The bell rang, making Amanda's splitting headache even worse. She hated coming to school, and longed to get back to the Lab to practice. Their first showdown with the Spider-Fam did not go well. According to her mom, their benefactor was not pleased. Which meant her mother wasn't pleased.

They subsequently crossed paths with the Spider-Fam a few more times in the last month, but they always ended up fleeing the scene, just before getting arrested.

Massaging her forehead, Amanda sulked into school, and made her way to home room, where she plopped into her seat with a sigh.

"Hi Amanda!" said the girl sitting next to her. It was Ryan, who was annoyingly chipper. Amanda grunted a hello. Ryan had been one of many students to show her kindness after her brother died. She always told her things like "I'm here for you," or "if you needed anything, I am a phone call away." But the only thing Amanda needed was her brother, and there was nothing Ryan could do about that.

"How's your report coming?"

Amanda had all but forgotten about her report, which was really their midterm paper. It was some stupid elective she was in, and it was worth a significant chunk of her grade. Something about the psychology of supervillains. She forgot who she was assigned to, but wondered what her teacher would think if she turned in her paper on the Spider-Fam.

"Haven't started yet," she mumbled and took some joy in seeing Ryan's eyes widen in concern. "But I bet yours is about done."

"Well, I wouldn't say that, but its getting there. If you need help…"

"I don't need your help," Amanda interrupted, turning back to her desk. Then, under her breath, but loud enough for Ryan to hear, Amanda whispered "suck up."

From her periphery, she saw Ryan's eyes widen again, and then she turned back to her own desk, and buried her nose in her book. Amanda could tell she wasn't taking anything in. For a second, she felt bad, but then realized this would get Ryan to leave her the hell alone.

I guess I could've just said that, she thought, but it didn't matter. Her grades, even though they were shit, were none of Ryan's business.

It was strange though. Since taking the vitamins, her grades improved ever so slightly. She stopped failing her tests despite not studying, and frankly, not caring. Now, what kept her grades as failing was her lack of turning her assignments in. She aced everything else.

Amanda wondered how much longer until she lost the voucher she was on due to her grades. She wished she could just be done with school altogether, and focus on her superpowers.

The morning bell screamed. With a sigh, she gathered her belongings, wondering if anyone would even notice if she skipped out at lunch.

Annie and Jermaine waited for Ryan at subway station. Ryan had texted Annie and let her know she was almost there.

"So, we're going to the Bugle after this?" Annie asked.

"Yeah, my mom pulled a bunch of articles on the Green Goblin. You're sure your dad doesn't want to stop by? A lot of them have his pictures."

"No, he's super busy with school, and has a lot of papers to grade."

"Gotcha. Hey, there's Ryan!"

Annie and Jermaine waved, and Ryan headed over.

"Hey guys," Ryan said, shoving her hands into her coat pockets. The lack of hugs and smile told Annie something was wrong.

"What's up?" Annie asked, as they made their way out of the subway station and into the one that would take them to Daily Bugle.

"Nothing," her friend responded. Annie and Jermaine shared a look. They weren't buying.

Ryan was unusually quiet on the way to the Bugle, and Jermaine and Annie did what they could to raise her spirits.

Once inside the Daily Bugle lobby, Jermaine's mom, Glory Grant, met them.

"Hey guys!" She said. She gave her son a hug, and kissed his cheek. "Hi Sweetie," she said, but Jermaine shrugged away from her and said "s'up?"

Glory crossed her arms over her chest. "Is that how you speak to your mother now?"

His eyes widened, realizing he screwed up. "No ma'am."

"Let's try that again. Hi Sweetie."

"Hi mom," he sighed.

"Better. You guys can have one of the conference rooms. Most of the articles are on the computer, but I had a few paper copies laid out on the table for you, but they can't leave the building, so if you need any paper to take notes, let me know!"

"Thank you so much Ms. Grant!"

"You're welcome Ryan. Annie, check out the pictures in the articles, your dad took most of them."

