Chapter 209: No Milk, No Regrets

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Gwen heard murmurs around her as her consciousness returned, then she felt the soft mattress beneath her and the warmth of a blanket draped over her, both of which weren't present when she passed out in the lobby. She pried her eyes open to the ceiling of her fancy room in Silvija's corporate building. The curtains were drawn, but slivers of darkness revealed the day had passed. She had been out for the entire day. Which also meant the man who had attacked Silver Sable International and the Brood had been handled, probably by her boyfriend.

She breathed a sigh of relief and only then looked at the culprits responsible for waking her up. From the edge of the bed, three faces stared at her with varying degrees of concern.

She sat up on the bed. "Is Miles okay? What about Yuri?"

Although she had confidence in Dante's ability, she couldn't help but worry about her adopted brother's state. Miles was still struggling with the loss of his father, no matter how many times he insisted he was fine.

"Yup, he went home. Yuri also returned to her duties," Dante said, scooting over to sit at her side. His hand found hers over the blanket. "How do you feel?"

She flexed her fingers and rolled her shoulders. Everything responded without any pain as though the Spider-Queen hadn't thrashed her senseless. In fact, she felt just like that time when Dante used Biokinesis on her. The Anti-Venom had also pretty much recovered all of its healing powers. It wouldn't be wrong to say she was in her best condition.

"Pretty good, not gonna lie. Feels like I can go another round with that Spider bitch."

That was suspicious in itself. Not a single grain of rice had entered her belly since breakfast in the morning and yet she felt full. She chalked it up to Dante pulling his Biokinesis trick again, tweaking her metabolism so she wouldn't wake up starving. She really wished he would stop using that power. The one-time side effect had been forever imprinted on her mind. But she knew by now that Biokinesis was as much a part of him as her webs were a part of her.

'You don't get to pick and choose parts of someone you accepted. That's not how love works, Gwennie.'

He smiled at her cheeky response. "Speedrunning getting bodied by your arch-nemesis."

Gwen scrunched her nose. "This is what you have to say about your girlfriend being bullied?"

He reached out and patted her head. "There, there. It won't happen again."

"I hope not," she whispered, turning her attention to Felicia and Laura. "Any particular reason you all were… watching me sleep? It's a little unsettling."

Dante being here was understandable. The man worried about his people like it was a competition and he was gunning for gold. Felicia had a streak of protectiveness under her devil-may-care attitude, but she would've stopped caring once Dante told her Gwen was alright. Laura had probably tagged along with Dante.

"Calm your tits, Stacy," Felicia said, flicking her silver-white hair over one shoulder. "We came to check up on you. You know, like friends do? I know the concept might be foreign to our little Miss Stacy."

Laura made an annoyed face. "You drooled on that pillow. Why would someone want to watch you sleep?"

"I don't—" Gwen stopped herself, her face turning red at the dark patch on her pillow. She raised her hands in surrender, flashing an awkward grin. "I just asked a question, jeez. Why are you all so relentless tonight?"

"We're just worried," Felicia huffed. "Forget about it."

Gwen nodded and noticed an empty Greek Yogurt tub on the nightstand. "Getting your daily protein in, I see."

He had the decency to look mildly sheepish about it, a rare expression on a face that usually projected confidence. He gave an awkward nod. "How else am I gonna keep a girlfriend like you?"

"Shut up." She chuckled, shoving his shoulder. "Why don't you fill me in on stuff? What happened after I got knocked into oblivion?"

"Well."

Dante gave her the concise version that could be summed one in one sentence: Dante came back from Egypt and handled everything. Two words encompassed a level of blood carnage she was better off not visualizing.

"Good job." She nodded slowly, then looked down at her hands. "And… sorry. I got thrashed twice in a day… I'm setting new records left and right."

The confession made her feel bitter. The first fight was an excusable defeat, but the second one was completely winnable. She just had to be a bit faster and a bit stronger against the mutant.

He took her hand and squeezed. "Not your fault. You fought well above your weight class and survived. That's a win in my book."

His kind words didn't make her feel better. If anything, it reminded her of Illyana's biting words about her being a leech. She was growing stronger alongside her symbiote, no question. But her enemies grew exponentially from one to the next, each new threat scaling up like a boss in a video game. Her only paths to power were either through slow, honest training or getting Death to sponsor her like Felicia.

The unfortunate, sad part was Death remained indifferent toward her.

'She probably thinks of me as a problem child.'

Death wouldn't be wrong either. Gwen had only done things that worried everyone around her.

Dante squeezed her hand again, giving her a reassuring smile that always made her feel like maybe things weren't as bleak as her brain insisted they were. "Relax, you've done incredible."

Felicia looked at her with sharp eyes. "It's not even bad. I trained like hell to go against a whole prison staff to break my father out. You think I'd be here if I beat myself over small losses?"

"No…"

"I agree with Dante… you're very strong for how little you've trained," Laura offered rare words of comfort. "You'd beat me four out of ten times… and I've been programmed to fight and kill since I was born."

Hearing Laura acknowledge Gwen's strength did help a little. She knew Laura wasn't one for lying and comforting anyone beside Dante.

"I'm winning ten out of ten, obviously." Felicia leaned back on her palms with a smug grin, white hair cascading behind her. She wouldn't have looked out of place on a magazine cover. "I don't think anyone other than Darling can beat me now. Does that make me the second strongest person in Manhattan? Somebody should get me a plaque."

It had been quite a while since Gwen wanted to punch someone in the face. "Can't wait for you to annoy Death and get your powers revoked. It's gonna be more satisfying than watching Jaime Lannister getting humbled."

