From The Ashes

This is the story of a girl,

Who cried a river and drowned the whole world...

-Nine Days

After her disastrous failure to stop Jack O'Lantern from killing her father George Stacy, the spectacular Spider-Woman had been left for dead by her crazed archenemy, beaten and bloodied by an enemy against whom she was hopelessly outclassed. Spider-Woman had managed to call the police and an ambulance, who took away George's body and began treating her injuries. It had been touch and go for several hours, as the paramedics found that Spider-Woman was even worse off than she'd thought. It was only because she was too weak to keep the paramedics from restraining her that Spider-Woman agreed to stay as long as she did, and they'd protested heatedly once she'd regained enough of her strength to webswing away.

She proceeded almost by instinct, web-slinging back to her apartment even as she tried to get the gruesome images out of her head. Once in her bedroom, Spider-Woman carefully took some of her street clothes and began ripping and scorching them, taking care to make the damage resemble her injuries. Checking her clock radio, she realized she only had a few minutes before Kitty came home from work, and hastily changed out of her tattered and burned costume and into her scorched and ripped street clothes.

Gwen Stacy's eyes became blue and her hair became blonde as she hid her costume and staggered out of her bedroom. The actions she had to take to keep up her secret identity were second nature to her now, instinct taking over whenever she needed it.

That instinct finally wore off, as Gwen simply collapsed on the couch, trying somehow to deal with the grief that was welling up inside her.

She tried.

And she failed.

SPIDER-WOMAN #27

"FROM THE ASHES"

How many days in a year?

She woke up with hope but she only found tears?

How many days disappear,

When you look in the mirror how do you choose?

Kitty Pryde gave a weary sigh as she stepped off the bus and entered her apartment building, glad to finally be home after a long day at work. Her mouth watering at the prospect of a good home-cooked meal, she hummed under her breath as she made her way upstairs and came to the door to her apartment. Glancing around and realizing she was alone, Kitty impishly grinned and used her phasing powers to pass through the locked door without opening it. While she didn't have any particular use for her mutant powers, she still had fun playing with them every now and again.

All her thoughts instantly vanished when she heard the quiet sobbing. Alarmed, Kitty ran into the apartment and gasped as she saw Gwen sitting on the couch with her head in her hands, weeping. That would have been unpleasant enough, but Kitty was horrified at Gwen's physical injuries. Beaten to within an inch of her life, Gwen looked even worse than she sounded, not seeming to notice Kitty as she continued crying.

"Oh my God!" Kitty exclaimed in horror, running forward as she sat down next to Gwen. Gently patting Gwen on the shoulder, Kitty began hugging her as she looked up, her eyes both red from crying and blackened from her physical injuries. "What happened, Gwen? What on Earth happened to you?"

The haunted, dead look in Gwen's eyes sent shivers down Kitty's spine. When she spoke, Gwen's voice was a hollow croak.

"I was caught in a supervillain attack," she mumbled. "I had to go to the hospital for treatment, and while I was there...I...heard..."

"...Gwen?" Kitty asked gently.

"My...father..." Gwen breathed. "He...was..."

She couldn't hold back the tears any more.

Kitty merely held Gwen, brushing her hair back from her face and trying to reassure her. Looking around, she saw Gwen's cell phone on the table in front of them, and picked it up with her free hand. It had several messages, no doubt from Gwen's family trying to let her know what had happened to George.

Dialing the Stacy residence herself, Kitty only heard one ring before someone answered.

"Gwen?" Jill Stacy asked on the other end. "Thank God you finally got back to us! Have you heard-"

"Hello, Jill," Kitty interrupted her.

"...Kitty?" Jill asked in confusion. "What's going on? Where's Gwen? Is she-"

"She's here with me," Kitty replied, "and she's in no shape to speak to anyone right now. She got caught in the middle of a supervillain attack, and she got hurt really badly. And she's heard about her father."

"Oh, no..." Jill gasped. "Hang on, I'm coming right over-"

"No," Kitty replied firmly. "We're coming to see you. Gwen needs you guys right now, so we'll be there as soon as we can."

