chapter sixty-three
scars of your love

WHEN NINA saw the news, she thought she was dreaming.

Most people used the phrase as a way to explain excitement▬they could not believe that this wonderful thing possibly could happen to them. Nina meant it in a literal sense. In a terrible, dreadful literal sense that made her hitch a silent gasp of horror and quickly tried to wake herself up in every possible way. She shook her head, lightly smacked it, ran to the bathroom to splash water on her face before checking her phone▬and she was so terrified that her dreams had suddenly changed from nightmares to manifest during the daytime. So terrified that she will never be able to tell the difference between fiction and reality. Every step she took would be a new dream, a new tragedy, a new horror-filled experience that haunted her daily.

There were some things she could forget, some things she could feel a similarity▬but there were some things that she could never forget, no matter how hard she tried. Nina Hart could never forget those lenses that followed her as she fell, desperate to make it to her in time. She could never forget the feeling of freefalling off the Manhattan Bridge as she listened to the manic cackle of a horrific monster. Nina Hart could never forget the sound of her own scream.

She could not forget the feeling of metal arms pulling her away from the cafe in her dreams and dragging her, screaming and struggling. She could not forget the face of the man that held her captive▬the face of Doc Ock in her dreams ...

The face of that man on the bridge.

The same face.

The same brown hair, the same narrow jaw, the same malicious grin, dark trenchcoat and sunglasses. The same metal arms with pointed, vicious claws▬Nina Hart could never forget.

But she had to be dreaming. She must be dreaming. Because he was not real. Doc Ock was not real. Just like the rest of them weren't real. Dreams were dreams. That was fiction.

Then she read about the explosions that followed. Headlines and headlines of the green flying silhouette in the smoke of the bridge with a vengeful breath against Spider-Man.

Nina had locked herself in her room, too scared to look at the television anymore. Too scared to think▬she was dreaming. She was still dreaming. This was all just another dream, and when she woke up, nothing would have happened. This wasn't real.

She dreamt about that green silhouette perhaps the most; dreamt of his horrific laugh until she heard it even when she wished she did not. He was the monster under her bed, the monster in the shadows▬the monster she stared up at as she fell ... and she fell ... and she fell ... Whether it was him, or another version of him ... Almost every dream, it was he▬her monster▬that dropped her to her death.

He couldn't be real. None of this was real.

Nina was dreaming again. She had to be dreaming.

Or maybe she willed herself to dream it because when she opened her eyes again, she was no longer in her room.

Nina glanced around, frowning when she found herself standing in a long hallway. Polished tile was at her feet, the walls a cream-white colour▬there was a stench in the air; one that slightly burnt at her nose. She quickly realised she was standing in the corridor of a hospital ... but ... she didn't know why she was in the hospital.

Which struck her as strange, because not only did she feel herself drift off so quickly▬from what seemed like one dream to another ... at least, she hoped▬but also she felt so alert as herself. She did not find herself immersed in the world of the dream as quickly as she always did. Nina could still think so clearly about what she had just left▬about the explosion on the bridge and of Doc Ock.

Nina pursed her lips, a little afraid as she took a few steps down the corridor, trying to chase the memory her mind has created this time. The story it was telling her ... but she got nothing. She was left confused; left to figure it out herself.

She walked slowly, fiddling with her handbag as she checked each open door. Nina's heart pounded and for a moment, began to wonder whether something happened to her in her room. Whether the monster had come to grab her ... but that didn't make sense, either.

Nina Hart slowed down▬almost on her own accord▬as she neared an open-door room and through it, she recognised a young man with brown hair and a pale blue windbreaker. Hesitant, she approached him and when she glanced around the frame of the door, her eyes fixed on the person in the hospital bed.

Her eyes widened. "Harry?" She let out before she could stop herself.

She knew it was Harry. Harry Osborn. She recognised him quite quickly▬especially when he glanced over and gave her a cheeky grin. Though, he did not look good. He barely could move, he seemed a little dopey▬as if he had just come out of surgery. There was a bandage wrapped around his forehead.

At her voice, Peter Parker glanced around, too. Nina wandered over, not too sure what was happening▬or what happened. She felt like she had stepped into a story she knew, but skipped a chapter or two at the very least, and now she was stranded and grasping at straws to figure out what had happened since.

This was the story where she had seen Doc Ock in her dreams and the Green Goblin▬the same two that had been on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge ... and now she was very confused. Was she dreaming? What had been the dream?

