8.

In the luxurious apartment of Harry Osborn, its occupant was taking his time on heading out the door for a dinner date. As always, he was met at the door by the hotel concierge with the evening's newspaper in hand. But this evening, something quite different happened. Instead of simply taking the paper and heading down the hall to the elevator, a red mist encircled him starting from the floor. The young concierge took several frightened steps back as the man before him turned into an otherworldly monstrosity complete with horns and red skin. The creature that was once Harry Osborn contorted, letting out loud, painful screams until finally bursting into nothing more than dust. The young man dropped his paper and fled as fast as he could as what was left of Harry, as well as the objects in his apartment, disappeared.

The creature disguised as May Parker went through a similar fate as it too turned back to its true form, that which Peter saw in the mirror. The inside of the house was filled with an agonizing scream as the creature and house decorations disappeared, leaving the structure looking like it had been empty for months. The creature inside Peter's apartment and those that quietly stalked him vanished completely from existence as if none were ever there.

Everything was quiet around Mary Jane and Peter. One moment they could hear the roar of a demonic monstrosity and the next it was gone. The fire and brimstone smell that once invaded their noses was replaced by a musty smell with a hint of candlewick smoke and the only sound they heard with each other's breathing as they stood in each other's arms.

"Well, it looks like you've been through hell," Johnny blaze said.

Slowly, Peter and Mary Jane opened their eyes to take in their surroundings. It took them a moment to realize they were no longer in Mephisto's realm, but were back in the Sanctum Sanctorum, the house of Doctor Strange. Like before, the room was still dark with ancient books lining the shelves of the walls. However, a second large, white circle lay on the floor where the couple stood.

"If I were you, I would be glad Strange here had that design finished when he did," said Johnny.

Both Peter and Mary Jane looked themselves over. Everything was in place and neither were injured.

"Blaze?" Peter said when Doctor Strange stepped up beside him.

"Parker, glad I got you out in time," Doctor Strange told him. "I had hoped I would get you back here in time. I could see everything that went on down there. Good job."

"Thank you." Peter said. "Thank you. I don't know how I can…"

"No thanks needed," The Sorcerer Supreme said as he waived Peter off.

"Ugh, 'scuse me," Johnny said. "I think one is in order here."

"Johnny," Peter said. "Thank you."

"Peter." Mary Jane came up from behind her husband and took hold of his arm. "What exactly happened? Why did all this happen?"

"Mary Jane, I…"

"I believe this is something you two should discuss in private." Doctor Strange said. "All you need to know Ms. Parker is that things are as it should be."

"Is it really?" She asked her husband. "What we did…"

"Ms. Parker," Johnny blaze interrupted. "I know why you two did what you did. I was in the same position myself. Believe me when I tell you that, even though you had good intentions, you should have never done that. You two were willing to give up your love and lives together. That's something I wish I had with my father and… Well, just be glad you're together."

"Thank you." Mary Jane hugged both Johnny and Doctor strange. "Both of you."

"Before you go anywhere," Dr. Strange said as he took her hand. "I believe these belong to you." He placed two small objects in the palm of her hand. When she pulled it back she saw it was hers and Peter's wedding rings.

"How did you?"

"Mrs. Parker, I have taken many precautions to assure that I am well protected at all costs both inside these walls and out. I may not have my original powers, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve." He had a sly grin as he pointed to the amulet around his neck. "It's not just for show."

"There's uh, just one thing you can do for me Parker." Johnny said, looking at Peter.

"What's that?"

"Let Strange here give me my powers back while you tell me how good it felt to bust Mephisto's chops. I've done it before but I want to know how good you felt."

High above the city of New York, two people stood atop the Empire State building. The chill of the air at such in elevation didn't bother them in the least as they passionately embraced. Birds took off, wind swept through their hair, and for the first time in a long time, they didn't feel a void within themselves. Time lost all meaning to them as the only thing that mattered was each other.

After yet another long, passionate kiss, the two stared into each other's eyes as they continued to hold the other close. "You cold?" Peter asked.

"Not in the slightest." She ran her hands through his hair and clasped them together behind his head. "You're amazing you know that? You went through all this to…"

"MJ, I'm not the one who got us together again, you did that."

"But you fought that, that demon for us."

"You broke the container. Not me."

"You gave me the time to do it."

Peter smiled slightly as he rested his forehead on hers. "You give me the strength the fight. I told you once before, you're the reason I do what I do. I may go out there for those people, but you are the reason I come home every night."

"Speaking of home, Mr. Parker, where do we go from here?"

"I don't know. Doctor Strange kept it so no one knows who I am. Besides my small apartment, I don't know where we could go."

"By stuff's back in LA. I don't have anything here." She drew him closer to her. "But I don't think that will be a problem tonight."

"Mary Jane Parker, I'll gonna take you home and show you how much I love you." The two kissed again as Peter took a step closer to the edge of the metal platform they were on.

"Wait," she said. She slipped her hand into her pants pocket and pulled out the two wedding rings. She held his hand and slipped the band on his ring finger where it once was. Before she could put on hers, he stopped her and took the ring from her.

"Hold on, I got this." He held her hand and slipped her wedding band on her finger. "I love you Mary Jane."

"I love you Peter." She gave him yet another deep kiss. "Face it, Tiger," she said as she held him tight. "We both hit the jackpot."

With a powerful leap into the sky, Peter and Mary Jane fell away from the top of the Empire State building. As the world went on as normal, a newly reunited husband and wife swung through the city and into the sunset. For the first time in a long time, tomorrow had new meaning for them as the longest day of their lives finally came to an end.

Hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I liked writing it. As with the last one (and probably with all my stories) here are the two songs that helped me write this and fit the story:

The Catalyst by Linkin Park

You're the One by Rev Theory