"I was starting to wonder if you'd changed your mind," Devon said with a smile as Alexia sat down in the booth across from him.

"Sorry. I got a bit side-tracked on my way here," Alexia replied.

When she'd gotten back to her apartment, she'd realized that she hadn't picked out anything to wear. Alexia normally didn't think about what she wore after she'd bought her clothes; almost everything she owned was black, with the exception of a few red shirt. But tonight wasn't a normal situation. Devon had invited her to one of New York's fanciest restaruants, and Alexia wondered how he was able to afford it on a reporter's salary. She wore a V-neck black dress that went passed her knees, and ankle-length high-heeled boots. Her hair was in a high ponytail.

"You look... like a model," Devon said awkwardly.

"I wasn't about to show up in a place like this in sweats and a tee-shirt," she said with a frown. To her, it seemed like the rich always a dirty secret hidden somewhere, and she'd always been distrustful of them.

"That was supposed to be a compliment, you know," Devon said.

"I'm just a little nervous in a place like this," Alexia replied.

A waiter came up to them, interupting the conversation for the moment. After they'd ordered, Devon pulled something out of his suit pocket, and set it on the table. It was a tape recorder.

"You don't mind of I record this, do you," he asked.

Alexia shook her head. Devon pressed the 'record' button.

"This is Devon Smith interviewing Alexia Dark about the El-train disaster. Alexia, why were you on the train," he asked.

"I was on my way to New York University," Alexia answered.

"Could you describe what happened that day on the train?"

Alexia closed her eyes for a moment, remembering.

"I was in the first car, near the front of the train. I heard a loud thump behind me, and turned to see what was happening. There were dents in the roof. I heard more noises from the other cars. We were all confused. We had no idea what was going on. All of a sudden, Spider-Man and Doc Ock were on the side of the train, outside our windows. They were fighting.

Doc Ock grabbed Spider-Man and smashed him through the window. Spider-Man got free and smashed through another window to get back outside. They fought some more. Doc Ock hid on the bottom of the train. When Spider-Man went after him, he climbed onto the other side and hit Spider-Man through the window. He was knocked off the train.

He came back a minute later, and Doc Ock grabbed two people from inside another car. I couldn't see what happened next; I assume that Spider-Man saved them. Doc Ock smashed through the conductor's car window and accelorated the train, ripping out the lever. I think that's when he left". Alexia purposely left out the explosion in the front car that followed, but continued.

"Spider-Man climbed to the front of the train, probably trying to figure out how to slow it down. He jumped onto the tracks to try and slow it down, but it didn't work. I pushed my way closer, into the conductor's car. Spider-Man looked around, then shot webs at the buildings around us, holding onto the ends. The train slowed down a little. But they just ripped bricks off of the buildings and fell.

That was when I saw it. We were heading toward the end of the tracks. If the train kept going, we would crash into the middle of the street. He started firing webs all around us, at any surface beside the train. I could hear him screaming as we slwoed down. We finally stopped a few feet off of the edge of the tracks. Spider-Man started to fall. The strain of stopping the train must have knocked him out. The conductor caught him, and we carried him into the train, setting him down on the floor.

Then Doc Ock came back, standing at the other end of the car. A few of us tried to stand up to him - I would have been there with them, but I was too far away - but he just pashed them out of his way. Then he lifted Spider-Man up, and took him away. That was the last I saw of them."

"What is your opinion of Doc Ock," Devon asked.

For a moment, Alexia's almost forgotten rage at the man who had endangered her life resurfaced. She masked the emotion quickly, focusing on the facts.

"He was a great scientist who made a terrible mistake, and lost his sanity as a result."

"So, you don't hate him?"

"Hating him would be a waste of energy. He's dead," she replied.

"His body was never found," Devon pointed out.

"He was swimming with a giant ball of fire. There's no way he could have survived. He's broiled suid. End of story."

"Okay. What's your opinion of Spider-Man?"

"He's a hero that helps people who need it."

"What do you think of the alligations that he murdered Norman Osborn?"

Alexia reached over and shut off the tape.

"Hey, what did you do that for," Devon asked.

"I won't talk about something that has nothing to do with me," Alexia said.

"Fine. You can just say 'No comment', you know," he replied, and turned the tape back on.

"I'll ask you a different question, but I don't think you'll like it any better. Do you think that Spider-Man would ever commit murder?"

"No comment."

Devon turned off the tape.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you that you could say that," he said, then looked her directly in the eye.

"I need to know this. It's really the only question that matters."

"Why is this so important to you? What do you care about Spider-Man's involvement in Norman's death? This is supposed to be about the train wreck, not some dead scientist," Alexia said.

