Peter landed with his feet firmly on the ground and quickly whipped his mask off as he moved cautiously towards Gwen. Her body hung from his web at an unnatural angle and as he unhooked her, she fell limply into his arms. As he lowered himself to the ground, he swept her blonde hair from her eyes and grabbed her face firmly but gently. Blood trickled from her nose and her eyes remained closed, showing no signs of life. His panic was silent at first, but as he desperately tried to hold onto her, it crept up on him.

"No, please… please!"

It didn't matter how much he pleaded, he knew that he'd already lost her, but it didn't stop him.

"Peter…"

Startled by the sound of his name bouncing off the empty walls, his head jerked up and he laid his blurry eyes upon Captain Stacy standing over him. He swallowed, knowing what was coming; a reprimanding over his broken promise.

"I- I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break my promise. I couldn't-"

Captain Stacy put his finger to his lips, silencing Peter, who trembled as he struggled to recompose himself. He drew in a deep breath, and waited on the former to speak.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Peter."

"But I- I've been so wrong, I broke the promise that I made to you as you were dying and now… she's gone too." He choked.

"This isn't real… I mean, it is but it's not now."

"What?"

"Do you think I would be standing here if you were back in this moment?"

"I don't understand…"

"This is a memory, Peter. It's the only way I could reach you."

"So this is… you are…" He attempted to speak, but his words kept escaping him.

"Call it a dream if you will and call me a ghost if you like, but yes… we are in your head." Captain Stacy explained.

"Why?" He asked. "Why would you even talk to me? You hate me, and for a very good reason."

"You have it all backwards, I don't hate you. I've never hated you."

Peter's breathing began to steady, but his mind continued to race with thoughts. Memories, all the words that had been spoken and the promise that he had been broken. Captain Stacy's words added to his confusion.

"All I wanted was for Gwen to be safe, in fact I may have been putting her safety above her happiness a little too much." He added.

"But I-"

"Yes, you broke your promise but I do not hold it against you. I forgive you for breaking your word, because I see that I was wrong. You have managed to keep her safe, and there isn't a soul I would trust more to do so."

"Wow…" Peter whispered. "I don't know what to say."

"However, I do ask that you make me one last promise."

"I can't promise that I'll stay away from her or anything…"

"I am not asking you to, Peter. All I ask is that you continue to keep her safe, and that you don't hurt her. In my eyes, she will always be my little girl, but I accept that she has taken control of her own life. But promise me that this…" He paused, gesturing to the scene around them. "Will never come close to happening again, and that you will continue to put a smile on her face every day."

"Of course, Captain Stacy. You have my word, and I won't let her down… or you."

"Ah, I don't have much time left, but there's just one more thing before I go…"

"What is it?"

"Tell Gwen that I love her, and I am proud of her."

"You got it." Peter assured him, and smiled through the bitter taste of his tears.

Captain Stacy saluted him and as he turned around, walking towards a glowing bright light, Peter felt a strange sense of clarity and peace. No longer bound by the guilt of his broken promise.

Peter's eyes opened partly, and he remembered that he wasn't back in the clock tower, but instead laid in bed in the dark with Gwen sleeping soundly next to him, her head resting upon his chest. As the memories of his dream came back to him, he smiled softly and held her a little closer.

"Hey… are you awake at all?" He whispered into the darkness. "I had the most incredible dream."

With no reply, he confirmed that she was still fully in a deep sleep, and closed his eyes again. A few seconds passed and Gwen stirred, throwing her arm across his waist, pulling her slightly back into the waking world.

"What was your dream?" She questioned sleepily.

"It was nice." He said, equally as sleepy. "I saw your dad. "He added with a yawn. "He told me to tell you that he loves you, and that he's proud of you."

"He did?" She asked, feeling her eyes getting heavy again.

Peter didn't respond, having fallen back to sleep. With a smile, Gwen let her eyes close and joined him. She hadn't been sure if she was dreaming or not, but she would make sure to find out in the morning.
____________________________________

Sunlight leaked through the gap in the curtains, streaking the room and illuminating little dust particles. As she was pulled from her slumber, Gwen raised her hand to shield her eyes from the strong, blinding rays. Sitting up with her back against the headboard, she glanced over at Peter, who was still asleep, laid on his back with one hand flung across his face and the other down by his side and smiled. It had been a long time since she'd seen him so peaceful. She wanted nothing more than to leave him be, but they had plenty to do and an early start would give them a better chance in getting it all done. Leaning over, she put her hand to his head and twirled a strand of his hazelnut hair around her finger then lowered her head, planting a sweet but swift kiss on his lips.

