Present Time…

"What did you say?" Felicia asked, taken aback by the fact that Debra knew her name.

"You know exactly what I said, Felicia." Debra replied smugly. "I know who you are behind that mask."

"How, how?" Debra muttered in shock that this girl knew so much about her.

"Maybe if you weren't so caught up in this stupid charade of yours you'd be able to notice the people around you. And maybe he wouldn't be lying there dying," Debra seethed with anger and frustration.

Felicia, who had initially been stunned and frightened, was now furious. She stepped toward Debra and questioned through clenched teeth, "Are you saying that this is my fault?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying" Debra replied.

Felicia moved menacingly toward Debra, but Debra was unflinching. Felicia grabbed Debra's shirt and held her by it, the same way she had threatened so many criminals before, "You should know that I love that man more than you could ever know."

Debra just laughed, "You never loved him. You don't even know him. You're just a spoiled girl parading around, looking for attention."

"How dare you!" Felicia fumed. "I could snap your neck if I wanted to."

"Go ahead!" Debra spat, surprised by her own audacity.

"Girls, girls!" Doc Connors had just gotten back from telling the maintenance workers not to disturb him. He was shocked to find the two girls fighting and the Black Cat apparently ready to injure Debra. "What's going on? This is no time to be fighting. I leave you alone for five minutes….".

Felicia blushed and let go of Debra's shirt. She felt like a child being scolded. She had no idea how Debra had known about her identity but she didn't want to discuss the issue further in front of Doctor Connors. It would have to wait.

Doctor Connors continued, "Why are you fighting? We're all here to help Spider-man! Now, how is he doing?"

Debra sneered at Felicia before returning toward Spider-man. Her rage turned to concern for the man that lay before her. She checked his pulse and listened to his breathing. "I, I dunno if its working, Doctor Connors. There doesn't appear to be any change. I don't know what else we can do."

"We should try another batch of the anti-toxins. I think it's the best hope that we have."

Debra prepared another syringe filled with the anti-toxins. Felicia let out a loud sigh of annoyance. Her hands were crossed across her chest. "And what if this doesn't work? I brought him here because I thought that you could save him!"

"Look, were doing our best." Doctor Connors replied sternly. He then proceeded to check on Spider-man as well. He nodded in Debra's direction in agreement, "I don't see any change, either. Let's hope that this next batch of the anti-toxins helps. We should continue to work on a more responsive anti-dote but other than that I don't think there is much else we can do."

"God, why isn't he getting better!" Felicia demanded in frustration. "I should never have brought him here!"

"Shut up, shut up! You've done enough, now leave us alone." Debra screamed back at the Black Cat. Doctor Connors had never seen Debra react this way. She had always seemed quiet and docile. Now she flared with rage and he was starting to understand that there was a history between the two girls.

"I wouldn't talk to me like that if I were you." Felicia replied. Felicia tried to hide the fact that she was really scared by this girl, a girl she didn't really know yet who seemed to know so much about her.

Doctor Connors interjected, "I don't know what's going on between you two but you need to stop it right now. I won't have any of this going on in my laboratory especially considering the situation."

"No, I will not stop!" Debra yelled back at a shocked Doctor Connors. "I've waited and watched passively as he's thrown his life away. But I've had enough. And I won't let her talk to me that way or tell me how much she loves him because all she's done is hurt him. She never cared about him, she was never there for him! She doesn't know anything about love!"

Felicia and Doctor Connors were both speechless after Debra's rant. Neither one had expected it. It was not hard for Doctor Connors to see that Debra was in love with Peter. He had suspected for a while that the two were linked romantically. It made perfect sense that his two brightest students should fall in love. Whatever was between them didn't seem to last for whatever reasons, although now he could see that Debra still felt strongly for Peter.

Felicia was coming to realizations of her own. She had grossly underestimated Debra. She was unsure how the girl knew about her secret identity but it was now becoming apparent that she knew more. She knew the identity of Spider-man and what was more she was in love with him. How could she blame her? Felicia had imagined the man behind the mask to be overwhelmingly handsome, debonair, charming and confident. She imagined that most girls who knew him were in love with him, even without the knowledge of his alter ego. She imagined it much like her own situation where every guy she'd ever known had been smitten with her. That's why they were perfect for each other, because they were the same. She believed with all her heart that when Spider-man was ready he would realize this and they would both take off their masks.

"You know who he is," Felicia said matter-of-factly trying to conceal the simultaneous feelings of resentment toward Debra and excitement at know Spider-man's true identity.

"Yes, I do." Debra replied, savoring the moment. She then pointed toward Doctor Connors and said, "We both do."

Debra was in a kind of frenzied, almost manic state. She had always held back her emotions and now they were pouring out of her and she could hardly think straight. But she savored that moment as she saw the shock in Felicia's eyes. For the first time in her life Debra had something that Felicia didn't, and it was knowledge, the very thing Debra treasured most.

"Then let me see his face…" Felicia insisted. This was not the way she had imagined his unmasking. But she had to know, especially if he didn't survive. She tried to push that thought from her mind.

Had Debra been thinking clearly she might have rethought her actions. But instead she pulled the mask off Peter's face.

To be continued…

Note: I'm so sorry for the lack of updates. I will try my best to do better. Please keep reading!