Gwen hated it. First she wasn't allowed to leave the base, not that she'd have had time to since they immediately called Riri to take some blood and spit samples to analyze.

Hopefully Gwen's powers would return soon on their own, and the tests would show that, but otherwise it could let Riri figure out how to fix it. She really hoped they weren't gone for good.

After that she was stuck inside an armored car before being stuck inside a safe house. Her dad was 'en route' but she didn't believe he'd arrive anytime soon. George Stacy? Leaving early from work? Now that would be a miracle.

She had gotten to call her friends, using one of her protective units' phones, but only when S.H.I.E.L.D. was outside of the door, and only to confirm that they where the good guys, and not some villains masquerading as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. After that it was right back to boredom and isolation.

The safe house was small: one kitchen, a single bathroom, and just a tiny living room that doubled as bedroom was all she had. She spent most of her time in the living room, a small space with a bookshelf and TV along one wall, as well as a couch that folded out into a bed and a small table with two chairs along the opposite wall.

Her phone was in airplane mode, so she couldn't really do anything with it, and there weren't any good books around, she had checked, so she watched TV and worked out.

There wasn't really anything interesting on TV either, but it was better than nothing. As for her workout, it was awful, it just made her feel weak since even if she pushed herself harder than ever before she wouldn't manage to do half as good as what she used to be able to do without even trying. She mainly just watched TV.

Day two of isolation wasn't much better. There still hadn't been any real progress on the Murderdock front, she'd talked to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in charge but they had turned down her help, and she was starting to get stir-crazy.

On her first day she'd just hoped her powers would return, but when they hadn't returned by morning she'd started to consider what her life would be like without powers.

Most of her plans wouldn't change, she'd go to music collage with the Mary Janes and hopefully they'd become pro's. After that she'd tour the country, maybe the world. Nothing about that plan had seemed bad, it still didn't, but she hadn't realized that the plan had always included being Ghost-Spider as well.

She'd planned to help openly whenever she was in New York and more covertly elsewhere. She knew enough about stealth to help without anybody seeing her, she'd done it before while the police were still after her, so all she would have needed was a rope to tie up the criminals after the fact.

There was a news report about a burning building in Manhattan and she wished she was there with her powers back so that she could run inside. And not just to help anybody stuck inside but because it'd be a change in the monotonous tedium. That was bad.

She wasn't sure if she had become an adrenaline junkie or what, but not being Ghost-Spider, not getting to help others, didn't sound appealing at all.

This lock-down thing wasn't going to work. Because her dad still wanted to work he'd gotten a separate safe house. His protective detail would escort him wherever he wanted to go, the same went for her band mates, and meanwhile Gwen wasn't going anywhere. All alone. With her thoughts.

She had her own protective detail, but just because they were there didn't mean she'd talk with them. Much. There were four men, Tom, Bob, Jonahs, and Steve, and two women, Sarah and Jenelle, in the squad watching her who rotated in eight hour shifts. That meant two of them would be present at all times.

Tom, Jonahs, and Sarah where friendly enough, though none of them shared any of her interests. Bob was an ass. Jenelle and Steve weren't her favorite people but she'd talk to either of them before Bob.

She really missed her friends, both in the band and in the team. She missed Daisy the most.

She was talking to Jenelle, Bob was in the other room eating or something, but they were running out of things to talk about.

"So what'll you do after your shift ends?" Gwen was half lying over the small table, Jenelle sat on the other chair looking at the TV.

"Not really your business, Gwen." Jenelle gave her the stink-eye.

"Alright, sorry. I'm just so bored right now; I'd talk about the weather if that conversation could last more than five seconds."

Jenelle made a sympathetic face, almost like she cared about her young charge. "Well if you're really that bored. I'm meeting my girlfriend later, not really a date or anything; we're just going to hang out a bit."

Gwen shot up, back straight. "Your girlfriend?"

"Fucking homo."