Nina wandered over to Peter's side, looking very troubled. She felt his hand rest on her back and she didn't mean to jolt, startled▬but she was way too alert for this to seem like a dream. She did not fall into the character she was supposed to be playing because when she looked at him and met his concerned blue stare▬all she thought about was her Peter with his honey-brown curls and brown eyes, and yet she knew this Peter right beside her, too.

And she was so very confused.

She was glad when Harry's grin brightened at the sight of her and chuckled. "I know that face," he said this with so much happiness that Nina couldn't help but manage a sweet smile.

On the other side of Harry's bed was the gentile smile of Mary Jane Watson. Nina recognised her soft red waves and round face▬almost like she was placed into a movie that she knew off by heart, and was surrounded by characters she loved and knew back to front ... because she was in the movie, too ... and yet she wasn't at the same time.

She pursed her lips and focused her attention back on Harry and just said what came naturally to her. "Hey ... How are you doing?"

Harry frowned. "I don't know..." he murmured and Nina felt Peter grow tense at her side. "Last thing I remember, I was fine ... Somewhere."

"You're still fine," MJ reassured him. Harry smiled at her. "We love you, Harry."

He sighed, relaxed and still a bit dazed▬like he wasn't entirely with them. Nina understood the feeling. "It feels like ... somehow I've been gone for a really long time. And ... now, I'm back home."

Peter rubbed Nina's back and she was troubled and torn at the feeling. "It's good to have you back," he said to Harry.

MJ smiled at this, delighted.

They were asked to leave after that since the doctors and nurses wanted Harry to get some rest. They promised to see him tomorrow, though Nina wasn't entirely sure▬she felt a little out of place, even though she was not out of place; she wasn't exactly sure how to explain this feeling. The feeling as though she was not entirely in her own body, but watching herself walk down the hallway of the hospital instead.

Halfway down the corridor, Mary Jane Watson brushed Nina's arm and she jumped, not expecting it. "Hey..." she murmured, surprised by her reaction. Her voice was so gentle, and Nina had never heard it so clearly up until now. "You okay? You seem a little startled."

"I ..." Nina forced a smile onto her face and shook her head, reassuring both Mary Jane and Peter's concerned glances. "I'm fine ... Just▬you know▬I'm just glad Harry's gonna be all right. I was so scared there for a second..."

Her words trailed off and she went back to frowning at the corridor in front of them.

Nina went with Peter back to his apartment, her mind adrift and wandering. They didn't speak much, and she felt as though she was stuck on a boat sailing on a river with no direction▬she was stuck between the world she knew here, and the world back home.

When they made it to his old, cheap and rundown one-room apartment (and had trouble with opening his broken door▬Peter had to shove and lift it when they were sure no one was watching), Nina walked inside and sat down on the second-hand couch. She watched Peter move onwards after he closed the door to open up the window, and she supposed at least the view was great about this place▬she could see the Empire State Building clearly in the distance.

Peter turned back to her and noticed her downed spirit. She watched up, lost and confused with all that was happening. This was a dream, she reminded herself, and yet could feel how real the material of the couch was underneath her fingers. This was a dream, she whimpered and wanted to cry. Because if this was her dream, and what was there when she opened her eyes her reality ... How could they mix and become the same. That man on the bridge▬He was from this dream.

This dream that she was so alert in and so distanced▬Never has she experienced them like this before.

"Hey," Peter made his way back over to her. "You all right?"

Nina pursed her lips and found herself nodding. "I'm fine," she muttered.

He didn't believe her. He hovered by where she sat, watching her with a breath of confusion, too▬he could tell something wasn't right, and that made her feel even more distressed. "Come on, tell me," he said gently. "Is it about what your professors said about your presentation?"

Nina frowned and looked down at her hands. Usually, she could slip into whatever narrative her dreams gave her▬now, she was stranded. She didn't know what to say.

Peter seemed to think that she was upset about that, and sighed in a kind way. He took her arms and coaxed her to stand, reassuring her: "Come on, I told you that it was the acoustics. You were great. I sat there and I heard everything and it was amazing."

She briefly remembered her presentation like fragments of memories coming together. "You were in the first row," she murmured. "And you're supposed to be supportive."

