At four AM, the only light emanating in the room flickered from the TV. Joe Schlechenger sat forward on the ragged sofa, elbows on his knees, a cigarette and a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and Rolling Rock beer in the other. He took a swig of the whiskey, a gulp of beer and a puff on the cig in that order. He really wasn't watching the infomercial on the boob tube.

Ever since the train incident, he had been out of a job. His boss didn't care if the train almost plummeted off the tracks and took hours to vacate it. It was just another excuse for being late and he was fired. And he hadn't been able to find another job since. It hadn't helped that he's having trouble laying off the booze, either.

Joe looked around at his decrepit one room apartment trying to figure out a way to make some money. He was seriously toying with breaking the law to do it. But every time he started planning something, his eyes drifted to the discarded newspaper in the corner with the picture of Spiderman on it. He knew that he couldn't pull off any robbery as long as that superhero was around. He wondered did Spiderman also go into New Jersey? Maybe he could pull a job in Newark or Irvington then flee back into NY. He sunk deeper into despair. It would take a lot of work to case a joint outside his home town, and the risks were too high.

He continued glaring at the paper. Although the Bugle was ruthless with Spiderman, Joe knew better. He was after all on that train that Spiderman stopped from flying off the tracks. Saw his face even. Suddenly Joe straightened up, his face brightened. What about selling his story?

In his drunken stupor and desperation for money, he made a decision. He called the Bugle right then and there. Since newspapers start humming at the wee hours of the morning, he connected with someone right away.

"Hey, I got a story for you," Joe slurred. "I know what Spiderman looks like. Saw his face when he fought Doc Ock a couple months ago." There was a pause as Joe listened to the recipient of the call. He answered, "Right now? Sure. I'll be right down."

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The bright sunlight poured into the office that Joe was ushered into just minutes ago. He had been talking to a reporter for a couple of hours now. Although he had not heard anything about a monetary reward yet, the reporter seemed very excited and the two of them now sat in the office of some schmuck named Jamison.

"What's this I hear?! We have a picture of Spiderman unmasked?!" bellowed a gray-haired man as he blasted through the office door.

"Uh, not quite, JJ, but we have the next best thing," the reporter stammered.

"That's MR. JAMISON to you, and what do you mean, the next best thing?"

Joe noticed that the guy seemed to talk in a constant shout all the time, as if it were the most normal thing.

"This guy here," as the reporter pointed to Joe, "saw Spiderman's face."

Joe felt like melting when Mr. J.J. Jamison glared down at him. Having sobered up the past several hours, he started to regret his decision. Spiderman didn't do anything to him, actually he saved his life and here he was about to ruin Spidey's life. The life of someone who helped this city all the time. Suddenly in flashes he was starting to think of what might happen if in fact Spiderman was revealed. He thought of robberies, muggings, the burning or collapsed buildings that would not have the Webslinger around to help. What would happen if he, himself got into trouble? This is after all New York City. Hell, he could get mugged just walking out of this building today. He was snapped out of his thought when JJ bellowed, "Get a sketch artist in here, now!"

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Peter walked up to the secretary's desk, "Hi, Betty."

"Hey, Pete," she smiled up at him.

He was brushed lightly by someone rushing into Jamison's office. As Peter peered through the glass walls, he noticed Bob, a hard working junior reporter sitting next to a disheveled man who appeared to be cowering under Jamison's yelling. The brush he felt was the Bugle's portrait artist rushing into the office.

"What's up in there?"

Betty looked into the office, "That bum there says he knows what Spiderman looks like."

Betty didn't see Pete turn ghost white. But when Jamison noticed Peter standing outside he barked for him to come into the office.

"Parker, didn't you say you were on that train that almost took a nosedive into the trainyard?" the editor yelled as Peter entered the office.

Joe turned around to see the latest addition to the office décor and his draw dropped. "That's him," he thought, being careful to close his mouth and not look surprised.

Peter gave him a glancing look, not recognizing him then turned his attention back to his boss. "Uh, yes Mr. Jamison, I was there. Why?"

"Why didn't you get a picture of Spiderman with his mask off?!"

"Well, first off, I told you Mr. Jamison, the camera and film inside were destroyed when the strap broke and it fell in the trainyard as I tried to get off the train. But even if they weren't, I didn't see Spiderman with his mask off." Peter explained, anxiety building up inside him.

JJ glowered at the sketch artist and the bum who were busy watching Peter. "Hey!" he barked, "get started on that drawing."

Peter fought the fear building inside of him. He knew he had lost his mask for a while aboard that train. And he knew many people saw him. But unfortunately, he remembered few of the faces. All he remembered were an elderly black gentleman, a young lady with a baby and two young kids. The ones who gave him back his mask. He didn't recognize this guy sitting in front of him. He began to feel a tingle crawl up his spine as the guy kept looking over at him like he was being sized up.

Joe found he couldn't concentrate on the artist; his eyes were glued to Peter. Just as he remembered him, very young and vulnerable. He looked at the young man, fear shadowing his eyes as he continued to give a narrative description to the artist. "No, his eyes were a little larger. Yeah, his chin looks right. No, change that right here, a little more narrow. Yeah, yeah, that looks good," Joe said as he studied the artist rendition. The artist handed the drawing to JJ.

Jamison held up the artwork, "HA! I thought that's what he'd look like." Then he stared at it harder, studied it and looked at the bum.

"What is this shit?"

Joe defended himself, "that's who I saw, it ain't no shit."

In a couple of decibels higher than usual Jamison yelled, "This looks like Parker!"

Joe looked over at Peter, shame flickered for but a nanosecond then he said as he pointed to the young man, "That is Spiderman. I got a close look at him. I know that's him."

Everyone's attention fell to a silent Peter. He didn't know what to say. But he was trying his hardest to not look as panic stricken as he felt. That would be a dead give-a-way.

"I-I-I don't know what he's talking about Mr. Jamison," Peter stammered. "I'm just a science geek. I trip just getting out of bed in the morning." Then in a flash of genius he pulled out his coke bottle glasses, "Does Spiderman look like he needs these?" hoping that they all remembered he wore glasses.

"He could wear contacts like you, Parker." Jamison said.

"With all those super spider powers, which probably includes eyesight, why would he even need contacts?" Peter said trying not to sound anxious. "And besides, I was on that train, too. Maybe this guy saw me and is getting me mixed up with Spiderman. No one else has come forward saying they saw his face, have they?"

Peter's argument was growing stronger in JJ's eyes. In his own train of thought, he added, "And why did you wait so long to tell us?"

The reporter realizing that it was probably better to cut his losses now than later abandoned ship and stated, "You were drunk when you came in here, are you sure you weren't just dreaming?"

Jamison saw Joe starting to squirm and came to his own conclusion, "What proof do you have that you weren't drunk on the train and mistook Parker here for that webheaded menace?"

"But I wasn't drunk then. I swear. And no one else came forward because they all made a pact to keep his secret. That's him, I tell ya. He's Spiderman" Joe said defensively. But he already knew that he had lost. They weren't going to believe a down on his luck, soon-to-be homeless man with the smell of liquor on his breath.

Turning his attention to his almost ex-junior reporter, JJ bellowed, "Get this greedy, lying bum out of here and make sure you get your facts straight before coming in here with wild stories like that."

As Joe was being ushered out, he brushed past Peter and whispered, "I know it was you, I saw you."

Peter stared after the man as he was led to the elevators. Jonah broke Pete's concentration, "Parker! Why don't you go out and get a picture of Spiderman unmasked and save me from lunatics like that!"

Peter just nodded and left. He was not one that ever felt the need to have a drink. Except now.