Peter took my clenched hand off the back of his neck and placed it by my side, giving it a gentle rub of assurance. I gave him a gaping look but watched as he removed the red Spandex mask, uncovering his sandy brown ruffled hair, freckled pale skin and glassy cinnamon-colored eyes.
Stephen seemed somewhat surprised, but not entirely; Matt, who couldn't see, was confused, still holding Matt's hand. "It's Peter," he said to Matt, giving his hand a gentle shake, "Peter Parker. I was told you might know who I am and where we can go from here." He said, dropping his gloved hand from Matt's grip.
Matt opened his mouth, and turned to Stephen, then me. He just looked at the floor and closed his mouth. "Shall we sit and discuss?" He said, with another artificial smile. We took a seat on Matt's maroon velvet couches. Peter sat to my side, which Matt took notice of and sat by Stephen.
"So Peter," Stephen started, " I'm aware of what happened in the universe you came from. So all I have to do is open a portal and send you to the right universe." He cleared his throat. "However, I am afraid to do any more interuniversal work at the moment. The multiverse is torn, and opening a new portal would be incredibly dangerous and create side effects we can't even fathom. It could create new universes, new splits, hell, it might even bring more of the Spiderverse in. I couldn't guarantee you safe passage home. You might be lost in a different universe again or you could be lost forever in the time and space tear in the multiverse. It's too risky, Peter."
He cleared his throat once more, and looked up at Peter and Matt, then me and finally Peter again. "So with that, I'm sorry to say that you'll have to stay in our universe for a bit longer, at least until I'm confident enough to send you back into the right universe, or the tear in the multiverse heals. I'm not sure how long either will take, so there's a few rules you'll need to follow while you're here." Stephen concluded turning to Matt.
Matt exhaled and sat up. "For starters, you're dead in this universe. We can't risk you running into someone you knew. If you want to go out, you'll have to be in your suit. Second, you shouldn't tell anyone your real name. For the public knowledge, your name will be Lucian Parker, and you go by Luka. That is your failsafe if you accidentally get caught without a mask. And obviously, don't get into trouble with the police." He said, reading out notes from a paper with lifted Braille.
Peter soaked in all the information and gave a series of understanding nods and 'yeps'. "That sounds good enough to me," he said. "Well alright then, I think we're done here." Stephen said with a smile at us. We saw ourselves out and swung from the roof to my apartment. We crawled into the apartment window and I fell asleep in my bed, Peter on the couch in front of me.
~
The next morning I left Peter's gently snoring body at around 11 AM. I walked briskly across the street down the 57th to a boba shop that always opened early and closed late. The pale pink brick building stood out like a sore thumb amongst the towering silver skyscrapers that made up the uniform corporate hell of Hell's Kitchen.
I ordered the usual fruit tea with popping boba for myself, and I got Peter a black coffee with brown sugar tapioca pearls. I paid and the barista promptly handed me our drinks and we wished each other a good day.
As I walked down the street holding the new most important thing in my life, I noticed steps behind me that was oddly more in sync than a normal day in New York. When I stopped, the feet stopped. When I kept going, they followed. By 42nd Street I could tell who was following me. I stepped out into a side alley that I knew ended in a dead end. Once the miming feet noticed this too, he trawled slowly behind as he realized my next move.
As if it were completely normal, I walked up the side of the wall, careful not to drop my boba.
"C'mon, Gwen, really? I need to talk to you!" Matt shouted from a few feet below me.
I stopped in my tracks. "I know you heard me, G, I can hear your heart racing." He said.
Reluctantly, I turned and walked back down the rust colored bricks and faced Matt. Though he was taller and bigger than me, I knew where his weaknesses lie. I'm not the type of person to point out someone's insecurities, though; I let him speak.
"Gwen, I'm really sorry I snapped at you on the phone yesterday. I swear, I was drunk, I didn't- I wouldn't have hurt you if I was competent. I just- ugh, somehow I knew Peter's appearance would lead to no good." He pleaded, holding my free hand like the part of a jigsaw puzzle that he was missing.
He sighed. "Please tell me you won't date him. That would mess with the multiverse, I promise, I-" he exhaled, hearing my heart jump, "G, that's what Stephen said. I would never-" He looked into my eyes with a glassy blind gaze.
"No, Matt, listen, you know what? I can see right through you. You just want me to be alone so we can- can do whatever this was again. I get it. You miss me. I miss you. I love you." I cried, " but being with you led to so many weaknesses for Fisk to claw at. It can't work and you know that." I sniffled, putting my hand on the center of his chest, the crisp white button up shirt shadowed beneath it.
"G, I swear. I wouldn't, I love you too much for that. That's what Stephen didn't say." he said, placing a hand on my cheek and wiping my tears with his finger. His eyes were tearing up but they refused to fall, as if they understood the social stereotype of male crying.
"G, listen, please just promise me. If you can't right now, that's okay, but promise me by tonight. Come by my place so we can talk. Please." He said, putting my forehead to his. I looked up at him teary eyed and nodded, tears streaming out of my eyes uncontrollably.