Peter squeezed her shoulders and shook his head. "Yeah, this▬" he sighed and gave her a knowing smile. "Listen, you were great. But not every person is ever going to agree with you▬that's why there are tons of theories in science! This is just something you're gonna have to get used to." Nina frowned at the tone of his voice, not sure why it boiled in her chest▬like he was speaking to her as if she was a child▬but it did. "Believe me, I know. Spider-Man gets attacked all the time▬"

Nina's frown deepened. "What's this got to do with Spider-Man?" she asked him, finding herself falling into the world around her for a moment. It was familiar to her, and yet it wasn't, and it was as though she had one foot stepped inside it, and the other outside. "This ... This is about me and my education▬and the career I want."

"I know," Peter quickly said, "and I'm just saying you can't let it▬you can't let it bring you down. You just gotta believe in yourself and you pull yourself together. You get right back on the horse and▬"

"Don't give me the horse thing!" she didn't mean to snap as she slumped back down on the couch. "I just▬Can you try and understand how I feel right now?"

Peter pursed his lips, but he bit his tongue and nodded. Nina sighed and rubbed her eyes. "It's just ..." she murmured, "... All the time I feel like I'm running a race and I keep losing, Pete. I'm never good enough. It's like▬it's like they can never look past what's on the surface and see that I really want this. I'm just ... I'm just me and they don't seem to ever think that's worth anything. I feel lost and ... and I don't know..."

Soon, her words seemed to slip away from whatever script she had to play into what was on her mind. Nina was lost. She truly did feel lost. And maybe this wasn't about whatever presentation she did in this dream ... but about the life she had when she opened her eyes again. A life where her future did seem to have been snatched right from her fingers.

Nina's eyes darted over to the radio when she heard it scratch. "All cars," the dispatcher was saying. "All cars in the vicinity of 54th and Sixth Avenue, please report." She noticed Peter's shoulders slump with an apologetic breath. Nina couldn't stop herself from feeling disappointed ... and left behind all over again. "Crane out of control, approach with caution."

When she didn't say anything, Peter tried to lighten the mood. "Go get 'em, Tiger?" he said▬almost a prompt; anticipating what she always said with a proud smile.

She didn't say it. With a sad look in her eyes, she just nodded. Peter hesitated, and she knew he tried to not seem upset or disappointed, either by her lack of encouragement.

"I'm sorry," whispered Peter. He wandered over and she looked down at her fingers as she heard him take off his clothes to reveal his suit underneath. She met his gaze right before he went to put on his mask, standing in the sunlight gleaming through his open window.

He leapt out into the streets of New York, following the distant sirens and Nina felt herself rooted at last. She knew this story. She knew it no matter what dream or what reality she lived. She knew the story of the girl watching her superhero leave through the open window▬and found herself alone and troubled, not exactly sure where she was supposed to sit between the life of Spider-Man and Peter Parker.

She sighed and closed her eyes, letting her head fall into her hands. When she opened them, she was back in her room▬and her dream seemed to be over.

*ೃ༄

NINA'S FATHER was not impressed when Dr. Strange appeared in their kitchen. Especially when his magical portal swallowed their new coffee machine and took it back to wherever the superhero had come from. Dr. Strange himself was not impressed when he moved forward and took a step into the spilt mashed potato that had been Ian's lunch (or toy to throw). Nina knew it had something to do with Peter, and what had happened on the bridge▬and the fears she had suppressed since came to the surface once again. What she had seen on the news had been very much real, and she was terrified to think what that meant.

Almost directly on cue, she received a text message from Peter▬the first message since the incident on the bridge. Don't freak out if Dr. Strange randomly appears I asked him to get you! xxxxxxxxoooasdfsdaj▬The rushed jumble of letters at the end told Nina that Peter must be doing two things at once and forgot that he still had his thumb on his phone keyboard. (Though Nina did appreciate the abundance of kisses).

Nina really had no choice but to go with Dr. Strange, and like he was a school bus (a very disgruntled school bus), they went from stop to stop. They picked up MJ from her home, Ned from the comic book store near his apartment and finally Felicia who▬unlike Ned▬did not look happy about her day being interrupted by a wizard in a floating red cape.

Ned was ecstatic. As Dr. Strange took them through another portal to the infamous Sanctum Sanctorum to meet with Peter, he could not stop asking questions and making excited gasps at each little thing (even if it was something completely mundane). When Ned asked Dr. Strange if they used spells like in Harry Potter (with his own pretend magical wand movement and a whisper of 'Expelliarmus!'), Nina was scared the sorcerer would actually leave them stranded on the top of a cliff somewhere he looked so frustrated.

