Turning Tables - IAmAllYetNotAtAll - Multifandom [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter 1: Snap

Chapter Text

Thanos believes himself a genius. Some might agree, some might not. It doesn't negate the fact he is, truly, intelligent.

"Spare his life... and I will give you the stone."

He's a master strategist. He's built an army from nothing. He has lead people into his beliefs, convinced them to obey. Convinced them to revere him and to think him a god. He built a daughter out of parts and another out of fear. He's spent his lifetime scouring the universe for ways to fix it.

The wizard was in possession of the time stone and Thanos knows better than most the extent of its power. To make this one request. Well. Thanos isn't obtuse, he can read between the lines. See behind the words.

In his mind, there is nothing that can defeat him. There is nothing that can stop a quest for justice. But.

"You should have gone for the head," he tells the lesser god.

He snaps his fingers and one name rings loud above his request.

"Wipe away half of everything."

"Wipe away Tony Stark."

If anyone could be an obstacle, it's the man of metal; Earth's mightiest defender.

Thanos is good to his word. When it benefits him.

No loose strings; wrap everything up in a neat little bow and nothing can take this success from him.

Thousand and thousands of miles away in a different solar system, the Guardians fade to dust.

Mantis. Drax. Quill.

"Tony, there was no other way," Stephen says as he joins them.

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony turns to the boy, fear filling his heart. When he quickly looks him over, all of him is still intact. He takes two steps forward and stumbles.

Peter reaches out and grabs him, his arms wrapping around his waist.

"Mr. Stark? Are you - what's - please don't go, please."

"It's okay, kid, it's okay."

His vision blurs, but he can see Peter crying. He wants to reach out for him but his arm won't respond. It's not there anymore.

Peter lays him on the ground carefully, his tears dripping onto his mentor's cheeks. His hands flutter over his chest but it breaks apart beneath his touch.

"Please don't leave me, please, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Peter sobs as Tony's body fades.

"I-" his mouth moves to speak, but he's gone before he can say his last words.

Peter falls forward into the empty space, his ashes staining his hands. He curls his fingers into the dirt and screams into the void. When his throat hurts and forces him to stop, he sobs and rubs at his cheeks. The ash spreads across his sweat-stained skin.

"He did it."

Chapter 2: Scraps

Chapter Text

Nebula doesn't move or speak for a long while after those three little words.

Peter's not sure how long he spends crying, but when he stands his knees are sore, his throat aches, and his eyes are burning. He hiccups and takes in several deep breaths to force them back.

He appreciates her silence as he tries to gather himself.

There's nothing left of him. Of any of them. Whatever Thanos did took their armour and weapons, anything they were touching. Except for people, of course. Tony didn't take Peter when he was fading away. That would have been too easy, wouldn't it?

Because now he's stuck on some planet with only one stranger for company and no knowledge of how to get back home.

"Any idea where he is?" Peter asks. His voice cracks.

"I don't know where any of them have gone," she answers.

There's something that sits heavy in his stomach by how monotone her tone comes out, but he wouldn't want pity either. It helps too that she isn't a grieving mess, at least one of them is functional.

"No, not... Where's Thanos?"

"I couldn't say."

"Could anything here give us an idea?"

He turns in a full circle, but he already knows what's there to see. A few spaceships and endless desert. The ruins of a moon. Ash.

"No. Titan is desolate. It is also uninhabitable at night, we should focus on leaving."

"Right... right. I'm from Earth. Don't know if that means anything to you, but that's where I'd like to go."

"I have no home," she says plainly. "We will go to 'Earth'. The ship has a tracking system, it will navigate us in the right direction."

"Alright. And you know how to drive it? Or... fly it?"

"Yes."

"Then let's head out, I guess."

She nods and starts her trek to the Guardian's ship, the Benatar, which is the one least damaged. He starts to follow, head bowed and steps heavy with fatigue and sorrow.

It's like an out of body experience. He remembers this same feeling from when he'd lost his Uncle Ben. Watching him bleeding out in front of him as Peter pressed his hands to the wound trying to stem the blood flow. The emotions are an extension of him, they're around him and deep within him, but it doesn't feel real. He's seeing himself as an outsider, a sad boy lost in the middle of nowhere.

That's not him. That's some other teenager.

A flash of light sparks in the corner of his vision. He turns to look at the source and his stomach drops.

The Ironman helmet that had been knocked off Tony's head is perched behind a rock, reflecting sun rays. He deters from his path and goes to grab it. When he returns, Nebula has stopped and is staring at him with what he thinks is curiousity.

"Was he your father?"

He wants to throw up. There's a stinging in the back of his eyes and he takes a deep breath.

"No, not... I loved him like one. And I never got to tell him that." He sobs and the tears fall. He presses his forehead against the helmet and sniffs and breathes deeply to compose himself.

Nebula waits him out.

"I'm sorry," he whispers once he can manage to stop the sobs.

He wipes at his face, spreading the dirt, and continues walking, prompting her to do so as well.

She walks into the spaceship like she owns it and is fully familiar with all its parts. Peter follows after her like a lost puppy. He has no idea how to make himself useful in this situation and waits for orders.

She boots up the main computer and presses some buttons. He doesn't have the energy to ask her what she's doing. He stands a couple of feet from her and stares around.

There's an old cassette player in the pilot's seat, a leather coat over it's back. There's some sort of handheld game console shoved into a little hole in the wall and what might be ammo packs in the cupholder of a chair. The main area has four seats, and there are doors leading to other rooms. He'll explore those later.

"There isn't enough energy to do a jump, we'll have to do the flight directly."

"Which means?"

"It will take several weeks. But that's not our main problem. There isn't enough fuel to get us there."

"So we're... stuck here?" His arms wrap fully around the helmet, and he holds it to his chest in the faint semblance of a hug for reassurance.

"No. The tracking system has located your planet, we can start flying and if we're lucky we'll run into another ship."

"And if we're unlucky..."

"The fuel runs out and we float through space aimlessly until our food and water supply runs out. Or the oxygen."

"And if we stay?"

"If the cold doesn't kill us, we'll still have the same problem with food and water. There is nothing on this planet that can sustain us."

"I... I saw 'The Martian', maybe we can figure out a way to make something sustainable here? Depending on what food we have, and if there's enough water... If we can last long enough for someone to find us, maybe..."

"Who knows that we're here?" She asks and he can't respond. "Our best option is to fly. If you'd rather stay, I'll leave you the rations. I don't need food as much as a Terran does."

The idea of being left alone makes his stomach turn.

"No, I'll go with you. Should we try to scavenge stuff from the other ship?"

She glances out the front window and nods, "We have time. Let's see what we can find."

She wanders into one of the rooms in the back and returns with two basket type containers. Peter puts the Ironman helmet on one of the seats and takes one in hand. He can tell it's some form of wood, though probably not from Earth. They leave the ship and see what they can find through the wreckage. Peter uses his strength to lift and move parts, and Nebula has more of an idea what to even look for.

They manage to locate a fuel cell and Peter tears out the container from its surrounding metal parts. Nebula nods in approval and tells him that it will give them an extra four or five days.

Peter doesn't stop to think about the fact that four or five days still won't get them home.

There are some old rations in airtight bags that will probably taste horrendous but will serve its purpose. Nebula makes a lucky find of a good tub of water; there's a crack in the side, but half the contents are salvageable. Peter grabs some tools from the leftovers of a locker and a few spare parts that look like they can come in handy.

They carry in their loot as the sky starts turning dark.

"Are you ready?"

He nods.

"Take a seat," she instructs.

She sits in the pilot's seat and he straps himself in the one behind her to the left. He sets the helmet in his lap and holds it tightly.

Lights flicker on throughout the co*ckpit. The engine whirs to life. Nebula presses several keys on the panel and moves the shift into gear.

They're off and Titan is left behind.

Peter's nails dig into the cracks in the helmet, holding back his strength to keep from breaking it in half. Tony's gone and all he has left of him is this piece of armour. Who knows what half of the universe still exists, which of his loved ones are still alive. They have enough food for two weeks, maybe three, and enough water for three weeks, maybe four, if they can manage rations. The main concern is oxygen.

Home awaits, but can they make it?

Chapter 3: Captain's Log Pt1

Chapter Text

Day 1

When the ship takes to the air, Peter sits in Drax's seat for at least two or three hours, unwilling to move. Frozen in grief.

Nebula stays in the Captain's seat, the one that once belonged to Peter Quill; probably because there isn't much for her to do.

Once he manages to focus, deciding that he needs to be at least somewhat productive to not wallow in his own misery, he explores. There are three rooms with two beds that can be lifted and latched into the walls one on top of the other, all of which appear occupied. He knows three (knows... he fought with three, but can't remember their names).

