Tracing the Webs

Chapter 3

I can't tell if it's the adrenaline or if I'm not as affected by it.

In fact, all this time, I've just been assuming that I have the same powers as Peter Parker, but I should really keep testing it, just to make sure.

It'd be things like, adherence, strength, both of which I checked, but also agility, quick healing, and spidey-sense.

I guess I'll see how long it takes this graze to heal.

"Hey, Gwen?"

Gwen was snapped out of her thoughts and lifted her head to look at Skye. Skye was focused on her task of cleaning Gwen's leg, but couldn't help the question that was overwhelming her, "how did you... Why did you decide to take on an armed man by yourself?"

Gwen's heart skipped a beat. My abilities, mostly. But are they something I want to share with people? Even if that other person is Skye, Agent of Shield? For some reason, her protective instincts were in overdrive over the knowledge of her powers.

"I wouldn't be able to take it if someone got hurt or even died because I walked away. And I didn't have cell service." Not a lie, exactly. But not the whole truth. "I thought I could talk him down or at least get him to leave." Gwen huffed, you saw how that ended up."

"That's a good reason if I ever heard one. But... just be sure to be more careful in the future. That could've gone so much worse." Skye finished with the alcohol and brought out bandages. She started padding and wrapping Gwen's leg.

"I'm not one to judge," Skye met Gwen's eyes and tilted her head, "but I am one to ask questions. Why didn't you want to go to a hospital?"

That one was easy to answer. "Not enough money and, well, gunshot wounds tend to bring with them a lot of questions I don't feel like answering right now."

'Where are your parents? Do you have a guardian? Are you employed? Can I see your ID?'

I can't answer any of these, because I don't exist here!

No birth records, no orphanage records, no school records, not even pictures of her existed here.

Despite the irritated thoughts in her mind, she kept a smile on her face.

"Alright, you're all set," Skye said as she finished wrapping Gwen's leg and stood up. "Do you want me to call your parents?"

Gwen looked at Skye again. Looking at the real, live person in front of her, she realized that this was an existence she could interact with.

From the hands that helped her patch up, the voice that asked if she was okay, and the eyes that stared into hers- they were all real. And Gwen's hearts shook.

She truly started to realize that she didn't just move somewhere far away. Skye's very existence proved that she was in another world altogether. She had no way home.

Why am I even here?

What's the point of being here? Was it just an accident? Did one of those 'cosmic forces' that thinks it has a right to meddle in everything bring me here? Why did I get powers?

The despair of questioning her existence and what role she played in the world was starting to overwhelm her inside.

Gwen tried her best to push those thoughts down. She knew panicking would do no good to her. She had always known how to control her emotions and suppress feelings in drastic situations. But she had never had to handle anything as big as this.

As her breath became unsteady, Skye put her hand on Gwen's shoulder and asked, "I'm sorry, are your parents a sore subject? Is there anyone else I should call?"