"How are you going to get here?" Jill asked.

"I've got it covered," Kitty assured her. "Just let your mother and your aunt know what's happening."

"Got it," Kitty replied determinedly. "See you soon," she replied, before hanging up.

Hanging up Gwen's phone and putting it in her pocket, Kitty retrieved her own phone, and hastily dialed another number.

"Randy?" Kitty asked. "Yeah, I...No, look, I don't have time to talk! How soon can you get down here in your car?...Yes, it's an emergency...Yeah, thanks."

Hanging up once again, Kitty simply went back to holding Gwen, who never stopped weeping.

And I can be so insincere,

Making her promises never for real!

As long as she stands there waiting,

Wearing a hole in the soles of her shoes!

Ben Reilly felt sick to his stomach as he read the article on the Daily Bugle website, which described George Stacy's's fate in gruesome detail. He could only imagine what poor Gwen was going through, especially after everything his father had said to her.

Just thinking about it made Ben sick to his stomach, but then he remembered everything his father and his uncle had told him about the Stacy family.

Shaking his head in frustration, trying to make sense of it all, Ben picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" Ben's uncle, Steven Mark Levins, replied on the other end.

"Uncle Steve!" Ben replied. "Did you hear about what happened to that George Stacy guy?"

"Something about his being killed, right?" Steve replied. "What was all that about?"

"He was apparently murdered by some supervillain," Ben explained. "God, Gwen must be a wreck right now."

"Probably," Steve nodded. "But why, exactly, are you calling me? I already heard about George's death."

"Well, I just couldn't help but wonder about what he was like," Ben replied. "Remember when you were telling me about how you used to know him?"

"Yeah," Steve recalled. "He was a two-faced hypocrite. He put on this upstanding facade, and everyone bought into it. So did I, before I got to know him for real."

"That's what I was curious about," Ben explained. "If you ever have some free time, do you think you could tell me exactly what happened between you guys?"

"I can tell you right now, if you want," George offered. "I'm just getting caught up on some engineering work."

"I'd really appreciate it," Ben replied.

Both Justin Hammer's name and appearance matched his reputation in the business world. His craggy face seemed permanently marked with a flint-edged scowl, and his eyes were cold ice blue. His crew-cut iron-gray hair and thick muscles hearkened back to his days in the military, although nowadays he was better known as the president, chairman, CEO and owner of Hammer Industries, one of the world's major technological companies. Sitting at the head of the boardroom table, he gazed over the other executives and engineers the way a king would survey his courtiers.

"I have no doubt that you'll find our equipment most worthwhile," Hammer noted approvingly as he looked over the contract drafted by George Stacy, who sat at the other end of the table and was one of the only people not completely cowed by the powerful tycoon. "I've invited Mr. Levins, one of our finest engineers, to highlight some of our best products."

Steven Mark Levins was both concise and precise, going into great depth about Hammer's offerings while also using language that laymen could understand. Stacy appeared mightily impressed, until Steven began explaining the changes the company had made to expand its market base.

"One of the developments we're most proud of is our ability to process custom-made orders of our products to fit almost anyone of any size, strength or even shape," he grinned. "Some of our mutant customers have difficulty using our standard products because of their unique biological traits, so we've responded by developing special orders made to their specifications. Thanks to our new processes, we can do it at a very reasonable price, too."

The wide smile vanished from George Stacy's face the moment Steven said those words. Justin Hammer, who had sat stone-faced throughout Steve's entire presentation, raised an eyebrow.

"...So you do a lot of business with the muties, then?" he asked.

"Well...er...I don't really handle that side of..." Steve stammered, not sure how to answer the question, before looking back helplessly at Hammer.

"Of course we serve mutant customers," Hammer replied for him, staring intently at Stacy. "We'll serve anyone who pays our price."

"I can't believe this..." George muttered, glaring back at Hammer. "Just how much money do you get off those...freaks?"

