~Broken Family~

Another Introducing

Gwen Stacy was alone.

In the dark. In the cold.

She didn't know where she was, but it didn't matter.

Her world was gone. She was alone.

She hugged her knees to her chest, sobs wracking her body. What had her family done to deserve this? What had anyone done?

They were stolen in the snap of a finger.

***

It felt like days until she was finally able to stand. She was in an overflowing homeless shelter, surrounded by countless others who were just as confused as she was. Waiting in agony to hear news of their loved ones. Her cheeks were dry now--no more tears would come, no matter how much she willed them to.

For the hundredth time, Gwen opened her phone and scrolled through her mother's last texts.

I'm going to pick you up from school today, your father has a meeting. We have something to talk about.

Now Gwen would never know what her mother had wanted to discuss. Never get to greet her father coming home after his meeting.

They had been stolen from her in the snap of a finger.

Her mother hadn't picked her up after school. Instead, all of the kids had panicked as half the school turned to dust, everyone calling their parents. The parents who hadn't been turned to dust picked up their kids immediately, leaving everyone else in confusion and despair. Eventually, other friends or family members had come to claim the rest of the kids.

Except for Gwen. Gwen was alone.

The rest of her family lived in Minnesota, and she hadn't spoken to them for years.

She couldn't get ahold of her dad. Her mom wouldn't pick up, either. And she had frantically swung by their apartment earlier the day before, a pile of dust greeting her like a slap to the face. A punch to the gut.

It'd been more painful than anything any burglar or mugger had ever done to her. Even worse than that time Peter had almost died.

Oh. Peter.

Her only friend.

He wouldn't answer his phone, either. And these days, that only meant one thing.

She closed out of her mom's contact and opened his, scrolling through the last thirty messages she'd sent in a panic. None of them were read yet, and she was hoping, wishing, praying, that he was only just as confused as she was.

Answer your phone, she typed through tears, calling him a rude word at the end. You're scaring me.

She bit her lip to keep from crying again and turned it off, rolling over on her jacket. The shelter was overflowing, and she'd given up her cot to a distraught pregnant woman who had been hugging a toddler close to her chest.

It's what heroes do, she told herself, watching the woman stroking her daughter's hair until they both fell asleep.

Her mom used to do that.

Just as she considered going up and asking about her parents for the hundredth time, her phone started vibrating. Her heart jumped in her throat and started to pound in her ears--someone was calling her! Someone was reaching out to her!

She dug around frantically in her backpack, fingers shaking as she pulled it out.

It was Peter.

"Peter!" she cried loudly as she answered, making several people turn their heads. "Don't you ever do that again! You scared the crap out of me! I thought you were gone!"

The other end was silent.

"Will you please let me know you're alright, you son of a--"

"Gwen Stacy?" Gwen's blood turned to ice. The voice wasn't her best friend's that had spent hours laughing, goofing off, and gossiping with. It belonged to-- "This is Tony...Peter's dad."

"No," Gwen mumbled, rubbing her hand across her tear-filled eyes. "No, no, please... Please just let my friend be okay."

Another pause, some uncomfortable shifting. Stark's voice sounded congested, like he'd spent a lot of time crying. And he was calling Gwen.

She knew the news was coming before Tony Stark started to speak.

"I'm sorry, Gwen. Peter's gone."

Gwen hung up swiftly, before Iron Man could hear more of her cries.

Her parents and her only friend. Gone.

What else did she have left to lose?