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"Bub." Logan stood across Dante with a look that resembled concern but would never admit it. "Why do you look like someone cancelled your funeral? You've got two women who'd fight wars for you. What exactly is the problem?"
The vodka had softened Logan's edges considerably. The reunion dinner had done the rest. Logan was, by his standards, cheerful.
Dante's eye twitched. "What do you need, old man?"
"Old man?"
Logan's claws slid out. Before he could go feral, Piotr wrapped his hand around Logan's chest from behind and lifted him off the ground, practically locking him in place. Logan could've broken free with his superhuman strength, but he knew Piotr could one-up him with his mutant power.
So he put his claws away. "Let me down."
Piotr did so with a smile but stayed ready to act. Logan straightened his jacket and adjusted his collar.
"Comrade Dante, in your honor." Piotr handed him the vodka bottle with a bright grin. "Now don't be a pussy. Have it neat."
Dante took the bottle, cracked the seal with his thumb, and clinked it against Piotr's with a quiet "cheers.". He tilted the bottle and drank almost half of it in one go.
Laura's nose wrinkled like she was personally offended. "How do you drink something that smells like that?"
Piotr laughed. "You'll understand when you're older."
"I'm twenty," Laura grumbled with a blank look. "Meathead."
Piotr looked down at her, taking in her height, or rather the distance between her height and his. He put a hand just above Laura's head. "But you're—"
Laura swung her hand. The adamantium claws came out in the middle and disappeared when the motion finished. The vodka bottle in Piotr's hand split into three pieces, and the rest of the fluid dripped down.
"What were you saying?"
"Tall…" Piotr smiled forcefully and rubbed the back of his head. "Very tall for a girl. Isn't that so, Comrade Dante?"
Dante hooked an arm around Laura's shoulders. She didn't even flinch. Carrying her around everywhere had made her comfortable with physical contact, or perhaps she had adapted to recognize him as her own.
"Stop bullying my friend."
Laura tilted her face up toward him. "Should I bully you instead?"
He reached over and pinched her nose between two fingers. "I dare you to try."
She swatted his hand away. "Fight me without abilities. Just your hands. We'll see who comes out on top."
People really thought nothing of him without his Resonance Links, which might've been true before he copied multiple fighting styles, including Shang-Chi's, with Photographic Reflexes. Now, he could easily be one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in this universe.
"We'll do it when I return. Both you and Ava need to be humbled."
She lightly stepped on his foot. "Where are you going?"
"Comrade," Piotr said, spreading his hands. "We just saved the city. What fresh catastrophe is this?"
Logan stared at him and looked away when Dante noticed. The feral mutant wanted to know Dante's circumstances to see if he could help, but he was… too embarrassed to ask.
Dante looked up at the sky, knowing Heimdall was watching him from Bifrost. "Some unfinished business. I'll be back in two days."
"You're never around," Laura grumbled. "Is that why you wanted me in Wild Pack?"
The question caught Logan's attention as well.
"Speaking of which," he said, watching her face. "I've hired a private tutor. He'll get you and Ava up to speed before your enrollment at ESU."
Money was the last thing he would be lacking once he took Asgard from Odin. Even now, his salary was quite a lot for his expenses.
Laura's eyes widened—that was the most surprise she would ever show on her face. "Really?"
"First step to be normal."
As bloodthirsty and feral as she could be, Laura still yearned to attend school and make friends. Ava was in the same boat as her love and concern for Silvija overrode her own desires. These two could attend the university together under Gwen and Felicia's care.
Laura leaned closer, letting her body language convey her gratitude.
"Bub," Logan grunted from the other side, looking a tad uncomfortable to see Laura stick close to him. "I'm joining the Wild Pack."
Dante raised an eyebrow. "Silvija will take you around the world for merc missions. Are you sure?"
"I'm not sitting around taking charity."
Logan said nothing more. He turned and walked back down the stairs with heavy steps.
Piotr watched Logan leave and smiled softly. "Your dad is a masterpiece."
Laura seemed so absorbed in Dante's warmth that she completely ignored Piotr. The fighting today and the past two days had exhausted Laura even though she had Healing Factor.
"Logan has been through a lot," Dante said, looking at Laura. "Don't bother him too much, okay?"
"I'll try," she replied in a small voice. "He should stop annoying me so much."
"I'll talk to him."
"Hmm."
Piotr snatched the bottle from Dante. "Don't be gone for too long, comrade. Wild Pack—no, this city needs you."
Dante smiled. "I'll work on my promise when I return. Be ready to cook me some Russian dish, preferably meat."
With some practice, he had full confidence in bringing Magik back from which dimension she had gone to.
Piotr placed both hands on Dante's shoulders and delivered three solid, affectionate pats that would have staggered a weaker person. "Return safe."
Once Piotr was gone, he saw Laura breathing softly. He rubbed her shoulder. "Sleepy?"
"Mhmm."
He thought of Silvija's room in her NYC branch and teleported there. He carried Laura to the bed and set her down on top of the covers. She ought to have been out before he finished pulling a blanket over her.
