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She's Spider Gwen. She's got this. She's fine.
It's just.
It's just a minor set back and she CAN fix this.
She HAS to fix this.
Gwen had run after the portal had closed and hadn't stopped swinging until she got to a bridge. She's honestly not even sure which bridge she's at, just that it's high up and the wind is the only thing reminding her to breathe.
Her dad looked so heart broken. Like the betrayal had cut through him and left him bleeding. Kind of like how it felt to know he was afraid of her. That he was willing to arrest her. That he was willing to SHOOT her.
Yeah. That had stung.
Like the rejection from those two spiders. The only other people who could possibly understand her after she'd had to let go of Miles and been so so alone again. She'd had a chance for a friend, and just like before, she'd had to leave him behind. At least this time Miles was alive.
But it's cool. She's been alone before and she's made it through and she's been hurt before and made it through, so this is just like that. She can fix this.
Somehow.
What choice does she have?
She can't portal away. She has no one to talk to. She has no where else to live. There's no other way to do this besides confronting her dad.
… and maybe being blamed for her best friend's death.
… And maybe seeing her dad's hurt expression again.
… and maybe going to jail.
Maybe it's worth it to drop out and be homeless? She barely exists at school anyway. No one would notice if she stopped showing up. She'd quit the band, and her dad was the last real tether to reality. The last person who cared she existed.
Or at least he used to.
Maybe.
Maybe that's what needs to change.
Maybe that would fix everything.
Gwen wiped another tear from her face. She wrapped her arms tighter around her legs. She watched the bridge traffic go by.
Maybe it's not that she needed to say the right thing. Maybe she just needed to do the right thing. For once.
Maybe this was the least selfish thing she could do.
Gwen watched the teal ribbons of her slippers flutter in the breeze. It's windy this high up.
They make a sharp dichotomy with the speeding metal of the cars that passed far below and the dull black sheen of the asphalt.
She could even make it an elegant spectacle. Something fleeting yet devastatingly beautiful. She'd always loved Swan Lake. The technical skill of the final moments.
She could have her debut performance as lead dancer Odette and her final show stopper all in one.
"Is a bit cliche for my tastes, but I respect da drama of it," a voice with a truly bazaar accent said suddenly near her.
How did someone get to here without allerting her senses?!
Gwen jumped and landed defensively, looking to a familiar red and blue suit with unfamiliar spikes and chains.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded. "Who even are you?"
"Was sent on'a'haffa Blue Garfield an Spider Mum. Seems they felt bad leavin' ya to your fate as sidewalk jelly. Nick a time too, seems." The lanky boy? Teen? Man? Walked across the suspension cables to her, while barely moving his fingers from his pockets. He was a riot of patterns and writing and text and textures.
"You got a butcher's hook about ya."
"Butcher's…what?" Gwen felt her mask pull in a confused look.
"What's got you looking to take that leap?" The spider rephrased, spiked mohawk jerking off the edge of the bridge who's cables they both balanced on.
Gwen looked down at her teal shoes again. "You wouldn't understand."
The spiders snorted. "Mate, I might be the only one who can."
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