"Shut front-ass Bob." Jenelle called out to the kitchen. "And yes, girlfriend. What, does it matter that I'm gay?"

"I- Yeah. I think it does. Like, I preferred talking with everyone other than Bob and Steve over you until just now."

"Really?" Jenelle looked unconvinced.

"Yeah. I... I'm- I've never really talked about it with anyone, not even my best friends, but I- Well some of them are gay so they'd be just as good for this, but there's baggage there, y'know? Plus they're my age so they wouldn't really have much experience about this."

"Will you get to the point?"

"Sorry. There's a girl. I may have a crush on her." Gwen's cheeks were growing hot. "How do I know if she's anything but straight or ace?" She noticed a hint of desperation in her voice.

"That's a tough one," Jenelle said with a smile." Are you friends with her?"

"I think so?" She hoped so. "We work together."

"Do you know her opinion on homosexuals?"

"Another co-worker's openly gay. No one seems to have a problem with it."

"Then you could just ask her. That'd work." She wasn't sure how she reacted, but apparently it was amusing because it sure made Jenelle chuckle.

"Yeah see that," Gwen pointed in Jenelle's direction, "that's not helpful."

"I know Gwen, but there really isn't a better way than that, and if you're friends you could do it in a way that doesn't raise suspicion."

"Like how?"

"Well," Jenelle leaned back to think about it, "have you come out to her yet?"

"No?"

"Ask her if she'd ever date a girl, keep a straight face, and regardless of what she says, if it's an answer to your question or if she asks why you want to know, you say 'I would'.

"Act like it was just a lead up to your coming out and nobody's going to think twice about it."

"You sure?" it seemed a bit iffy to Gwen.

"I give it a ninety percent chance of working, or at least not making her think twice about it. That's just based on gut feeling, but hey, could be worse."

Daisy was on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. that day. It wasn't a big thing, she only got a small number of larger missions ever since they formed the Secret Warriors, which meant about half the time the mission was some form of cleanup either as part of the arresting forces after someone else had gotten enough evidence to lock the villains away or as prisoner transport.

That day in particular it was prisoner transport, transporting an inhuman with intangibility powers which they could only contain using electric currents of all things, but it was a break from her usual routine so she enjoyed it well enough.

She honestly didn't know what she preferred, working as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent or as a hero.

There was more freedom in Hero work, but there was less structure too. And not just the boring kind of structure, there wasn't a near constant stream of work and missions for her which meant she couldn't spend most of her time doing what she really loved, but it also meant she didn't have to spend as much time on pointless busy work and mind numbing paperwork.

On the other hand Rayshaun had convinced her to keep doing some paperwork which almost felt like she'd never left S.H.I.E.L.D. in a worst of both worlds kind of way, so she wasn't quite as free as she could be.

The one benefit hero work really had was her team, which despite being almost completely made up of people two or more years younger than her still managed to feel like a group of friends more than co-workers.

The downside to that being that whenever one of them was missing, like Gwen was, she missed them all the more.

On day three of her voluntary house arrest the news showed an attack downtown. Robots were fighting some avengers, not all of them just some, but Captain Marvel was there and so was her team. It looked like the robots might be targeting the Avengers, not any civilians, and her team was mostly just guarding the perimeter which left them with little to do, but she still, at that moment, wanted nothing more than to go join them.

She turned off the TV and did some push-ups.

"You like exercising?" Sarah asked. She was nice, if a bit too focused on her job but somehow that just made Gwen like her more. She couldn't quite place why. So far they hadn't really talked about anything besides her work, and only ever in general terms, but it was nice.

"I don't mind it too much." She'd been bored enough over the past few days to exercise despite how much she'd hated it right after losing her powers, and she'd exercised enough to get over it. Mostly.

"And you really don't play any sports?"

Was she too fit for someone who didn't exercise? Gwen wasn't sure anymore, superpowers really messed with your idea of 'normal'.

