xXx
"So that's pretty much it," Reverend Pulchester said, blinking his rheumy eyes at Peter and Mary Jane. "You're sure you can explain it all to Gwen?" he asked.
"You bet," Mary Jane nodded. "We've made it as simple as possible."
He nodded. "I sure hope she gets to feeling better. That just leaves one more thing," he said, leaning in close to them. "Your vows. Do you have them written?"
"Almost done," Peter said with a sheepish smile. "I'll get them to you tomorrow, promise."
"Me too," Mary Jane echoed with a disarming bat of her eyelashes.
"Okay," the reverend shrugged. "See to it that you do. Well, we're done here."
"Thanks," Mary Jane said. "Are you available to come to the rehearsal dinner with us?" she asked.
"I'm afraid not," he said. He sighed. "My wife needs help handing out candy to children. I'm late."
"Well thanks for your help," Mary Jane said. She turned to the group of tired people in the sanctuary. "Okay, gang," she said. "Let's go to the Sailboat Café, we have reservations for thirty minutes ago. Move like you got a purpose!" she commanded.
Her parents picked up their coats and shuffled toward the exit, and Harry joined them, along with Tyrone. Illyana walked over to Peter and Mary Jane.
"You took care of it, I trust," Mary Jane said under her breath.
"Yes," Peter said. "Illyana bisected his heart and dropped him in the river. He's done."
Mary Jane breathed a sigh of relief. "Great. Look, Illyana. Peter and I need to go to this dinner. Can you and Tandy help Gwen out?"
"Am I or am I not the wedding coordinator?" Illyana replied with a wry smile. "Go. I'll deal with it. Gwen will be all ready for your wedding tomorrow."
"Right," Mary Jane said. She turned to Peter. "You intact?"
"Isn't this a little late in the process for you to be suddenly interested in my history?" Peter said, arching an eyebrow.
Mary Jane rolled her eyes. "He's easier to deal with when he's in a lot of pain," she confided in Illyana. "C'mon, you lug," she said, grabbing Peter's arm and dragging him towards the exit. Illyana watched them go with a fond smile, then headed into the back of the church, up the stairs to a classroom.
"How is she?" she said, stepping into a dim room. Tandy looked up. Gwen was laying on the floor, a coat draped over her and another under her head.
"She took quite a physical and mental shock, but she'll be fine," Tandy said quietly.
"Can you watch over her tonight?" Illyana asked. "I mean, maybe you could go have a sleepover at the Stacy residence. Her father is going to be out of his skull with worry."
"I specialize in diplomatic missions," Tandy said wryly. "I'll handle it." She looked at Illyana, and for a moment Illyana had the unsettling feeling that Tandy was looking into her, through her very soul. Tandy stood and stepped near to her.
"You did a good job, Illyana," Tandy said quietly. She pulled her into a gentle hug, as though that were a natural thing to do. She held Illyana at arms length and looked into her eyes with a quiet smile. "Peter and Mary Jane are a bit rattled. You should go with them to dinner."
Illyana felt strange, dislocated, at peace. She had a lump in her throat, and she felt unshed tears glimmering in her eyes for no reason she could explain. Then a stepping disk flared around her and she was gone.
Tandy sighed, kneeling by Gwen. She touched the side of her face, and a ripple of Light passed through her hand. Gwen stirred, and her eyes fluttered open.
"Whu?" she said.
"It's time to go home," Tandy said softly.
xXx
Later, Illyana and Peter and Mary Jane followed Mary Jane's parents to Mary Jane's car.
"Go ahead and take them to your place," Peter said to Mary Jane. "It's been great," he said to them with a small wave.
"See ya tomorrow, if you show up," Mary Jane's father said. He got into the car without looking back. Peter sighed.
"I'm gonna catch a ride with Illyana," he said with a gesture, a slightly hunted look in his eyes.
Mary Jane chuckled, bone weary. She shook her head, then kissed Peter on the cheek. "Be safe," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow." She got into the car, started it up, and drove off.
"You are a brave man," Illyana said reflectively as she watched them drive away. "Those people… they won't be the ones I think of when I'm saving the world." She grinned ruefully.
"Yeah," Peter said, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his windbreaker. "I just keep telling myself I'm marrying MJ, not her family."
"Hey, now that we have a chance to talk, I gotta tell you you're pretty good in a fight, bub," she said as she playfully socked his shoulder. He chuckled at that.
"Bub?"
"Bub," she nodded. "I guess I misjudged you." She shrugged. "Anyway, I'm excited about tomorrow. And before I came to dinner, I checked to see if I could pick up Octavius's signal." She shook her head. "I couldn't find him, but scrying underwater is tricky at best."
