Spider-Gwen 3 || The Fall

After Everything || Gwen Stacy

"I just wanna' save you while there's still something left to save"

-Savior, Rise Against

Snow crunched beneath Gwen Stacy's feet as she paced around the top of the Chrysler building. The young woman was on her nighttime patrol for the first time in several days since she'd finally been freed from the symbiote with the help of her friends-and the city was about to see Ghost Spider out and about in her classic outfit for the first time in a while.

Her mask was off for now, though. Gwen held the piece of fabric in her left hand as she kept her cowl up and surveyed the streets below, listening out for anything indicating that the NYPD had gotten into a scuffle with Oscorp.

The lights below made tonight's snowfall glisten as it fell past Gwen's face... it was a rather beautiful sight, one that she wished she could stop to appreciate.

"Take the time now, while you can."

That voice... it made Gwen's heart stop as it reached her ears. No... it couldn't be...

Right?

She turned around slowly, seeing none other than Captain George Stacy, looking alive and well as he watched the snow flutter from the skies above.

Gwen's throat tightened, her vision blurring immediately. Then her father looked at her, and she gasped softly, fighting the urge to break down and cry on the spot.

Another crazy dream... it's gotta' be, Gwen thought to herself as she tried to calm down. I thought I was going to be done with this once the symbiote was gone-

"It wasn't just the symbiote causing this, Gwen." Her father told her, somehow responding to thoughts inside Gwen's head as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "You've had this power for a long, long time..."

Power?

George chuckled softly, making his way over as Gwen could do nothing but stare. Once he was a few feet away, her father stopped to give her a proud look. "Look at you... finally got that crazy thing off of you," He murmured, shooting Gwen a smile. "I bet you're glad it's gone-"

"We're not gone."

Another voice made Gwen spin on her heels, and her mouth fell open as yet another dead person came into sight-Owen Octavius, sitting on the edge that they were all standing on and letting his feet dangle off of it as he looked across the cityscape.

"No, we're never going to leave." Owen insisted, shooting a hateful glare at George. "After all... we've always been a part of her, deep down. You know that-"

"Keep clinging to the minor details." George retorted, rolling his eyes before looking at Gwen once again. 

Her head was spinning-time and time again she'd had inexplicable dreams such as this. They'd involved the people she'd cared about, loved, and watched die before her eyes. And this was supposed to be some sort of 'power', according to this version of her father?

"Do you really still not understand what's going on here?" George questioned, once again reading Gwen's thoughts.

"She won't catch on," Owen spoke, not looking at George anymore as he continued observing the darkened streets of New York City. "Just like she hasn't caught on to what my final move will be, and how I'll execute it right under her nose..."

The way Owen was speaking now sent chills down Gwen's spine-she knew by now that, somehow, someway, Owen was speaking for the symbiote. Why her subconscious had chosen him to represent the thing that had mentally tortured her for the better part of the last month was beyond her, but that's how it was.