MJ woke in a strange room. The curtains hadn’t been drawn properly and a small amount of light found its way through. MJ groaned as it roused her from her sleep.

She felt the warmth next to her and the slow comfort suddenly became full-blown panic.

She knew Peter had stayed, but in the night she had pulled the blanket over him as well, and they had cuddled even closer. But now it was more.

She was facing him, and his hand had crept up her top and was gently resting on her chest. Not that he was blameless. The arm trapped between them had found its way into his pants, and she had a grip on a hardening member. His hardening member.

Shit! she thought, and she gently slid her hand away, as Peter softly sighed in his sleep.

“We can’t Gwen. MJ is here,” he mumbled and squeezed her breast. As he pulled his hand down, it caught her very excited nipple.

Stupid shit Parker, why’d you have to date her.

If Peter woke now and asked her for more, she would say yes.

If Peter woke now and told her he loved her, she would cry with joy and tell him the same.

She had her childhood friend back. The one person who never gave up on her, and right now, this was as close as they were ever going to get.

And it sucks, MJ thought. Not because she hated it, but because she wanted them to be more.

MJ had been glad Peter was there to take care of her and found solace in his presence. He was the rock she had been desperate for and even with last night she wished she could stay here longer.

She slid away, letting his hand fall free and he blinked and rubbed his eyes.

“Sorry, I need to uh.” She hurriedly grabbed some clothes and headed to the door.

"It’s fine," Peter replied. He sat up and stretched, "but we should get to the hospital. I need to see how Gwen is doing." Peter flipped over his phone and there were missed calls and texts from both Aunt May and Captain Stacy.

His aunts were of concern after his message but Georges were borderline abusive. Peter scowled as he deleted them all.

"Uh, Gwen's dad is pissed." he sighed, "I need to go see her." but he paused as he became aware that he was sporting an erection.

MJ paused and found her own phone. She grimaced as she saw the messages.

"Yeah", she looked guilty at it, "Flash is the same, a whole bunch of texts asking where I was."

Peter shrugged, "last night was rough on everyone MJ, not just Flash and Gwen."

MJ looked guiltily at her phone, "yeah,"

Peter stood and stretched, with MJ staring at him as his muscular stomach came into view. “Can I?” he asked as he pointed to the sink.

MJ nodded and watched as he ran the hot water. 

Goddam it MJ, get a grip.

He could go home but he just wanted to wash and get to the hospital as fast as possible.

He ran some water into the sink. It was not as good as a shower but it needed to be quick.

and cold he thought, as he stripped off his T-shirt and sponged himself down.

Vague memories of teasing Gwen like this surface and he had to smile. He knew MJ was staring, he could even hear her heartbeat quickening.

dammit Pete, stop being an ass.

Gwen was in the hospital and here he was, messing around with MJ.

Peter had missed this, MJ was now like her old self, smiling and fun to be around. When she was with Flash you could see that something was wrong. There was no smile, other than a fake plastic one she fooled everyone with. Peter hated Flash with a passion, not for ruining his life, but for what he must have done to MJ as well.

MJ watched stunned as Peter, without a care in the world, stripped off his shirt in front of her. What stunned her more though was the rippling muscles of his back. Covered in a patchwork of large black and green bruises.

She stood and without thinking ran a hand down his back, etching lines along his ribs and down his spine.

"Uh, MJ?" Peter asked her and she came back to reality,

"Oh, shit, uh shit sorry, you um, yeah bruises. You've got huge bruises on your back." Peter hadn't turned around but MJ was looking for something to do to avoid him seeing her blushing red face.

damn him, she thought to herself, why the hell was I so stupid?

They might not have talked. Flash make his disapproval of Peter perfectly clear but she still talked to Gwen about him. She still cared how he was doing, and after seeing him strip, definitely had feelings for him.

Her phone beeped and turning to check she frowned. "It’s Harrison. He wants to know if I'll be at the hospital."