"He might show up again," Peter said with a shrug. "I'll let you know if he does. Sorry you didn't find out more about your grandfather."
"I'm not," she said distantly. "I don't think I want to know. Upon reflection. Doesn't matter who my grandfather was. What matters," she said, looking at Peter, "is who I am."
"Damn straight," Peter said softly. He smiled at her crookedly.
She glanced around, then gestured, and a stepping disk swirled up around them.
A moment later, Peter was deposited in his living room.
"I am so damn jealous that I can't see straight," he muttered to himself. "How come I can't traverse time and space with a stray thought? No, I get stuck with a snide spider id."
Wouldn't you rather see what you're swinging over?
"Yeah," Peter sighed. "Utility is ever the enemy of aesthetics." He grinned.
Atta boy.
Peter sat on his couch, picking up a clipboard with blank sheets of paper on it. "Time to scribble and crumple our way to some vows."
I'll help.
"Gawd," Peter sighed. "It's gonna be a long night."
xXx
Mary Jane lay flat on her stomach on the couch, her feet sticking up in the air. She doodled a sun, added sunglasses, a fluffy cloud, a dead flower, a boxy sort of Mac truck.
"Having trouble, dear?" her mother asked as she padded over with a mug of hot chocolate.
"Just, you know, vows. Just between us, it's hard," she confided, glancing down the hallway to where her father was loudly gargling.
"I know, dear," her mother said. "Your grandparents didn't agree with my choice either. But when it's love," she sighed, glancing at the ceiling with a secret smile.
"Yeah," Mary Jane grinned. "I may be insane, but he's my pick."
Her mother patted her hand. "Keep doodling, dear. When the words are ready, they'll come to you. Just be sure to get some sleep tonight." She toddled off down the short hallway to Mary Jane's room, where her parents were sleeping.
Mary Jane let the smile that bloomed in her chest show on her face. She added rays to her sun, and scribbled a scorpion. Then she scrawled 'I love Peter Parker' in the margin.
"It's a start," she said.
xXx
Gwen and Tandy sat cross legged on the floor of Gwen's room.
"You ladies are alright, you're sure," Mr. Stacy said seriously from the doorway.
"I'm fine, dad," Gwen said. "I really am sorry I forgot to tell you about the slumber party. I promise I won't do it again."
"Well, if there's anything you ladies need," he said, "I'll be up for a few more hours." He looked bone weary from his vigil during his daughter's absence.
"Thank you, Mr. Stacy," Tandy smiled at him.
"Okay then," he said, and he headed down the stairs.
They were quiet for a moment, and Tandy leaned over and pushed the door shut.
"What really happened, Tandy?" Gwen asked quietly, the echo of fear in her eyes.
Tandy thought about the question for a minute. "Well," she said slowly, "it was a Parker Moment."
"Ah," Gwen said. "And everything's okay now?"
"Yes," Tandy nodded with certainty.
"I don't think I need to know any more," Gwen said, looking away. "Thanks for spending the night. I feel a bit wobbly."
"No problem," Tandy said with a smile. She rolled over to sit on her inflatable mattress on the floor. "Want to make some popcorn and giggle about boys until the wee hours, make it a proper sleepover?"
"Now you're talking," Gwen said with a broad smile.
xXx
The glass office door drifted open slowly, the peculiar silhouette of the Owl framed in the doorway. He hesitantly entered, and got down on his knees, bowing his head.
"You must already know I failed," he said miserably.
Mordred turned from his view of the gleaming city, a benign smile on his face. "Of course I know how it turned out. I watched with great interest." He seated himself at his desk. "What do you think I will do to you now?"
The Owl shuddered. "I beg for a quick death," he said in a quiet voice.
"That is because you do not understand me," Mordred said softly. "I don't mind losing." The Owl looked up, surprised. Mordred chuckled.
"You see," he said, "even a failed attempt has brought grief and disorientation, dislocation and fear at every turn. See what chaos I have accomplished in Strange's ranks. That is why I use others, why I have struck with agents. I will eventually win. I have the time."
He regarded the Owl for a long moment, and the silence grew weighty.
"You obeyed my orders precisely," Mordred said. "You did not interfere. You did not involve yourself. You did not tip your hand or reveal your presence in Octavius's scheme. They have no idea you had anything to do with the attack. Octavius had every chance to succeed, but his failure is not on your head. You preformed flawlessly. And now I will send you to hide. When the time for your great purpose comes, you will be ready. Do you understand?"
"Yeth, Mathter," the Owl said gratefully. "Truly you are great."
Mordred regarded the Owl. "You are dismissed. We will meet again."
