Posted: 11/16/08.

Author's notes: Sorry about the unbearably long update. I guess it just wouldn't be one of my stories without a five-month hiatus (embarrassed laugh). I don't even like how I did this chapter, but I felt like I just had to get a new chapter posted and end that hiatus, even if the chapter was BS.

The good news is, in addition to this chapter I also rewrote the last four chapters and slightly changed a few things I didn't like. It was nothing major, but give them another read if you have time.

First Revelation.

Spidey smiled as he looked at his red and black costume through the small mirror in his hand. There was now a black spider symbol in the center of his chest. Previously, he could only disguise his costume as a black shirt. But after much practice Spidey was now able to change the design, however slightly. It was a nice addition to the once bland outfit. Maybe after some more practice he could add a web pattern or something…

Spidey put the mirror back on his desk and walked around the room. His new accomplishment couldn't make him forget that he still didn't know who he was. And there wasn't anything in his room that would tell him. His best bet was to simply leave the room and explore the house. But…

He looked at his closed door. His hand hovered over the doorknob.

He didn't know what would be outside. Although, that was kind of the point. The only way to learn about himself was to… well… learn. But he just didn't want to look through his own house if he was going to treat it like a stranger's. Besides, what if he met someone? "Hi. You're probably my relative, but I have no idea who you are because I can't remember anything. Also, I'm only conscious for a few hours a night. Why is that?"

Ugh.

Spidey crawled out his window and started his patrol. He decided not to explore his house tonight. He figured he could always change his mind tomorrow.

But a whole week passed, with that same train of thought every night.

Peter and Gwen were eating together in the school cafeteria, like they had been doing every day since their date. Gwen smiled and said, "I noticed that you're not sleeping in class anymore. Did your nightmares stop?"

Peter diverted his eyes. "Um…"

Gwen dropped her smile. "They didn't?"

"…No. The truth is, I've been taking a nap each afternoon," he admitted. "But I don't have nightmares at those times," he added optimistically.

The blond sighed. "Peter, you've been having a recurring nightmare every night for, what, two weeks? That's not something you should just ignore."

"…It's not—" Peter was interrupted as a certain redhead sat down at their table.

"Hi, guys," Mary Jane said. It took her only one moment to notice the mood. "You seem upset. You're not having a fight, are you?" She smiled and shrugged. "If you are, tell me what it's about. I want to take sides."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "We are not having a fight," she corrected. "I'm just a little worried about Peter because he's still not getting enough sleep at night."

"My nightmares don't actually keep me up," Peter said. "I mean, I'm asleep the whole time. But, ever since they started, I've been waking up exhausted. That's all."

"What exactly happens in these nightmares?" Mary Jane asked.

Peter was quiet. "Um…"

"C'mon," she urged. "Keeping stuff inside is bad for your health. You'll feel better if you just get it off your chest."

"It's not that I mind talking about it," he responded. "I just… can't remember much. What I do remember aren't really nightmares. Nothing scary really happens." He tried to think back. "Usually, it's nighttime… I'm in the city… and I think I'm up somewhere high." He paused. "And that's all I can really remember."

"And this is a recurring dream?" Gwen asked. "It's just that, each night?"

Peter thought again for a moment. "One dream was different," he recalled. "It was in the school… and I think I was handcuffed, but I'm not sure."

Mary Jane got a subtle sensation of déjà vu. Handcuffs in school…

"Wait a minute…" Peter said. "I just remembered. That was the dream I had when I was knocked unconscious during the shooting last week."

Gwen and Mary Jane both blinked in surprise, but for very different reasons.

"You had a dream while you were knocked out?" Gwen asked.

"Is that unusual?"

She paused. "Actually, I've never been knocked out, so I guess I wouldn't know."

Mary Jane didn't respond. She was too busy thinking about what she just heard. Her déjà vu evolved into a very unexpected suspicion.

As soon as Mary Jane got home after school, the first thing she did was boot up her computer and began searching online. Mary Jane felt like she was jumping pretty far to get to this conclusion, but she couldn't stop herself from thinking about it.

