95 Chapter 95

[Third Person's PoV] 

"This could mean a lot of things," Peter muttered, flabbergasted, with a hand on his chin.

Gwen nodded in agreement. She then typed something for a few seconds, which caused the red line to disappear, revealing Harry's DNA without the red lining. "Without it, it doesn't show that Harry has any history with hereditary diseases. If his mother did have any, even if it was dormant or inactive, it would show, but here… there's nothing."

After a tense silence between them, Gwen asked the question that lingered in the air, "Do you think Norman is forced to work for them?"

Peter didn't answer, as the answer was obvious.

"Do you think that's why he's a jerk and cold to Harry? So it would appear he doesn't care about him and they wouldn't target them?"

Peter closed his eyes, and a thousand thoughts circled his brain at once. "I don't think he was forced… more like enticed into it."

Gwen's eyes widened, and with a serious expression, she asked Peter to elaborate.

"In the recording, the way Norman spoke, it didn't sound like someone who was forced to cooperate, more like someone who's trying to gain achievement. I know that could mean him trying to get achievements so they leave Harry alone and cure him, but something is telling me that's not it… 

Here's what I believe based on everything we learned and know: they first poisoned Harry's mother, causing Norman to go into despair. I don't know if they came to Norman or Norman came to them, but they drove Norman to the point where he had to ask for outside help.

That help was them. They gave Norman a few samples of SSS for him to come up with a "cure" himself, but it was more likely for him to come up with a way to transfer the SSS. During that time, my parents started getting involved and started helping Norman out without them knowing who was behind Norman.

Then Harry and I were born. I don't know if the poison passed onto Harry during the womb or they poisoned him when he was little, but when Norman found out Harry had the same "disease" as his mother, it must have driven Norman past his limits.

So when my parents announced they were extremely close to getting it done, Norman immediately demanded human subjects. So when my parents refused, saying that it was unethical, that must have gotten Norman furious.

Just imagine, you were so close, close to getting what you wanted, close to healing your family, the ones you love, all for two people to stop you.

So he must have first threatened them with me, saying that if they don't hand over the information to him, he would do something to me.

He then realized that they were planning on escaping and going into hiding, but Norman couldn't allow that. After all, my parents were the key to helping the people he loved, so they left him with no choice but to contact Hydra.

Once Hydra realized that they were close to getting what they wanted, they also came to the same conclusion as Norman. They couldn't allow my parents to escape, so they worked together… and ended up killing them."

Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He shook his head as he realized he went on a tangent. "…."

"Why am I on the ceiling?"

Gwen, who had her mouth slightly agape due to Peter's deduction, answered his query, "When you were explaining everything, you started pacing back and forth, and before you realized it, you started walking up the wall with your hand on your chin and everything."

Peter flipped back down and apologized, "Sorry about that."

Gwen let out a heavy sigh and couldn't help but sit down. "Everything you just said… I can picture it happening, and it wasn't a pretty sight. Just what are we getting ourselves into, Peter?" Gwen sighed once more as she leaned further back in her seat.

Peter kissed the top of her head, causing her to close her eyes and bask in his love to make herself feel better. "Should we tell Harry?" Gwen asked.

"We should, but not now. I feel like he would do something rash if he found out," Peter replied.

"Do you think he'll get mad for not telling him as soon as we found out?" Gwen asked, weariness evident in her expression.

"Yes, he would. But I know Harry; he'll come to realize we didn't tell him for his own good," Peter sighed. "Tell me, do you think you're able to come up with an antidote?"

Gwen nodded. "Yes, it shouldn't be too hard. If it truly was a hereditary disease, it would have taken me much longer and would have been much more difficult, since we would have needed to find a way to reconfigure his DNA structure. But since it's just poison made to look and behave like a hereditary disease, it shouldn't be too difficult. The minimum amount of time it will take me is a week, the absolute maximum a month."

Peter nodded, and they both went back to work.

...

The next day...

Norman was seen heading into his office. As he entered, he unconsciously looked around before pulling on a book on a bookcase, causing it to slide to the side, revealing a hidden door. Norman inputted the code before pressing his thumb on the fingerprint scanner. Once inside, Norman looked confused.

He went towards his desk and started moving things around. "Where is it? I know I left it on this desk, damn it!"

Norman started to become more agitated as time passed. He immediately went straight to his computer, pulling out camera footage. He sped up everything for the past few days and stared at the screen with his arms crossed and a serious expression.

After a few minutes, his hand landed on the space bar, pausing it. He pulled back the chair and sat down, rewinding the footage before pressing play.

He saw the SSS serum on his desk then immediately disappearing. He replayed the clip over and over again, growing angrier with each passing second. His fist came hammering down on his keyboard.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

Keys from the keyboard started flying everywhere as he started to heave in anger.

"It was stolen!" he growled. "But how! They were able to get in and guess the password and everything. They were even able to change the footage. Who, who could have done such a thing!"

Norman started putting the keys back in place. "Could it have been the Spider couple? Did they find out it was me who sent someone after them?" Norman tried to guess based on who might have animosity with him.

Norman shook his head. "No, it couldn't be them. They don't know it was me. Even if they did, they don't know anything about this room or how to get in. That only leaves one other option… Hydra.

"But why, God damn it!? I have cooperated with them for years now… No, now that I think about it, it couldn't have been them. They mentioned sending me more samples. Why would they go out of their way to just take one away?

"Could it have been Harry?" Norman pondered but then looked at the time of the accident. "No, it couldn't have been him either. He was over at Peter's during that time."

Norman started to grumble before deciding to focus on what he was previously researching: the Goblin Formula.

As he finished putting the keys back and started his search, his breathing grew more and more frantic, his eyes even started to quiver, until he stopped clicking his mouse and leaned back in his chair with a lifeless look.

Tears started to slowly stream down his face. "It's gone… it's all gone… my life's work.

"What am I going to do now… that… that was my only way to save my boy… I failed him," Norman's voice choked.