"Enough," Hammer replied. "And I'm surprised you're bringing this up, Mr. Stacy."

"Goddamn..." George muttered, shaking his head as his face flushed with anger. "I just can't...how can you deal with those monsters?" he demanded again.

"They want to buy, and I want to sell," Hammer replied calmly. "And I must say, I'm surprised you're putting so much stock into this fact. From everything I've heard, your support of mutant registration is merely out of concern for the dangers that their abilities present to the public."

"It's more than that, Hammer," Stacy said, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "See, they don't know their place. They think they'll be able to tell us what to do. They think they'll be able to breed with us. They think they'll be able to own the goddamn country. Is that what you really want?"

The reaction around the table was decidedly mixed. A number of people seemed as if they agreed with Stacy, while others looked distinctly unnerved by his words. Hammer, however, simply remained impassive.

"That's not the issue here," he said bluntly. "I thought you wanted to meet to discuss business, not politics."

It was only with a very visible effort that George Stacy managed to get himself to focus on the details of his client's purchases from Hammer Industries.

"...My God," Ben said in horror. "You saw all that?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Steve replied. "I asked him about it afterwards, and he said that he'd be happy to see every mutant put in camps."

Ben suddenly felt even sicker to his stomach.

"You mean...Kitty..." he mumbled.

"Now you see why your father didn't want you getting involved with his daughter," Steve explained. "I honestly don't know what to think of that Gwen girl."

"Yeah, but she helped Kitty," Ben persisted.

"But who knows how much of that was sincere, and how much of it was her trying to cover for her father's actions?" Steve pointed out.

"...I'll keep that in mind," Ben finally said after a few moments. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Steve assured him. "But I've got to go now, so I'll see you around?"

"You bet," Ben replied as he hung up.

Inwardly, however, he was fuming.

His parents and Uncle Steve had no idea what the hell they were talking about. They accused Gwen of being a lying hypocrite just like her father, they threatened her for dating him, and they talked down to him as if he was some stupid little kid for being interested in her.

His mind made up, Ben decided that he didn't give a rat's ass what they thought about Gwen.

Nodding in determination, he went for the door.

Now how many days disappear

When you look in the mirror,

How do you choose?

When Randy Robertson had gotten the call from Kitty, he'd known that something serious was going on. Navigating through rush hour downtown traffic was not his idea of a fun time, but he'd been afraid something like this would happen for quite a while.

He'd already heard from his friends at the Daily Bugle about the death and chaos caused by the gang war-parents who had to bury their children, livelihoods destroyed, people who lost their sight, their hearing or even their ability to walk. Supervillains and gangbangers ran amuck as the streets ran red with blood. For all that the gang war seemed to be winding down, the damage had been done.

Too much had been lost already.

Finally, after parking the car and making his way up to Kitty and Gwen's apartment, Randy entered the apartment. He found exactly what he'd been afraid of- Gwen covered in bandages, bruises and half-healed scars, her skin deathly pale and her eyes flushed a deep red from crying. Kitty sat next to her, a look of relief on her face as he came into the room.

"...Gwen?" he asked in horror. "Kitty, what the hell happened?"

Kitty didn't reply at first, taking the time to help Gwen to her feet.

"We need to get Gwen home," Kitty finally said. "Here, come and help me."

Gently, Randy took Gwen into his arms, helping her to the door as Kitty followed behind them.

"Gwen?" he whispered gently once they were in the hallway, while Kitty locked the apartment and ran to catch up.

"...Randy?" she finally said after a few moments, her voice barely more than a whisper itself. "You...came..."

"Don't worry about it," he assured her. "Just let us handle it."

Gwen only smiled gratefully in response.

Well your clothes never wear as well the next day,

And your hair never falls in quite the same way,

But you never seem to run out of things to say...

Gwen's Aunt Nancy, cousin Jill and mother Helen Stacy had been trying to reach Gwen ever since they'd heard the news, and it was with a palpable sense of relief that they heard that Kitty and Randy were bringing her over. While they'd taken the news of George Stacy's' death hard, they became more concerned about Gwen once they heard how badly she'd been hurt by whatever supervillain's attack she'd been caught up in.

