Snip to Chapter 42

Elektra and Laura wait patiently for Spider-Man to say something. They don’t wait long as the man takes a breath.

“Everyone she knew, everyone that she cared about and cared about her, had moved on.” He tells the two deadly women. His face racked with guilt, “They all built lives without her.”

“Like you did.” Laura states.

Spider-Man grimaces. “Yeah.”

He knows she isn’t being cruel, he can tell that much, she is simply stating a fact that he is hanging on. He moved on. He lived his life after Gwen’s death.

“I told myself that she wouldn’t want me to wallow in misery.” He continues, “She’d want me to live my life the best way I can.” He lets out a bitter laugh, “It’s the typical stuff you hear from everyone when they lose someone they love. Except in my case, she came back to life.”

“Do you think she’d resent you for living your life?” Elektra’s questions.

Spidey shakes his head and lowers it, “I don’t know.” He responds, his voice soft and broken. “In the end, she still hated Spider-Man because she believed he killed her father. And at the very end, she found out who I was. She died hating me.”

“I am directly responsible for many deaths, Spider-Man,” Elektra states. “I’ve killed many who deserved to die, and many who did not. I make no apologies for it. Many look at me, and see a cold blooded killer.” She turns her attention back to the hero, “You are not like that. You risk your well being to aid those who need it. In whatever manner you can.”

Spider-Man winces, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Elektra responds, “Mathew moved on. I cannot begrudge him for it. Just as this Gwen girl cannot to you.”

“Different set of circumstances are obvious,” Laura speaks up beside him, making him glance at her, “But the logic here is relatively the same. If she does or ever did care about you, then she shouldn’t be upset at you for living a life after hers had ended. And if she is as good a person as you say, then she will allow you to explain everything you need to explain in regards to her fathers death.”

Spider-Man sighs, "Everything you two are saying is making sense. Logically. But this isn’t just a logical problem. It’s emotional.”

Laura shrugs and says, “In that area, I can’t help you.”

Elektra takes a moment before she says, “The best advice I can give you is to brace yourself. She will unleash everything that is bottled inside of her. And all you can do is take it.”

Except you. You’ve never truly let her go have you?

No. I never stopped loving her.