Nina was glad that she had brought an extra coat. As soon as they stepped foot into the Sanctorum, the blast of cold, winter air shocked her to her bones. She stared, briefly matching Ned's look of wonder to see the entire lobby covered in white, icy frosting. Her sneakers left snowy footprints behind her, crunching underfoot with each step she made.

She hugged her coat around her tighter, shivering and sharing a glance with both MJ and Felicia. Cia shrugged, scowling as she hugged herself to keep warm, too, having had no time to go home and grab an extra jumper. She desperately tried to keep her fingers warm under her arms.

Michelle eyed the snow with a breath of suspicion as if expecting something to jump out and grab her▬and of course, Nina didn't blame her. This place was full of mystery, magic and conspiracy where science worked beside all that was not science. It was like stepping into a metaphysicist's dreamland.

And Ned absolutely loved it.

"I can't believe I'm in the Sanctum Sanctorum!" he let out, hitching back a squeal of excitement as he walked in circles, trying to take in every crevice and corner of the room he possibly could.

Dr. Strange marched past them, grumbling an annoyed: "Neither can I."

Ned spun on his feet to face the front again, skidding across the snow to try and catch up. "So, how did you know you were a man of magic?" he asked excitedly. "Because my Lola says that we have it in our family, and sometimes I get these tinglings in my hands▬"

"You should talk to your physician," Strange cut him off and started to storm up the scow-capped stairwell.

"Aren't you technically a doctor?" MJ called up after him, accusing. She didn't receive an answer.

Ned turned to them, holding up his hands with a shrug at Dr. Strange's lack of explanation. Nina shrugged, too, very confused by a lot of things▬Ned's magical family lore included.

Though when she noticed someone walk out from the shadows of the stairwell towards them, her heart seemed to lift. "Peter▬" breathed out Nina and rushed towards him.

"Hey▬" he met her halfway, wrapping Nina up into a tight hug and for a moment, did not let go. She didn't mind, though, for she finally felt herself relax.

Peter rubbed her back and squeezed her very close, and Nina didn't consider it out of the ordinary how desperate his grip was▬as if he was scared she'd disappear the moment he let go. "Hey," he said again, soft and gentle. "Are▬Are you okay? You're okay?"

That question did confuse her slightly. She pulled away to meet his gaze and his arms slipped down to her waist, still not letting her go. "Yeah," she smiled, nodding. "I'm okay. Why?"

She tilted her head when she saw that he seemed to be hesitating in his answer. Then, quickly, he shook his head and managed a smile that did not reach his eyes. "Nothing, just ... I'm sorry for dragging you into this, is all." He glanced at the rest of them as they wandered over. "Dragging you all into this. You just gotta help me find these guys▬"

"You don't have to apologise, okay?" said MJ, cutting him off with a stern but gentle look. "You got us a second shot at M.I.T. It's fine."

While Peter sent her a soft, grateful smile, Nina instead frowned and pulled at his shirt. "What?" he said when he felt her fingers.

"Did you not iron this?" she tugged at the shirt he had thrown over his tee. It was crumpled and wrinkled▬and she wondered whether it had not seen the light of day since Homecoming. "Did you just throw this on over your clothes to go see the assistant vice chancellor?"

The sheepish look on Peter's face told her that was exactly what he did.

Nina breathed a small smile of her own, amused.

Peter kept an arm around her waist as they turned to their friends▬not seeming to want to let go at all, and only now did it start to make Nina feel as though something was on his mind; something else aside from the bad guys on the bridge.

"So," began Ned after Cia smacked his hand to stop him from touching things, "how did the bad guys get here?"

From the top of the staircase, came Dr. Strange's voice. "He screwed up a spell trying to get you into college."

They all turned their frowns onto Peter. He pursed his lips.

"Wait, what?" let out MJ.

"You did it with magic?" whispered Ned, admittedly amazed by this fact.

"That is not what you told us▬" Felicia gestured between the group of them.

"I thought it was the M.I.T. lady you saved?" added Nina, her voice soft and questioning.

Peter met her gaze. "Uh ... no, that was after." He grew flushed under their frowns. "Let's just▬let's just focus on the good news, okay▬?"