Devon looked away, his voice hurt and angry as he explained.

"That's exactly what it's about. It's the reason I took this job. Because of some dead scientist"

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

Devon took a deep breath, willing the tears in his eyes not to fall.

"When I was young, my father was never around. He was always on a business trip somewhere. He's the majority shareholder of Quest Aerospace. It was my uncle who raised me. He'd come over and help me with my homework, talk to me... he was just there for me in a way my father never was."

He paused, a single tear dripping down his cheek.

"A little over two years ago, my uncle, who also worked for Quest, was showing a government official a prototype for a one-person spacecraft. Just as the pilot was about to take off, the Green Goblin flew down and blew the place up. He killed my uncle."

They sat in silence for a moment, thinking about what Devon had just said.

"I'm sorry that hapened, but I still don't see what it had to do with Spider-Man and Norman Osborn." As soon as Alexia had spoken the words, she regretted saying them. She knew exactly what they had to do with Devon's uncle. But did he know? Could he have figured out the truth about Norman Osborn? And if he had, what did it have to do with the train wreck?

"After my uncle died, I dropped my science courses at the university. I'd always been brought up to be a scientist like the rest of my family, but I had never been interested in science. About a year ago, I heard that Jonah Jameson was looking for a reporter to keep track of Spider-Man's activities. I applied for the job, and I got it.

I thought that getting that job would be the best way to do what I'd promised to do the day of my uncle's funeral; that I would find out who the Green Goblin ws, and make him pay for what he did. But he'd disappeared almost a year before, and the only person who might have known what happened to him is Spider-Man. Since I can't exactly ask him for an interview, I thought it would be best to interview those who had met him."

He paused, looking at her.

"I really need you to answer, because if Spider-Man didn't kill him, that means that the that killed my father might still be out there. And if he is, I'm going to find him. Could Spider-Man have killed the Green Goblin?"

Now here was a terrible dilema. Alexia knew that Norman was dead, but Spider-Man had not killed him. If she said 'yes', maybe Devon would find some peace in knwoing that his father's murderer was dead. But if she didn't say 'no', she would be lying and damning Peter's actions, only helping the Bugle convince the city that he was a criminal. She decided to go with the truth.

"No," she answered.

Devon sighed, frustrated.

"But that doesn't mean that the Green Goblin is alive," Alexia continued, trying to comfort him," Maybe there was an accident-"

"People don't just disappear without a reason, Alexia. He was a homicidal maniac, and I don't think that anything less than death could have stopped him."

The waiter came with their food, but Alexia stood up.

"I answered your questions. I'm done," she said, and walked toward the door.

"Alexia, wait-"

She was already out the door. Devon apologized to thew waiter and ran out after her. She was just about to run into an ally to change when Devon caught up to her.

"I'm sorry for questioning your answer, but you didn't have to leave like that. What's wrong," he asked.

Alexia looked away. She hadn't run away out of anger at Devon, but at anger at fate. She couldn't be around him any longer. She hated to see the hurt in his eyes because she couldn't give him thew answer he needed, the answer he deserved. 'I care about him too much already', she thought.

"I don't know," she said with an exaggerated shrug.

"Did I do something wrong," Devon asked.

"You didn't do anything wrong. I just... I wish I could help you, but I can't."

"That's alright. I mean, you answered my questions."

Alexia nodded.

"I'd better be getting home," she said.

"I'll drive you, if you want."

"No thanks. I'll walk."

"You live on the other side of the city," he pointed out.

She wasn't about to explain how she had really intended on getting home, so she accepted his offer.

"Where's your car," she asked.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up in front of Alexia's apartment. Devon followed her to the entrance, and grabbed her hand before she opened the door. She didn't pull away, but turned to toward him.

"Alexia... I'm not really sure how to say this. I've only known you for two days, but... there's something special about you. Something I've never seen in anyone else. I know that tonight wasn't what either of us thought it would be, but I want to see you again," Devon said.

Alexia didn't know what to say. She liked him, and wanted to spend time with him, but she didn't know how she could be around him knowing what she knew, unable to give him the answers he needed. She closed her eyes for a second, focusing on what she felt instead of what she knew.

"I'd like to see you again, too, Devon," she said.

Devon smiled.

"Would you like to see a movie next week," he asked.

"Sure."

"What kind of movie?"

Alexia smiled.

"An action movie."

"An action movie it is. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

Devon left, but Alexia stood outside for a moment, and wondered what she'd just gotten herself into. She hoped that she wouldn't end up regretting it, and went inside.