As she pulled away, she watched him smile before he opened his eyes. With a yawn and a stretch, he pulled himself into a sitting position and without saying a word, his smile turned into a grin and he raised one leg in the air. Gwen opened her mouth to question him, only to be rendered speechless by a loud fart that vibrated through the mattress.

Her shock began to wear off but as she drew in a breath, the smell of bad eggs mixed with spandex wafted up her nose making her gag as she attempted to speak again. Breathing through her mouth, she took a moment before she made a second attempt.

"Are you serious?"

"What?" He shrugged, with his arms folded behind his head.

"You-" She began, cutting off and gagging once again. "Dirty, Peter. Very dirty."

"Ah, you can't complain. You signed up for this the day you married me." He teased her.

"I didn't read about enduring your toxic gas anywhere in the contract." She fired back.

"Should have read the small print."

"Don't worry, you'll be the first to change our baby's dirty diaper. I'll make sure of that."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me." She said with a grin. "Seriously, if you're going to do that can you at least go stand in the hall and do it? I'd rather not have my head down the toilet when we have things to do."

"Really?"

"Please, just for the time being."

"Alright, as you wish." He rolled his eyes. "Though I do think there's something sentimental about mommy being the first one to change the diaper."

"Nope." She shook her head. "I'm gonna conveniently be asleep or cooking or cleaning."

"Okay, I'll take the first diaper too." He sighed comically. "But you can be the first to get thrown up on." He added.

"We shall see about that."

"Anyway, so what's the deal with today?" He questioned.

"First we need to go pick up that box like we promised your aunt May, then we need to start planning that trap we discussed for mister Brooding and his dark Lord."

"Oh. Right… the trap."

"Yes, Peter, are you sure about this?"

"We need to stop them, Gwen."

"I know, I just don't like the idea of you walking into a fight alone. I wish there was something I could do, I feel so useless like this."

"Hey…" Peter said softly. "You're not useless, it's just safer for you this way."

"Yeah, I get it." She sighed. "Doesn't make me feel any better about this."

"Wanna go over the plan again?" He asked with a small smile.

"No, it's okay." She assured him. "I'd rather forget about it until it's time for you to go."

"Alright." He agreed. "Stay in bed, I'll go make us some breakfast."

"Corned beef, chocolate and pickle sandwiches?"

"Ew! No! Not that demonic combination you've been obsessed with." He chuckled. "Something much nicer."

With that being said, Peter threw back the covers and pushed himself up out of bed, bouncing out of the room in the boyish way he had once done in the school hallway. Gwen waited until she heard his footsteps on the stairs and then reached for her crutches, with a plan of her own fresh in mind. Snatching his suit from the top of the door where it was hanging after its last wash, she brought it over to the bed and laid it down. If he was going to walk into the fight alone, then his regular web shooters wouldn't do it. He would need webs that would be sufficient when dealing with Venom.

Downstairs, Peter flipped the pancakes in the frying pan and poured orange juice from a jug into two glasses at the same time. He didn't know what would become of him by the time he was done with Venom later that night, so he wanted to make the most of the day. But before that, he wanted to make preparations. As he slipped the pancakes onto a plate, he popped the lid on a can of whipped cream and sprayed two smiley shapes at the bottom of them both, then placed two black berries on each of them, creating goofy smiley faces and put the plate on a tray.

He paused for a second, and then put the tray back down on the counter. Grabbing his wallet from the table, he opened it up and removed all his cards and placed them inside a plastic sandwich bag. Next he grabbed a pen and ripped some paper from a notebook left on the table by Gwen the night prior, and began to scribble words down on it, before slipping it into the plastic bag along with the cards. Laying it back down, he retrieved the tray full of breakfast from the counter and headed back up the stairs.

"How hungry are y-" He began, stopping as he saw her sitting on the bed with his suit upon her lap and the web shooters beside her. "What are you doing?"

"Peter!" She gasped, then sighed. "I probably should have cleared this with you first, I'm sorry."

"Doesn't answer my question." He shrugged.

"I was altering your suit and web shooters." She admitted.

"Oh…" He mouthed. "Well, I made us some pancakes." He informed her, raising the tray in his hands.

"With smiley faces?"

"Figured I would kick the day off with a smile." He chuckled, setting the tray down as she moved his suit and shooters aside. "Altering what now?"

"I had an idea and I wanted to try it, so that's what I've been doing while you've been making these pancakes."

"Like what?"

"It's hard to explain. Though I would recommend testing them before you leave tonight."

"Noted." He nodded as a loud growl cut in. "For now, I need to feed my stomach before it wakes up the entire neighborhood."

"Right… but please don't fart while we're eating. "I promise I'll throw up all over you if you do." She teased.