The top bunk in one of the beds is messy with blankets overturned and clothes barely hanging on the edge, and the one beneath it is sunken in the middle and he assumes that must be the bigger guy. In another room, the top bunk has a gun very visibly hidden beneath the pillow and the bottom bunk has bits of bark in it and he doesn't bother getting confused by it. The last room is the neatest, with a sword sheathed and resting on a shelf in the wall and a dagger embedded near it with no other personable effects.

There is a washroom, and that's nice. That's something he doesn't have to worry about.

Lots of medical supplies and weapons. Accesses to the internal parts of the ship that he wants to be excited about but can't muster the energy for.

"There's six beds," he points out to Nebula when he returns, "I know there were the three on that planet, the guy with the leather coat, the bigger guy, and that alien lady, but who are the other three? Are you one of them?"

"No. And I would recommend not using the term 'alien' in the company of a such 'alien'."

"Oh, right. Sorry." He returns to his seat, and she continues to gaze out the window.

"Quill, Drax, and Mantis. Those are the three idiots we were stuck with. There's Rocket, Groot, and... Gamora."

"Gamora - you and Quill were talking about her earlier. Is she a friend of yours?"

"She was my sister."

"Oh. And you and Thanos were...?"

"He is my father."

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" She turns to him then, eyes blinking slowly.

"It's an expression of sympathy. He was awful, and I bet he was awful to you, too."

"Hm. Yes, awful is one word for it." She glances at her hand, metal fingers flexing.

"Did he... do that to you?" He doesn't know if it's insensitive to ask, same as using the term 'alien', but he's always been too curious to know when to stop his line of questioning.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

"Did you cut out my skin and replace it with metal?"

"No."

"Then don't say sorry. Don't waste an apology on someone else's behalf. Thanos isn't sorry and he never will be."

"Right."

They fall into silence.

He sets aside his Spider-man suits, both new and old. He uses some of their meager supply of water to clean his wounds and bandages them but resigns himself to being unable to shower for however long they'll be stuck here. He goes to sleep in what he assumes is either Gamora or Mantis' bed wearing the clothes he'd worn to school that morning.

Resting in his arms is the Ironman helmet, his little piece of home.

Day 2

He's so exhausted he sleeps the night through.

Peter's not sure if Nebula slept, but she's back in the Captain's seat when he wanders there.

"You'll struggle with time while on a ship. I set this clock to a 24 hour cycle since that's what you're used to. We'll try to eat once every 24 hours or so, starting in 3 hours, and try to sleep for 8 and be awake for 16." She points to a digital clock on the panel in front of her.

"Thank you," Peter says.

She doesn't respond.

He takes his seat by her side and puts the helmet in his lap. The sky outside is dark with streaks of colour, and he can see stars out in the distance. It's beautiful.

He traces the cracks of the helmet slowly with a careful touch. It's made of nanites and could disassemble into pieces, but it holds to one.

Time to get it over with.

Any kid out there would want to do this, so would Peter; any other day. He takes in a deep breath and carefully slips the helmet over his hair.

"Friday?" he whispers.

The display in front of his eyes lights up. Monitors flicker to life and numbers and letters and diagnostics scroll in front of him. When he breathes, the hot air fans his face but after a few seconds, a filter activates to make breathing easier.

"Hello, Peter," she says calmly.

"Oh my god - Friday! Hi! I didn't think you'd really - oh wow. Okay. How much power do you have?"

"I have 163 hours of straight power usage available, however, based on your surroundings there may be a way to charge this device."

"That's amazing. Okay, I'll work on the charging thing later. I know we're crazy far from Earth, but any way you can send a message or a signal? We're not going to make it with the fuel we've got, and maybe they can find a way to get to us?"

"I'm afraid not, Peter. The distance is too great. I can make a general signal, which will have a range of approximately 3 thousand miles. This ship may be better equipped for what you're looking for. Where is the boss? I can't trace him."

He takes in a sharp breath.

"He's... he's no longer with us."

"I see," is her only response to that. "Are you well?"

"Well enough," he says. "I'll see what I can do with the ship for a signal. How much memory space do you have on this thing? If I want to use you for information, what can you get me?"

"The part of my coding which is stored in this helmet is mainly equipped with my base coding as well as anything relating to the suit itself. We are too far for me to access my mainframe and the stored information. I do, however, have a few tools that could be of use, if you can connect me to a link in here."

"Alright, thanks for your help Friday. How do I power you off?"

"You simply say so, Peter. And you can always power me back on by using my name, so long as there's enough charge."

"Thanks. Power off."

He removes the helmet and pats down his hair. The light in the front panel goes out.

He and Nebula spend a few hours working on trying to get an outgoing signal, but it's decided that it would use up too much power that they otherwise want for keeping the ship going. If they see anything in the distance, they'll activate the signal.

They eat some meager rations and drink a couple of sips of water.

His stomach grumbles, but he's been hungry before. After the bite, it was a constant ache that felt insatiable. He can handle this.

Nebula pulls out some of Quill's clothes from his room and throws it at him.

"He's not making use of it, and you're filthy. If you stay in that, you'll infect your wounds."

Peter only has a couple of scratches along his face and arms, but they aren't healing well and he does as she asks. He changes the bandages again.

Day 3

Peter finds a way to connect the helmet to the computer's mainframe. He can use it to make diagrams and jot down notes. Friday downloads everything stored in the ship, gets old coordinates used and saves the internal map. It's probably useless, but it makes Peter feel useful.

The two of them spend the day fixing any cracks in the ship's foundation. None of the damage will impact their flight, but it's something to do.

She's quiet and he talks into her silences. So far, she lets him without much comment.

Day 4

Time is starting to blend together. Nebula wakes him after he's been in bed for 8 hours but he feels like he hasn't slept at all. She hands him water and they share some food.

He grabs the handheld gaming console that reminds him of a Gameboy but doesn't have the same kind of buttons. The battery isn't drained by the time he heads to bed. He feels disgusting, but at least there's a bathroom.

Day 5

"Tell me about yourself," Peter asks her suddenly while they're both sitting watching the sky pass them by.

Oddly enough, she does. She must be as bored as he is.

She doesn't tell him everything, but she tells him enough.

About how Thanos took her from her home, after killing half the people there. Her rivalry with her sister, and eventually realizing her father was not the man he claimed to be and coming to truly love her sister. Those aren't the words she uses, but Peter can read between the lines.

"I may not be able to fix what he's done, but I will kill him."

"I'm sorry." She shoots him a look and he smiles sheepishly, "Right. I'm not sorry. Just... it sucks that you had to go through all that. But I guess you wouldn't be as kick-ass if you didn't. Mr. Stark would have liked you a lot. If..." he was here. "He likes bossy ladies. You'll get it when you meet his fiancée. If she's still... It's weird to think when we land half the world is going to be gone. I don't know which of my friends are still alive. If my Aunt-" he cuts himself off to take in a sharp breath.

"If we land," she reminds him.

"That's not helping."

"It wasn't mean to."

"Right."

She's blunt and callous and can't read a room for the life of her, but he thinks she's brilliant. He has nothing but admiration for someone who can go through what she has and come out on top.

"Tell me about your Aunt," she asks, prompting him to talk. It's not interest, not really, but Peter isn't offended. He'll take any excuse to do something.

They eat while he talks, and he's getting to the point where he's so hungry he can hardly feel it anymore.

Day 6

The nightmare is sudden.

Tony falls into his arms but doesn't land. He turns to dust before Peter can catch him. He breathes in the ash and he coughs and coughs. His own scream pierces the silence of Titan.

"Don't go, please don't leave me."

He awakes with a gasp, gulping in large puffs of air to settle his heart rate. His Spidey sense is tingling wildly and making his skin prickle with anxiety. There's a moment where he doesn't remember where he is and looks around confused and terrified at the unfamiliarity until it hits him. His hands start to shake and he forcibly slows his breath and wipes at his tears furiously.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Wasting oxygen like that? He needs to get it together.

He slips off the bed but can't make it to his feet. The shaking spreads to the rest of his body. He leans back against the side of the bed, curling himself up on the floor.

His wounds have mostly healed, but he hurts. This is a familiar kind of pain and he'd thought... he'd hoped with everything that he wouldn't have to go through this again, at least not so soon. It's only been two years since Uncle Ben.

Welcome back to mourning, Peter Parker. Table for one?

Day 7

There's a problem with one of the fuel cells.

Nebula takes him to the engine room, where she had placed the fuel cell they'd managed to save from the wreckage. There's five in a row in the back; they're six feet tall cylindrical glass containers with swirling blue electricity flowing visibly through them. Apparently one of them isn't working right, though there's nothing obviously wrong.

"We're losing fuel faster than we should be; I'll temporarily turn the power off and we'll need to inspect them one by one to see what's wrong," Nebula explains.

They pull down one cell after another. They have a similar strength, and they work together to set them on the ground. They find a crack in the third one and Nebula curses in a language Peter doesn't know. He thinks it's a curse, anyway, judging by the harsh tone.