"I will! Thanks again Ms. Grant!" Annie said as Glory lead them to the back conference room. The walls they passed were filled with framed articles, awards, certificates, and many a portrait of ole JJJ.

Glory got them settled in the conference room. "There isn't anyone scheduled in here until 6:00, so no one should bother you guys. But please make sure you're out by then. Besides, its a Friday night, you guys don't want to spend it all working!"

"Don't worry Ma, we'll be out of here at 5:45. We'll be too hungry to go any longer."

"Well, if you go to the Ramen Bar down the street, you know exactly what to bring home for me." Glory gave her son the mom look that said don't you dare forget. Ramen sounded so good on a cold New York night.

"Yes ma'am!" Jermaine said with a salute.

Glory laughed and shook her head. Then, her tone shifted. "The Goblin's a piece of work. If you guys have any questions, or need a break, let me know. My office is just down the hall."

They thanked her and she left.

Ryan and Jermaine started on the paper copies while Annie hopped on the computer. She opened up a few tabs and searched 'Green Goblin,' 'Norman Osborn,' and 'Harry Osborn.'

There was a lot of information that came up. Annie's eyes widened. She wasn't sure they had enough time.

"Guys?" Ryan asked shyly. "Am I a suck up?"

"What?" Annie said. Jermaine gave Ryan a look. "No, of course not," she told her friend. "Why do you even ask?"

Ryan shrugged, then said, "one of the girls at my school called me that."

"Are you sure she was talking about you?" Jermaine gently asked.

"Yeah. I'm a hundred percent sure."

"Well, she sounds like a creep," Annie said, feeling protective of her friend.

"She's not, she's just so angry. She lost her brother a few months ago, and hasn't been the same since."

"Damn, that sucks," Jermaine said.

"I'm sorry Ry," Annie began. "Where you guys friends?"

"Well, not really, but we sit next to each other in homeroom. She was always quiet, but she wasn't mean."

"Did she say that to you in home room?" If so, Annie knew her friend was replaying that moment again and again.

"Yeah."

"Look, Ryan," Jermaine said. "That was not cool, but I wouldn't take it personally. She's just lashing out I guess."

Annie knew Ryan would take his words to heart, and then feel guilty for taking what her classmate said personally. "Ryan, you're not a suck up. You're freakin awesome, and stop torturing yourself." This girl had such bad anxiety. Annie hated seeing her friend struggle. She hugged Ryan.

"Thanks guys," she said. "Okay, let's get to work. Let's start with Norman."

They pooled through articles, calling each other's attention to significant information. Ryan took furious notes, and made sure she gathered the proper details for her reference section.

A shocking title caught Annie's eye.

"Holy shit," she whispered, her eyes focused on the large, bold words.

"Annie, what is it?" Jermaine asked.

She swallowed, but couldn't bring herself to read the headline out loud. Jermaine walked over and read the title.

"'Fallen Police Captain's Daughter Killed During Fight between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin!'"

"What?" Ryan said, putting down the article she was reading.

Someone was killed during a fight? A fight with her dad? That couldn't be right. The media, especially rags like the Bugle were always pulling stunts like this. The title was a sensationalized grab for views. Nothing more.

"You didn't know about that?" Jermaine asked Ryan.

"No," her friend responded.

"It's not true!" Annie said with a little too much force. She jumped out of the chair and walked over to the window looking out at the city.

"Whoa, easier there Parker. You okay?" Jermaine asked.

"I'm fine," she snapped. She took a breath. "I'm fine. No offense to you Maine, but Jameson always leaned towards the melodramatic when it came to Spider-Man."

"You don't know about Gwen Stacy?" Jermaine quietly asked.

"No," Annie said, feeling suddenly self-conscious, as if this was information she should have known.

"Randy told me about her." Jermaine was close to the Robertsons. Randy and his dad Robbie stepped up when Jermaine's father left. Which in turn, made him close to Randy's wife Janet, and their daughter Imani. "She was the police captain's daughter. She was a good friend of Randy's. She was, uh, very close to your dad," he said, indicating Annie.

Her parents never mentioned her.

"What happened to her?" Ryan asked.