"Are you ever gonna let that go?" He questioned, plopping himself down on the bed and scooping one of the pancakes up in his hands.

"Not likely."

Peter rolled his eyes and shoved the entire pancake into his mouth at once, picked up his glass of orange juice and took a huge gulp without having swallowed his mouthful of food. Gwen raised her eyebrow, but said nothing as she tore a piece off of her own pancake and bit off a smaller piece from it.

"Mwha dud ooh duuuh to mah wub slooters?" He asked, with his mouth still full of pancake.

"What?" She questioned. "Swallow your food and speak English please."

Chewing much faster, he swallowed the remaining pancake quickly and then took another gulp of orange juice before grinning at her.

"That's better."

"I said, what exactly did you do to my web shooters?"

"Nothing much… just added a few more options."

"More options?" He questioned.

"Yeah, you know… web grenades, instant flame webs, electricity resistant webs, ice webs. Nothing too fancy."

"Nothing too fancy… I'd say otherwise, but the flame webs will be of help when dealing with Venom." He acknowledged, surprised by her answer. "And what about the suit?"

"I just added a padded layer to the chest area, gliders and replaced the grips on the bottom of the feet."

Peter fell silent, taking in all the modifications she'd listed and smiled in the boyish way he always did. All upgrades would be of use in one way or another, and gave him a better chance of dealing with Venom once and for all. Though none of them guaranteed that he would walk out of the fight with his life.

"I don't know what to say…"

"You don't need to say anything. I'd rather go to this trouble than the alternative." She insisted. "I want you to be safe tonight, Peter. If he- if things go wrong, I don't want you to stay in the fight."

"I'm not gonna walk away if things go wrong." He refused. "That's just not who I am, and if I back away, they will come after us again… and I don't want them anywhere near you."

"Yeah… I figured you'd say something like that." She sighed. "Just be careful, okay."

"Look, I can't promise to walk away and I don't know if I'm going to walk out of this fight still breathing-"

"Peter, don't say that-"

"Let me finish, please." He pleaded. "But I promise that this will not be the last day we get to spend together."

"Stop!" She told him. "Don't do that. Don't make these promises that you can't keep."

"But those are the best kind, remember?"

Gwen broke into a smile and set the breakfast tray aside, pressing her forehead against his and closing her eyes. Peter brought his hand up to her face, caressing her cheek with the faintest touch.

"I don't want promises, or false hope, or any of that…" She said in an almost whisper. "There can be times when everything can fall apart, but it won't matter as long as we have each other. I don't need false hope because you give me real hope."

"With these upgrades, taking on Venom should be somewhat easier… but I'm not gonna get too confident, things tend to go wrong when I do."

"Let's worry about Venom later, for now we should focus on all that we need to get done before then."

Peter hesitated and pulled back, biting on his lower lip as he pondered bringing up the one thought he'd been having all through the night and throughout the morning. She would hate it, he knew she would, but he didn't want to leave any loose ends. Just in case.

"Actually, saying that… There is something that I want to do."

"What's that?" She questioned.

"It's…" He began. "... Nothing. Don't worry about it. We should probably get dressed and get to Aunt May's before she spanks me with a towel for being late again."

"Are you sure, I mean-"

"Yes. I'm sure, Gwen. It's nothing, just stupid."

"O- okay."

Eight Hours Later…

Peter took a deep breath, inhaling the strong scent of vanilla mixed with a hint of cherry, and attempted to pull away. Gwen, however, was having none of it and pulled him back into the embrace, holding him even more tightly. He sighed, wanting to stay, but knowing that he was running out of time.

"You gotta let me go at some point, Gwen." He said, laughing to cover his own dismay.

"I know." She muttered, stepping back and leaning on her crutches once again. "Peter-"

"Stop." He cut in. "Whatever you wanna say, save it for tomorrow."

Gwen wiped at her eyes and nodded. It was a comfort to know that he wasn't walking into a fight without standing a chance. The upgrades on his web shooters and his suit would provide him with a fair shot. But it didn't make much of a difference to her. He was still walking into the fight alone.

"You should get going, if Venom gets there first then the plan won't work."

"Right." He agreed. "But please don't sit around alone doing nothing, it won't help you."

"I'm sure there's something around here that needs to be done." She shrugged.

"If all goes to plan, I'll be back before sunrise." He stated in confidence. "If not then… Please, do not come after me."

"No. I'm not gonna sit around and-"

"Gwen, please." He cut in. "I have to go, and if this is it then I don't want to be arguing with you."

"I'm not trying to argue either."

"Good." He half whispered, and pressed his lips against hers, pulling away almost as quickly.

"Now, go get 'em, Tiger."