Small Miracles

On Christmas Eve, Spider-Man is web-slinging across the city to get to his Aunt May's boarding house. He enjoys this time of the year as it gives him a chance to get his mind off supervillains. When he arrives at his aunt's home, Spider-Man lands on the roof to change back into Peter Parker and unload his presents from his web-pack. Entering the home, Peter finds the place alive with activity from Aunt May and her tenants as they prepare the house for their Christmas Eve celebrations. Arthur Chekov has dressed up as Santa Claus, the Palermo's are decorating the tree, and the Lund sisters manage to steal a kiss from Peter with a mistletoe. While everyone is celebrating, Peter notices that Arthur is sulking by the window. He asks the usually jovial man what the matter is. Chekov explains that he was expecting a visit of his granddaughter Bette. He explains that she is the daughter of his son, Walter, who died in a plane crash. He had called her earlier in the week to ask her to come and visit him this evening and she said she might. Now he fears that she might not come and visit at all. Peter tries to reassure Arthur that she still might come as it is still early. Suddenly, Peter's spider-sense goes off and he makes an excuse for going out to buy some ice cream for the party so he can excuse himself and investigate.

As he charges off into the blowing snow, Peter is surprised when suddenly he is wearing his Spider-Man costume. He suddenly finds himself standing before Uatu the Watcher of Earth. Not knowing who Uatu is, Spider-Man asks who the being is, but gets no reply. The Watcher only holds out a strange blue jewel. Taking it, Spider-Man looks it over when suddenly, the image of Bette Chekov appears inside. Spider-Man asks what this means, but the snow picks up and the Watcher disappears as suddenly as he appeared. Spider-Man finds this all strange but realizes that Bette might be in trouble and swings into the city to find her, even though he has no idea where to even start looking. Meanwhile, from his vantage point on the moon, Uatu watches Spider-Man so he can witness the thing that his race very rarely witnesses in their endless observation of the universe. The Watcher turns his gaze upon Bette Chevok, who is fleeing down the winter swept streets of Manhattan in fear. The Watcher recounts how his people are sworn not to interfere in the affairs of the beings they watch, but Uatu cannot help to involve himself once again, as he has done many times in the past.

At that moment, Spider-Man arrives in Brooklyn, the part of the city Arthur had said Bette lives in. Going to a pay phone, the wall-crawler realizes that he has no change and smacks the phone to get some. He calls information to get the location of Bette's address. After some difficulty, he gets the address and heads towards the address in Brooklyn Heights. When he arrives at Bette's apartment building he finds it swarming with police. The authorities are about to arrest Spider-Man, but the lead detective tells his men to stand down so he can question the hero. Spider-Man learns that the dead woman being hauled out of Bette's apartment is her roommate Sheila Fiori. Inside the apartment, they found a large supply of cocaine and want to know where Bette is. Having heard enough, Spider-Man swings off before the police can question him further so he can continue his search for Bette. Spider-Man scours the city but finds no trace of Bette. On a rooftop, the wall-crawler is all but about to give up when his train of thought is interrupted by the arrival of Captain America. Hearing Spider-Man's story, Cap gives him a pep-talk about not giving up and offers his aid. With his hope rekindled, Spider-Man thanks, Captain America for the advice, but decides to continue his search alone.

As Spider-Man continues his search, the Watcher decides to give the wall-crawler a little bit of help. Suddenly, Spider-Man's spider-sense goes off again, prompting him to look at the blue gem again. It shows the image of Jimmy's Corner, a sleazy bar in Lower Manhattan. The masked hero speeds there demands some answers from the customers. The rough-and-tumble men inside have a good laugh, as they don't believe he is the real Spider-Man. The web-slinger shows off his strength and demands to know where Bette Chekov is. However, nobody in the bar has ever heard of her, so Spider-Man leaves considering this to be another dead end. Spider-Man is wrong, as if he had checked the apartment above the bar, he would see Bette inside demanding to know why her dealer, Buck, had given them cocaine that was stolen from the mob. She is in near hysterics, and it gets on Buck's nerve so much that he strikes her. The commotion attracts Spider-Man who easily subdues Buck before he can stab Bette with a knife. However, after he is done with the drug dealer, Spider-Man notices that Bette fled in the confusion.

Outside, Bette is spotted by some mobsters who give her chase. The frightened women attempt to flee down an alley, but it is a dead end. Stumbling to the ground, Bette's supply of drugs spill out all over the snow. When the mobsters finally catch up to her, they are about to kill the woman when Spider-Man comes in to rescue her again. While the wall-crawler battles the mobsters, Bette tries to flee again but is shot by one of them. Spider-Man trounces the rest of the crooks and rushes to Bette's side. Realizes she is dying, Spider-Man calls out to the Watcher demanding him to do something to save Bette's life. The Watcher appears before Spider-Man again, but still says and does nothing. Frustrated, Spider-Man throws the gem at Uatu, but it suddenly explodes in mid-air. The energies unleashed fall on Bette, regulating her breathing. Thinking that he may just have a chance to get to her to a hospital on time, just as the Watcher had planned. As Peter Parker, Spider-Man brings Bette to the hospital where the doctors are able to save her life.

By this time, Aunt May and her boarders arrive and Arthur has a tear-filled reunion with his granddaughter. Peter goes outside and thinking to himself, he thanks the alien being for helping him wherever he may be. Back on the Moon, the Watcher continues to watch and is satisfied with his actions as they have allowed him to experience something that is nearly unknown to the Watchers: the feeling of joy.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Watcher, Captain America, Aunt May, Nathan Lubensky, Victor Palermo, Rose Palermo, Artur Chekov, Martha Lund, Sophie Lund, Joe Face

Continuity Notes

• The Watcher mentions his people's vow of non-interference. This has been the case for eons since their interference led to the destruction of two alien races, as first seen in Tales of Suspense #53 and explored further in Original Sin #0. However, the Watcher has come to the aid of humanity many times in the past. Two instances he mentions are the first time he helped the Fantastic Four stop Galactus in Fantastic Four #48 and the Overmind in Fantastic Four #113.