"No," interrupted Dr. Strange, "let's just focus on the bad news." Nina noticed that Peter seemed to hold her tighter to his side the moment the sorcerer spoke. "As of now, you have detected zero multiversal trespassers▬" Nina's eyes widened and she mouthed 'Multiversal?' "▬so get on your phones, scour the Internet, and▬" Strange threw his hands up, "▬Scooby-Doo this shit!"

MJ scoffed a bitter laugh from her throat. "I'm sorry," she muttered, very sarcastic. "You're telling us what to do, even though it was your spell that got screwed up, meaning that all this▬" she gestured around them, "▬is kinda your fault." Strange stared at her, taken aback.

Nina tilted her head, too, staring up at Dr. Strange with a new breath of annoyance. "Yeah," she spoke up, too. "That was your spell. So ... you should have known the consequences of it, and yet you decided to cast it anyway. It really seems like we don't owe you anything. Really, it should be you catching these bad guys."

Michelle crossed her arms. "And yet we are going out of our way to clean up your mess ... So, I actually know a couple of magic words myself, starting with the word 'please'," she continued.

"As well as something that's green▬" Cia added, brushing her fingers together with a challenging arch of her brow. "If you know what I mean."

Both Ned and Peter were silent, sharing a quick purse of their lips before staring up at Dr. Strange. They held their breaths and did not say a word, anticipating his reaction. The three girls all wore sickly sweet smiles that held no kindness whatsoever.

Dr. Strange sighed. Setting his jaw, he took a sharp breath through his nose before saying: "Fine. Please Scooby-Doo this shit." Felicia rolled her eyes. "You can work in the undercroft."

Ned's gaze lit up. "The undercroft?!"

The undercroft wasn't that impressive. Nina and Ned both expected some dungeon with ancient magic treasures, books and even torture devices. Instead, it looked more like somebody's dusty garage.

Peter led them down a narrow staircase where the light got dimmer and dimmer, and the freezing cold weather from the winter wonderland that was the Sanctorum lobby grew warmer; warm enough for Nina to take off her down jacket.

As the others got the idea of where they were heading▬and their destination which was at the bottom of the staircase, Peter's steps slowed down until he was walking at her side. She glanced at him, curious.

He pursed his lips and fiddled with his fingers. He wanted to tell her something, she knew, but he didn't know how to say it.

"What is it?" whispered Nina, trying to not sound as if she was pressuring him, but now she really wanted to know. "What's going on?"

Peter scratched the back of his neck and then pulled at his shirt sleeves. "Uh ..." he kept his voice low, glancing at their friends that were a few steps down. He then shuffled closer to her and said softly. "Did ... Did Strange say anything to you?"

Nina frowned, starting to grow more concerned than confused. "No ..." she murmured, trying to see Peter's expression in the dim light. "He didn't say anything at all. Why?"

Peter chewed on the inside of his cheek. Even if she couldn't see his face well, she knew he was troubled by something▬Nina liked to think she knew Peter Parker better than almost anyone else.

She heard him take a shaky breath and the next moment, his hand found hers. He held onto it tight, linking their fingers together. Peter stared at their hands and she wondered whether his enhanced abilities made him able to see in the dark, too. At last, he said in a murmur so quiet she had to strain her ears to hear: "You ... You know I won't let anything happen to you, right?" Peter met her gaze through the shadows. "I ... I will always catch you, no matter what. I will never let you fall."

Nina was startled by his tone. She squeezed his hand and they stopped on the staircase. "Yeah, I know▬"

"No," Peter cut her off, his voice short and stuck in the back of his throat. She was growing worried now. "Nina, I ... I will catch you," he sounded like he was trying to not just reassure her, but himself. He took another deep breath and said: "I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise."

She frowned and took his other hand, standing in front of him in the shadow of the narrow stairwell. Their friends were well past them, now, their chatter distant as they neared the bottom. "Pete, I know," Nina told him in a soft voice. Trying to lift the tone between the both of them, she nudged his sneaker shyly with her own and added: "I got my personal superhero, I'm perfectly safe."

If Nina Hart could see Peter Parker's face in the dark, she would see something that was pained and desperate▬even terrified. "Yeah," he muttered. "Yeah, so ... you gotta just trust me▬"

"Pete▬"

"▬No, Nina, please just listen, okay?" he hitched his breath and Nina went quiet, her heart twisting at the desperation in his voice, and yet not knowing why. "You need to trust me, okay? There's ... there's something you need to know▬"

A light sparked at the foot of the stairwell and they heard Ned gasp: "Oh, my God!"