Just when he tucked her in, arms came up and looped around his neck. She pulled down forcefully, making him bend.
The kiss on his lips left him completely befuddled. Once the brief kiss ended, Laura's face was slightly flushed under the light.
"Goodnight."
She released him, turned onto her side, and pulled the blanket up over her head. He straightened slowly and watched her go quiet under the covers.
'Is my face just universally kissable?'
He shook his head. "Goodnight, Laura."
Maybe she liked him after everything he did for her. Maybe it was just a way to express her gratitude. He would find out with time.
Rather than teleporting, he activated Hyperion's Resonance. The Helio Reactor answered with a deep, warm pulse of energy. He opened the window and stepped onto the sill before stepping off.
He flew North, toward the Upper West Side. There was one more stop to make before returning to Asgard.
The sneaky kiss from Laura had reminded him of Gwen. She could want to avoid him all she liked. That was her right. But he still needed to know what the Spider Society had wanted with her and if Miguel had been too unbearable.
***
Gwen had been turning in the same three positions for the past hour.
The mattress was fine. The temperature was fine. Every muscle had been worked and wrung out by the symbiote cleanup. Yet she couldn't sleep. Her brain had apparently decided that now was the time to process every thought she had been postponing for the past twelve hours.
She stared at the ceiling and imagined the celebration. It would've been nice to hang out with Psylocke, Piotr, and Ava. The image warmed her heart until she remembered the others who would be there—Dante, Felicia laughing beside him, and Silvija calmly standing by his side.
The reason she had rejected Dante after almost agreeing.
The almost was doing a lot of damage now.
She sat up, pulled her knees to her chest, and covered her face with both hands. Dante had helped her immensely. The help he provided could've labeled him as a criminal in the eyes of Spider Society, whose resources were just on another level.
Even so, he took the risk of helping her out.
When he had asked for her to join, she blew him off like he'd offered her a flyer on the street. Ungrateful wasn't the word anyone wanted attached to themselves, yet it felt apt for her actions.
She yanked at her hair and let out a groan of frustration. "I'm such a dork."
"You're right about that."
She almost jumped at the voice. Her heart was still hammering when she turned toward the darkness. A tall, familiar figure stood near her bed.
"Dante…"
She would never mistake his silhouette for anyone else.
He sat down at the edge of her bed. "Do you want to go? Everyone's still there."
He had come to fill her with more guilt over her self-absorbed actions simply by showing care. Of course, he did. When she was at her lowest, when she was foolishly manipulated and tempted by Norman, Dante was there. He hadn't blown her off. No, he had lifted her up even when she blamed him.
Gwen pointed at her head. The hair situation was objectively catastrophic. "Do you see this?"
"You'll be in your suit."
She stared at him and blinked.
'Right…'
She wasn't attending as Gwen Stacy, a sleep deprived university student. She had to be the Ghost Spider, and the suit would hide everything.
She looked away, heat creeping up her neck. "Take Anti-Venom away. It's making me stupid."
"Hand it over then."
"No!" She scratched her face with one finger and pivoted before he could look too pleased with himself. "Not gonna ask where I vanished in the evening?"
He showed a solemn expression. It made her feel like he would pay complete attention to her and her alone. "Tell me."
Gwen leaned over and flicked on the bedside lamp. Warm light filled the room, making her a tad more conscious about her appearance.
"Can you get me that bag?"
He looked over to the desk and stretched a hand. Symbiote tendrils shot out and yanked it to him. "Here."
"Lazy ass."
"It's called being efficient."
Gwen unzipped the bag and grabbed a sketchbook. "Lazy and smart ass."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
She dropped down beside him at the edge of the bed and flipped through her sketchbook. Their shoulders made contact and stayed in contact, sharing warmth through fabric without either of them acknowledging it.
"Here." She held the notebook out, open to the sketch she'd done after coming home, when everything was still vivid on her mind. A rough sketch of web-like walkways and numerous silhouettes walking upon them. "This is Spider Society."
Dante took the sketchbook and took in the drawing. "Impressive. It's just like the movie…"
Gwen tilted her head. "What movie?"
"Nothing." He flipped to the next page before she did. The sketch on it was a rough but distinct face with a strong jaw and heavy brow. Miguel's costume had been rendered in quick angular strokes. "Their leader Miguel. He asked me how my dad survived the Canon Event. Honestly, it felt like an interrogation."
She watched Dante's face for a reaction, expecting surprise—the legitimate, wide-eyed type. Instead, she saw him maintain a calm and composed face.
'That's actually why.'
It wasn't his strength or his abilities that attracted her the most. It was the way he carried himself so reliably. It made her feel, illogically and annoyingly, like everything was going to be fine.
Her silent admiring ended when he opened his mouth,
"Did they bully you?"
Gwen blinked, taken aback. Of every possible response, he led with that. He was worried if the intimidating leader of this massive, multiversal organization bullied her.
