen clearly didn't think anything was wrong. Once she'd entered the building she'd been led to an office where an uptight-looking guy with obvious male-pattern baldness talked to her for twenty minutes (Spidey guessed it was an interview but it looked like Baldy McStick-In-The-Mud did most of the talking). Once that was done, he'd taken her on a quick tour of the building (Spider-Man followed them the whole time; it wasn't stalking if someone was genuinely in danger!), which ended in a large open room with some sort of device in the center.
From what he heard Baldy tell Gwen, the machine was, in theory, a particle accelerator that would allow a person to move at the speed of light, and possibly even send them to other worlds or dimensions without suffering the effects of aging or time dilation. Baldy sniffed and said in a highly condescending voice that some people called it a teleportation device.
Spider-Man's eyes had widened at that. No wonder Doc Ock was hanging around. If that thing could be turned into a real-life teleporter, and a group of psychotic super-criminals got their hands on it...
His life would get a whole lot harder.
At that moment, Baldy got a call on his cellphone. He excused himself (rudely) before leaving Gwen in the lab and going to answer it. Of course, that was the moment that Doctor Octopus decided to break through the ceiling.
So Spider-Man chose that moment to make his own personal appearance.
The fight was... pretty typical, to be honest. Tentacles tried to crush him, he spun webs and did flips like there was no tomorrow, gave a couple one-liners that would have definitely made Ock laugh if he had any sense of humor... He was starting to think that the villain didn't like him.
Anyway, the fight was over pretty fast. One well-placed kick and clever maneuver later and Doc's harness' generator was webbed to the ceiling. Doc himself was knocked unconscious by an quick uppercut, and had been tied up in webs (both his real limbs and his metal ones). Most importantly, Gwen (who'd wisely stayed as far from the fight as she could) was okay.
If things had gone well, he would have called the lab security (or let Gwen call her dad, either way), gotten Gwen safely out of there, gone home, and congratulated himself on a job well done.
Things had not gone well.
Right as he'd been telling Gwen that she was safe, the web holding Ock's generator to the ceiling (which had apparently been a lot heavier than he'd anticipated) gave out. The generator fell right onto the control panel of the machine. That was the exact moment when the crap hit the fan.
The lab had apparently invested in some insane security measures, as metal walls slammed down over every window and door in sight, even taking down the security cameras. Spider-Man quickly pulled Gwen to him, prepared to act as a shield should anything go wrong. That's when he noticed the sound of a machine powering up.
The particle accelerator had begun making numerous whirring and clicking sounds as something powered it up (evidently the generator had hit that button, too). Spider-Man got Gwen as far away from the machine as he could, reassuring her that she was safe while also getting her to practically press against the wall. If this thing exploded, she needed to be as far from it as possible.
But it didn't explode. Instead, it began creating a... something in the air.
It looked like light shining on rippling water, except that it hung perfectly in mid-air. As he and Gwen watched, it began to form a shape: first a diamond, then an oval, and finally a perfect circle.
Then they started to feel the pull. It was gentle at first, like a light breeze.
Then it got stronger.
Spider-Man's senses went off, and he realized what was happening.
That thing was trying to suck them in.
"Spider-Man?" Gwen said, uncertainty and fear filling her eyes.
"It'll be okay!" He reassured as the pull got stronger.
Papers, pens, anything that wasn't nailed down began to move towards the light.
It didn't feel like a breeze anymore; more like an undertow.
He knew that, with his strength, he could hold out for a while. But Gwen didn't have spider-strength, and he could already see her sliding against the pull.
He didn't think, but webbed her to the wall.
"That'll keep you from going in," he told her, hoping his mask disguised his voice enough.
"What about you?" She asked, looking more afraid by the minute.
"Don't worry. I'll be--"
The sound of metal being bent out of shape got their attention. The thing was pulling on the walls. Spider-Man realized that there was a reason why the device was under such heavy security; it was unstable, and way too strong. There was no telling what would happen to something if it went through there... or someone.
"Spider-Man?" Gwen's voice was full of fear.
The webbing holding her back was already beginning to fail; bits of his webs were already flying through the patch of light.
He shot more webs, thankful that he'd tweaked his web canisters to hold more fluid (and equally thankful that the webs he'd shot at the unconscious Doc Ock were still cementing him to the floor).
By the time he was done she looked like she was trapped against the wall by a white blanket, but at least he knew she'd be safe...
The pull suddenly got stronger, to the point that he was yanked off of his feet. On instinct, he shot a web at the wall, holding on for dear life. It was barely any use; the pull was so strong that he was almost lying flat in mid air as he held on, his stomach completely parallel to the ground.
As he tried to think of a plan, he noticed the succulent plant on someone's desk fly through the light patch. For a moment, he felt the pull weaken to the point that he was able to land on the ground. The moment passed, and the pull came back, still strong enough to force him to fight it but noticeably weaker than before.
Unlike everything else, he thought, the cactus was living. Maybe living matter being sent through the light patch made it weaker. If something bigger went through, like a tree or something, it could weaken the pull's effect long enough to let the lab's heads turn everything off.
He quickly looked around. There weren't any more little cacti on anyone's desks. Nor were their flowers, house plants or even apple cores that could be thrown through.
He looked quickly for anything at all... then realized that there was only one organic thing he could send through.
No, bad idea. He told himself. You have no idea what that thing will do to you. There's a good chance that you'll die.
He looked at Gwen, who was staring at the light patch in fear and horror, while looking at him with hope and desperation. Those eyes were practically begging him to save her.
What am I saying? If it saves Gwen, then it's worth it.
He started to loosen his grip on the web, but then thought of something.
She'll be confused why Peter suddenly disappeared. Especially if he never tried to say goodbye. Maybe... Maybe it's time.
"Gwen?"
She looked at him. Considering how many times he'd saved her before, she didn't seem surprised that he knew her name.
He sighed, and pulled up his mask.
He saw the surprise, and shock, on her face.
"...Peter?"
"I'm sorry for not telling you. I wanted to, so many times. But... Now you know." He took a deep breath. "Take care of Aunt May for me, okay?"
"Wait, what are you--?"
He gave her a small smile while biting back tears.
He didn't know saying goodbye could be this hard.
"Thanks for being my best friend."
"Peter....?" Now there was fear in her eyes. As smart as she was, she'd probably figured out what he was about to do.
"It'll be okay. Goodbye, Gwen." He finally chose to say something he should have said a long time ago. "I love you."
"Peter, please..." Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
He let go.
"PETER!"
With his mask in his left hand, he found himself flying backwards towards the rippling light. Despite the fear, the sadness, the knowledge that nothing would ever be the same again... it was peaceful. Like floating on his back in the water. He noticed belatedly that he was still wearing his bag, but that didn't seem to matter.
He watched as he approached the rippling light. He expected pain when it touched him, but he felt none. It was more like stepping from a cold room into a warm one.
Before he went through completely, he gave his best friend, the girl he loved most, one last look.
The fear, the sadness, the desperation in her eyes broke his heart. He felt a tear roll down his cheek before he even realized he was crying. They locked eyes as he disappeared into the light.
Goodbye, Gwen.