Nina heard Peter's sigh of frustration even if she couldn't see it. As the light grew brighter, she did see his head fall back and his eyes clench closed. She pursed her lips and found herself rising up on her toes to peck him. It caught him by surprise and he stared at her with wide eyes. She smiled at him and squeezed his hands again. "It's okay," she murmured. "You can tell me everything after we set up. That way we won't get interrupted."

He nodded at her, and at last, she saw something sad weigh down in his brown eyes. "Yeah. Sounds good."

Peter then leaned in and kissed her again, not seeming to care about what they had to do▬or just wanting to forget it. Even if their friends were at the bottom of the staircase, he still kissed Nina▬his heart pounding and his mind clouded with fear of all Dr. Strange told him▬long enough for Felicia to wonder where they were and cry out: "Seriously, guys?"

Nina pulled away and was blushing, a shy smile on her lips as she let go of Peter's hand and they caught up with their friends. Felicia crossed her arms, and both she and MJ scowled at Peter like parents catching some random guy kissing their daughter.

"You stay where we can see you." Felicia scolded Peter and MJ lightly smacked him over the top of the head. Despite his spider-senses, he yelped and ducked. "Seriously, you guys need supervision."

Peter blushed and swiped MJ's hands away, flustered and stammering at their words. "W▬what? I▬What do you▬? Hey▬!" he ducked MJ's scolding light smacks to his head.

"Supervision, okay?" MJ pointed a finger at him sternly. Nina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ned is still a child."

"Hey!" Ned stopped staring at the room to spin and face them. "I'm eighteen at the end of this month, okay?!"

Nina didn't say anything. Instead, she glanced around the mysterious undercroft. It didn't look like a place full of dangerous magical items, spell books or torture devices. The lights were dim and hanging down from loose chords. The ceiling was low and the floor was concrete below their feet. The undercroft was merely just a basement, with dusty old worktables, unopened storage boxes, half-empty cleaning chemicals and every normal thing that even sorcerers never knew where to put. There was a fridge, and shelves filled with tools, random little collectables and cobweb-covered cardboard boxes. Nina even saw a Columbia jumper hanging in the corner.

Noticing she was looking around, Ned went back to grinning and nudged her. "Badass," he decided, then he noticed something. "Dude▬is that a crossbow?!"

As Ned ran off towards the nearest dusty old worktable where there was indeed a crossbow (why did they have a crossbow?), Peter rolled up his sleeves and said. "Guys, about this whole spell thing▬"

"It's totally okay," Nina stopped him before he'd get any further.

Peter glanced at her, taken aback. "Wait, really?"

She shrugged as she stood in the middle of the undercroft, managing a little smile. "Yeah." Nina then backtracked. "I mean, like, I get it. You were just trying to fix things and try and do the right thing like you always do. But just ..." Nina fiddled with her fingers, "... you know ... Next time just run it by us, okay? We're on your side▬I'm on your side, always. So, when you're thinking about doing something that could▬like▬break the entire universe ... We can talk it through and ... you know ... help."

Peter's eyes were soft. There was a slight smile on his face. Nina blushed brightly, not exactly sure how to describe the way he was looking at her right now. He nodded. "Deal," he said.

He then turned to MJ and Felicia, waiting for their answer. They were both peering at some strange objects on the shelves next to a stack of old newspapers.

"It's whatever," muttered MJ, shrugging.

"Yeah," Felicia shook a snow globe viciously and watched the white specs fall over the Empire State Building. Neither of them seemed to care, at all, too consumed by everything around them. "It's in the past."

Peter glanced over at his best friend. "Ned?"

Ned looked up from the crossbow in his hands. He wasn't listening. He soon scoffed and shrugged. "Oh, dude, I don't care. It's seriously not a big deal. Um ..." he found something else and dropped the crossbow back onto the table. "Oh! A torture rack!"

He pointed and ran over to something in the shadows.

Felicia rolled her eyes as Ned plucked the metal springs. "That is a Pilates machine, Ned..."

Nina's eyes found the other end of the undercroft. Where the wall should be, it instead opened up towards a wide, gaping, round dark room. She frowned, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end when she noticed light gleam from narrow squares. An unsettling feeling twisted in her chest. She took a step closer without thought. "Is that the▬?"