When she arrived at Nancy's townhouse, still leaning on Randy's shoulder, Gwen only smiled weakly.

"Hey, everyone," she finally said, still in something of a daze. "Thanks...for..."

Nancy was about to speak up, but to everyone's surprise, Helen beat her to the punch.

"Not another word," Helen said firmly in a voice that brooked no argument. "You're going to let me have a look at those bruises, and then you're going to get some rest. Nancy, you've got some ointment and a first aid kit, right?"

"In the upstairs bathroom," Nancy nodded. "Do you want to-"

"No, not right now," Helen reassured her, as she took Gwen's hand in her own and began leading her upstairs. "Please don't misunderstand," she said, looking back at her daughter's friends and relatives, "but Gwen needs a few moments right now, okay?"

"Do you need help with taking care of her?" Kitty asked

"No, I have plenty of experience with first aid," Helen shook her head grimly. "George certainly gave me the chance for a lot of practice."

Once she'd retrieved the first aid kit, Helen led her daughter into the bedroom and lay her down gently on the bed, before shutting the door behind them. Opening the kit, she began examining Gwen's bruises, sprains and cuts, gently treating them and applying fresh bandages the way Gwen had done for her so many times before.

"...Mom?" Gwen asked.

"Yes?" Helen asked, brushing Gwen's hair back as she rubbed some ointment on her cheek.

"I...I'm so sorry..." Gwen mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes again. "This is all my fault...I've let everyone down...I've got to..." she tried to rise, but Helen pushed her back down on the bed.

"Gwen, listen to me," Helen replied firmly "You've done far more than anyone could have ever asked you to. You helped me get my life back on track. You helped Kitty find a place to stay. You helped Liz and Harry get back together. You tried to help Marie-Ange Colbert. You tried to help save your father from himself. Now it's my turn to help you."

"But...I..." Gwen breathed, her head still pounding with guilt. "I...failed..."

"And what about all the times you succeeded?" Helen replied gently. "Doesn't that count for anything?"

Gwen didn't reply.

"Of course it does," Helen continued. "That's always been the thing with our family-we let our emotions get the better of us. We spend so much time worrying about the bad that we forget about the good we've done."

"...I know," Gwen replied after a few minutes. "But every time I try to tell myself that, I keep remembering everything I've screwed up. I couldn't..." she trailed off.

"Gwen, don't blame yourself," Helen told her. "Your father made his own mistakes. And it was this Jack O'Lantern, whoever he is, that did this to him."

"You don't understand..." Gwen began.

"Yes, I do," Helen insisted. "Everything you do-and I mean everything-has been because you couldn't stand to see people being bullied or hurt, right? Even people like your father?"

"...No," Gwen shook her head. "Even after everything he's done, I couldn't just leave him..."

"That's why you push yourself so hard, isn't it?" Helen realized. "Everything you saw your father do to me, to us...you just wish there was something you could have done, don't you?"

"Yeah," Gwen nodded. "I just felt so helpless...so...powerless..."

"And that's why you do it now," Helen smiled. "Why you keep doing it. It's a part of you, isn't it?"

"I don't know," Gwen shook her head. "I just can't help myself."

"And you've done a lot more than you realize," Helen pointed out with a smile. "If it wasn't for you, I never would have gotten the help I needed. You've helped all your friends out in so many different ways, and now they just want to return the favor."

Gwen brightened, as color started to return to her cheeks.

"Like I said, we often forget the good when we think too much about the bad," Helen pointed out. "But I don't want you to ever forget how proud I am of you. You've helped a lot more people than you'll ever know, especially me. Please remember that."

"Thank you," Gwen smiled, as she hugged her mother tightly.

How many lovers would stay?

Just to put up with this shit day after day?

How did we wind up this way?

Watching our mouths for the words that we say!