"I'll need to repair this right away."

"I can help."

She eyes him doubtfully but nods.

They carry it to a nearby table and gather the necessary tools. He's willing to follow her lead on this one and keeps his theories to himself. He'd love to work on this and see what he can learn, but the undercurrent of knowing if he messes up they'll get stranded in space faster than planned deters him from wanting to get near it at all.

The repairs take them a couple of hours.

She doesn't let him do anything important, but he holds the cell in place and hands her tools and he feels useful.

"Here you go, Captain," he hands her a torch.

He thinks she might be amused, but he can't quite tell. She's clearly relieved that she doesn't have to explain what she's asking for and that he knows how to work with his hands.

When they've finished repairing it and get it back in place, he cheers and smiles her way, "You did it! That was awesome."

"It wasn't," she says. "But it has given us an extra 24 to 48 hours."

"Anything else that might need some work?"

Day 8

There's not much to do to keep entertained.

He's beat the game on the handheld device twice. He's listened to Quill's songs on his cassette player until the batteries died and he didn't care to search for replacements since the songs are ancient and boring. He's searched every corner of this spaceshift and there's nothing of interest.

He and Friday talk a lot.

"If I make the material thin enough, and angle it from here to here, it should give me a fairly decent gliding distance..." he ponders aloud, letting Friday store the data.

He likes to sit in the seat next to Nebula's (it's the Captain's chair - it's her's. Even if she isn't here, he won't take her spot) with his Ironspider suit half-dissected in his lap and the Ironman helmet set on the console in front of him. He'd created a connection wire from the helmet to the control panel from spare parts which allows her to hear and speak to him.

It sometimes feels like talking to Tony.

Nebula often wanders off places. He knows she likes to re-evaluate their rations stock and will assess the ship's integrity, but that still leaves some time unaccounted for. He likes his own privacy and doesn't invade her's.

"I would suggest a length of 15 inches from the side of your ribcage to your elbows for best efficiency."

"Thanks, Mr. Stark."

It takes Friday's lack of response to realize what he'd said.

He puts away the suit, shuts down Friday, and decides to head to bed early that night. Day. Afternoon. Whatever.

Day 9

The radar on the ship detects something incoming from somewhere to their left.

They pull up a camera feed to see what's there. Peter's heart drops when it's just a rock from a broken meteor. It hits the side of the ship but doesn't dent the sturdy metal.

It's a let down.

Day 10

The spaceship is built with a perfectly functioning temperature regulating system in place and it's sitting at the same degree it has been for the past several days.

He wakes up shivering.

He slips on Quill's leather jacket, still hanging off the back of the Captain's seat. He puts on a second pair of socks over the first.

It helps a bit.

Nebula glances over at him multiple times throughout the day but doesn't speak up.

Day 11

"I'd only known him for two years," he whispers while they're eating.

"Your father?" She guesses, not looking up from the pack of something that sort of tastes like mashed potatoes if Peter had to make a comparison.

"Yeah. I don't know why it hurts so much."

"Loss always hurts."

"Do you miss your sister?"

"Yes," she says simply.

"I hope my Aunt's okay."

"It's a fifty percent chance."

"Suppose in some cases that seems like a high number." He scrapes the bottom of the bag. "He wasn't always nice, but he wasn't a bad person. All he ever wanted was the best and sometimes he just didn't know how to do that. I... he... I don't even know what I'm trying to say."

"You're always speaking. You'll figure it out."

He smiles softly, "I don't know why he ever wanted anything to do with me. He could have ditched me at any point. If it was about doing the right thing, giving me the suit would have been enough. It kept me safe way more than I probably even realize. But he didn't. I wish we'd talked more about the important things. Me and May, we're always on the same page. Even when she didn't know I was Spider-man, she knew everything important. It's just... there's so much we could have been and we're never going to be and..."

He wipes away a stray tear and sniffs.

She doesn't say anything.

"I miss him."

He's spent a lot of time in the past few days telling her everything about his Aunt and Ned and MJ and even Happy and Pepper. He's told her about school and his teachers and Flash and even his grades because there has to be a way to get the time to pass. He has no idea how many of those people don't exist anymore, but he can pretend. He can convince himself that when (if) they land, they'll all be there to greet him. He can't bring himself to tell her much about Tony because he's gone and it hurts and there's no pretending that that isn't true.

"We'll avenge their loss."

It makes him smile bitterly. Avenging has done nobody any good.

Chapter 4: Captain's Log Pt. 2

Chapter Text

Day 12

Peter lays in his two pairs of socks and Quill's leather jacket and can't stop the shivering. His stomach is empty, his metabolism burns through everything too quickly and he's trying not to let Nebula know it but he thinks he can't hide it for much longer. He stands and tugs the blanket off the bed above his and curls up like a burrito for warmth.

It doesn't help. He untangles himself and goes to the room over to take the blanket from the indented bottom bunk. He hesitates at the doorway and turns back for the one from the top bunk. Just in case.

Quill's clothes fall to the ground and when he reaches down to pick it up and put it back on the bed, his vision spins.

No point worrying about that.

Day 13

"Do you think we could have won?" He asks her, curled in his seat with the helmet in his lap and eyes fixed on the endless sky.

"Yes," she says simply. She's in her seat running diagnostics through the ship. She says it's best to do it once a day to be on the safe side. Peter thinks it's pointless, but he doesn't care enough to say so.

"Did I... Is it my fault? I bet if Captain America was there he and Mr. Stark would have won together."

"Quill lost himself to anger and cost us our victory. You fought well; for a child." Results appear on the monitor and she reads over them. She offhandedly asks, "Who is 'Captain America'?"

"A superhero. Like you and Mr. Stark, but not as cool."

"I see," she says. "And are you a 'superhero', too?"

"No, I don't think so."

He traces the cracks of the helmet with a gentle and revering touch. She doesn't press him; Terrans are soft creatures, she doesn't want to make him cry again.

Day 14

"Peter?" Nebula calls his name from somewhere down the hall to wake him.

He turns over, shoving the blankets over his head.

When there's no response, she comes to the room and peers around the doorway, "It's time to get up. Are you sitll alive?"

"Yeah," he muffles from his blanket haven. He moves the material until he can see her through a small opening. "Can we make it 10 hours instead? To sleep. Instead of 8? I'm... really tired."

"If you like." She shrugs.

"Thanks," he hides himself back in his bundle of warmth and he doesn't see her frown.

Day 15

There are two ration packs left. They split one in half and leave the last one for tomorrow.

Day 16

Peter eats half of their final ration pack. He tries to hand what's left to Nebula, but she shakes her head. He thinks, two weeks ago, he might have pushed, but he's so hungry.

He eats it and feels guilty for it.

Day 17

There's no more food and Peter stays an extra hour in bed. What else is there to do?

Day 18

He doesn't get far from his bed.

Nebula calls his name and he responds that he's getting up even though he doesn't want to. It feels like having a sarcastic and kind of insensitive parent. At least he isn't alone.

He tosses over the blankets, grabs the helmet, plants his feet on the ground, and when he moves to stand he falls to his knees. They hit the tile painfully and he bites back a groan but holds on tight to the helmet. He sits back against the bed and drags a blanket off to wrap around him. He doesn't want to go anywhere.

She comes to find him a few minutes later. Nebula looks at him carefully.

"Would you like some water?"

"No, I'm fine. Just..." he shrugs.

He does want water, but there isn't much of that left and since he ate the last of the food, that's her's. If he can bring himself to say no when she offers it to him later.

She stays in the doorway but doesn't seem to know whether she'll come in or leave him alone. He pats the spot beside him.

"Can you sit with me for a bit?"

She nods. She walks over to his side and gently sits down. She draws her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them and keeps her gaze straight ahead.

"I'm scared," he admits. His grip tightens on the blanket.

"I see."

"Are you scared at all?"

"No."

"Oh. I guess you wouldn't be. You've been through a lot already. We're going to run out of oxygen before we run out of water, aren't we?"

"Yes."

He leans to the right and drops his head on her shoulder. She goes rigid but doesn't push him away.

"Thanks for being here with me."

"It wasn't on purpose."

"Still. I appreciate it."

She lets him lean on her for much longer than it is for her to sit there comfortably.

Day 19

He spends the day sitting in his seat in front of the window. Friday becomes his personal audiobook by reading out some documents saved in her memory space. Nebula brings him water every few hours. He doesn't know if she's drinking any herself.

"Why do you have all of Dr. Banner's papers saved in your basic coding?"

"The boss is a fan."

He laughs softly and burrows deeper into his seat.

"Gotcha. Can you read his paper from 2004 on gemcitabine therapy?"

"Yes, Peter."

Day 20

Peter manages to make his way to his seat, but Nebula has to carry him back to bed when the clock shows hour 16.

Day 21

"We're going to die here, aren't we?"