She stepped back and began to click on her phone. "I'm heading off Pete. It's, yeah, it's a bad idea if we show up together, sorry, sorry," and she grabbed her jacket and bag and bolted for the door.

Peter stood and watched her flee like a mouse before a cat, and smirking to himself he pulled on a T-shirt and shirt.

He knew Flash was hurt and that calling things off would be really bad timing. He knew from the way she looked at him, and the look on her face as they woke up that they had done something in the night.

He might have felt bad about things if Flash wasn't a colossal dick, but he fully intended to split them up. Flash wouldn't be made to feel welcome here and he would make sure he stayed away.

The asshole deserved it, his one saving grace. The one thing saving him from being broken by Venom was that he'd pushed MJ out of the building and saved her. He might have some decency in him, and that small act was his own salvation. Peter felt he still didn't deserve MJ though.

But Gwen didn't deserve it. Even if MJ was now back in his life. Even if she did have feelings for him and he could see them getting close. Gwen was his girlfriend, and he wouldn't cheat on her.

Peter didn't agree with waiting but MJ had already run off. He made sure the warehouse was locked up and called his own taxi. As he waited he sent Aunt May a message to say he'd be visiting Gwen at the hospital.

⁂

Gwen was given a clean bill of health by her doctor and was just sleeping, not in a coma. It didn't stop George Stacy from giving Peter an earful though.

“Why was she still in there? You should have made sure everyone was out once the fighting started. You told me you were responsible, well, you are. For this mess. I trusted you, Peter. I let Gwen go out and this happened.” George angrily ranted at him. “If you were in the bathroom why didn't you call 911 once the gang had shown up?”

Peter had no answers for him, but the incessant bitching was driving Peter insane. He wanted nothing more than to bring out Venom and drive the man into the wall then roar in anger at what had happened.

It was Aunt May's arrival that fended George off. “How dare you yell at someone just after an accident.” Aunt May stood between Peter and George. “How dare you yell at him for not standing up to four grown men.”

George and the rest of the hospital staff stared in shock as the small kind-looking woman yelled back at him.

“You might be commissioner, but you do not get to yell abuse at a boy,” she shouted as she prodded him in the chest.

Peter was lost in his own thoughts. Four supervillains, four, showed up and his stupidity got Gwen hurt. It was his actions that almost got her killed. If he hadn't, if he. Peter felt a rush of emotion flow through him, dousing his rage and he burst into tears.

A Passing nurse shone a pen in his eyes that he barely registered and just said "shock." She wrote out a label and handed May a bottle of something before walking off.

There were half a dozen small pills in the bottle with a note,

‘if he can't sleep take one with warm milk. 20mg Diazepam.’

No name was attached to the bottle but May knew the drug. She had taken them after Ben was killed. The nurse knew what the kids had been through, and seeing Peter had no insurance had acted in kindness.

"A menace, I tell you. This Venom character rushes into a hostage situation. Causing massive property damage and for what? One brave barista is cut down in the prime of their life as super menaces smash their way into a bank. I, J.Jonah Jameson, plead to all my loyal viewers if you see Venom. If you hear about Venom then call in. The Daily Bugle.com will pay for any story, anything leading to the arrest of that black costumed freak."

At the word freak, Peter snapped back to reality. He knew he'd been lax, he knew he'd been thoughtless. He knew if he wanted to make sure it never happened again that he needed to be more diligent in the future.

Seeing Aunt May next to him, he squeezed her hand. "Can I, uh stay with you tonight May, I know Gwen-"

May stopped him, "it’s okay Peter, take the time you need."

Peter took a deep breath, "thanks Aunt May," and leaned in to hug her.

Those bastards would pay, he would find who they were and they would pay, not just for his arm but for Gwen as well.

