Don’t Mess With The Multiverse

Summary: One person hasn’t forgotten

 Warning(s): Spanking; spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home; references to canon character death; AU

 Author’s Note: Written for the July short fic challenge over on the Discipline Fic discord

 ###

“You trapped me in another dimension.” Stephen spoke in a voice he thought was very calm, considering everything Peter Parker had done. The spell had worked, with the only exception being that Stephen had somehow retained his memories. And he’d gone to the one place he could be certain of finding Spider-Man.

 Peter looked up from where he’d been focused on May’s grave. His brow furrowed and then his eyes widened. “Doctor Strange! You know who I am!” he blurted. “Does that mean the spell failed? Are there more enemies coming to our universe?”

 “The rest of the world doesn’t know. The rest of the world doesn’t remember.” Stephen advanced slowly on Peter. “As far as I can tell, I’m the only one.”

 Peter swallowed and a more uncertain look came over his face. “You’re mad at me?” he asked, his voice small. He stared at the ground, scuffing his foot in the grass, and muttered, “Figures that the only person who still remembers me hates me.”

 Stephen’s eyebrows arched and he reached out, grasping Peter’s arm and turning him slightly to the side. Then, he delivered six firm, hard smacks to Peter’s baclside.

 Yelping, Peter pulled his arm from Stephen’s grasp and reached back to rub his bottom, pouting. “What was that for?”

 “Do you really think I hate you?” Stephen shook his head. “I did what you asked of me. I did everything you asked me to. And your idea of repayment was to fight me and to trap me in another dimension.”

 “You were going to send them back to die.” Peter’s pout became even more pronounced. “I didn’t have a choice.”

 “No, you had a choice.” Stephen moved into Peter’s personal space once more and grasped his upper arm. He knew it would be easy for Peter to break free. Stephen’s hands weren’t strong enough to keep someone in place if they resisted. He couldn’t rely on his hands for much now.

 “Doctor Strange…sir,” Peter whined. “I didn’t mean to fight you.”

 Stephen raised his eyebrows again, but all he said was, “Take your pants down.”

 Peter whimpered softly, but he unfastened his pants and pushed them down.

 Stephen brought his other hand back and slapped it down firmly against the seat of Peter’s briefs. Then he delivered a second and third swat before continuing to smack hard. Peter’s healing factor was fast, but even with his damaged hands, Stephen managed to keep ahead of it.

 The yelps and cries increased in force and intensity when Stephen began to smack the bare skin at the tops of his thighs. “Hurts!” he gasped out, sniffling slightly.

 “I know it does.” Stephen concentrated several hard smacks to Peter’s sit spots and thighs, eliciting further cries and yelps. Then, he paused. “Take your briefs down,” he directed.

 “Why are you doing this?” Peter demanded, turning to face Stephen, hands creeping back to rub at his bottom. He was blinking back tears already.

 “For a number of reasons,” Stephen answered. “Firstly, you asked me to cast a spell to make everyone forget you were Spider-Man. Then you disrupted the spell and nearly caused chaos then and there. But that wasn’t enough for you. You then decided that you knew better than I did. You refused to send them back to their own universes….”

 “Where they would have died.”

 “No. I’m talking. You don’t interrupt.” Eyes boring into Peter, Stephen continued talking. “I know you’re a genius. So am I. That doesn’t mean you know everything, or that you know better than the person with more experience in magic than you.”

 “I know.” Swallowing hard, Peter looked towards the grave, tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks. “She wouldn’t have died if I’d listened to you.”

 Stephen couldn’t really disagree, even though the pain in Peter’s voice made him feel bad for pointing it out. Still. “I’m the only one who still remembers who you are, so you need to learn to listen to me and work with me.”

 Sniffling quietly, Peter gave Stephen a wide-eyed pleading look. Finally, though, he turned round and slowly pushed his briefs down, revealing his bare backside. His healing had kicked in enough that there was only a faint tinge of pink from the swats Stephen had given him.

 Moving to Peter’s side, Stephen braced one hand on his lower back and began to firmly smack once more, going hard and fast. Very quickly, he heard Peter begin to sob, shifting from one foot to the other as Stephen swatted the entirety of his backside, from the crest to mid-thigh, in several strong circuits.

 It didn’t take long for Peter to slump against Stephen, crying hard. “I’m sorry!” He sounded completely broken, clutching at Stephen with one hand.

 Finally, Stephen stopped spanking. Peter’s bottom was flushed red, though it wouldn’t last for long. But Peter was cryng hard enough that it seemed the spanking had done its job, giving him a catalyst to release his emotions in a safe way.

 Stephen wrapped his arms around Peter, not surprised to find himself locked in a tight embrace in return. He held Peter close and tight, rubbing his back gently, as the tears began to die down and finally stop.

 “I’m sorry,” Peter whispered, sniffling.

 “I know.” Stephen held him for a few more moments and then pulled back to look into his eyes. “You don’t have anywhere else to be now, do you? Why don’t you come home with me?”

 “Okay.” Peter pulled his clothing back into place and gave Stephen a trembling smile, despite the fact that his eyes were red and wet. “Thank you,” he added.

 Stephen just nodded and began to lead the way back to the Sanctum.

The End