Jermaine sighed. "She died. The Goblin killed her."

Ryan grabbed her notebook and pen. "What does the article say?"

"Um," he sat down. 'Tragedy strikes twice. The nineteen year old daughter of fallen police captain George Stacy is dead. Details of Miss Stacy's death are still being investigated, however, eyewitness accounts say Miss Stacy was killed in an aerial battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. Sources say the deceased was brought to one of the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge by the Goblin, with Spider-Man arriving not long after. A vicious fight broke out, resulting in Stacy falling off of the tower. Some sources say she fell while trying to escape, while other sources say she was knocked off by either Spider-Man or The Green Goblin. There are conflicting reports on whether her fall was stopped by Spider-Man or if she plummeted to her death. This is the second tragedy to befall the Stacy's as her father, beloved police captain George Stacy, was killed under similar circumstances. While Captain Stacy gave his life to save a child, he was collateral damage in a vicious battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus.'"

Annie felt like she couldn't breath. She leaned against the corner.

"Shit," Ryan said. "Her father and then her? And she was only nineteen? That's so sad." She looked to Annie. "You okay?" She studied Annie, her eyes narrowed, and she bit her lip.

Snap out of it, Parker, she told herself. Annie didn't like the way Ryan was looking at her; it was as if she were putting together the pieces of a mystery. Annie thought about blaming her mood on her blood sugar, but knew that Ryan, being a diabetic herself, would see right through her bullshit.

"I'm good," Annie said. "Its just, really sad. I didn't know about her. She was so young." The three of them weren't all that far off from nineteen. She took a breath and walked back to the computer.

"What else does the article say?"

"It talks a lot about her father, and how Norman Osborn was found mysteriously dead the same night." Jermaine paused to read more. He scrolled through the article. "It talks about the legacies both men left, in the police force, and in the world of science and business. It also talked about how Norman's empire will be handed down to his son. It ends questioning his son's ability to follow in Norman's foot steps." They were silent for a moment. Then Jermaine said "I guess this was written before Osborn was outed as the first Green Goblin."

Annie looked at the article over Jermaine's shoulder. Ryan took down the information she needed.

"I want to look her up," she said, scooting Jermaine out of the way. She found it crass how the article glossed over Gwen, focusing on her father, and the man who had killed her. She knew her father had nothing to do with her death, or the death of Captain Stacy.

Annie typed in the girl's name, and her obituary popped up, complete with a picture of Gwen. Annie saw a young, blue eyed blonde girl, smiling brightly, filled with life. She read about a bright young woman who had lost her mother years before her own death, and then her father. Gwen's obituary spoke of her brilliance in biochemistry, and boasted her stellar academic record at ESU. Gwen and her dad must have been classmates. Jermaine did say they were close.

Annie's eyes stung, and she fought the urge to wipe at them. She never knew about Gwen. She never knew her father lost anyone. All of her life, Spider-Man always won. Sure, sometimes the perp got away, but that was as close to a loss Annie had ever experienced. Well, until she almost lost her mother during her parents' first fight with two thirds of Triple Threat. But her mother hadn't been harmed. Her mother was okay. But Gwen?

Annie locked her eyes on Gwen's picture. I'm so sorry, she wanted to say. I'm so sorry you weren't saved. Then she remembered the razor bats. Her dad's reaction made a lot more sense now. Why didn't he just tell her what had happened? Guilt settled deep within Annie's core. She would have to return those ASAP.

Annie focused again on the research. The Goblin disappeared after Gwen's death until he resurfaced again, but with Harry Osborn under the mask. Harry's reign of terror never quite reached his father's. But like Norman, Harry cycled through periods of villainy and then a typical civilian life. Many articles she read focused more on how he handled his father's empire. Everything she read referred to Oscorp as Norman's company, and most of the articles implied Harry never lived up to his father's legacy in the business world. She wondered if Normie felt the same way when he was running Oscorp.

