~Broken Family~

Hope That Mask is Machine-Washable

Gwen exhaled with relief as she swung towards Central Park, not in the mood for doing any flips in midair. She had memorized every piece of information on the email Tony Stark had sent to her last week, the email that had invited her to the service for Peter and his sister.

She supposed that meant that Pepper Potts and their elder birth son were still alive. Poor family---just like everyone else, they'd been ripped from each other's grasp without the chance to say goodbye.

Like Gwen had from her parents'.

Being fifteen, she wasn't old enough to live alone yet. But she'd been taken in by one of the many families who had stepped up to help--families that now, because the loss of some children, had extra room. A bit more upstate, but that was fine with her.

It was nice and all, being taken in by those folks. Gwen wasn't one to complain. But she missed her family---she missed living in her apartment, having her own room, and being able to greet her parents and relax after a hard day of school and Spider-Gwening. After all, she usually had the morning and after-dark hours. Peter would take after-school time to let her go to dance lessons.

Tears stung her eyes behind her mask as she realized that it had been one whole month since she'd seen her parents. One whole month since she'd heard one of her dad's corny jokes, since she'd been wrapped in her mother's warm embrace. One whole month since she'd seen her best friend.

The email had said to bring nothing except yourself, but Gwen had gotten a card for the Starks and written a nice little note on it. Just swing in, pay her respects, and swing out. Maybe grieve for her parents when no one was looking.

She didn't want anyone's pity. Each and every person on the planet had lost someone special to them---there was no denying that. It wasn't like she had it any different just because they had been her parents. There were many young children out there who had lost both of their parents, and with a pang Gwen realized they wouldn't even be able to remember the world before it was torn apart by the Snap. To them, the world would always have been broken.

Maybe it always was.

Central Park soon came into view, and Gwen could see the looming memorials. There were people gathered around them, some in bright costumes.

The Avengers.

She landed on the ground with a thwip, dusting herself off.

Pepper Potts was the one who noticed her first.

"Gwen?" she cried in surprise, rushing over. She startled Gwen by pulling her into a hug. "I didn't think you were coming!"

"Keep it down," Gwen hissed as she pulled away. "Not everyone's gotta know my secret identity. And of course I was gonna show up. He---he was my best friend."

Pepper nodded sadly, swiping away a tear absent-mindedly. "Yeah. We didn't want to make a fuss, obviously, since everyone has lost people they love, so this is more like a ceremony for every person lost. And I'm sorry for the people you lost, I hope you can find comfort and reassurance. You can come and talk to me about anything, you know. Don't feel as if you have to carry this burden alone."

Gwen nodded. Pepper was an awesome person.

She handed her the card as Pepper handed her a printed photo. She squinted at it, realizing it was her and Peter posing dramatically outside the compound.

"I---I was just printing out a lot of photos lately," Pepper said quickly with a nervous laugh. "I thought---I thought you might like this one."

Gwen nodded silently, stuffing her hand up her mask to wipe away a few tears. "Thank you, Pepper."

"These last two years, you've been there for him. He's been there for you. And we've been there for the both of you---I hope you feel the same way that I do, that we're family."

They parted ways.

Gwen tucked the photo into her suit pocket with a sniff, then wandered away. No one seemed to give her a second glance, as if they were used to heroes walking around in their suits often around here. She caught a glimpse of Captain America, Black Widow, and even Bruce Banner gathered around, mingling amongst themselves. No one had a smile on their face, and everyone looked tired.

The memorial with the most stuff at the bottom was one of the S slabs. Gwen spotted Peter's adoptive brother Harley by the base, right arm in a sling and seated in a wheelchair with his left leg stretched out in front of him, secured tightly. Holy moly, that was a lot of bandages and straps.

What happened to him?

Happy was squeezing him, and she saw both of their shoulders shaking. Suddenly feeling intrusive, she turned to walk away, but she caught one of the names on the slab. Stacy.

Harley pulled away from Happy, wiping at his eyes and taking deep, gulping breaths to calm himself. A second later, it didn't appear he'd been crying at all.

Gwen approached nervously, trying her best to avoid looking at them. She instead focused her attention on the names, scanning them for people she knew.

Morgan Stark
Peter Parker-Stark

A little farther up, her eyes landed on two names that made her brain jolt in recognition.

George Stacy
Helen Stacy

No emotion betrayed her, but agony was tearing her up from the inside.

Her parents were really gone.

"Gwen?" Harley asked in surprise. "What are you---I--I mean---I didn't think I'd---"

"Hey." Gwen said softly, not taking her eyes away from her parents' names. "Sorry about Peter and your sister."

"Oh." She saw Harley gulp out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah, well... Everyone lost someone, right? And they wouldn't want us to be sad for them."

After a moment's hesitation, he shifted, wringing his hands together nervously. Gwen glanced at him, taking note of his outgrown, immensely-dry-shampooed hair and the bags under his eyes. She spotted a few wires sticking out of his leg, and she quickly looked away, not wanting to picture how far deep they were stuck in.

"Did---did you loose anyone close?" Harley asked. "It's okay if you don't wanna talk. I---I was just--"

"Yeah," Gwen whispered, a fresh batch of tears welling in her eyes, but not spilling over her cheeks. "You could say that."

There were a few seconds of awkward silence as Harley scanned the memorial. A gasp issued from his mouth as he probably read her parents' names.

"Oh, Gwen!" he whispered. "I--I'm so sorry! I didn't---"

"It's fine," Gwen snapped, hugging herself. "As you said, everybody lost somebody."

Before he could say anything else, Gwen launched herself into the air, swinging away as fast as possible.