"Yes."

Chapter 5: A Final Message

Chapter Text

Peter sets the Ironman helmet on the ground in one of the back rooms. He sits cross-legged in front of it and takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He reaches out and presses a button on its inside.

"Is it recording?"

There's a blue light shining through the faceplate and it blinks in and out and he takes that as affirmation.

"Okay. So. I don't really have much to say, don't know who I'm speaking to. But if this gets through then... Aunt May, I love you. So much. I hope you're alive."

He clears his throat.

"Today is day 22. I think. It's just me and Nebula. She's... she's really great. She's smart and she's been nice to me. Mostly. She's not really used to human culture, so there's some misunderstandings, but... I don't know what I would have done without her. I hope she makes it, even if I..."

A breath.

"We ran of food a few days ago. We don't have much water left, though that's not going to matter soon. She didn't tell me, but I looked and we're going to be out of oxygen by the end of the day. I'm scared."

He wipes away a stray tear.

"Friday, erase that last bit. She doesn't need to hear that."

"Yes, Peter."

"I want you to know we fought really hard, but we just... we couldn't win. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I wish we'd had more time. Can you tell Pepper and Happy that... Mr. Stark was so brave. He - god. He - he was so brave. He fought Thanos one on one and he was the best out of all of us. He should be here. Not me. Friday, cut that part out too."

"Yes, Peter."

"Tell Pepper... I'm sorry I couldn't save him. He did good, he did really good. May, I'm sorry I'm leaving you too. You don't deserve that. Happy - thanks. Just... thanks for being around. For being you. Thanks for looking out for me."

There's a long pause as he thinks of what to say next.

"I think that's everything," his voice comes out weary. "End recording."

The light dims.

He's so tired.

A nap won't hurt.

He takes the helmet in his arms, unwilling to be apart from it at any time, and slides to the floor to lay down for a little while.

He closes his eyes and when he opens them next, he's blinded by a bright blue light.

Chapter 6: Coming Home

Chapter Text

Peter feels reenergized as the glowing woman literally pushes their spaceship. Her smile and the fact they'll be out of oxygen within a handful of hours, instills trust.

Nebula sat him in her seat up front, and he watches as the sky blurs from how quickly they're moving. She stands behind him, leaning against the back of the chair and neither of them speaks.

Earth comes into view and he exhales sharply.

"Home," he whispers.

He stands wobbily with the Ironman helmet in his grip. Nebula grabs one of his arms and lifts it around her shoulders to help support his weight. The ship's not stable once they pierce through the Earth's mesosphere and gravity starts taking effect, and she tightens her grip to keep them from toppling over.

"We should stay seated until we land," she points out.

Peter shakes his head. He has no free hand to wipe the tears off his cheeks, but he doesn't realize he's crying in the first place.

"No, I want to go home."

"Okay," she hesitantly agrees.

They carefully make their way to the exit. Peter's legs are tired and Nebula's mostly supporting him, and it's her perfect balance and strength that get them there without falling.

The ship shakes and there's a loud thud as the woman sets it on the ground. Nebula reaches out to open the hatch; the door creaks open and a slope extends and hits the ground forming a path down.

Their saviour is there, standing back and no longer glowing, but there's also a group of people watching them that she can't recognize except for one.

Nebula helps them both down, taking careful steps. Peter's practically a dead weight at her side. When she glances at him, his eyes are wide and frightened and she tenses.

A tall and broad man approaches them from the group and Peter presses himself into her side. Her grips tightens and she reaches down to her thigh. She pulls out her switchblade and clicks it open, aiming it at the stranger and staring rigidly at them to make sure none of them get any closer.

"Who are you? Stand back!" She moves to the side away from him, dragging Peter along with her.

The man's hands raise in peace, "I'm Steve, I'm not here to hurt you." He takes two steps back because it's clear she's not putting away her weapon.

"Nebula, they're the good guys. I think," Rocket says, walking around the human's until he can be in her line of sight.

She nods but still holds onto her blade.

"Aunt May? Is... where's... May?" Peter calls out weakly.

His terrified gaze slips off Steve Rogers and skips over Bruce and Natasha and Rhodey. Here's the Avengers, but it's not who he cares to find.

"Please... Aunt May..."

Jogging towards them, he finally spots Pepper Potts. She stops abruptly by Rocket's side and speaks his name softly, "Oh, Peter..."

"Pepper? Where's May?" Her gaze saddens and he knows.

Peter slips his arm off Nebula's shoulder to take a step towards her. His hand, fingers numbing and weak, loosens it's hold on the helmet.

"No!" He cries out in despair as it falls and he reaches down to grab it. It grazes his fingertips but his vision blanks and everything goes dark.

Nebula drops her blade and grabs him before he can hit the ground. She lifts him into her arms. Rocket grabs her weapon for her and Pepper reaches down for the helmet. She stares at the faceplate as if seeing who had once been behind it.

"Anyone else on that ship?" Rocket asks tentatively, gaze hovering over her shoulder.

Pepper looks up with wavering hope in her eyes.

"No... I'm sorry."

She understands now why someone might apologize for something they hadn't done.

She wishes that was not something she had learned to understand.

Chapter 7: What's Been Left Behind

Chapter Text

Pepper and Rhodey are there when he wakes up. They've been crying, he can tell by the redness of their eyes. He doesn't recognize the room and knows this isn't the Tower.

There's an IV in the crook of his left elbow and he's swaddled in blankets. His head feels cloudy, his eyes burn, and his body is too heavy to move. His stomach is turning from nausea and his mouth is dry. This sucks.

"Where...?"

"Shh," Pepper takes his hand, "You're okay. We're at the compound. Bruce looked you over, says you're dehydrated and malnourished, and the IV drip is meant to help you balance out until we can get some solids in you."

"Neb-" he's too tired to finish her name. His eyelids flicker but he forces himself to keep them open.

"She's in the other room talking to the raccoon. Go back to sleep, Peter. Get your rest."

He doesn't need to be told twice.

The next time he wakes up, Rhodey is gone but Pepper's still there.

His everything is still sore and unpleasant, but his thoughts are less muddled together. He can look down and see that he's been changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants; far from hospital clothes. From the lack of grime on his hands, he's assuming he's been given some sort of sponge bath.

"Pepper?" He whispers to get her attention.

She's staring down at her phone and her head snaps up at the sound of his voice. "Peter! How are you feeling?"

"Like sh*t," he says, not bothering to mince his words.

"I can imagine," she puts away her phone. "Do you think you can drink or eat anything?"

"Suppose so."

She helps him sit up in the bed and hands him a glass of water from the bedside table. Next to it sits the red and gold helmet. The room is on the smaller side, just a bed with white sheets and a few monitors around him. Pepper's seated to his left and there's an empty chair on his right where Rhodey had been sitting. She leaves to get some food and comes back with toast and a smoothie.

It helps to get some energy back in him and he insists on getting out of the bed.

"I need to know what's going on."

"I don't think you should be-"

"Well, Aunt May's not here to tell me to stay put, now is she?"

Pepper's mouth clicks shut and her expression saddens. She watches him stand on shaky feet and helps him wheel the IV unit to his side. He holds the metal bar with one hand for support and leaves, Pepper following close behind but not saying anything further.

Outside of his improvised hospital room is what seems to be some sort of conference center.

Thor is sitting in the corner with a plate of food in front of him. Natasha and Bruce are sitting around a table presenting several holographic images and Rhodey is pacing the length of it. The woman he doesn't know is leaning against the wall and Steve is standing by the table with his arms crossed over his chest. Nebula and Rocket are tucked in a corner, together but not speaking. She stands when she sees him and her eyes quickly look him over.

"You've eaten?" She asks.

He nods and she sits back down though her piercing gaze stays on him.

He takes a seat at the table, in the corner away from all the others. Pepper hovers somewhere behind him. The hologram hovering over the table is displaying names and photographs of those missing or confirmed gone. Scott flickers through, and then T'challa, and then... he closes his eyes as Tony's face appears on the hologram and fades out to someone else.

"How are you feeling, Peter?" Rhodey asks kindly, stopping his pacing.

He shrugs and stares at the faces.

The adults around him share looks of concern, but continue on with their previous discussion. They're catching up Carol and Nebula on what's happened so far, and probably Peter too though he's hardly paying attention.

"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth," Rhodey says.

"World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he did... he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out 50 percent of all living creatures," Natasha says.

"Where could he have gone?" Bruce asks.

"He always wanted to go someplace he called, 'the Garden'," Nebula says. "Though I was never told where that was, exactly."

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep space scans and satellites, and we got nothing. Peter, you fought him, right? Is there anything-" Steve says while turning to him.

"Fight him?" He looks up with feigned surprise, "Me? Oh no, Mr. Stark fought while I got my ass handed to me by some psychotic space grape."