"Is MJ okay?" May looked at his hand in hers, a frown on her face,

"Um yeah Aunt May, MJ is fine but uh, Flash. Flash was trapped under the rubble too, I think, uh, MJ said he was here, but I don't know where." Peter couldn't exactly tell his aunt he didn't really care about what happened to Flash. Right now it was best to fake it.

⁂

The small group waited for news.

Gwen had been kept in overnight, she was being released.

MJ send a quick message saying Harrison was expecting her to stay with Flash.

Gwen's injuries were minor. The hospital had cleaned her wound, bandaged it and given her a clean bill of health.

George glared at him as they all walked to the taxi rank together with Aunt May keeping the peace between the pair with pointed looks. Gwen was grateful as she didn't know if she could hold her tongue. She knew Peter had saved her and her father needed to be reminded of that.

Gwen was feeling up to sending MJ a text and while not immediate, she got one back. "Uh, Flash," Gwen said, "he lost his leg. The broken one was smashed by rubble and they couldn’t save it. He was too long under the rubble." Gwen was repeating the message in a daze while Aunt May covered her mouth in shock.

Peter moved in to hug Gwen but her father stepped in front of him wrapping his arms around her. She neglected to mention it was also due to his already broken leg.

"Maybe it's time for family, Peter. You should spend time with your Aunt and leave Gwen to me," George Stacy stated bluntly.

"Gwen's my girlfriend, sir, and MJ is my friend. Maybe she needs a different kind of family right now," Peter retorted. He was tired of Captain Stacy giving him crap.

"Listen here you little shit. If you'd been paying attention as you should have and not been some delinquent. Gwen would never have been hurt. This is your fault." He'd pushed Gwen behind him and was waving his hands at Peter as he ranted.

"Sir, I saved Gwen. I pulled her under a table as debris fell." Peter took off his jacket and lifted his shirt, showing the huge bruises over his back. "This, this is from shielding her from the rubble. I'm sorry I can't reflect rocks very well. I'm sorry that it's somehow my fault that a crime happened but don't you yell at me for saving your fucking daughter. You ungrateful prick,"

Peter's anger bubbled and threatened to boil over when Aunt May put a hand on his shoulder. The coldness of it doused his inner fire. Peter stopped, patting her hand, his head hanging down,

"Sorry Aunt May, I'm sorry," he said as he patted it.

It was Gwen though that came through for him. She pushed past her father, pulled down Peter's shirt and took his jacket. "Take me home Pete," she said, "Dad, I'll text you later, go home and calm down."

"but, but Gwen honey, you're just out of the hospital and-" George stammered,

"No, dad. Not today. No arguments." Gwen was serious, "Peter, get a cab for your aunt and one for us," She saw him hesitate and glance over at her dad. "Now!" she said forcefully and he flinched but took his aunt's arm and got her into a taxi.

⁂

The ride back to the warehouse was quiet. Gwen's knuckles were white as she clasped her hands together and Peter was unsure why she was mad. Did she know it was him who dragged her under that table? Did she know he was Venom?

Once the taxi had left, Gwen stormed into the warehouse, leaving Peter to lock the door behind them.

Gwen raised a finger at him, glaring. He paused in the doorway, unsure of where Gwen’s anger was coming from.

Standing before Peter, she began to undress. Stripping off the slacks she had on and soon she stood before him with nothing on and Peter gulped.

"Don't even fucking think about it you shit, you've got some explaining to do"

As he stood watching, black liquid flowed over her body. It covered her in latex-like material, just like his own armour.

Her transformation finished and Gwen stood there, in a suit just like his.

It was black up to the chest area where it changed into white. Under her arms, covering from her armpit to her wrist was a pink diamond filled with a white web design.

Her mask was slightly different. The bald featureless face, a coloured copy of his Venom symbskin covered her. Her eyes were edged pink and a white hood covered her head.

As he stood, unsure of what to say, her mouth split apart into a huge maw,

"WE ARE ANGRY WITH YOU PETER!"