'Til the Morning Light

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but if Emma gets tired of Andrew, I will gladly take him off of her hands!

Chapter 1: Dreams

It was never really an option for these two. Love sort of just happened. If you believed at love at first sight, then the moment Peter Parker laid eyes upon the beautiful Gwen Stacy was when it occured. And now she lay next to him in his bed, her face turned to him, her eyes closed, lips softly parted as she slept. She looked so peaceful, except for her hands that had been clenched tightly together. At first he tried to pry them apart gently, but then settled on laying one of his arms protectively over her waist. She subconsciously reacted to that, snuggled closer to him, and let her arms falls limp. Peter sighed with a smile. Knowing he was there comforted her. It filled him with love, pride, and happiness. The only thing he ever wanted to give to this girl was just that. He wanted her to be proud to call him her boyfriend. He wanted her to know that he'd always be there for her, always...

"Leave Gwen out of it."

The Captain's dying words echoed in Peter's mind. He couldn't protect her all of the time, he wouldn't be able to, it was impossible even for Spider-man. His enemies would easily find out about her, and they would take away the only girl that had meant anything to him. He wouldn't be able to go on if anyone hurt her. He knew he'd go bat shit crazy and kill anyone who even looked at him funny. He'd become what he protected people from. He hated himself for thinking that. But it was the truth. And he watched in horror as suddenly a small trickle of blood escaped her full lips and dripped onto his arm. She did not stir, but became still, and the small breath of air he felt on his neck ceased. She had died, right here in his arms. While he held her. While he was two inches from her. And he let out a horrible holler deep from this depths of his soul.

Peter sat straight up in bed so fast that he nearly jumped to the ceiling. His heart was racing, his breath coming in short pants. And then he realized he was alone. It had to have been a horrible nightmare. Gwen was not dead next to him. She had not been there in the first place. She was home, safe and sound... wasn't she? He grabbed his phone on his nightstand. The time read 5:30am. It was a Saturday, and she was probably asleep. But he had to make sure. He had to...

Her voice answered after three rings. She sounded tired and cranky. "Peter?" She asked.

He let the air out of his lungs in a big whoosh and flopped back down on his pillows. She was safe.

"Yeah, it's me." He said.

"What's going on? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just had to make sure..."

"Make sure of what?" She snapped. "You said you didn't want anything to do with me, remember?"

And it all came flooding back to him. He had no right calling her at all. He had taken the Captain's words to heart. He would keep away from Gwen. He had been so panicked after that nightmare that he needed to hear her voice and he had intruded on her rest. He needed to stop this. Though he was in love with her, he could not have her, and he should let her be.

"I'm sorry for calling you, Gwen." He told her. "I just..."

"Peter, wait..." She whispered.

He swallowed a large lump in his throat. The pain in her voice was too much for him. All he wanted to do was swing over there and apologize and beg her to rip out his heart with her fingernails. Anything would be better than to hear how she sounded.

"Good night," He said to her and ended the call.

He placed the phone back on his nightstand and rolled over, feeling the spot she had been in his dream. The sheets were a cool, although a little sweaty. They were not stained with blood. He placed a hand to his forehead, hating his subconscious. It had been weeks since he had said those words to her, and since then, he had did his best to stay out of her way. She had barely seen him. And now he goes and dreams about her, and worst, barges back into her life. He knew that she still loved him, but there was not a damn thing he could do about that. He needed to be alone in this life, and that was that.

Falling back to sleep was pretty much useless at this point. He got up and dressed, pulling his suit on. Might as well see if he could do some good tonight.

He leapt from building to building, perch to perch, letting the cool night air clear his thoughts. He had left Peter Parker back in his room. He was now Spider-man, a one man only show. But seeing how quiet the city streets seemed, he allowed himself to follow the familiar path to her balcony. He would just see how she was doing. If she seemed fine, he'd leave. If she seemed upset, he... well, he hadn't gotten that far yet.

He landed silently, and saw, that as usual, her blinds had been left up. He wondered if this was for him, or just a habit now. He didn't know which one to wish for. He did not want her pining over him. Only he was allowed to do that. He wanted her to be the bright, happy, incredibly smart and beautiful girl he went to high school. He didn't want her in another relationship, but he didn't want her to be alone. He wandered how he'd react when eventually, she did walk around with her arm linked in another man's. When she would kiss another pair of lips. The thoughts made him sick. He did not sense movement in her room, so he hoped she had fallen back to sleep. He was just about to swing off when he heard it. It was faint, and muffled, but he knew that sound now. Those sounds came from his Aunt May's room nearly every night after Uncle Ben had died. They were the sounds of someone crying softly into their pillow.

"Gwen," He whispered, placing his hand upon a pane of glass. His hand looked odd against her window in his red and blue suit. It didn't seem human. But still, he wanted to kick this door in, go in there, and... and what, hero?

Movement behind him made him turn. In the darkness, he could seem someone running across the rooftop of the building across the way.

Damn it.

Who was this? Did they know Gwen lived here? Did they know he visited her often? He couldn't take any chances. He swung away after them. Or maybe, hopefully, they were just another dime store thug making a quick getaway. He couldn't let this person call who they wanted to call, or get to where they wanted to go. He had seen him on Gwen's balcony, and they needed to be stopped. Case closed. That filled him with a fury that with a heavy heave, landed him on top of them. There was a small cry of pain, and the two of them hit the blacktop of a roof a few buildings down. Peter was shocked that the voice of this person sounded female. He got up and off of the intruder and was shocked to see that yes, they were indeed female. She wore a skin tight black patent leather outfit, and a black mask around her eyes. A mane of white hair spilled wildly over her shoulders.

Who the hell was this?

The woman lay still with her eyes closed for a moment, and then her leg shot up, trying to land him a kick in the gut. He easily dodged that, bent down and grabbed her arm. "Who are you?" He demanded.

She smiled, a mouth full of white teeth glinting in the moonlight. "Well, if it isn't Spider-Man." She purred.

"And you are?"

"Taking an evening stroll."

He heard the sirens then. He snapped his head to her, and realized she held a string of fresh water pearls in her hand.

He gritted his teeth, pulled her to her feet, and grabbed her arms behind her back. He shot webbing to keep them there, and snatched the pearls from her.

"Busted, I guess." She said.

He didn't answer her, and bound her feet to. He went to swing away when her voice greeted his ears, "I'll see you again, real soon."