"I... Okay. Did he mention coordinates, or did he give you any clues, anything that could help us find him?"

"For heaven's sake, Steve," Pepper snaps, making him shift his focus, "He's a 15 year old that finally made it home after fighting a genocidal maniac in space. Now is not the time-"

"You don't need to defend me, Pepper," Peter interrupts her, his own voice calm.

He moves back his seat and carefully stands. He takes his IV unit in hand and walks towards the Captain.

His heart is heavy, weighed by a loss he hasn't fully grasped yet. The world is flipped upside down and Peter Parker is late to the party and trying to catch up. There's one thing, however, he does know for certain and that's that he doesn't need someone fighting his battles. He has no one to protect him anymore; it's Peter versus the world and it doesn't matter if he's ready for it or not.

"Even if I had coordinates, or clues, or if I had a map drawn out of crayons and markers, I wouldn't tell you sh*t, Captain." He stops in front of Steve and stares up at him with cold eyes.

Steve glances over at the others in the room as if searching for answers for his behaviour, but he doesn't say anything in response.

"While Colonel Rhodes is off doing legitimate good things and Ms. Potts is running the biggest business there is, who does that leave Mr. Stark with to watch his back, huh? Me, that's who. Some teenager from Queens with a year's worth of experience. While you and your friends are off galavanting across the world and evading the law, I'm the one who was here to fight with him when sh*t hit the fan."

"Peter-"

"Oh, don't bother with your excuses, Captain. We all know why you did what you did, and it's not because of anyone in this room and not because you care for their so-called rights. I was the one on that spaceship, I fought by his side, and I was there to watch him die. Where were you, Captain?"

"I..." Steve is speechless, surprised by the fierceness of his tone and how sudden this seems to have come on.

"Yeah, speaks for itself, doesn't it? But no. I don't know where he is, I don't know anything Nebula couldn't tell you."

"You should get back to bed, Peter, you're-" Rhodey tries to cut in to keep the peace. Peter's angry gaze turns to him.

"And I don't need you telling me what I should or shouldn't do! You're not May! None of you have any right to be telling me what to do. I..." His vision spins and he slows his breath. "Nebula?" He calls out.

She's by his side almost instantly.

"Can you help me back to bed, please?"

She wraps an arm around his waist and walks him back to his bed, the room silent behind them. She looks up at Pepper as they pass her by and her cheeks are streaked with tears.

Chapter 8: A Possible New Home

Chapter Text

"I'm sorry I yelled," Peter says softly.

Pepper smiles weakly, "It's okay. I... I feel a lot like yelling too."

The compound has mostly emptied out as what's left of the Avengers have gone off to space to find Thanos. Peter's not hopeful about the mission, even if Nebula is a part of it.

Rhodey's gone to do actual useful work and Pepper's sticking around to look after Peter. He's stabilized now, mostly. Bruce said they'd need to monitor him for a while, but his healing factor has made his recovery fairly smooth. He's found her in what appears to be her office.

He's finally showered and that was refreshing, and he's changed into some clothes she'd left out for him and it's like his thoughts have been refreshed too.

"Can I... Are you busy?"

"I think everyone's going to be busy for a long while, Peter, but I always have time for you. Take a seat." She gestures to the chair across her desk. She closes the laptop and moves it, crossing her arms over the surface and watching him with a gentle smile.

He sits and clasps his hands in his lap.

"I.. shouldn't have gotten upset at you. Or Mr. Rhodes. I know you're both looking out for me, I'm just..."

"I understand and I took no offense by it. You went through a lot and you made it all the way home to find out... I'm sorry about May, Peter."

"Thank you."

"I was thinking of doing a funeral. We could have one for May, too."

"I'm tired of funerals."

She nods in understanding.

Her eyes shift to the side and her mouth opens but no words escape for a few seconds until she starts uncertainly, "Listen, Peter, I-"

"Can I stay with you?" He cuts in, startling her. "I mean. I don't need you looking out for me. I don't need a guardian, and I'll file for emancipation. I think all I need for that is a job and if I can work for you - anything, really. I'll be a custodian if you want. Just some sort of income and-"

"You have to be 16 to file for emancipation, Peter," she interrupts gently.

"Oh," he breathes out. His gaze falls, "I was thinking that Mr. Stark would want us sticking together, but... I'll be 16 in two months, that's not far from now. If I stay until then, nobody has to know I'm here? And then I'll do the work for emancipation. I'll earn my keep, you won't even have to worry about me at all."

"I'm not worried about you being a burden, if that's what you're trying to say."

"I won't be, I promise. And... I work really hard, and I can help with the little things, too. I'm pretty okay with my hands, and I can, like, change lightbulbs for you and fix your car if you need it, or... I guess you can pay people for that, but-"

"Shh, Peter. Breathe. I know very well how brilliant you are, and I know all the reasons he liked you so much. I don't care about all that. But I do agree with what you said; I think he'd want us looking out for each other. Of course you're welcome to stay."

"Really?"

"I had no intention of letting you go off on your own. Honestly, I thought I was going to need to pull out a powerpoint to convince you to stay. You're still underage and I know you don't need supervision, but you do need a guardian. Tony would want that to be me; I want it to be me."

His eyes light up through his grief, "I won't let you down! I'll take care of both of you, I promise!"

"Both?" She says, eyes widening. Her hand instinctively falls to her stomach.

"You and the baby."

"What? How'd - I haven't told anyone yet."

"I can hear the heartbeat," he says, pointing to his ear. "Enhanced senses."

"Well then." She laughs softly, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Sorry," he says sheepishly, "I won't tell anyone, though. If it's a secret."

"It's still fairly early on and I'm on the older side of the ticking fertility clock, so I don't want to say anything if it doesn't go as planned. Although, I have to say it's nice to have someone else know."

They share a smile and there's acceptance there. They both know that there's someone else they'd rather have sitting across from them, but they're stuck with each other and they plan to make the most of it.

"I'll get some paperwork started up to put me down as your guardian and then we'll sort out your school problem. I believe the school year's ended, but I'll see what arrangements I can make to get you into the right grade in the fall. We'll stay for a few more days and then we'll fly back out to New York."

"School?"

"Of course. Do you think May or Tony would let me let you become a dropout? Not happening."

"But... I can help you, I can..."

"I know, and you'll help me even more once you have a degree."

"I don't... I know you said I wouldn't be a burden, but I don't want to do nothing."

"Trust me, I'll definitely need you around to change lightbulbs, but you can do that while you study."

"I'll do whatever you want."

"How about you start with lunch, hm? Go on. I'll come pester you in a little while."

"Yes, ma'am."

"It's Pepper, Peter. Don't think I'm going to let you get away with 'Ms. Potts' either."

"Right," he stands with a smile. "Thanks, Pepper."

Chapter 9: Operation Spider-Boss

Chapter Text

"No, I understand you can't talk to me about his grades yet, that's not what I'm - Excuse me? Yes, this is actually Pepper Potts. No, I'm not - I know this is a hard time for everyone. I'm not, that's - listen. I'll come on by once the paperwork is ready and then we can discuss this. Goodbye."

She disconnects the call and sets down the phone with a huff.

Fine, student privacy is important and half the world is gone, but there's no need to be rude.

Apparently most students managed to finish the grade by some sort of mass testing. The remaining teachers, and the schools that could remain open, worked together to get everyone out of the current school year to hopefully be better prepared once the next semester starts in September. Peter, having missed those last two weeks and his exam period, would normally need to start over.

Pepper wants to work around that, but they won't speak to anyone that isn't the guardian. Explaining that May Parker wasn't alive anymore didn't help matters, nor did her name.

She spends nearly two hours on the phone with Stark Industries' primary lawyer, who thankfully wasn't decimated. She's always willing to work with her best paying client, no matter the status of the universe.

Also, half of her clients are gone so she'll take the work she can get.

"That makes sense. Alright, draft it up and e-mail it to me. I'll go over it with Peter. I'll call you in a couple of days about the will, I don't have time for that today."

Tony's will, surprisingly, won't take much time to handle. He'd been meticulous about updating it every year, as Pepper does, and she already knows what's going to happen with all of his assets. Namely, that Pepper gets the business and the Ironman suits (to keep the military from trying to get their hands on it), and some money is distributed amongst his other loved ones. There won't be any surprises, but she's not ready to go over it just yet.

"Thanks, Michaela."

She removes her headset and reopens her laptop.

Most of the time, she doesn't rely on Friday because she doesn't need to. She's a people person; she talks to the lawyers and business people all on her own without using the AI as a middle-man because she can't be bothered with conversation (like Tony).

Her laptop is still linked to the AI, however, and she presses a little button that activates the connection.

"Hello, Ms. Potts," Friday says through the speaker on the device.

"Hey, Friday. Can you activate whatever protocols Tony had in place for when he...?" She chokes on her words.

"Yes, ma'am."