The Owl bowed deeply. Then he turned and scurried out. Mordred stood, and looked out the window once more. A slow smile creased his face.
xXx
The entire morning of frantic preparation seemed nothing more than a strange dream. As Peter and Mary Jane stood facing each other; he was trim and snazzy in his tuxedo, she was stunning in her sleek and simple wedding dress. The church was comfortably full, but not packed. The happy couple was more than delighted to let Illyana handle the guest book, the gift table, and the frantic phone calls to the wedding photographer who had not yet arrived.
Behind Peter, Harry and Tyrone were slim and tall and debonair. Behind Mary Jane, Gwen was radiant and tearful, quietly sniffling, and Tandy looked on the proceedings with an introspective smile.
Mary Jane had already been given away, and her parents sat next to Aunt May. It was finally time to exchange the vows.
Peter held up his slightly creased and bent index card, glancing from it to Mary Jane. "I would fight monsters for you," he said with a bemused smile. "You give me a reason to fly." His hand lowered, the card at his side. "When no one in the world sees who I am, you will see into my soul for the truth. In the darkest night, you are my reason to come home. I love you now more than the infatuated guy you first met could ever imagine. I will love you all of my days," he said, his voice unsteady by the end and his eyes glimmering with unshed tears.
Tears were rolling down Mary Jane's face. She breathed in, then out, and she raised a bit of notebook paper that had been folded over to a quarter its size. She cleared her throat, then looked at Peter.
"Your love is worth the risk of loving you," she said in a trembling voice. She glanced down at her paper; it rattled as her hand shook uncontrollably. "You make me warm when it is cold," she said. "You are my knight in shining armor. I'll be there for you whether you win or lose life's little battles." She managed a smile, looking back into his eyes. "I love the way you see things that other people never will. For richer or poorer, in sickness or in health, I'll be your one true love," she managed.
The first strains of "Endless Love" started playing as they headed for the unity candle.
"Ode to Joy" was still playing as Peter and Mary Jane and the wedding party formed up in the receiving line except for Tyrone, who got to single-handedly usher the congregation out. Illyana darted over to Peter and Mary Jane.
"Your photographer is in jail for indecent exposure. I know, it's a horrible joke that would be funny if it wasn't true," she said in a low voice.
"My bag," Peter said, "It has a camera."
"Damnation," Illyana said, rolling her eyes. "I had no idea it would be this exciting coordinating your wedding! Okay, okay, I'll get it." She scampered off as the first people walked through the line. Mary Jane sniffed and rubbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.
"This is why I didn't wear mascara today," she said to Peter.
"Me either," he nodded sagely.
Brilhart came through the line, looking dapper in his gray suit. He shook Mary Jane's hand formally, and there was a glint in his eye as he came to Peter.
"You would fight monsters, huh," he said.
"Absolutely," Peter said, his face serious and his eyes merry.
"I think you really would," Brilhart said, a small smile finding its way to his lips. "Good luck with married life, Parker. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy." He clapped him on the shoulder, and moved on.
xXx
"Oh look another towel," Peter sighed as he ripped the paper on another gift.
"Here's one, it's from Strange," Mary Jane said. She quickly opened it. Under the paper was a flat box about the size of an envelope. She popped the latch and tilted the box open. Her eyes grew very wide.
"Plane tickets," she said. She plucked the note from the box. "On your special day, a honeymoon for two. Strange." She examined the tickets. "Yes! Cancun!"
Peter joined her, and picked up the other envelope in the box, opening it. "Holy cow," he said. Inside was a check for ten thousand dollars and a note in the memo, "Expenses".
"You know, Pete," Mary Jane said in a voice full of wonder, "the groom is supposed to handle the honeymoon. Knowing what I know about the situation we're in, I just wasn't going to say anything. Why make plans when Octavius is out there after us anyway, right? But this… this is cool." She looked him in the eye. "You may be a dweeb, Peter Parker," she said playfully, "but your friends are cool."
"Them's fightin' words," Peter said, scooping up a pillow and bopping her with it.
"See, now you're a wife beater," Mary Jane scolded.
"What, you gonna hen peck me?" Peter replied.
"Something like that," she said, grabbing a brace of pillows and squaring off, on her knees on the bed. "Let's get some marital counseling!" she howled as a war cry before she slung her pillows at him.
He laughed as they toppled to the floor, locked in combat. After a few fierce exchanges, they lost the pillows as Peter pinned Mary Jane to the floor.
"You were just luring me into a trap, weren't you," he said, eyes bright as he looked down at his bride.
"Oh, Peter," she sighed. "Have you considered going into police work?"
Peter chuckled until Mary Jane kissed him.
5