Peter was unconscious—or at least he thought he was—during the shooting. Spider-man was handcuffed during the shooting and Peter vaguely remembers it. Meanwhile, Spider-man doesn't know who he really is and thinks he's sleeping when Peter is awake. Gwen and Peter don't know any of that, so they assume Peter's dreams are just dreams. But…

After several minutes of cross referencing terms like 'loss of memory,' 'change in personality,' 'sleepwalking,' 'fatigue,' 'vague dreams,' and anything else she could think of that was even remotely connected to Peter's or Spidey's case, information on one topic continued to pop up. Dissociative Identity Disorder.

…But it's not impossible.

Late that night, Spidey was out in the city performing cartwheels on the roof of a low building. There was little to do that night, seeing that Spidey couldn't find any would-be criminals on the street. "I scared them all off, no doubt." Suddenly, he noticed a flash of red on another rooftop.

He stood up straight to get a better look. Then he smiled from behind his mask. After getting a running start, he easily jumped from building to building until he reached the other person. "Yo!"

Mary Jane, dressed in street clothes and a jacket, turned around with a start. She quickly calmed down when she saw who it was. "Long time no see, MJ," Spidey said. "What are you doing up here so late?"

"I was looking for you," she explained. "Well, not actually looking. You move so fast, I didn't think I could find you. But I hoped you would notice me if I stayed somewhere high."

"You came all this way just to see lil' old me? I'm touched." He crouched down with his arms between his legs. Mary Jane figured that's his version of sitting normally. "Seriously, what's the occasion?"

No point in mincing words, she thought. "I think I know who you are."

Spidey was silent for several seconds. "You don't say," he responded calmly. Mary Jane wondered what expression he wore under that mask.

Mary Jane sat down cross-legged to be on eye level with him. "I know you said that you didn't want someone to know more about you than you did, but my friends said something earlier today and it got me thinking. And one thought led to another, and I really think I got it figured out," she said excitedly.

"And?"

"There's this guy I go to school with, Peter Parker. He's really tired during the day, and he has dreams about what you do at night. He even remembered that time the white-mask guy handcuffed you in the school. By the way, did you ever catch him?"

"No. Keep going," he urged, somewhat irritably.

"Well, I think you're Peter, but you're just unable to remember it most of the time. And he doesn't remember being you. I did some searching on the internet, and I learned about something called Dissociative Identity Disorder. It's basically means a split personality. If we use that, a lot of things make sense."

Spidey said nothing for a while. He got up on his feet and began walking. "A split personality, huh? I guess it could make sense. But if you ask me, it's a pretty big assumption. And you can't really confirm it unless you know what I look like."

Why the hell am I making excuses? Spidey asked himself. I've been avoiding a chance to get the answers for over a week. Now the (possible) answers are practically being handed to me on a platter and I'm still avoiding them. Am I really this nervous about it?

Truth be told, Spidey was just plain nervous. Mary Jane, however, wasn't giving up. She stood up and looked at Spidey's back. "Last time we met, you told me you saw your reflection. Are you Caucasian? Do you have brown hair and brown eyes? Are you about five foot six? Are you a little skinny? Do you squint when trying to read things up close?"

Spidey stopped walking.

Screw nervousness. He took off his mask and turned around.

Mary Jane smiled. I SO knew it, she cheered silently.

Spidey spoke through Peter's mouth. "Tell me everything you know about Peter Parker."

More author's notes: Sorry about that cliffhanger. I normally make it a policy to avoid cliffhangers since I update so slowly. But if I made this chapter longer, that would have made the update even slower, and I just couldn't stand that anymore.

That scene on the rooftop was actually planned out ever since the beginning of the story, but it was supposed to happen much, much later. This chapter is the catalyst of a very important arc in this story, which was originally going to be a sort of halfway point. But the truth is, I didn't want to stall anymore. I believe this story will be a lot more fun for me once I get this part finished.

On the other hand, I'm afraid I rushed things too quickly. The execution of this chapter feels so forced and contrived to me (not to mention short). If you have an opinion, please tell me through a review.

The next chapter will also be short, and I already know what to do, so hopefully that means it'll be up soon.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Spider-Man or anything connected with it. Surprise.