Noticing, Peter scrambled towards her. "Oh▬uh, yeah. Yeah, that's the crypt but just▬" suddenly frantic, Peter Parker tried to distract Nina Hart, hoping to pull her away. But the others had taken notice as well, and they were all marching towards the second room. "No, no. Nina, Nina, wait▬" he grabbed his girlfriend's arm and spun her to him. She frowned. "Nina, please. I▬I really need to tell you this one thing before you go and▬"

"Hey! Who the hell are these lot?"

A chill ran down Nina Hart's spine. Her breath hitched and she spun around, her eyes growing wide. Into the round, dark crypt, the light illuminated onto the same man that had been on the bridge. And now that she saw him up close, with her own two eyes, she wanted to run. It was him. It was him▬exactly as she remembered. The same man from her dreams with dark hair, dark glasses on a long nose, a long trench coat and four large, twisting and nightmarish metal arms.

Nina had hoped she had imagined it. She had told herself that she was wrong▬she had begged to be wrong.

But there was no denying it.

She was staring into the eyes of Doc Ock.

And that wasn't the only one. Her eyes glimpsed sideways and she shook her head, feeling it spin and her knees grow weak when she saw another familiar face. Locked behind magical barriers of another stone cell, her heart thundered with terror at the sight of dark green scales belonging to the body of a large, vicious creature▬a gigantic lizard with sharp talons and daggers for teeth.

Doctor Curt Connors▬The Lizard. The man that tried to turn New York into a hub of reptilians in her dreams ... He was real. That was him.

Peter stood at her side, and she couldn't tear her eyes away from the villains in her nightmares to see his gaze▬but she could feel how tense he was beside her. "These ..." he cleared his throat and spoke louder. "These are my friends. This is MJ, Felicia, Ned ... And this ..." he glanced at her. Nina swallowed when she saw the beady eyes of Doc Ock settle on her▬and behind those dark glasses, she knew he recognised her, too. "This is Nina."

"Hello," Ned waved, not noticing the pale, horrified look on Nina Hart's face.

She hitched her breath and shook her head again. "No," she whispered, her heart pounding. She grabbed Peter's hand and wanted to drag him out of here▬drag them all out of here. "This▬this is not real. They're ..."

Peter frowned at her, hearing her whispers while the others continued to speak.

"What's your name?" Felicia was saying, their conversation very light in comparison to the way Nina trembled.

"Doctor Otto Octavius."

Their friends all chuckled, but Nina couldn't find any of this funny.

"Peter," she whispered, frantic and tugging at his hand. "We have to▬we have to get out of here. These are not▬they're not▬"

Peter Parker kept his gaze locked within her own, and they widened with a shocked realisation. "Wait ... You know them, too?"

Nina frowned back at him, her heart pounding in her ears and her mind spinning. But she had enough sense within her to realise what he said and it made her stomach churn. She remembered how desperate he had been to promise her that he would keep her safe ... Nina had a terrible feeling she now knew why.

Which meant ...

Her eyes snapped back onto Doc Ock.

Multiversal trespassers, Dr. Strange had said.

Nina grew sick as the truth hit her▬the horrifying, terrible truth.

They were not dreams. They had never been dreams.

They had been real.

*ೃ༄

a/n: ned, mj and felicia laughing and making fun of doc ock's name while nina is having a traumatising revelation is my emotional rollercoaster that was watching this movie.

i hate the revelation in this chapter i'm sorry. it's hard because of the joking tone the guys have in this scene that i wanted to keep while also the fact that nina's entire existence and plot is coming together which is serious. it turns it into this weird mix of comedy and drama which i guess is super realistic but is weird to write. i hope i did ok.

no one:

nina: tiger-
every peter parker in the multiverse:

also something super cute i made with the help of my bestie sarah (-swrites):

i introduce you to the photos on peter parker's wall:

sarah did all the manips because she's amazing and super talented (she also made the cover for this book) and look at them! they're so cute!!! dude would have so many pictures on his wall and most of them would be of nina <333

i wanted to add so many more but picsart has a limit :((( like i would add more of mj and ned and even cia because they're now secretly besties now they've got everything sorted out but anyway i love this i actually love this-

(cue taylor swit last kiss: 'so i watch ur life in pictures like i used to watch u sleep...').

i wrote this chapter instead of going to my lecture that's the chokehold these guys have on me.