Something in her chest did a slow turn.
'Calm down, Gwennie.' She told herself firmly. 'Friend. He only sees you as a friend.'
For a moment, she felt a sudden urge to say "yes" and see his response. Was it a superficial question or would he really do something about it? The devil on her shoulder tempted her, but she didn't let it win.
"So…"
She cleared her throat and walked him through the whole thing. Miguel had been very calm but stern when he told her about the importance of Canon Events and the Web of Life and Destiny. She kept Dante's involvement vague when Miguel pressed, using the 'He doesn't want others to know about him' excuse. Miguel had accepted it.
"We'll be keeping an eye on your universe's stability" were Miguel's last words before he let her go.
Dante let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I don't have to destroy Spider Society, then."
"You destroy what?" Gwen stared at him. "You can't be serious."
"They're ultimately the good guys," he said, nodding to himself. "But I don't like their methods."
Gwen also had mixed feelings on the Spider Society. On one hand, they worked to prevent the universe from collapsing and saved billions of lives. On the other hand, they coldly allowed people to die for the sake of Canon Events. She knew what it felt to be on the receiving end of such a cruel fate.
"I don't mind burning them down either."
The complete sincerity behind his words convinced her—this madman would've done it. He would've done it for her. His resolve left her feeling warm yet conflicted.
'He is a psycho.'
He turned to her. "If it comes down to it, what would you do? Save your dad or save the world?"
Gwen fell quiet at the question. The obvious answer was the world. The math was straightforward yet awful. One person against the continued existence of everyone else. But her father's face appeared behind the math, and the equation stopped working.
She loved her father too much to make such a selfless choice. If she was forced into that, she would've been frozen, unable to make any choice.
"Oh, interesting. Interesting," Dante muttered to himself. "Gwen is like that, huh."
She saw him gazing at a certain doodle in her sketch. The blood left her face and then rushed back in simultaneously.
'Shit.'
A doodle occupied the bottom half of the page—a half-finished but recognizable sketch of a skull. Flames surrounded it in confident strokes. This much could've been easily explained as a casual sketch for a friend.
There was more to it—the aspect which made her embarrassed. So much so that she wanted to never look at Dante's face again. The rest of the page beside the skull—every inch of it—had been covered in small, red hearts. Hundreds of them. The meaning couldn't be more clear to anyone with a working brain.
She had drawn it during a boring lecture, when her brain needed something to do. Somehow and someway, she had doodled this instead.
She'd meant to destroy the doodle, but she physically couldn't put his face inside the shredder.
Gwen took the notebook and threw it in the trash.
"It won't change anything, anyway," she whispered, drooping her head dejectedly. "You're already taken."
That was just her unfortunate reality.
"Yeah, it won't."
Despite knowing everything, hearing those words from him still twisted her heart. The back of her throat tightened, and warmth crept in behind her eyes uninvited. She turned her face just far enough away that he wouldn't catch the glassiness in her eyes.
"Leave."
It was better to cry and release all emotions, but she refused to do it in front of him.
Dante stayed still as though he hadn't heard Gwen. Rather, he leaned back on her bed.
"I'll save my old man, in that situation," he said in a heavy voice. "You know, the universe I came from is destroyed. Everything—everyone I knew is just… gone."
The depressing truth came out of nowhere and stopped her flood of emotion.
Her gaze snapped to him. The anomalies surrounding him started to make sense—why he knew about things nobody else did and how his fate got intertwined with a cosmic entity.
"I'm sorry to hear that…"
She couldn't even begin to fathom how it must feel to be the lone survivor of a city, much less the lone survivor of a universe.
'Three girlfriends to compensate for his loneliness.'
No number of people living could fill the specific shape left by people who no longer existed. Nobody could fill the shoes of parents and siblings.
'Is he trying to guilt trip me?'
She felt a hand settle at her waist. Before she could process what was happening, she was lifted and turned. She found herself sitting in his lap, looking up at him. Close enough to count the distance between them in centimeters.
Her heart drummed so hard she felt like it would explode.
She found herself unable to utter a single word. She just sat there, watching his face slowly approach hers.
Her hands, which were on his chest, could've pushed him away. She could have jumped away with her superhuman legs. There were so many options, but she chose to close her eyes and let her lips be claimed.
The kiss arrived gently, full of warmth. It lasted a handful of seconds, just long enough to be unambiguous about what it was.
When he pulled back, she saw a bright light in his eyes—like determination that previously didn't exist. "What… are you doing?"
"Only Death knows that. Do you know why I told you?"
Gwen shook her head.
"I don't want to lose anymore." His voice was strong and firm, nothing she had heard from him before. "I don't want to see the people I care about suffer."
Gwen understood it perfectly. That moment in the elevator, the awkwardness in Felicia's apartment, the way she ran away, how she avoided him, and then, blaming herself on a sleepless night.
She had been hurting. He didn't want to see that anymore.
His hands settled on her waist. "Gwen, let's try this. Be my girlfriend."
***
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