Gwen squinted her eyes to see through the rain that was pelting down, a far cry from the weather of the morning. There had still been no word from Peter, and all the thoughts she had been pushing away were becoming impossible to ignore as the middle of the afternoon approached. Upon spotting the vibrant yellow of a cab through the dull greyness of the city, she pushed herself up off the brick wall she'd been waiting by outside the hospital and started towards it. Without the crutches, it was much easier to move around despite them having been replaced by a moon boot, and she was able to flag the driver down and reach it before they drove off. Before she'd had the chance to open the back door, a hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her back.
Whirling around to see a man, not too much older than herself, carrying an obviously fake briefcase, reaching for the handle of the car door, her mouth dropped open at the audacity and she moved fast, placing her hand on the handle just as his hand connected with it as well. In agitation, the man barged in front, causing her hand to slip from the handle, and when she attempted to reach out again, he shoved her back and quickly opened the car door as she fell back onto the pavement.
“Listen lady, catch the next one. I was supposed to be home from work an hour ago, the wife is gonna murder me if she catches wind of why I'm late.”
Gwen glared up in disbelief as he used the opportunity to jump inside the back of the cab and as she got to her feet, she scowled and activated her newly fixed web shooters, catching the door before he could close it.
“I was here first.” She snapped.
“Too bad.”
With a hefty sigh, she held up her hand, revealing his wallet that had dropped while he'd been busy stealing her ride and smirked.
“Good luck getting anywhere without this.”
“This isn't funny. Give it to me.”
“Not until you step outside the car.”
“Bitch, I'll have you for theft.” He threatened.
“Theft? Ha! It's not theft when you dropped it and I'm returning it to you. Anyway, you wouldn't stand a chance. It's pouring out here and you just assaulted me for a freaking cab. You could have caused some serious issues, all because of your own selfishness.” She snapped. “Want your wallet, then go get it.” She added and then tossed it into a puddle that, due to the heavy downpour, quickly carried it to a drain, where it disappeared below the surface.
“No!” The man yelled, scrambling out of the car and following the flow of the puddle.
“Who's the bitch now? Bitch.” She laughed, and hastily took his place inside the cab.
“Where to?” The cab driver asked, looking in the rear view mirror.
Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get the words out, her phone rang. With her hands still wet from the rain, she fumbled inside her pocket and glanced at the screen, feeling a glimmer of hope as she saw Peter's name in white letters across the screen, and she swiped to answer.
“Peter?... Peter, where are you? Why haven't you-”
“Hello, Gwen…”
“Oh my Ve-” She stopped mid-sentence, glancing in the rear view mirror at the cab driver, and cleared her throat. “Eddie!”
“Someone wants to speak to you.”
The sound of crackling static came through the phone, and she removed it from her ear for a second before putting it back up when the awful noise ceased.
“Peter?” She guessed.
“Gwen? Gwen, whatever you do, don't come!”
“Where are you? You're with Eddie? Are you okay?”
YOU ARE READING
The Afterglow
FanfictionSEQUEL TO SHOWING HER THE ROPES. 1 Year after they left for Oxford, Peter and Gwen are now back in New York City and newly married too. They had left thinking that Venom was gone, along with Harry Osborne. Harry is dead. But Venom could still return...