"Not really, but I guess I exercise more than most?"

"Yeah, I'll say. With what you've shown me over the last few days you're well on your way to becoming fit enough for S.H.I.E.L.D. or the military."

"Really?" She was surprised that her 'exercising' with superpowers had really made her fitter than most, after all she rarely felt like she was pushing herself.

"Well, you're not quite there, but sure, if you dedicate yourself you could manage. Why?"

"Oh. I..." She had never really said it out loud before, but she'd thought it more than once. "I've considered going to the police academy after high school," to play more within the law and become better as a hero, "but maybe I should aim for S.H.I.E.L.D. instead?"

It'd be one way to keep helping people without her powers, even if it wouldn't be as fun. But was that who she wanted to be? S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Stacey, a girl without a band?

"Well if what you want is to make a difference S.H.I.E.L.D. definitely does that, but it's much tougher than the police academy, and I'm not just talking about the physical requirements. You'd have to be willing to sacrifice most hobbies and your social life if you go down that path, and you probably couldn't stay in your band if they're aiming to go pro."

If Gwen wanted to keep being a hero even without her powers that would be the way to go, but sacrificing the Mary Janes? She couldn't do that.

If her powers came back it might still be worth doing, she could use the time everybody else used for exercise to practice with the band and she might even have time for the Secret Warriors.

She kept exercising for about an hour after that, all the while talking with Sarah.

The team had just finished practice and where lounging in the common room. Kamala was too tired to do much of anything so she was mainly just watching as Doreen, Dante, and Rayshaun were playing Mortal Combat.

America and Riri where tinkering up in the garage and Daisy was standing off to the side, watching the rest of them enjoying themselves.

"Want to join us?"

"No, I'm not really in the mood for Mortal Combat." Daisy hadn't been herself lately; she'd been distracted, more distant.

"You don't have to play, I'm not."

"Thanks but..." Daisy looked away, didn't seem like a distraction was what she needed.

"It's fine if you want to be alone," Kamala said, while going over to her, "it's also fine if you want to talk about it."

"Talk about what?"

"Whatever's making you feel so down lately?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." That could have been a subtle way of saying she didn't want to talk, but it looked more like she didn't know why she was feeling the way she did.

"So you don't miss Gwen? Haven't been feeling down since she had to leave?"

"I... I'm not happy about it, sure, but there isn't anything we can do, she has to stay safe until S.H.I.E.L.D. can arrest the villain who took her powers." Daisy said.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can't do anything about how you're feeling. Talking usually helps, but being honest about how you feel is even more important."

Helping people was hard, and you couldn't do too much at once unless they asked you to, so that's where their conversation ended that day. She kept sitting at the table with Daisy though, and Daisy seemed to feel a bit better with her there.

On day five, while exercising, she imagined web-slinging through town or playing drums, the two things she wanted to do more than anything at that moment.

When she was too tired to keep going she took a quick shower before talking with her protective detail. She'd watch some TV but apparently every cable channel had conspired to make that Tuesday the most boring day of broadcasts ever.

She didn't really have anything to talk about with her protective detail. They had long since exhausted the topic of prepping for S.H.I.E.L.D. training, which she wasn't even sure she wanted, since most of it was classified so their conversations had many dead periods where Gwen let her mind wander.

She pulled out the list of books her protective detail had at home, since all of them (except for Bob) had offered to bring some books for her to read, but none of them were big readers and the few books she'd given a try were only really good for having her sleep away a couple of hours.

She asked Steve if there were any updates on the Murderdock investigation, but they wouldn't tell her. She hadn't really expected much communication, at least not after the first day, but she'd hoped for something.

At least so she could start estimating how long she'd have to be there. She'd have asked about Riri's tests, but Daisy would have reached out if there was something to tell.

She envied her friends. They had started going out several days earlier and hadn't been attacked at all, either because Murderdock wasn't keeping an eye on them or because he was waiting to see if they'd lead him to her.

