Chapter 29

[Third Person's PoV]

Gwen seeing MJ wipe away her single tear just jumps away and started swinging away escaping the scene.

Gwen didn't say anything for a few seconds besides "Show me Peter's location."

A mini map appeared at the corner of her vision instructing her on were to go. While making her way towards Peter, she kept replying the scene in her head.

She quickly arrived and saw a robber tied up in webs on the floor infront of the story while being lecture by Peter.

Peter stopped talking while pointing at the guy and just asked "She's right behind me isn't she"

The robber slowly nodded his head as he was unable to talk due to having webs covering his mouth as well.

Peter spun on his heel and looked turned towards Gwen's direction "Honey, baby, the light of my life, what are you doing up so late!" Peter asked awkwardly.

"I should be asking you the same thing, what are YOU doing up so late?" Gwen inquired, her arms crossed as she tapped her feet impatiently.

Peter awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Uhhh, I just came to talk to a really old friend that I haven't seen in a long time. He lost his way on the path of life, and I was just pointing him towards the right direction."

Turning towards the restrained robber, Peter addressed him, "Isn't that right, robber?"

Gwen glanced at Peter, clearly unamused, while Peter nervously twiddled with his fingers. "Ummm, we have an inside joke. His real name is Robert, but we call him 'robber,' right Robert?" Peter said, casting a threatening look at the apprehended man.

The robber hastily nodded in agreement with Peter, visibly sweating and feeling intimidated.

As Peter heard the approaching police sirens, he shouted towards the shop, "The police are almost here, mister. So, I'm going to get out of your hair now!"

In response, the shop owner yelled back, "I hear them, and once again, thank you, Spider-Man!"

"Just doing my neighborly duties!" Peter called out as he leaped and swung away, with Gwen closely following behind.

As they swung across the city, Peter inquired, "So what are you still doing up so late? We have school tomorrow."

Gwen occasionally alternated between wall running and swinging as she replied, "I couldn't sleep, so I went to see you. But when I got there, you weren't there, so I asked Arnny to find out where you were, and here we are." She avoided mentioning what she had witnessed in MJ's room.

Curious, Gwen asked, "What are you even doing up so late, patrolling around and doing superhero things in the middle of the night?"

Before Peter could respond, they both heard a woman's desperate cry for help. "SOMEBODY HELP, HELP ME, PLEASE!"

Following the cry, they heard a muffled scream and a man's chilling declaration, "You can scream all you want, nobody's going to bother and come to save you. And when I'm done, you'll love every part of it. Don't worry about a thing, sweetheart."

"Wanna handle this one?" Peter asked, but Gwen didn't respond. Instead, she swiftly accelerated and descended from above, positioning herself behind the assailant.

Gwen shot a web at the offender, spun him around, and then delivered a swift knee to the area below the belt, remarking, "Christmas has passed, but it seems we still have a nutcracker."

The guy winced in pain, dropping to the ground and clutching the affected area.

Observing from a nearby wall, Peter instinctively closed his legs and winced, commenting, "Ouchhh. That's got to hurt."

The woman, who had been in distress, started to cry, expressing her gratitude between sobs as she wiped away her tears.

Gwen securely webbed the man making a bow out of the webs to make it look like a present, making sure he couldn't escape, and advised, "It's better if you wait here for the cops to arrive. You can provide your statement and receive proper justice."

The woman, still emotional, asked, "Who are you?"

Gwen smirked and replied, "I'm the Ghost-Spider," while slowly turning invisible, leaving the woman stunned.

Peter and Gwen swiftly departed from the scene. Once they resumed swinging through the city, Gwen queried, "So, are you going to answer my earlier question?"

"Oh, that... I couldn't sleep, thinking about our conversation earlier regarding protecting the city at night and the choices we face. It made me ponder what it truly means to be a superhero. What it signifies to wear the mask, to opt for fighting and safeguarding the people of this city.

The answer I arrived at for such a question is encapsulated in a single word...

Sacrifices.

To be a superhero means making sacrifices. And the sacrifice I'm making right now is forgoing my peaceful night's sleep and comfort so that everyone else in this city can have theirs.

Perhaps, for the moment, it might not hold much weight, as I'm just an unknown to the world and this city. But when my name and deeds become known far and wide, my sacrifice will hold meaning. They will find solace in knowing that Spider-Man stands guard, ensuring their safety while they rest."

"Peter..." Gwen murmured softly, watching Peter swing away, a newfound respect in her eyes.

That respect quickly turned into fury. "And why didn't you tell me? Why do you have to make that sacrifice on your own? You said we were in this together, that we have each other's back. Was that a lie?" Gwen's voice rang out in frustration.

Peter sighed, anticipating this confrontation sooner or later.

"Firstly," he began, "I didn't call you because I thought you were asleep, and I didn't want to disturb you."

"Secondly," Peter continued, "Just because I make a sacrifice doesn't mean I expect you to do the same. Your definition of being a hero could be and will be completely different from mine. There might be similarities, but it won't be identical. When the time comes, I know you'll have to make your own sacrifice. I won't like it, and I'm sure I'll probably hate it."

"Thirdly," Peter continued, turning slightly away, his embarrassment evident in his voice, "I knew you would find out eventually. I would have lost some brain cells if I thought you wouldn't. My actions will become known, after all. But I wanted you to find out on your own. I didn't want you to jump in right away; I wanted to give you a few more restful nights."

"You big doofus!" Gwen exclaimed, turning into a blushing mess herself.

Interrupting their moment, Arnny interjected, "There's a breaking and entering happening a few blocks down."

Relieved by the interruption due to their embarrassment, they spent the entire night thwarting crime until the early morning, as the sun started rising.

Seeing the sun rising they both cursed once again in synchronization almost like they've practiced for moments like these.

"Shit"

"We really really and I mean really need to work on our time management skills, we can't keep doing this, it's going to backfire on us one day." Peter said.

Peter then thought of an idea, he shot himself towards the roof and surrounded himself with lightning and started running and jumping in a fast pace.

He then shouted towards Gwen "Try and keep up slow poke!"

Gwen hearing and seeing what he was doing gained a challenging smirk, she shot herself towards the roof top as well. When she got there she turned the middle of her foot wear into ice-skates and started skating around the roof tops and swinging with the momentum she got trying to catch up with Peter.

But Peter was just too fast and had a head start. When he arrived ontop of Gwen's rooftop he lifted his masked to his nose and waited for a bit.

Gwen soon arrived and twisted her legs to the side braking and stopping herself. She lifted her mask to her nose once she saw Peter had it like that as well.

Peter pulled her in for a kiss and said with a confident smirk "I'll see you in a few minutes" he then pulled down his mask and turned invisible and swung away.

While Gwen just smirked as she shook her head before lowering her mask, swinging away the opposite direction and turning invisible as well just in case her neighbors were watching them.

They both then snucked back inside their respective home and started getting ready for school...