The next day, after Kitty and Randy had left, Gwen was resting gratefully, watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with Jill while Nancy and Helen went down to the police station to identify George's body and prepare the funeral arrangements. As the movie ended, Gwen stretched and got off the couch as Jill put away the DVD, wincing in pain as she remembered that she'd sprained one shoulder and badly bruised the other. Shaking her head in frustration, she went to answer the knock at the door, a wide smile crossing her face when she saw Ben standing there.

"Hey!" she greeted him with a hug, as he stepped in and took off his shoes. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good," Ben replied, "but right now I'm more concerned about how you're doing. Let me have a look at some of these bruises."

Sitting down with Gwen on the couch, Ben began examining Gwen's injuries, nodding with some relief.

"Well, you'll be alright," he told her after a few minutes. "But you're going to need to take it easy for a while-you've still got some nasty sprains, and you've pulled at least one of your back muscles. I'd recommend you take some time off work-you're not going to be carrying any trays for a while."

"For how long?" Gwen asked uncertainly.

"Probably about a week," Ben replied. "But again, you've got to take it easy-you still look really pale."

"I'll take your advice," she sighed. "But it's more than just what happened to me. There's what happened to my father, too."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Ben said sincerely.

"It's funny, though," Gwen continued. "When he was alive, I hated him. He treated my mom like a punching bag, and he cheated on her with women almost as young as me. I used to call him out on it, but he wasn't even ashamed of it."

"You want to know why I cheated on your mother?" George asked Gwen. "Why I've done it before, and why I'll do it again?"

Gwen merely stared back at him, an angry scowl on her face.

"All my life, for as long as I can remember, I wanted a son. I wanted someone who could carry on my name, who I could be proud of. Instead, I had you," he explained coldly. "I've been trying to have another son ever since. And so far, I've failed. At this rate, I'll never succeed."

"You..." Gwen did her level best to stay calm, but inwardly she was seething with rage.

"It makes me sick to think that you're the only thing I'm going to leave this world," George replied. "And to think, I could have had the child I always wanted, instead of the one I actually got."

"...That's sick," Ben exclaimed, before he caught himself. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's fine," Gwen shook her head. "I felt the same way. For a long time, I wanted something like this to actually happen to him. But now, I just feel...I don't know," she frowned, her shoulder slumping.

"...Sad?" Ben asked.

"Maybe," Gwen replied. "I mean, if he really was sponsoring those anti-mutant hate groups, he should have gone to jail, not been killed. And...well..."

Ben looked at her curiously.

"He was still my father," she said sadly.

Putting a comforting arm around Gwen's shoulders, Ben felt the bile rising in his throat as he thought of what his parents and Uncle Steve had been saying about Gwen.

They were interrupted by Jill coming back into the TV room, holding Gwen's cell phone.

"It's Randy," she explained. "He says it's about the play."

"Thanks, Jill," Gwen replied as she took the phone, before glancing at Ben. Ben only nodded and let Gwen go, before she raised the phone to her ear.

"Hey Randy," she said. "What's up?"

"You're still on for that production of The Wiz, right?" Randy asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know how much rehearsal time I'll miss," Gwen answered glumly. "Why, were they thinking of recasting me?"

"Actually, no," Randy explained. "It turns out that the same thing happened as with A Streetcar Named Desire. The theater was damaged when it was firebombed by one of those street gangs fighting in the gang war, so now Mr. Ferguson has to find another place for us to rehearse."

"He's not going to close the production?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"No, The Wiz means too much to him," Randy stated. "He said he shouldn't have too much trouble once everything's worked out, but hopefully you'll be all better by then. He really liked your audition, and he really wants you as Dorothy."

Gwen brightened at that.

"Thanks a lot," she smiled. "That means a lot to me, really."

"No problem," Randy said. "It's really important to me too. I've got to go now, but I'll keep in touch. See you around!" he finished, before hanging up.

"What was that about?" Jill asked, before Gwen explained it to them.

"Sounds great," Ben grinned. "Just make sure you take it easy until then, alright?"

"Will do," Gwen smiled back at him. "And Ben?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Thanks," she replied.

