PREVIOUSLY: After revealing his secret identity to the United States Government per the Superhuman Registration Act, Peter Parker found himself at odds with Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, and his registration agenda. The decision to leave Stark’s side made Peter a fugitive, forcing him into hiding in a sleazy motel with his wife, Mary Jane and his Aunt May.

Returning to said motel one evening, after the conclusion of the super hero civil war, Peter was met by an attempt on his life. He acted quickly enough to save himself and Mary Jane from harm, but the bullet meant for him instead struck Aunt May. Frantic to save May's life, Peter rushed her to the hospital. Not knowing how else to help her, he resolved to do the only thing he could: hunt down the men responsible. Little did he know, though, that the trail leading to the shooter would also lead right to the man who took out the hit.

Spidey explains to Dr. Strange what happened to his aunt and how the doctors have said that there is nothing that can be done. He hopes that, as sorcerer supreme, he might be able to do something. Dr. Strange replies that his powers are not without limit and that he fears the worst for Spidey's aunt. Spidey refuses to accept that she is going to die. Dr. Strange comments that everybody dies at one point or another in life. Spidey can accept her dying of old age but having her die because of a bullet that was intended for him does not sit well with him. He blames himself for what happened and refuses to let her die like that, not when it's his fault.

A large flat bowl containing a thick liquid hovers in mid-air in front of Dr. Strange. Concentrating hard, he lowers his hands into the liquid. He then removes his hands from the liquid. Having done so, two large hands, their palms facing upward, emerge from the liquid. Hovering a few inches above the two hands is one giant glowing blue eye. His eyes closed, his mind concentrating on the floating eye, Dr. Strange tells Spidey about the Hands of the Dead, which were created fifteen centuries earlier and are designed to allow one to enter the dies of space and time and travel the world in the blink of an eye, even be in several places at the same time. Spidey asks if they can, using the Hands of the Dead, go back and stop Aunt May from being shot. Dr. Strange replies that they can't. Though the Hands of the Dead offer great powers, they also offer great temptation and some things are just not meant to be touched my mere mortals. He – Dr. Strange – has invoked them this once, to allow Peter to be at many places in this time, rather than into an another. He will never invoke them again. Having said that, Dr. Strange utters an incantation and points at the floating eye in front of him. Instantly, Spidey's body appears to duplicate into a dozen copies of itself. This allows Spidey to visit several people at the same time. People that he hopes will be able to help him help his aunt. Amongst those he visits: Mr. Fantastic, the Night Nurse, Beast, Yellowjacket, Black Panther and Storm, Dr. Curt Connors, Dead Girl of X-Statix, Morbius the Living Vampire, and even some of his enemies: Doctor Octopus, the Wizard, Dr. Doom and Mr. Hyde. The answer, however, is the same. There is nothing, according to all of them, that can be done to help her.

Replicating himself back into one being, Spidey returns to Dr. Strange's side. He is woozy and can barely stand up. Dr. Strange asks if he found what he was looking for. Spidey explains that not one of the ones he visited can do anything to help. Dr. Strange comments that the cycle of life is essential to the very core of existence and to fight that cycle is to fight the very forces of creation itself. Perhaps that is what he needed to understand when he visited those people. Having said that, Dr. Strange heads out of the room and tells Spidey that he's going to get him something to drink. With Dr. Strange gone, Spidey gets back on his feet and approaches the large bowl. Having learned Latin in college, he repeats the incantation previously uttered by Dr. Strange and he invokes the Hands of the Dead. In the adjacent room, Dr. Strange notices the bright light coming from the room where he left Spidey. He immediately realizes what Spidey is attempting to do but is too late to stop him.