In the background, all accesses are changed, removing Tony Stark from the top of the list and replacing it with Pepper Potts.

"It is done, boss."

The change in a name is all she needs to know that it's been completed.

"You are now the primary owner of all Stark Industry buildings across the globe. You now have full control over all of my programming and coding. There is one protocol Tony Stark requested a secondary revision before it is implemented at the event of his passing. Would you like me to activate 'Operation Spider-Boss'?"

"I'm guessing this has to do with Peter, but what does it mean, exactly?"

"It's Mr. Stark's intention to have Peter Parker take on his role in the business, with a required minimum age of 23, but that is subject to change should something happen to you. 'Operation Spider-Boss' will grant him full access to my coding, everything relating to the Ironman suits, the Spider-man designs, the Avengers weapons, and will place him as your secondary owner regarding all things Stark Industries. There is also a checklist to ensure Mr. Parker has all the necessary training and education required. This includes; sitting in on board meetings, getting the college degree of his choice, spending time with you to learn leadership skills and everything relating to the business and administrative work."

She lets out a low breath.

She gets it, she does. She wishes she could have spent more time with Peter beforehand, so she could fully grasp how much love Tony had for the boy to have wanted this to exist in the first place.

When that spaceship had landed and only Peter walked out, she'd known instantly. Just as Peter had known that his Aunt hadn't made it on the other end.

It had been the most obvious thing to her that she would need to be the one to look after the teenager.

There's no one in the Parker family left and she knows Tony would have taken him in instantly without a second thought. He loved the boy; as much as if he were his son.

It's hard for her to see how deep that love extended when she'd never had any part in it. She's a stranger to it but now she needs to insert herself in on Tony's behalf. The love of her life wanted this boy to fill his shoes someday, she's going to have to discover for herself where that came from.

She wonders if Tony intended to leave the entire business to him in a few years.

"No, don't activate 'Operation Spider-Boss'. Not yet. He's not ready for that. Set a reminder for this day next year to ask me again."

"Yes, boss."

Her inbox notifies her of an incoming email and she moves on to that.

So much to do, so little time.

Chapter 10: Fostering Vs. Adoption

Chapter Text

Pepper finds Peter in a sitting room watching the news.

There are faces flashing through; missing world leaders, and politicians, and celebrities, and people that are considered 'important'. There are reports of vandalism and theft and a crime rate that's risen beyond restrainable means. Schools and offices are closed down, resources are stretching thin.

The world is in chaos.

"Hi, Peter," she greets him, taking a seat beside him but keeping a good distance between them.

He mutes the TV and turns to her. His eyes are puffy from old tears but there's a hardness in his gaze too.

"What are we doing about all of that?" He points to the television, "We have resources, more than most, there must be something that we can be doing."

"Everyone's doing as much as they can, but there's a lot of work to be done and it's going to take time. Natasha's working on a nation-wide orphanage, a lot of kids were left without family to take care of them. We're flying them in from all over the country and we're working with other countries to get the same type of organization set up. The Avengers are out on the streets cleaning up the mess that's been left behind."

She takes the remote from his hand and powers it off completely.

"I know it's overwhelming right now, but wheels are in motion and things will sort themselves out."

"If you say so. Maybe I can help? As Spider-man."

"You've got enough on your plate, young man. Speaking of-" she rests a folder of freshly printed and still warm papers. "I spent a few hours on the phone with my favourite lawyer and we've got some stuff to talk about."

"What's the verdict?"

"Well, the school won't talk to me about anything without proof of guardianship, so I'll have a proper chat with them when we're back in town. She was able to get me these, though, and that's what I wanted to go over with you. So, as you're well aware I'm sure, there are two ways we could go about this. Foster or adoption."

"Is there a difference?"

"If I were to foster you, that would require full involvement from Child Services. It's technically considered a temporary solution, expecting you to get adopted. It wouldn't be a problem due to your age, they wouldn't try to take you away, but that's how it'll be perceived. As for adoption, that means I'll have full legal custody of you and will be in charge of any major decisions for you until you come of age. The paperwork itself takes time, but I'll have temporary guardianship over you until then and it'll mean the same thing."

"Which would you prefer?" He asks her cautiously.

"I think there's certain... benefits to both options. However, the choice is yours. I am accommodating to either."

Neither of them wants to say out loud what it really means.

Peter goes silent, grabbing the papers and reading them over.

Fostering would be a bit more complex from the start, making appointments with the right people and there'd be home visits and making sure Pepper is a proper foster parent. But in the long term, it's temporary. When he turns 18, he packs his stuff and goes off on his own. They won't be tied to each other, and ultimately when Pepper runs out of care for Tony's charity case, it'll be a smooth break.

Adoption, on the other hand, will be a more simple matter of signing a few papers (since there are no living family members to sign away their rights to him) and then Pepper becomes his guardian. She'll fill in the shoes Aunt May left behind after fading to dust. He could have some form of family again and how long until he loses her too? Or she decides she doesn't want him to be a part of her family any more, and he loses her in an entirely different way.

"I don't... I don't want to choose."

"I can give you some time to think about it, Peter."

"But not a lot of time, right?" Peter says with a shaky smile.

"I'm afraid not."

"Okay, I'll think about it. Thank you for, um, thanks."

She smiles and sets a gentle hand on his shoulder, "I've got some work to do, I'll get something sorted out for dinner later. Friday's in the building, ask her to get me if you need anything or if you have any questions."

"I will."

She's gone and he takes the time to think. And think. And think.

All of this is...

A lot.

He's spent the past three weeks simply wanting to make it to the other side. Now he's here and he's realizing that nothing is the way he'd left it and he doesn't know what to do with all that information.

His last living relative is gone. The woman who'd raised him won't see him grow up. From one moment to another, from a string of hope to nothing. Everyone in the universe is feeling the same way, except...

Except he'd been part of the fight. He'd failed and he's the cause, and his Aunt is dead because he wasn't strong enough. Nebula blames Quill, has cursed him out in various languages when she thought Peter couldn't hear, but he thinks that they were all great and heroic and he'd been the odd one out. He was the kid there; replace him with anyone else and they would have won.

Between Doctor Strange and his magic and the strong guy and the lady with the emotion controlling powers and Quill with his guns and Nebula with her rage and swords; they were all better than him.

But he's the one who made it home.

Tony Stark died and Peter Parker returned to Pepper Potts and in what universe is that acceptable?

He turns on the television but doesn't unmute it right away. The news reporter's face is there, the view over her shoulder a desolate street filled with empty cars.

"Friday, can you tell me if my apartment is okay? I know there's been lots of robberies, I want to know if my stuff will still be there."

"The boss had requested you and May Parker's things be brought to the tower two weeks ago by a moving company. Happy was asked to collect anything Spider-man related and was moved separately from the rest."

"Oh."

His thoughts still for a moment as he registers the AI's words.

"So everything's...?"

"Currently stored on floor 91 of the Tower."

"That's... good. Very good. Thanks, Friday."

"You're welcome, Peter."

He breathes out slowly. His old life isn't gone, and that's a weight off his shoulders he hadn't known was a problem.

A couple of hours later, he's still on the couch watching things he shouldn't be, and he asks Friday to ask Pepper to come see him.

At 15 years old (2 months shy of 16), there's embarrassment about trying to talk through feelings, but growing up with the honest and open May Parker has made it possible for him to work passed that. There had been nothing worse than hiding his powers from her when all he'd wanted was to be an open book with her. He'll try this with Pepper, even if it backfires.

She steps into the room with a gentle smile and he blurts out, "I don't need a mom."

Her smile stays though her brows furrow in confusion at the sudden proclamation. She comes closer and sits on the edge of the couch, her body angled towards him, "Okay," she prompts.

"I don't want one. I don't want to replace Aunt May, she... it's not what I want," he struggles to put it more plainly than that.

Pepper reaches out and takes his hand in hers, used to giving the little intimacies from her relationship with Tony, "I don't need to be your mom, Peter. And I have no intention of trying to replace May, I'm not sure that'd be possible. Listen, when your parents passed away and you went to Ben and May, they stayed your aunt and uncle. They were responsible for you, but the fundamentals of your relationship stayed the same. That's what I want for us. You can see me however you like, if one day you want us to be closer then that's something we can discuss, but right now I'm happy to be Pepper."

She squeezes his hand until he looks at her, "All I ask is that, if you stay with me, you respect me. If I say I want you home by 11, you come home by 11. If I say you have to go do your homework, you go do it. And on my end, I make sure you have a roof over your head, food in your stomach, and I'll do what I can to make you happy. Does that sound fair?"

He nods but there's still hesitancy in his expression, "I... I don't want you doing this because Tony liked me."

"Liked you?" She asks incredulously, "Peter, he thought the world of you!"

A hint of doubt flickers across his expression and she doesn't press it.

