A canon-compliant drabble on The Amazing Spider-Man #61.
Gwen could only stare at the Daily Bugle paper in disbelief.
"What is it, Gwen? What have you got there?" George asked, startling Gwen into crumpling the newspaper closed.
"Dad! This picture... Of you... breaking into police files at headquarters...! How... How can that be?" Gwen asked tearfully, glancing over her shoulder at him.
"Let me see that...!" George replied urgently.
Gwen gave him the newspaper, and he uncrumpled it to look at the head story. "I had to do it! It had to be done!"
"Then... It's true!" Gwen replied, burying her head in her hands and turning away from him. "I can't even hope... Can't even pray... That it was a mistake!"
George stumbled, dropping the Bugle, grasping his head again, and Gwen steadied him.
"If only I can remember... Why it was... so important! Things in my brain... Are so blurred... So hazy!" George explained, looking baffled.
"Dad! I should have guessed sooner!... You're ill!" Gwen said desperately. "Something's happened to you! You don't know what you're doing!"
"But... I must follow orders! I can not... disobey!"
Gwen cradled George's head against her, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Orders? Whose orders? Who's behind all this? Who's changed you... Done this horrible thing to you?"
"I don't know... Can't remember! Everything is... one clouded blur!" George explained, sitting in his armchair, gently grasping Gwen's forearm. "I must go! I have to hide...!" he said, suddenly.
"No! You can't! You can't become... a fugitive!" Gwen gasped.
"I must! Because he wants it that way! Please... Don't try and stop me!" George said, looking dismayed.
'I dare not leave him alone!... Not now!' Gwen thought to herself.
She got a heavy coat on, leaving with George. "Whatever happens... I'll be with you, dad! I'll look after you until you can remember!" Gwen reassured, convinced George was innocent.
"But Gwen... I don't want you to become... involved!" George attempted, but it was useless. When Gwen Stacy sets her mind to something, no one can convince her otherwise.
"I'm your daughter! If there's danger ahead... We'll face it together!" Gwen declared.
Gwen and George were at an airport. Gwen had her coat hood pulled up, and George had an overcoat and dark sunglasses on. Gwen grasped his forearm firmly as they waited.
"Dad! Are you sure you won't reconsider? Running away never solved anything! Perhaps if you return... Surrender yourself..." Gwen tried, a knot of dread forming in her stomach.
"I cannot! It would be contrary... to my orders!" George said mysteriously
"But... Whose orders?" Gwen inquired, confused.
"You must not ask me!"
Gwen noticed a couple of thug-ish looking men. "Those men... Coming towards us!" Gwen explained too late. They were surrounded, one of them grabbing George.
"Hold it, Stacy! You didn't really think you can skip out on us, did you?" Thug number one said.
"Dad! They found us...!" Gwen hissed.
"We... Have done nothing wrong!" George said slowly.
"Sure! You're as innocent as a babe! Now let's go!" Thug number two retorted dryly.
Gwen and George were escorted at gunpoint, and Gwen never let go of her father. They were walking down a staircase now, towards two men. One large and bald, the other was an older man in a lab coat.
"Ahh, I see that the bait for our tender little trap has arrived! Show them in... Both of them!" The first said, gesturing up towards them.
"Dad! That man... Is he the one behind all this?" Gwen asked her father.
"He calls himself... The Kingpin." George explained.
"How nice of you to come and visit us... The Kingpin has been most anxious to greet you. He even arranged a little party- in your honor!" The other one said calmly.
Gwen and George were tied back to back, and Gwen had a piece of cloth tied around her mouth to silence her. She struggled against her binds, dreading what these heathens were planning.
"Was it wise to send the others away, Kingpin?"
"Are you deigning to question my judgment, Winkler?"
"No! No, of course not! Inasmuch as you're expecting an attack by Spider-Man!"
"I merely want to be certain that the sight of too many foes doesn't scare my intended victim away!" Kingpin smirked.
"While we're waiting, give Stacy another dose of brainwashing treatment! Most of it already seems to have worn off!"
"All right! It won't take long!" Winkler agreed.
There was a crash all of a sudden, sending glass shards everywhere. "It'll take longer than you think, chum!... Like maybe... Never!" Spider-Man quipped.
"Spider-Man! Right on schedule!" The Kingpin bellowed.
"Stop him, Kinpin! It's.. up to... you!" Winkler urged, shielding his face from the glass.
Gwen could only watch, struggling again to free herself and her father.
Spider-Man fought with Kingpin, starting off with a powerful kick to his face. He held himself against the larger man really well. Just as it looked like a sure win for Spidey, tear gas ascended from Kingpin's tie clip. The Kingpin looked like he was gonna win, only the gas did nothing.
"Too late to save yourself now!" The Kingpin smirked.
"Don't bet on it, blubber-head!"
"Why don't you gasp.. cough... choke?! The gas stopped you last time!" The Kingpin barked, frustrated.
"You're right! It did! That reminds me..." Spider-Man replied, punching Kingpin in the face, hard. "I still owe you for that little session!"
Spider-Man began punching Kingpin again and again until the oaf finally collapsed to the floor. "You haven't won yet! Turn around! Look at Winkler!" Kingpin barked out slowly.
Norman Osborn came in, looking stunned at the scene before him. Winkler was carrying a handgun and gestured to a large vat hovering above Gwen and her father, and tears fled Gwen's eyes. "One false move, Spider-Man... And these two die! Not even you can stop me in time! Remain completely motionless... until I summon the Kingpin's men!"
Norman tackled Winkler, and his gun fired towards some machinery, creating an explosion.
Winkler was lying still on the ground, and Norman was getting to his feet slowly.
"The leaden vat... above their heads... It's been jarred loose! If... it should fall! No! It mustn't! It can't!" There was a terrifying snap suddenly. "The cable's snapped! Gwen! Gwen!" Spider-Man said, leaping into action, web-slinging across the room. "I won't let you die! I won't!" Spider-Man said, grabbing Gwen and George, freeing their hands. The vat dropped directly in the place Gwen and George were bound just seconds before, and Spider-Man hoisted them over his shoulders.
Debris was spread everywhere and a cloud of thick smoke filled the air. "I've got to put you down quickly! No telling what the Kingpin's up to now! He's had time... to regain his strength!" Spidey explained, lowering a terrified Gwen and an unconscious George down to safety outside.
Gwen and George were outside now, and George was conscious. The explosion alerted the police immediately, and they were running towards them, a medic on hand.
"Get a stretcher here!" One of the officers said, running for them.
"They'll realize you're innocent now! Mr. Osborn can testify! He saw what happened!" Gwen explained, tears springing from her eyes.
"My head... It's clear again." George finally said, still holding his head, the cloud finally free from his eyes.
George finally sat down, and Gwen was all willing to explain to the police what happened. "As soon as the brainwashing machine exploded, dad became himself again! Mr. Osborn... And Spider-Man helped to save us!" Gwen grinned holding George's shoulders.
"Your dad needs a little rest, Miss! He'll be fit as a fiddle in the morning!" The medic explained, jovial.
"If only I could thank... Spider-Man! We owe him our lives!" Gwen smiled.
A/N: Hate Gwen all you want, but it's far from plausible that Gwen would use a trauma like this to jump into bed with a stranger. Non committedly dating Flash and Harry doesn't equal "lying cheater". #RetconSinsPast
