Rooms

A statue owes someone a thank-you.

( Shh, shh. )

When: Several weeks ago + now
What: An introduction
Where: Gotham

( Gotham had grown. It did not stay still, it never had in his memory. )

Who: Louis, Neil, Sam
What: I have no effing clue
Where: Lake Mead, Ocean's Eleven
When: Fuzzily nowish
Warnings/Rating: Language, at least. Louis might pull out his catty. IDK.

She felt like shit, yeah? She'd known she would. Even with the new meds running through her veins, she knew she would crash hard. The emotions of the dreams, the fight with Lou, the shit with Mere, getting drunk with Cris, the sex, the shitty end to the evening, all of it. She'd known it would slam into her like a ton of bricks, and she hadn't been wrong.

Sam left Marvel wanting nothing but meds and her bed, and the door opened to let her into the bedroom of the tiny hut she called home. Crowded and small, and Rodin slammed his paw against the floor as soon as he saw her. "Yeah, I know, baby." She crouched, and she scratched his ears. She knew, yeah? She was dangerously close to seizing out right there, all the crowded stuff in the tiny space trails of light, and shit in the corners that wasn't really there. She knew, but she wanted to check on Lou first, yeah? That was more important, because she'd messed up hard. She knew he couldn't deal with stress. She'd hidden being sick, and she'd hidden the park incident with Meredith, and she'd done it because she knew Lou needed quiet. Neil needed quiet too, and now that was all a mess.

She showered quick, and she changed into loose boxers and a white tank-top. Hair wet and bare feet, she left the hut and made the tiny walk toward the closed-in room that she called a boathouse. No makeup, and the circles beneath her eyes were stunning mauve against alabaster skin. She looked fragile, like something small taken down off a shelf too many times and threatening to fall apart. The little corgi at her heels, she stopped in the small gap between house and boathouse, and she looked out at the lake. It was serenity, yeah? Sunny and gorgeous, the water still and bright, and she was going to make this better, she was.

She was going to smile through this, dammit, even if it killed her.

[Harry doesn't show, and Gwen never makes it to Peter's place after her planned meeting at Midtown Library. The next morning, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (Hydra aligned) show up at the apartment Gwen sharesd with Flash and Cindy, and they ask Flash to come with them to identify the body of a girl found at the library.

The story doesn't make the news. S.H.I.E.L.D. covers it up, and the only thing made public is that Midtown Library is closed for cleaning. But the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are fairly forthcoming with Flash, since he's an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. employee. They inform him that a symbiote has been contained, having been found immobile/defenseless thanks to multiple internal sonic burns inflicted while consuming the the girl suspected to be Gwen Stacy. And the body is, in fact, Gwen - well, what's left of her. DNA and dental records will confirm the identification in coming days, though the information still won't be made public.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents don't inform Flash what their specific plans for the symbiote are, though they do state that the project that the symbiote will be used in will be named after the dead girl that led to their acquisition - Thanks, S.H.I.E.L.D.]

[The morning after this. Obliviously.]

[locked to flash t.]

Hey, Gwen was supposed to come by my place last night but she never showed. And she's not answ Did things go bad with Harry or something?