Day six.

She stared up at the roof from her bed. She didn't see any shapes in it, it was matt white with no real texture, and there wasn't anything interesting about it.

She turned in her bed, lying on her side, staring at the wall.

An hour later she decided to get some food.

Gwen wasn't sure if she'd ever get her powers back, it varied from day to day but the days she felt hope were noticeably fewer in the second half of the week she'd been locked up.
On her seventh day in hell Gwen couldn't take it anymore and decided to leave her safe house for a short walk. She wasn't wearing any of her own clothes, except for her underwear, and the plan was for her to stay away from her usual paths.

After prepping for an hour, at seven PM, they left her safe-house.

As she walked around randomly her protective detail followed, Jonahs close by and Bob from further down the road. It felt so good to not be in the same little apartment anymore, and it was exciting to experience something different for the first time in a week.

She'd swung around most of the city to the point that even when she walked down a street she'd never taken before it all felt familiar. She'd probably seen every street in the city, at least from glancing to her sides as she swung by. But more than that: everything just had a New York vibe to it. Even the dumpsters looked familiar to her. Not as familiar as the buildings though...

"Your corn-dogs or your life!" Shit!

She quickly turned to Jonahs, "Get us out of here, fast!" she whispered.

Without a second wasted Jonahs pulled her along a different path, away from the Dollar Dog, away from the Bodega Bandit. She had no idea how an hour and a half had passed without her noticing it.

They were moving towards Fifth Avenue, cutting through alleyways along their path. They weren't far away when two gray ninjas appeared out of nowhere. Jonas drew his gun but Gwen, who already assumed that fighting wouldn't work, turned around to escape.

Unfortunately what greeted her wasn't the sight of Bob trailing behind them but rather two more ninjas. Quickly turning back to Jonahs she only then realized that Murderdock had taken her bodyguard out. As he stood over Jonas' body she couldn't quite see if he'd killed Jonas or just knocked him out, either option was possible considering Murderdock's unpredictable ways of messing with her.

"What's with the glare, Miss Stacey?" he said with a devious smile. "I'm just here to help you out."

Gwen stuck her hands in her pockets, trying to look indignant, silently defiant, while secretly, and blindly, opening an app on her phone that could record their conversation. She aimed for the camera app's video function.

"You want to help me after stabbing me the last time we met and after you just killed my bodyguards?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Did he know that she was recording every word he said? Had he heard her fiddling with her phone? "More importantly I heard about your predicament, regarding what happened last week, and thought that this could help." He held up a vile containing a black viscous liquid of some kind.

"And what is that supposed to be?"

"In a word: power. The power to do what you always wanted to do, what you used to do until a week ago when you suddenly lost it."

Super-powers in a bottle? Like she'd believe anything that came out of that lying, manipulative, assholes mouth.

He tossed it to her, and she reflexively caught it. Nothing happened. She didn't suddenly feel woozy, like she'd expect if the vial had been coated in any poison or drug, though if he wanted to drug her any of the ninjas he had around them could have done it in an instance.

When she looked up from her hands Murderdock and his goons were gone. She pocketed the vial then called S.H.I.E.L.D. using Jonahs' phone.

A while later an unmarked van with America inside, who was there to verify their identity before leaving through a portal, came to pick them up. They took down her official statement while ferrying off her protective detail to a S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital.

She said Murderdock only came to mess with her, probably to make her feel unsafe, which might have also been the case, but left out the vial. She figured she might tell them later when she'd decided what to do with it, since they probably wouldn't leave the choice to her if they got their hands on it. Riri on the other hand probably would let her decide after analyzing it.

It was only later that evening, when she was about to fall asleep, that she realized that even if Murderdock hadn't heard her fiddle with her phone, he was probably in a habit of acting like everything was getting recorded. After all, he had been the Kingpin's top criminal defense lawyer, he wouldn't risk it.