Start at the Beginning Pt 12

Walt woke up his eyes snapping open. "Wha-?"

"Shhh," Gwen said looking away from his super obvious erection to look him in the eyes. "Everything is fine. Go back to... sleep?"

Walt, as much as he really appreciated the veiw and the sensation of her lap, sat up. He was awake. And he felt pretty good for only being out an hour judging by the sun.

Walt fumbled out his glasses and slipped them on. Something was off. He checked his status and was surprised one of his "Perks" was activated. Well rested. "That can't be right! That only works when sleeping in an "owned"... bed... oh..." he said looking at Gwen's lap and the status "Owned". "Well, that's a cute cheat, Friday. Thanks."

(("It is not a replacement for actual rest as you're not actually "well rested" but for the next several hours you'll feel like you are. Please **** it responsibly, Walt."))

Walt chuckled and grinned. She knew him so well.

"Just what are you mumbling about and looking at?" Gwen crossed her arms beneath her breasts arching an eyebrow.

Walt chuckled. "Just admiring my pillow." He saw her open her mouth acting huffy and probably about to give him an earful. He quickly kissed her forehead. "Thanks, Gwen. I really needed that! You're amazing!"

Gwen blushed but she shook her head. "We still got things to talk about mister!"

Walt raised an eyebrow. He thought they'd already talked. "Such as?"

"Time," she stated. "Is that dilation normal or-"

"It isn't," Walt confessed. "It's normally rather high but... I set the machines levels to maximum." He hekd up a hand. "Let me finish. First, believe it or not, I know exactly what I am doing. You're a smart woman Gwen. How many 'verses have we been traveling to a day? Your day, not mine."

Gwen thought. "It's hard to say. We had that one day we only hit what? Three?" She saw him nod and then continued rolling her eyes, " and then there was last Sunday. We hit what forty just about? That was wild! I sense you have a point though?"

Walt nodded. "I do. Do you know how many "known" recorded verses are out there for your "multiverse"?" He saw her shrug. "Over 200,000."

Walt watched Gwen's eyes bug out. "But... assuming we wanted to finish it in a year we'd need to visit..."

Walt nodded. "Assuming 365 days is the target we'd need to visit 547.9 'verses a day. And those are just the known ones. I don't mind hanging with you a year or two or five or twety five even... but I don't have that time on the otherside. Even with dilation pushed to the maximum and beyond. Your "world" is tough that way because it's a multiverse... a big one!"

He shook his head. "And it's only the "first" on my list. Any idea how many worlds I explored over the years, decades? I spent long enough in them that in my world I'm like Captain America in your stories."

Gwen swallowed. "I take it you don't mean a patriotic super soldier who kicks booty?"

Walt chuckled. "Maybe a little... but my point is my world doesn't resemble the world I knew anymore. Unlike Cap I wasn't frozen in ice and so it's not quite as jarring but it's still the same thing. They don't make my favorite brand of jeans anymore and haven't in 35 years. Hot new songs when I was young aren't "oldies", they're "classical". I love visiting your world and others like it because I love dairy products and cow's milk. Which is the number one complaint from people who visit other worlds."

Gwen laughed. "That's crazy! Your people don't like dairy and milk anymore?"

Walt didn't laugh. "Not from cows, they don't."

Gwen blinked and opened up her mouth... then shut it again. "This is one of those "how much do I want to know?" Things, isn't it?"

Walt nodded. "It is. I want cow milk or dairy, it comes from a few limited sources and I have to pay insane prices not because of rarity but because dairy farming of that sort is a dying art. I specifically set up programs for the protection of those almost "lost" arts, personally... which brands me as something of an "eccentric" in my world... amongst other reasons. I'm a stranger in a strange land and it's stranger all the time... but I've started to acclimatize myself to most of it. I not only don't want to go through that all over again, I can't. It was different before but I got family and loved ones now waiting for me."

Gwen nodded. "I... I hadn't thought about that. You're doing this for them. You told me you need to protect them."

Walt nodded and patted her knee. "I love this world... and the others too! In someways they're "home" to me... and I really truly enjoy our time together too but-"

"But you miss home," she said. "It may have been a short time for them but you've been gone for weeks." She took his hand. "I'm sorry Walt. That must be... hard."

Walt smiled and squeezed her hand. "It is but I'm doing it for them... and you too. It's important to me to do this as quickly as possible and still do it the "right" way. That means narrowing down the scope and search as much as possible. Quickly eliminating ones that don't need to be searched and or investigated. And focusing hard on the ones that do show signs of oddness and tampering."

Gwen smiled and squeezed his hand back. She liked that side of him. He was someone who was always thinking about others.

Walt started to stand but she held on. "More?" He asked.

"More," she said.

Walt sighed. "Ok. What's next Gwen Stacy?"

Gwen hesitated. She wasn't sure how to ask her next question. "Why... me?"

Walt blinked. "Uhm... ok." He sighed ans nodded. "Because I'm not a "nice" guy Gwen. I'm a fucking jerk. I need your abilities so I targeted you at a weak moment in time. I helped you but also to help myself. I'm sorry about that. If I can make that up to you later I'll try but I need you, so I used you. Sorry. You deserve better."

Gwen stared. That wasn't the answer she'd been expecting. "You dummy..."

Walt looked at her. "What?"

Gwen shook her head. "Ok. It's nice that you feel bad about it but that was obvious from the beginning, dummy."

Walt blinked. "Oh... I guess it was..."

Gwen nodded. "And I went with it anyway. I feared the worst but you've been great ever since so as Faustian bargains go, this ain't bad so far. You're a **** driver but nice about it. Kind. Sweet even."

