Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 14: By the Light of the Jack O' Lantern

Gwen Stacy realized that it was pretty much done after going over her bank book one last time. The money she had received from the Kingsley modeling job had been almost entirely spent on paying her delinquent tuition fees, and she simply didn't have anything left to pay the rent on her apartment. While that upcoming audition of A Streetcar Named Desire (which had been pushed back once again, this time into March) might get her some additional money, there was no guarantee she would be cast...and besides, it probably wouldn't be enough anyway.

Gwen had spent most of last night going over the want ads in the Daily Bugle, knowing that any acting or modeling work she'd be able to get would only be temporary. She had previously worked waiting tables in high school to help Aunt Nancy pay the bills after Nancy had taken Helen and Gwen in, and although the pay hadn't been that great, it was at least steady and more reliable than acting or modeling. Having already circled a few different places, she intended to go out after school the next day and begin filling out some application forms.

And in any case, this is probably a rite of passage for aspiring actresses in New York City, she thought to herself in amusement as a wry smile played across her face.

There was one other thing she intended to do over her free periods during the middle of the next day, namely taking Kitty Pryde out to lunch as thanks for helping her contact the X-Men after the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had kidnapped the rest of her family.

She owed Kitty that much, at the very least.

SPIDER-WOMAN #14

"BY THE LIGHT OF THE JACK O'LANTERN"

That evening...

Normally, George Stacy was not known for his cool temper or easygoing manner. People tended to step carefully around him, very much afraid of setting him off. Today was even worse, after having received more telephone calls and e-mails from the press that he could count, all related to his alleged connections to the Friends of Humanity and their anti-mutant hate agenda, which had been exposed by the claims the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had made on the video they released to the media when they kidnapped his sister, wife and niece. His seething temper threatened to boil over as he loudly slammed the door to Norman Osborn's office and sat down in front of Osborn's desk, even as Osborn himself looked up from his computer and leaned back in his chair.

"You're certainly popular today," Osborn noted calmly as George opened his briefcase and retrieved a sheaf of documents.

"They can't prove anything," George muttered as he set the papers down. "Now, what did you want to do as far as-"

"Are you quite sure about that?" Osborn interrupted him.

George suddenly stopped and looked up at Norman, fixing him with a piercing glare.

"What do you mean?" he demanded, his voice calm and cold.

"I mean that I can't have the press looking too closely at one of my associates," Osborn told him pointedly. "Ben Urich was the only one investigating the allegations of our waste dumping. How much more attention are you going to be getting as a result of the Brotherhood's little announcement?"

"Who the hell would believe them?" George shot back, his eyes flaring.

"People who bear us a grudge and would be quite happy to find any excuse to defame us or pry more closely into our affairs," Osborn reminded him, remaining as stoic and calm as ever. "That type of attention doesn't do my business interests any favors."

"My business interests?" George began, as his voice began to rise. "Don't you mean our business interests?"

"I mean exactly what I said," Osborn said without blinking. "We all have our own stakes in whatever matter we involve ourselves in."