As long as we stand here waiting,

Wearing the clothes of the souls that we choose!

How do we get there today,

When we're walking too far for the price of our shoes!

When she came to see how Gwen was doing later that same day, Liz Allan had emphatically repeated Ben's advice to take it easy for a while. Gwen gratefully did so, spending the next week resting at the Stacys' townhouse while her mother and Aunt Nancy handled everything relating to her father's death, ranging from making funeral arrangements to dealing with the media. She didn't even go to work, going to see a doctor for a second time and getting specific orders that she was able to give to Mr. Spencer.

Perhaps best of all, Gwen didn't even need to go out as Spider-Woman. Peter Parker had promised to keep an eye out for Jack O'Lantern during his forays as Spider-Man, but no supervillain seemed to have done anything since the gang war had finally concluded.

Just as it had when she'd gone to Fire Island and then camping with Liz and the others, being able to relax and forget her problems for a while worked wonders for Gwen. Her injuries were almost fully healed by the time she decided to go for a walk by herself down to the Coffee Bean and then relax at the Empire State University quad, where she could just relax and enjoy the afternoon.

It was while she was in line at the Bean that she recognized the blue-eyed, reddish-brown-haired man with the impressive tan. Now casually dressed in a T-shirt that announced his fraternity, straightforward blue jeans and beaten running shoes, Mark Raxton was pondering the menu with the same curious, inquisitive look that Gwen had noticed when she'd met him last month at the party on Fire Island, the one that had been so rudely interrupted by Polestar.

"Hey, Mark!" she grinned, tapping him on the shoulder. Mark turned around, the look of puzzlement on his face rapidly turning to a bright, warm smile as he recognized Gwen. "Fancy meeting you here! How's it going?"

"It's going a lot better than it was," she smiled back. "I got caught up in the middle of this crazy gang war, and got hurt pretty badly," she explained, indicating the few bandages and bruises she still had left.

"I know how you feel," Mark replied, before they made their orders, paid and left the coffee shop.

"How do you mean?" Gwen asked as they made their way towards the quad.

"A couple of my frat brothers were killed by that Boomerang guy," Mark said sadly. "They were in the wrong place at the wrong time when Boomerang attacked a bar they were at. Apparently it was a front for one of those organized crime groups. I mean, how the hell were they supposed to know that?"

"They couldn't," Gwen shook her head. "That's what makes what happened to them so sick to begin with."

"I know that," Mark reflected, as they sat down on a bench and began sipping their coffee together. "And that just makes it hurt all the more, you know?"

"Believe me, I do," Gwen sighed. "But what can you do?"

"Not a whole lot," Mark said after a few moments. "But you can't let it keep you down forever, you know? There's still a lot to live for. I mean, I've still got the rest of my brothers, and I've got a lot to look forward to in the next few years. When I finish school, I'm going to try and land a job with a place like Stark Enterprises, Richmond Industries, or somewhere like that. Stuff like that keeps me going."

Gwen just smiled at that.

"How about you?" Mark asked.

"I haven't thought that far ahead," Gwen admitted. "I'd really like to either be a model or an actress. I've always really enjoyed that."

"Whatever you do, don't give up on it," Mark said. "You've got a lot more potential than you realize, believe me. Your passion's going to take you a really long way."

Gwen smiled again.

Mark winked back in reply.

This is the story of a girl,

Who cried a river and drowned the whole world,

And while she looks so sad in photographs,

I absolutely love her

When she smiles...

(Next Issue: Things appear to be looking up for the Stacy family, as Gwen's life starts to get back to normal and Helen Stacy has a renewed lease on life. Unfortunately, George Stacy's sins continue to haunt his next of kin, when the New York crime lords put an end to their gang war. In retribution for George's actions, they order the Constrictor to make an example of his family. After her defeat at the hands of Jack O'Lantern, can Spider-Woman hope to survive a rematch with a villain who so easily bested her the first time? All this and more in Spider-Woman #28: Crack the Whip!)