The Captain was the first to break the horrified silence that enveloped the control room. “Gear up, gents. It’s payday.”
“Scared, are we, Serval?” Sable smirked, catching the slight tremor in Hector’s hand as he kissed a bullet before sliding it into the chamber of his ready gun.
The prayer he delivered was silent, eyes glancing up to peer at an indifferent God. Hector Reeves knew his God wouldn’t hear him; for he’d entered the land architected by man’s hubris. The doom of man, made by man’s own hand.
“Going up against a dinosaur?” Serval hummed, not at all thrown off by Sable’s attempt to chisel away at his pride. “You’d be an idiot not to be.”
“Think of it this way,” Sable’s teeth bared in a grin that was more snarl than smile, eyes alight with the promise of bloodlust slaked. “Ever seen a housecat lose to a lizard?”
Drew gave him that smile, the smile she’d given him when the mask had fallen away and she’d looked upon the face of her friend beneath. The smile that said what she wouldn’t. Couldn’t. “I’m with you. It’s the safest place in the world.”
“In every world,” Peter 2 chimed in. He’d glanced at Peter 3 as he said this, confirming the suspicion that had arisen the moment Drew Dresden had introduced herself; that uncoiling of the tension in Peter 3’s shoulders and the warmth that sung in his eyes.
Peter 3 nodded his affirmation. “In every universe.”
“You both had a Drew?” She’d asked, surprised.
“We both still do.”
—————
“What about Drew?” Peter swallowed thickly, dread lacerating his heart. He avoided the tentative eyes of his best friend, knowing they were searching for an answer in his own, an answer he couldn’t give her. Instead, he kept them locked on Strange.
“She’s the one constant,” Steven assured. He’d seen it, through the brief glimpse of the dimensional cracks. It was the only solace he could offer the boy. “An infinite amount of universes, and Drew Dresden finds Peter Parker in every single one.”
“You hear that? We’re fated, doofus. I’ll find you again.”
His voice was heavy, already mourning what once was, and what would never be again. “You wouldn’t know it was me.”
“Are you kidding? I’d know you in every world. In every universe.”