As the Goblin, unlike his father, the only person Harry had killed was ultimately himself. Annie listened in horror as Ryan read an article saying Harry was poisoned by the very formula that had given him his powers. Annie felt she should have more sympathy for him, but struggled to do so. His actions and death had left a serious impact on her parents and on Normie.

Ms. Grant was right. The Goblin was a piece of work.

At 5:40, they packed up and left the room just as they had found it. Huddled up in the jackets, their breaths fogging the cold night, Annie and her friends rushed over to the Ramen Bar. The restaurant was a small, cozy hideaway, and the trio hungrily slurped up their food.

"You guys excited for your dance?" Ryan asked through a mouthful of noodles.

Annie almost chocked on her soup. She had completely forgotten about it. But apparently her past self did tell Ryan about the dance so it was, at one point, on her radar.

Jermaine just shrugged. Jermaine had told Annie Mark broke up with him because he was ready to make their relationship public, but Jermaine was not. And she knew Mark was already with someone new, and they'd be at the dance together. And Annie knew Jermaine was not about to share that information with Ryan. While the two had become fast friends, they weren't there yet.

"I doubt I'll go," he said. "I've got a big meet the next day."

"I can't believe they make you guys swim during the winter. That makes no sense."

Jermaine shrugged. "The pools are usually inside so, it's not too bad. Just early as hell."

The conversation continued about swimming, but Annie wondered if she should even go to the dance. Especially since she technically was with someone she couldn't take because of her secret identity. Also, and most importantly, she should hang out with Jermaine, keep him company and just be there for him in any capacity he needed. She then felt incredibly guilty for thinking of Normie first before her friend. And then she felt guilty for that because Normie was her boyfriend and she needed to think about him too.

When dinner was finished they headed back out into the city, and then had to make a beeline back because Jermaine forgot to order his mother's food. They headed back out again, her friend visibly relieved he remembered just in the nick of time.

"You guys don't understand," he said. "My mom would've been so pissed at me!" Jermaine then delighted them with his impersonations of a very hangry Glory Grant.

Through fits of giggles, they walked Ryan to her subway station where her mother and sister were waiting. Annie had suggested a sleep over, but Ryan vehemently denied. She needed to get a good night's sleep and wake up fresh and early for her report. "You'd just distract me," she scolded.

Annie and Jermaine then walked to their subway station.

"You think I should just go to the dance alone?" he asked.

"It would be fun if you were there," Annie said. "But you gotta do what's right for you, not anyone else, you hear?"

He smiled as they scanned their cards, but his smile didn't touch his eyes. Part of her wanted to just tell her friend she knew what he was going through. That she couldn't bring the person she liked because of her secret identity. But she knew it wasn't even close to being the same thing. She chose to have her secret identity and she chose not to share it with Normie.

"Yeah, you're right," he said. "You just wanna go together? As friends?"

Well, Normie also complicated this. She wanted to say yes, but wondered what her boyfriend would say about that. Or maybe he would understand? Or maybe not even care?

"Sure," Annie said, ignoring her thoughts. "That'll be fun."

"Okay," he said. "But I can't stay out late. Seriously. There really is a meet the next day. My coach had some words when he found out the date of the dance."

"Sounds good, I should leave early too, because, and you're not gonna believe this, I gotta go to a swim meet also. Out of support of course," she said with a wink.

"Parker, you are such a dork. You don't have to go. You are strangely busy on the weekends." They got on the train.

Annie wished she could tell him she missed his meets due to fighting crime and not for any 'just because' reason. They got on the train, and Jermaine got off at the next station, with Annie needing to take another to get back to her Aunt Gayle's.

"You sure you don't want me to go home with you?" He asked, ever the gentlemen.

"I'm good. Gonna be on the phone with my mom the entire ride back, and my dad will pick me up at the next stop." And I have superpowers, she wanted to say. "Besides, your mom is waiting on her food!"

"Alright. Text me when you're home."

"Kay, you too!"

Jermaine left and Annie sat on the train, thoughts about Gwen Stacy, Normie Osborn, and the Green Goblins racing through her head. She knew she had to talk to her dad, and that she needed to return those razor bats, ASAP.