"Noooo!" Felicia looked up, addressing the omnipresent cosmic entity that may or may not have been listening to their banter. "Death, big sis, you wouldn't do that to your favorite little sis, right? Right? Death?!"

The silence was devastating.

Gwen chuckled. "Get fucked."

Felicia hunched over, depressed. "Death, come on. I don't wanna go back to being a weakling. That's no fun!"

"She isn't taking anything back," Dante said, breaking Felicia out of her self-inflicted doubts. "Alright, let's wrap it up. I've got an important day tomorrow."

"We sure do."

He turned toward Gwen with a soft look in his eyes. "You wanna return home, or stay here?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Gwen caught Felicia making faces and desperately signaling to the door with her eyes. Gwen roughly translated that to "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Felicia wanted to do Felicia things. Judging by Laura's eagerness, Felicia wanted to involve her into the mix.

'She wants to invite Laura but not me.'

Perhaps they weren't as good friends as she had expected. Otherwise, Felicia wouldn't leave her out of freaky plans involving their boyfriend.

'I won't let you.'

Gwen was feeling extremely petty tonight. Felicia always got to do intimate things with Dante while she had been stuck on the kissing stage. It was high time she got pampered for once.

"I wanna stay here."

"Alright," Dante said, ready to get out of the bed. "I'll grab—"

Before he could, she tugged at his hand and pulled him back to her side. Her fingers laced through his as she looked up with a soft, pleading gaze. "I had a bad dream… Can we cuddle tonight?"

Felicia was absolutely floored at Gwen's shameless act. "You're pulling the bad dream card? What are you, ten?"

"Dude, I've been through hell today." Gwen leaned against Dante's shoulder. "Just let me have this, please?"

The last word cleared Felicia's annoyance, bringing a softer expression to her face.

"We're leaving, then." She rose from the bed and yawned. "Darling, can we at least get a goodnight kiss?"

"Of course."

Dante kissed Felicia on her forehead. Felicia tilted her chin to sneak in a kiss on his lips, but his palm blocked her mouth.

"Felicia, I told you something important."

Felicia was the type to take a mile when given an inch, so Dante was right to shut down her attempts early on. Otherwise, Felicia would escalate it all the way into an impromptu foursome, which Gwen wouldn't mind being part of. She, of course, would never admit having such a lewd fantasy to anyone.

"Darling…" Felicia pulled his hand away. For a moment, she seemed to be on the verge of saying something, but she stopped herself. Her momentary glance in Gwen's direction revealed it had something to do with her. "Sorry. It's a habit."

Dante's expression softened. He drew her in, wrapped both arms around her, and pressed his lips to the crown of her white hair. "I appreciate you making this compromise."

"Gwen is my little kitten," Felicia whispered, melting in his arms. "A good mama cat looks after all her kittens. Even the naughty ones."

Gwen grimaced. "What are you even talking about?"

"Nothing concerning you, sweetcheeks." Felicia chuckled. "Laura, come get your goodnight kissies."

Dante looked past Felicia and extended an arm to the silent black-haired woman. "Laura."

Laura accepted his hand, allowing herself to be pulled into his arms. He gave her a long kiss on her forehead. "Be ready for tomorrow."

A fierce look ignited in her eyes. "Let's bring Nat home."

Gwen realizes the plan was to help Natasha get out of SHIELD's prison—a mission she would happily participate in even if it meant going against the government.

"Will do my best for you both!" Felicia said cheerfully. "Nat might be an emotional mess, but she's pretty reliable in battles."

Laura put an arm around Felicia's back, letting her actions speak for herself.

They pulled apart slowly. Felicia cast one last look over her shoulder, giving a 'I-will-remember-this-Gwen-Stacy' look before leaving the room. Laura followed without looking back, though her hand lingered on the doorframe like she didn't want to leave. Their actions reminded Gwen of the consequences of her selfishness, but it was too late for regrets.

What she could do was make the most out of her opportunity.

As soon as the door closed, Gwen hugged his side, enjoying his warmth in silence. "I'm having a déjà vu. Are you hiding something from me?"

"I am," he answered honestly. "Do you want to hear it?"

She thought about it before shaking her head. "I trust you have a reason. You're the last person who'll try to hurt me."

He put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer. "You trust me that much?"

"I do." She wriggled free and swung her legs off the bed, walking barefoot toward the fridge. She pulled it open and moved the bottles aside, searching for milk. There wasn't any. "I thought the maids restocked every room."

How was she going to make some hot chocolate? It was her comfort drink, but also the only thing she could confidently make.

She glanced over her shoulder at Dante, then at the cans of Coke sitting on the shelf. He was a walking miniature sun, unaffected by the chill. He could get away with drinking anything.

Grabbing three cans, she moved back to the bed and put them in his lap. She snatched the TV remote off the nightstand and clicked it on.

"Hold these and watch something fun, dumb, or cheesy, I won't judge. Just don't fall asleep before I get back from the shower."

His hand caught hers just as she turned toward the cupboard. "Gwen, I need you at your best tomorrow."

She felt heat creep up the back of her neck. He had seen right through her attempt to seduce him, which, to be fair, hadn't even started yet. At least he was rejecting her for priority. Their task tomorrow was big enough that he needed her sharp and well-rested. Although his Biokinesis could help with physical exhaustion, he wouldn't be able to help with the mind fatigue. Besides, her first time wouldn't feel special if he was forced into it.

"Bathing at night is a whole cultural thing in parts of Asia," Gwen said, barely managing to keep her dignity. "I just want to freshen up, that's all."

He smiled. "Alright."

She dashed to her cupboard and hastily grabbed a fresh set of clothes, hugging them to her chest as she darted into the bathroom before he could see her ears go red from embarrassment.

***

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