"I'll be completely honest with you, Peter. I can't say I'm not doing this partly because of Tony. I love him and he was fond of you. He thought you were a great kid and thought you would do great things. And I believe him. But it's also because I'm in the same position you are. I have no family member to speak of, and that never mattered until I realized Tony wasn't coming home. I can't replace May, or Tony, but it's just me and this baby and I don't want to do all this on my own. This would be as much for me as it would be for you."

Peter turns, one knee settling on the couch cushion between them as they face each other.

"I don't expect you to fill a role that isn't yours, of course, my happiness isn't your responsibility, but that doesn't mean we can't still be family."

That's what he'd really needed to know.

What would Pepper get out of adopting the wayward Parker boy? Maybe it's okay for 2 people left alone to find family in each other when there's no one else.

"Okay," he says. "But what if something happens to you next? If I'm 16, then at least I can figure something out, but it still leaves me in the same place. And then you'll have the baby and if something happens what am I supposed to do with a baby?! I don't know how to change diapers, or feed it, or anything!"

Pepper laughs, "Peter! Calm down, alright? If something happens to me I am not leaving you with a baby, I promise. Yes, I have no family left, but the baby would go to Rhodey. I wouldn't do that to you, you have far too much ahead of you to handle a child. And if something happens to me, Rhodey will take care of you, too. Okay?"

Peter nods, "Sorry, I..."

"Don't worry, Peter, I agreed to spend the rest of my life with Tony Stark. I know how wandering brains work." She runs her fingers through his hair and smiles, "Have you made a decision, or did you want to keep thinking about it?"

"No, I think I've decided. Will you... Can you..." He takes in a deep breath. Pepper waits patiently for him to speak. "I think it'd be okay to go with the adoption. That'd be simpler, in the long run, I think. And hopefully it's the last time."

"I hope so too," she agrees.

She lets go of his hand and pulls him into a hug.

"We'll be alright, Peter," she whispers.

He's hesitant to believe her, but he wants to.

Chapter 11: Returning to NYC

Chapter Text

The Avengers return several days later.

Peter asked Pepper to stay until they come back because although neither of them held much hope, he wanted to see Nebula before they left.

They step off the spaceship and their expressions are enough for him to know they hadn't been successful.

He goes to Nebula, Rocket by her side with his eyes on the ground, and he stares up at her expectantly.

"He used the stones to destroy them. He's dead though, which is something I suppose. You should have joined us."

"That's not the closure I need," he says softly. "I'm glad you're alright. We were just waiting for you guys to get back to leave."

"Where are you going?" She asks curiously.

The others are making their way back into the building, leaving them behind to talk. Rocket glances up at Nebula but she nods in some unspoken language and he walks off dejectedly. Peter's heart aches, but that's why he hadn't wanted to go. He's failed enough.

"I'm going to be staying with Pepper in New York. You could stay with us, if you wanted? I could ask, I'm sure she wouldn't mind. She's really nice."

"I can't. There are a lot of people out there who have no idea what's happened; they'll need some form of guidance. I'll be leaving with this ship."

"You don't have to," Peter protests half-heartedly. She does and they both know it.

"Thanos is dead but his legacy remains; the least I can do is try to fix some of the damage. You would not like me as much if I didn't."

Peter laughs, tired and drained but happy. He nods.

"That's true. A little bit. I'll miss you," he says. "You'll come back soon, though, right? If you want."

"I will. We'll also be able to create means to communicate while I'm away."

"So if I want you to come back because I miss you, I can reach out to you and say so?"

"Yes, that's right. Try not to miss me too much, however, since there are a lot of people that need help."

"I'll try," he smiles, "When are you leaving?"

"As soon as possible."

"Of course."

He meets her gaze and smiles. He takes a couple of steps forward and hugs her because he already misses her though she's still in his line of sight.

She doesn't return the hug because she doesn't know what this physical touch means. She gently pats his head in a way some might do to pets, but Peter isn't offended.

"Be careful. Come back soon," he pulls back and says.

She nods, "I'll do what I can."

They set up something that looks like a phone and works with something similar to texting but doesn't have much functionality other than that. It's connected to a matching device she'll keep on her person and will work no matter the distance between them. He doesn't cry, though he wants to.

He and Pepper end up leaving first, and he gives her another hug goodbye. This time she places her hands on his shoulders as if partially understanding the concept.

They take a jet home, just the two of them.

Pepper stares down at her phone and he stares out of the window.

There's not much to say in the short flight.

Happy's there to greet them when they land. He's a little more sullen than usual, but he hugs each of them in turn. He calls Pepper 'boss' to tease but it's not really teasing. He's under her employment now.

She tells him how she has his and May's things in storage, and in the past couple of days has sorted a bedroom for him while his Aunt's things will stay where they are until he wants to go through them.

He won't.

"Here's your room, Peter. It should be like you remember it. I'll let you get some rest. If you need anything, I'll be around."

He nods and thanks her. She closes the door when she leaves and he steps into the middle of the bedroom. His bedroom. There had always been a place for him, he'd learned that a while ago, but now this is permanent. His guardian is Pepper Potts and he lives in the Stark Tower and who knows what life has ahead of him at this point.

He lays down in his bed, the same one that had been in Queens just a month ago.

He asks Friday who has survived and who hasn't from Midtown and he wishes he hadn't bothered asking. Neither Ned or MJ and very few of the decathlon team that he was sort of acquainted with are still around. It's very lonely on the other side, he's discovering.

It's selfish to think he shouldn't be here. Pepper would be alone with this unborn child. It's right to think that Tony should be here instead.

He shoves his face in his pillow and wonders how long until this all starts to feel real.

Chapter 12: Midtown High

Chapter Text

"Hello, Principal Morita? I'm Pepper, it's nice to meet you."

She's always been of the belief that even though people know who she is by her reputation, she should still always introduce herself. It's a general rule of politeness that not everyone adheres too, unfortunately.

She shakes the stunned principal's hand and takes a seat on the other side of his desk.

They hadn't believed the appointment for 'Pepper Potts' was real and had expected either a no-show or some random woman trying to impersonate her.

There's no mistaking her for anyone else, from the pencil skirt to the ponytail and the firm handshake. It's actually Pepper Potts. This is unexpected.

"Yes, Ms. Potts, hello. How can I, uh, help you?" He asks nervously, reorganizing the papers on his desks pointlessly.

"I'm here in regards to Peter Parker."

"Oh, what has he done now?" The principal asks tiredly.

"Nothing, he's lovely as always. I'm here to update the guardianship paperwork you have on file. Peter is now in my care and I wanted to discuss his last semester."

"Oh, I see."

She sets down the temporary guardianship certificate on the desk and lets him review it. They take a few minutes to update his file; May's name and phone number are removed and replaced with Pepper's. There's a lot of that going on in all schools, kids being handed off to relatives and strangers just to make sure they have a roof over their heads.

"So, let's see what we can do to get Peter into his junior year."

She's ready to sit there as long as it takes, and Morita knows it.

It's a long discussion. Pepper Potts doesn't take no for an answer, especially not when she's in the right. There's no valid reason Peter shouldn't be allowed to go into the next grade without needing to retake those courses. She makes her point clear and deters anything the principal has to say in contention. Once she brings up the fact that she would otherwise pull Peter out of school to work at Stark Industries full time (even if that's not necessarily true) or move him to a private school, and he wouldn't have a Midtown High School of Science and Technology diploma under his belt to havein his background, it's not much of a discussion.

They agree to have Peter take the exams and if he passes he'll move on to his next semester in September.

"That sounds perfect. Thank you for your time, Principal Morita. Send me an email for when you'd like us to bring Peter around to do the exams."

"Yes, of course. Thank you for coming by."

He shakes her hand and she leaves him behind, speechless.

Happy's in one of their less flashy vehicles outside and she slides into the backseat. In her current condition, although it's only 8 weeks, she won't go anywhere alone. There's too much that can go wrong, and she's not risking the child Tony had so desperately wanted.

"How'd it go?" He asks.

"As expected."

"Straight to the doctor's?"

"Yes, please. Thanks, Happy."

"No problem, boss."

He senses the mood and lifts the divider to give her some privacy.

Her chest hurts, and not in the heart attack way. She leans her head back against the headrest and stares out the window sullenly. This is an odd day.

It's hitting her that she's a mother now.

There's a growing baby in her stomach and she has a teenager mourning at home. She's not going to be Peter's mom, she knows that, but she's his guardian and he's still young enough to need guidance and an adult to rely on. She wonders if May had felt the same when Peter had come to stay with her permanently; if there had been a moment of realization that she's no longer just an Aunt, she's a mother too.

Did Tony ever feel this way, thinking about Peter? After he'd realized that they're tied together after their journey in Germany and that he needs to be there to support him. She remembers him coming home after taking away the Spider-man suit and the guilt that had poured off him and seeing how paternal it was although Tony would never have said so.

