Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 90: Honor Among Thieves

It was only a few days before Valentine's Day, but none of the people at the Empire State University gathering were in a romantic mood. Barely two days had passed since the maniacal flamethrowing supervillain Firebrand had attacked the Empire State University campus, killing fourteen people and wounding more than a dozen others in the process. The spectacular Spider-Woman had confronted Firebrand in an attempt to protect Firebrand's victims, but he had nearly killed her as well. Now, a memorial was being held for Firebrand's victims, as the victims' friends and survivors of the attack grieved for the dead.

The sense of grief in the air was palpable, and of all the mourners Gwen Stacy likely felt it the most keenly of all. As Spider-Woman, she had failed to stop Firebrand, and she felt as responsible as Firebrand for the deaths of his victims. Holding a bouquet of white lilies in her hand, she stood quietly among the gathered mourners, her eyes closed. She barely heard any of the speakers, as her mind's eye replayed her desperate battle with Firebrand over and over again.

Gwen opened her eyes as she moved to join the line of mourners placing their flowers in the appropriate place. Despite her eyes' haunted, faraway look, Gwen seemed to be aware of everything around her as the lien proceeded. Kneeling down briefly, she placed her bouquet along with the others.

I'm sorry, she thought, as her eyes each shed a single tear.

I'm so, so sorry…

Please forgive me…

SPIDER-WOMAN #90

HONOR AMONG THIEVES

Randy Robertson was waiting for Gwen as she left the line. As Gwen slowly came up to Randy, he was shaken at how pale she looked. Dark circles were conspicuous under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept in days-and Randy suspected that sleep wasn't coming easily to her. Over the last few days since Gwen's battle with Firebrand, she had mostly kept to herself, determined to catch up on her schoolwork. On the few occasions that Randy had seen her, she'd been able to keep up a brave front, but she was having more and more trouble keeping it up.

"Do you want to get some coffee?" Randy asked Gwen gently, taking a bit of heart at the faint smile she gave him.

It wasn't long before they were sitting comfortably at the Coffee Bean, Gwen's latte returning a bit of color to her cheeks. Randy was glad to see that-he hadn't really wanted Gwen to come to the memorial, knowing how hard she would take it, but she had insisted.

Randy contemplated asking Gwen how she was holding up, but they both knew he was a bad liar.

"You can't blame yourself for this, Gwen," Randy said bluntly.

Gwen looked up at him in surprise, her eyes widening.

"But-" Gwen started.

"No buts," Randy interrupted her. "Firebrand caused all this, not you. You tried to stop him, remember? Daredevil wasn't here, Moon Knight wasn't here, Luke Cage wasn't here, the X-Men weren't here, you were. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"I…I know it does," Gwen said after a few moments. "But seeing what happened to all those people-it's just like Supercharger or Jack O' Lantern," she continued, referring to some of her other enemies who left large body counts in their wake.

"And you brought those sick freaks to justice, right?" Randy reminded her. "They're rotting in prison where they belong…and you're going to do it to Firebrand too. You won't let him get away with this," he continued encouragingly.

Randy was glad to see Gwen's smile, but he could tell that wasn't all there was to it. Even despite Gwen's smile, Randy could see the tension in her shoulders, and the way she gripped her latte cup.