Walt shook his head. "I wouldn't go that far but you are my responsibility and so is how you're treated and taken care of."

Gwen nodded. "You're a little more than just "responsible". You've been great. I'm not sure if our positions were reversed I'd be quite as nice as you have, so Bravo for that."

Walt shook his head. "That's not true. You'd never put someone in the same position in the first place."

Gwen shrugged. "Who can say... anyway in my opinion this hasn't been that bad. Crazy! Nuts even! But pretty good. I've even enjoyed myself and you've done a lot to help me personally. I don't know about other Gwen Stacys but I am thankful."

Walt blushed and smiled. "Thanks... that actually means a lot to hear."

Gwen grinned thinking of The Mary Jane's future hit single. "Face it, Tiger... we hit the jackpot!"

Walt laughed and nodded. "True. This has all worked out well despite my reservations."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Reservations, huh? Which ones?"

Walt held up his hands. "Sorry poor choice of words-"

"Reservations about your wife?" She asked.

Walt paused still with his hands up. He slowly reached up and ran his fingers through his hair turning away. Gwen feared she'd gone too far but he said, "yup," real quietly.

He was brushing his hands on his pant leg. She realized he was just looking for something, anything, to do... to hold onto. She reached out and took a hand squeezing it. "You don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable."

Walt stilled and sighed. "It's not... painful like it was. It was so long ago... but it is hard to talk to you about it... because you look a lot alike... even act a tiny bit alike at times which is a bit more than I was prepared for..."

Gwen got the idea but..."you got a picture?"

Walt hesitated and nodded. She thought he was reaching for his phone but he pulled out his wallet instead. She smiled. *Of course he carries around wallet pictures! That's so old fashioned!*

She see's him flip to a more recent but old photo with some young people and kids with a "Happy Birthday" banner. The cake is huge and appears to be on fire! "My buddy's kids threw me a Birthday party." In the next picture they're all covered in cake like it had exploded.

The next picture is a very, very old one judging by the washed out colors and tones. Two elderly people and a small boy. "My Grandparents after they found me and took me into their home." Gwen blinked. The old man could have practically been Walter's twin. He seemed sterner and the old woman seemed kind. But all three of them were holding onto each other. Like they would never let go. Infact she heard him whispering exactly that, "never let go."

He hesitated and then just handed her his wallet. Gwen looked at him and he nodded.

She flipped to a picture that actually could almost have been her! Like an older sister! They look earily similar... but she was older and different. In the picture she was holding a book reading by the window in winter. In the next she was dressed up plain, but stylishly. Must be going out. In the next she'd had her haircut short like Gwen had after Miles only on both sides of her head. She was pretty but covered in old clothes and paint working on some picture.

Gwen swallowed all the rest of the pictures were of his wife. She'd been the most important thing in his life for a longtime... even after she was gone. The final picture was a wedding picture. She was radiant and Walt? She smiled. She'd been right. He was hot stuff when he was younger especially in a uniform! Crud that was a ton of medals! "What were you? Captain America's training partner slash exercise buddy or something?"

Walt shook his head. "Not then. We didn't have access in those days. Plus those ain't for "good behavior in gym class"."

Gwen blinked realizing he was serious. She shook her head. "She's very lovely."

Walt nodded. "She was... and she was lovely inside too. She had a good heart... cared about people, animals and things... creative... a book lover..." he chuckled. "She was human though... she had a slight jealous streak... couldn't dance... no sense of rhythm and barely coordinated at all... her cooking was... something else..."

Gwen laughed. "The opposite of you in some ways then?"

Walt chuckled and nodded. "But similar in others."

Gwen smirked. "She does rather look like a "Gwen Stacy". Is that your type?"

Walt shook his head but then waggled his fingers. "It depends on how you look at it. If you're asking if I think She's like Gwen Stacys the answer was a bit. She was stylish, intelligent, creative, thoughtful, driven, compasionate and passionate all... of which I... uhh *ahem*"

Gwen grinned looking at him blush. "Which are attributes you associate with her and Gwen besides their looks? That compromise a certain "type" that you like?"

Walt quirked his lips and then nodded. "Yeah... I kind of like stubborn, troublesome, mischevious, quirky, pain in the asses that don't know when to quit!"

"Hey!," Gwen said then saw him grinning. "Well I kind of like thick headed, stubborn, not-as-funny-as-they-think-they-are, clueless, pain in the asses too!" She saw him laugh and she did too.

Walt grinned and stuck out his open hand. "Pax?"

Gwen grinned and shook it. "Pax."

Walt nodded and picked up his hat, then stopped and looked at her with a wink. "Anything else we aught to discuss Ms Stacy?"

Gwen pretended to consider befire smiling. "I think that'll do... for the time being, Mr Stark."

Walt rolled his eyes but nodded smiling standing up then offering her his hand helping her stand. "Yes, Ma'am! Thank you, Ma'am!" He picked up the case of beer and their empties then offered her his arm. Gwen grinned and took it.

[Walter Stark Penny Polendina F.R.I.D.A.Y Neopolitan Pyrrha Nikos Nora Valkyrie Yang Xiao Long Blake Belladonna Kali Belladonna Sienna Khan Willow Schnee Glynda Goodwitch Zwei Ahnassi Lifts-Her-Tail Senko Sayoko Shinozaki Roberta Cisneros Haruna Sasha Blouse Ilulu Raven Manami Aiba also with Tsuyu Asui Haruhime Sanjouno The Baroness Demona Mystique Pirotess Lydia Aela the Huntress Serana Mission Vao Curie Ada PAM KL-E-O Merida and Gwenom

Will Return In

Start at the beginning Pt 13

Coming Soon]