Spider-Man: The Lost Years #2
Intimacies
After spending so much time in New York City, Ben Reilly has taken a liking to Salt Lake City, coming to see it as a throwback to a simpler time.[1] However, this opinion quickly changed on the night that drug dealers kidnapped Detective Jacob Raven and blew up his home with his family still in it. As the officer is being driven to his execution by a gang of thugs, they are stopped en route by Reilly, who has disguised his face by wrapping a cloth around his face. When they try to run Ben down, the one-time wall-crawler leaps over their car and forces them to crash. He quickly takes out the gang members. With Raven free, Ben tells the office that he has nothing to fear from him. That's when patrol cars begin arriving on the scene prompting Reilly to flee. Jacob had the urge to call out to Ben, find out who he is, but couldn't bring himself to talk. Among the officers arriving on the scene is Raven's partner Louise Kennedy. When Jacob asks how they were able to find him, she tells him it is unimportant right now and that he needs to get to the hospital right away because his wife and child were injured.
Not far away, Ben Reilly tries to rationalize why he got involved in saving Raven and discovers that abandoning the power and responsibility that he has been trying to cast aside. Elsewhere, Kaine is out in the rain as well, deciding to put aside his hunt for Ben Reilly. This is because of his whirlwind romance with Louise Kennedy, which has given him hope and new perspective even though his body continues to degrade and cause him great pain. While at the local prison, drug lord Vincent Tannon learns from one of the guards that the hit on Raven's family was pulled off. Unfortunately, they only succeeded in killing Jacob's wife, his son still lives. Furious over this failure, Vincent decides to deal with this in persona. Visiting his family in the hospital, Jacob Raven goes to his church to reflect on the murder of his wife. He feels as though Vincent Tannen made their son an orphan because he died on the inside the moment his wife was murdered. He's joined in his mourning by his partner Louise Kennedy. When she tries to put her hand on him in comfort, Raven leaves the church without saying a single word, leaving Louise alone in the hospital.
The following day, Ben Reilly begins the first day on the job as a teaching assistant at the local university. Professor White sits in on one of Reilly's lectures and is very impressed. He tells Ben that he is most impressed with his teaching ability and decides to keep him on as an assistant. After class, Ben walks among the commons, happy with how his new job is going. That's when he spots Janine Godbe among the students and rushes to her side. Janine is upset that Ben stood her up for dinner the night before, but Ben explains that he never got her phone number and wasn't able to reach her. They quickly makeup and she agrees to go out for dinner with Ben that evening. As the pair spend the day together, they quickly find themselves falling in love with each other. That night, after dinner, Ben puts on his make-shift mask and goes out into the city. He then begins systematically attacking Vincent Tannen's various illicit drug operations. At that same moment, Kaine and Louise spend the evening on a nearby mountain looking down at the lights of Salt Lake City. The pair admits that they are developing feelings for one another. When she brushes aside Kaine's long hair, he reels back, but she tells him that she doesn't find him hideous, despite the strange scars on his face. She then takes the gloves off his hands so that she can hold them. That's when the pair admit that they are in love with one another.
That next day, Jacob Raven finds himself standing outside the university medical center. He knows that he should be by his son's bedside, but can't bring himself to go in. However, someone else has no such reservations as they enter Matthew's room and kidnaps the boy. It is night time again, and Ben and Janine have spent another romantic evening together. They kiss outside her apartment door, but she stops him from taking things further. She apologizes, telling him that she can't do this and this has to stop before going inside leaving Reilly to deal with the hurt of this rejection.[2] With nothing else to do, Ben covers his face again and goes out into the night. At that same moment, Kaine and Louise are in the throws of passion when suddenly Kaine begins to scream. His body spasms painfully as his body degrades some more. Louise begs to know what's wrong, but Kaine merely leaps out the nearby window into the night. While at another warehouse, an illicit drug deal is going on under the supervision of Jimmy the Mouth, the nephew of Vincent Tannen.
As Ben beats up on the armed thugs, Jimmy tries to make a run for it with the money. Unfortunately, Kaine comes crashing through the door looking for Ben Reilly, looking to take his pain and anger out on his fellow clone. Kaine beats Ben within an inch of his life before fleeing the warehouse. Before he can recover from his beating, Ben is taken at gunpoint by Jimmy the Mouth who intends to execute the intruder. However, he is stopped by Louise Kennedy who intends to kill him on the behalf of Vincent Tannen, who apparently is out of prison and has Matthew Raven with him.[3]
Recurring Characters
Ben Reilly, Jacob Raven, Louise Kennedy, Janine Godbe, Kain, Vincent Tannen, Paul Tannen, Jimmy the Mouth, Matthew Raven, Helen Raven
Continuity Notes
Ben says that he has been on the road for five years. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, this is the rough amount of time that passed between Amazing Spider-Man #159 and Web of Spider-Man #117. This story, however, roughly takes place roughly three years prior to Web of Spider-Man #177 per The Spectacular Spider-Man #228.
The reason why Janine is pushing Ben away is that she is actually a criminal on the run, as revealed in Spider-Man: Redemption #1-4.
This is not really Vincent Tannen, but his brother Paul, as revealed Spider-Man: The Lost Years #3.
