Of Sorcerors and Spiderwebs: A Peter Parker Series

Chapter Seven: Final Decisions

For a moment, all you can do is just stand there. Calamis is gone, the spell is over, and you're utterly exhausted. Peter looks at you, concerned. "Are you alright? You can barely stand." You wave a hand at him dismissively. "I'm fine, just tired. That spell took a lot out of me."

Peter frowns. "I feel like I want to check the basement one last time. I don't know why, I just need to make sure that there's nothing left of him." You nod slowly. "Sounds good to me. Just don't make me open any more portals or I might pass out."

Peter grins. "That's alright with me." Without saying anything more, he picks you up in his arms, swinging towards the school despite your laughing protests. When the two of you finally arrive at the school, you're pleased to see that the basement still remains utterly empty. "It looks like he's gone for good." "That's excellent."

You take a step forward, nearly fall over, and turn back to Peter. "What about this- I head back home, and in the morning you get MJ and Ned, and the four of us regroup in the Sanctum to make sure everyone's alright. I'd do it now, but I feel like I need to go fall asleep for about 15 hours." Peter laughs. "It's a plan. Come on, I'll walk you home. There's no way you're making it all the way back to the Sanctum by yourself."

You are more than grateful for Peter's help, and the two of you traipse your way back to the Sanctum. Peter reaches out a hand, but before he can lay a hand on the doorknob the door flies open, revealing the stony face of Stephen. Stephen looks from you (almost unconscious, still in your sorcerer robes) and Peter (having to support practically all of your body weight, mask sticking conspicuously out of his front pocket), then stands aside to let the two of you in.

Once you're inside, Stephen folds his arms across his chest and speaks in a cool, calculated voice. "You want to tell me what exactly is going on here?" You just flash him a slow thumbs up. "We're all good. Nothing to worry about." Stephen raises his eyebrows. "Then this has nothing to do with the explosions and huge fight I heard about in the parking lot a block or so down from your school?"

You frown in mock sadness. "I can't believe you would think such things of me. Would I ever do something like that?" Stephen sighs. "Go to bed, Y/N. You look like you're about to pass out." You nod slowly, and Peter is about to follow you when Stephen puts a hand out, stopping the boy in his tracks. "Not you, Parker. We need to have a small discussion." You look back at Stephen, speaking once before heading out of the room. "He didn't do anything wrong. Don't be mean."

Once you leave, you intend to go straight to bed but can't help stopping in the next room over. You stand quietly by the door, out of view of Stephen and Peter but still able to hear everything going on. Stephen appears to be grilling Peter about letting you into trouble.

"I'm not even going to ask what on Earth, or any other dimension, you were doing to get Y/N into that much trouble. Not even going to ask. I don't want to hear it. Just tell me, Parker, that you won't let anything like this happen again."

Peter's voice is rushed, and he stumbles a little bit over his words in an attempt to get himself out of trouble. "Absolutely not, sir. Never again. Y/N is very important to me and I would never put her life in danger if I could do anything to stop it." Stephen nods. "That's good to hear." He sighs. "Unfortunately, I believe that Y/N feels the same way about you, despite my personal objections. You had best watch yourself. One slip up and I will personally cause you to fall headfirst into a portal straight out of the known universe."

Peter looks very nervous. "Of course, sir. I will be very respectful and careful, Mr. Dr. Strange. Sir." You watch as Stephen suppresses a groan and then points to the door. "You can go." Peter nods earnestly and heads quickly out of the Sanctum. When it's clear that the conversation is over, you finally steal away to your bed, a hand pressed to your mouth to hide the beaming smile that's spreading across your lips.

When you wake up the next day, you stretch and get ready quickly. About an hour later, Peter, MJ, and Ned are knocking on your door. You grin and let them in, all of you heading towards a room on the top floor, the one with the large circular window that looks out over the city. You and your friends walk over to the window, leaning close to it to watch all of the cars and people bustling around the streets of New York. At this height, they look no bigger than an ant.

Ned is the first to speak. "I just want to say that it's very cool that you're all alive and everything's okay. To be honest, I thought you'd at least break some bones or something, but you guys look fine." Peter swats his friend's shoulder. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ned." Ned raises his hands defensively. "Hey, I'm just saying! That Calamis guy was kind of a big deal and you two handled it like it was nothing."

You grin. "Thanks. I'm kind of surprised myself, to be honest. I woke up in the middle of the night, panicking that Calamis might be coming back. I had to send my astral form into the basement one more time to check that everything was alright before I could go back to sleep." MJ smirks. "Maybe it's for the best that you're the panicky one and not me. I probably would have just called Peter and made him go check." You laugh at that, but your grin is cut short when you see Stephen approaching from the far side of the room. You tell your friends you'll be back in a minute and head over to him.

Stephen is the first to speak. "You didn't mention that the reason you were so tired yesterday is because you and your friends were sending Calamis the Shadow back to his dimension." You grin apologetically, scratching the side of your head. "Uh, whoops? We didn't think it was that big of a deal."

A frustrated Stephen sighs, although you can tell that he's trying to hold back a grin. "You didn't think it was a big deal? Y/N, Calamis is one of the primordial elementals. He was causing chaos in his dimension before this world was even created." Stephen continues in a softer tone. "To say that you taking care of him was impressive is an understatement. I've spoken to the other Masters of the Mystic Arts and they feel the same way."

"They're saying that they've reconsidered their decision on that program you applied to earlier. You know, the one where you would travel the world and keep tabs on potential sorcerers. It would take you away from New York, but they think you're more than ready for it."

Across the room, you can see Peter stiffen. You had forgotten about his super-sensitive hearing. You fold your arms across your chest. "Actually, Stephen, I think I'm going to turn them down. I've got everything I could want right here. There are people here who are important to me," You glance over at Peter and notice a smile growing on his face, "and I'd rather be here with them."

Stephen nods slowly, although you can tell he approves of your decision. "Good to know. I'll tell them what you said." He starts to walk away, and then turns back one last time. "And Y/N? It was a good choice to make." You smile as he leaves the room, and then you walk back to your friends.

When you approach the window, you slip into your spot next to Peter. He wraps his arm loosely around you, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. "I'm glad you decided to stay." You look up at him, beaming. "I'm glad too." Below you, the skyline of New York gradually brightens as the sun moves ever higher in the sky. The cars and people move in a flurry of familiar activity, all coming together as if to spell out one silent message: Welcome home.