At first, everything is dark. But then there is light and Spidey finds himself back in time, more precisely moments before Aunt May was shot. He is across the street, inside the building where the sniper that shot his aunt is asleep, waiting for his past self to return home. Looking out the sniper's window across the parking lot, Spidey can see the outline of his aunt and wife in their motel room’s window. He knows that his past self is moments from returning home. Realizing that he only has one chance to take the sniper out, he goes to punch him but his fist goes through him, as if he were a ghost. Feeling his past self arriving, walking toward the motel, Spidey heads out the window to try and warn his past self to stay out of the room. As he approaches his past self from behind, it almost seems as if his past self reacts to his presence. Before Spidey can do anything about it, strange creatures appear out of nowhere and attack him. One of them slashes Spidey in the shoulder but when Spidey goes to retaliate, he realizes that, though they can hurt him, he cannot touch them. Turning around, he sees his past self opening the door to the motel room. Spidey yells for his past self to stop but the creatures get in their way. Spidey somehow manages to break free from their appendages and he takes off behind his past self. He enters the motel room, "phasing" through the wall, and tries, in vain, to warn his past self of what is about to happen. Unfortunately, he is unsuccessful into warning his past self. The sniper takes his shot and, as Peter pushes MJ out of harm's way, the sniper's bullet pierces through Aunt May’s frail body. As this happens, both Spidey and his past self scream in unison, while Aunt May falls to her knees. Just then, the strange creatures that attack Spidey outside the motel on his way in resurface and attack him once more. One of them manages to bite him just as a bright light tears through reality and Dr. Strange’s voice is heard, casting the creatures away.

Grabbing hold of Spidey in his arms, Dr. Strange explains about the creatures that attacked him. They are called nightwalkers and they live on the edges of time and space. Their role is to prevent destiny from being changed and only a great power can defy them. Having said that, he takes flight with Spidey and tells him that his wounds are deadly and that they have to act quickly to heal him. Dr. Strange then explains that they have to go even farther back in time to heal him because the whole time-space continuum would be at risk should he see himself and learned what was coming. Therefore, they are going to his sanctum at a certain moment in time when he knows he was not there. After entering the sanctum, Dr. Strange performs a spell that returns their bodies to physical form in order to use the elements required to restore Spidey. Venturing out of the room is out of the question, however, because one would become insubstantial (because of the time-space element). Dr. Strange tells Spidey that the healing will note take long but it will hurt and he somewhat does deserve it, especially after what he did. Spidey admits to having done wrong and apologizes to Dr. Strange. Just then, a knock is heard on the door. Dr. Strange goes out to investigate and instructs Spidey to not move until his return. Minutes pass, as Spidey lies on the ground, writhing in pain. Hearing familiar voices coming through the door, he makes his way toward it to listen to the conversation on the other side. He cannot believe what he is hearing. The conversation that is taking place on the other side of the door is between himself and Dr. Strange and it occurred during Amazing Spider-Man #42. In it, Spidey came over to ask Dr. Strange for help against the man named Shade, but Dr. Strange had to say no because of an appointment with death, which in fact was him helping out Spidey’s future self! Wanting to warn himself, Spidey tries to open the door but he loses physicality the instant he touches the door. Realizing that there is nothing that can be done, he falls to the ground. Having said his goodbyes to Spidey's past self, Dr. Strange re-enters the room and bends over to check on Spidey. Spidey asks Dr. Strange why he can fix him but not his aunt. Dr. Strange explains that Spidey was magically injured, thus he can be magically healed. His aunt was not. Her time has come. It is not for either of them to change such things. There is nothing he could have done differently that would have saved his aunt. Even with the advance knowledge of what happened. Spidey should therefore not feel guilty for what happened. Spidey tells Dr. Strange that the day he believes that, he will let him know. Helping Spidey back onto his feet, Dr. Strange uses a spell and brings the two of them back to the very moment in which they left.

Putting the Hands of the Dead away, Dr. Strange suggests to Spidey that he should go to his aunt's bedside so that he can be there with her when the inevitable happens. If he were to miss that last moment, he would regret it every day for the rest of his life. He should therefore stop blaming himself for what happened and go be at her side and give her every moment of his love, as there is no greater gift he can give her right now. His eyes filled with tears, Spidey heads out.

As Spidey sits outside on the front step of Dr. Strange's home, a brown bird flies overhead, as Dr. Strange's words echo in his head. As if knowing the bird, Spidey races after it and follows it around a corner. When he comes around the corner, he is totally surprised to come face-to-face with a little girl who tells him that she can change what happened to his aunt.

To be continued in Sensational Spider-Man #41.