It hadn't been until Peter that he'd decided he wanted to have a baby and started talking about dreams and googling all sorts of baby-related things. A dream turned reality, she'd discovered two weeks after he'd disappeared in space. And now because of how late she's having this pregnancy, she has weekly doctor's appointments, just in case. Currently, she goes in alone, Happy waiting outside for her. She'd wanted Tony to be there with her the first time she gets a sonogram, now that's not possible.

She has to do all this without him and it hurts.

They were supposed to do this together.

Peter completes the exams a week later, the same one that his remaining classmates had done. He'd spent hours studying with Friday and with the schoolbooks brought in from his old apartment and he passes with fairly decent grades.

He'll be in Junior Year come September, caught up after losing three weeks of his life out in space. At least that much will be normal.

Chapter 13: Funeral(s)

Chapter Text

Peter pulls on the suit he'd worn to Homecoming.

There are no good memories attached to it, at this point, and why not keep it that way.

Pepper doesn't offer to buy him a new one, and he appreciates it. She hasn't tried to buy him anything, other than handing him a new Stark phone from their storage and he couldn't really say no to that. She knows money doesn't fix anything, even if it seems like the easy way to make problems go away.

He looks into the mirror and stares at his reflection. There are bags under his eyes. The nightmares are keeping him up. He hasn't had any energy lately, and can't even bring himself to put on the Spider-man suit and go patrolling. His hair's getting long and he should go get it cut. Eventually, he tells himself. If he can gather the courage to ask Pepper for the money to do it since he has less than a dollar to his name.

"Are you ready, Peter?" Pepper asks, standing in the doorway.

He turns away from the mirror. She's in a black dress and heels and her expression is a mirror to his own. She's never cried in front of him, but he can hear her at night and it's awful.

"I guess so."

Her smile is sad and understanding.

She holds out her hand and he takes it; they take comfort from each other as they make their way down.

The elevator leads them several floors down and then stops. The doors ding open.

They make the walk a couple of halls down and a set of double doors are already propped open. They've set up one large, previously empty, room as a form of funeral service for all those they've lost. There are seats spread across the room all facing the opposite wall, a few tables to the sides with food, and a bar with drinks. It's flowing quite nicely. At the front of the room are several tables pushed together covered in white cloth. There are picture frames set on it in a line.

There are no remains left to bury, no caskets or urns to fill. Thanos took the entirety of their existence and made them fade away as if they had never existed, leaving only memories behind. They've made do with what they have to honour those memories.

The room's already fairly occupied when they walk in.

Pepper lets go of his hand but wraps her arm around his, keeping him by her side. She takes in a deep breath that Peter can hear but pretends he doesn't notice.

Happy and Rhodey come up to greet them and give them hugs.

Everyone's whispering amongst themselves and it seems quiet enough, but to Peter, it's all too loud and he tries to zone it out.

He knows most of these people, has admired them and just weeks ago would have been over the moon to simply be given the opportunity to see them in person, let alone have the chance to talk to them. It's all grey, now, no excitement, no admiration. Nothing.

There's Captain America (whom he'd yelled at, and that's embarrassing), and Black Widow - sadly lacking Hawkeye by her side and that's unusual, and Dr. Banner, and the glowy lady that had saved him and Nebula that he now knows is called Carol. Nebula's the only one not here that he wants to see, but she's just left and he didn't have the heart to call her back already.

An invitation had gone out to the Wakandans, but they're doing something of their own and had opted out; they have a kingdom to sort out. There's a photo of T'challa on the table in his honour, however, as he'd been a crucial part of the battle. Next to him are Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, Vision, and Bucky Barnes.

They have no photographs of the Guardians, other than taking a still from the video footage in Peter's suit, and that's not a last memory they want to keep. Peter offered up Quill's old cassette player and leather jacket and they're set on the far left of the table. They had no images of Stephen Strange either, but Wong had offered one and is currently chatting with Bruce.

They've also put in a photograph of Nick Fury, for Carol. They'd been rather close, apparently.

Thor's found a place in the corner with some sort of liquor in his hand and a woman by his side he thinks might be Valkyrie. Peter's found out that he'd lost a lot of his people before Thanos had come along, and then half of them and his brother when he'd shown up. He, with Bruce and Loki, hadn't been able to stop him either.

He and Pepper do the rounds even if neither of them wants to.

Bruce and Wong are kind but quiet, and aren't overly keen on conversation either.

"It's nice meeting you, Peter," he says while shaking his hand.

"It's nice meeting you, too, Dr. Banner."

Bruce Banner is one of his childhood heroes, a genius in the science community irrelevant to the Hulk, and Peter wants to be excited. It'd be amazing to talk about his papers and studies with him and learn if he's working on something new, but there's no desire for that conversation right now.

Natasha's on her own and staring down at her phone.

"No response from Clint," she tells Pepper while putting it away to greet them. "I think he'll be staying on his own for a while."

Once he'd found them and learned the truth of why his family had disappeared, he'd wandered off on his own and Natasha had decided to stay behind. He needed to mourn alone.

"I understand," Pepper says. "How are things with the Foundation?"

"They're going well so far. We're finding kids all over the place. Newborns left in cribs. It's..." Natasha clears her throat and turns to Peter, "You must be Peter, right?"

She knows, of course, had been there during his outburst back at the compound, but it's an olive branch and a change of topic.

He nods, "That's me."

"I didn't know Tony had taken on an apprentice. Did you make the webbing you use on your own? I've never seen anything like it before."

"Oh, uh, yeah. I made it. And I wasn't really an apprentice, I was... I don't know." He shrugs.

"More of a mentorship," Pepper adds.

"I see. Well, if you ever need a hand with the hero stuff, give me a shout. I might be able to help. Can't really do anything about the science-y parts, but I'm sure Bruce will be happy to lend you his brain if you ask."

"Thank you," he says quietly.

He's not sure he'll be doing any hero stuff for a while.

"I'm going to try and call him, see if he'll talk. I'll see you both in a bit," her smile doesn't reach her eyes and she wanders out of the room to try and get in contact with her best friend.

Peter's eyes focus on the table next, and fixes on two frames set right in the center of the string of tables. He wanders over to them, Pepper hovering close behind him.

There's Tony, of course, a place of honour in the middle because this is Pepper's home and she makes the calls. Not that anyone in the room would have asked for it to be different. Peter couldn't begin to guess which event the picture was taken at, or if it was an event at all. It's from the waist up and he's dressed in a nice black blazer with his sunglasses hanging off the front of his shirt. There's a smirk on his face and the smile doesn't reach his eyes.

It's generic, and he's not sure why this one was chosen. It's not accurate at all. There's no laughter lines, no hints of grey starting to sprout in his hair, and most importantly, his shoulders are far too tense compared to how he often seems lately. Used to seem. Maybe it's meant to be impersonal, maybe all these people don't deserve to see Tony's real smile.

His hand moves to the side and picks up the frame right beside Tony's.

It's May, expression soft and content with her arm thrown over Peter's shoulder. He remembers this; it's clearly in the Tower and she's only been there a handful of times. She's met with Tony and Pepper after finding out about his extracurricular activities and here she is a few weeks later when tensions have run their course.

They're both in the picture. He sees himself in a way he hasn't seen in weeks. Smiling with colour in his cheeks and a light in his eyes.

He sets it down.

Pepper places her hand on his shoulder, "she's as much a hero as the rest of them. I thought she deserved her place."

"Thank you."

"Did you want to talk to Thor?" she asks, "I know you're a fan."

"I don't think either of us is really in the mood for conversation," he says.

He glances towards the god who's seated in the corner, still drinking. Valkyrie has pulled up a seat beside him and they don't seem to be chatting. They walk away from the table, but they don't get far.

Steve walks past him to the front and an irrational spark of rage flows through him.

It's nothing formal. No one is seated, but he's standing at the front and everyone's eyes shift to him and the little groups of people start to quiet.

"I don't have anything prepared to say, but I do believe there's a lot of things that need to be said. We lost a lot of good people. We've lost heroes and friends and family. There's a lot to do from here on out, but if we stick together, I believe we can lead the world forward."

Peter doesn't care to hear anything further. His heart aches and his hands are warm from anger. The words are genuine, they're from the heart, but it doesn't matter to him right now.

He walks past him to the table.

He's making a scene and he hates it. He's not the scene-making type, but he's too angry to be rational.

Steve turns to watch him. His expression is kind from what he can spot in the corner of his eyes but it means nothing.

Peter places a hand on top of Tony's frame and carefully lowers it facedown to the tabletop. He wouldn't want to watch this. His hand hovers over May's next. He takes it gently in hand and turns to leave the room.

"I understand that you blame me for what's happened. If Tony and I worked together maybe things would be different, but-" Steve tries, his tone gentle.

"No, I don't blame you, Captain. I blame me! Because if you'd been there you would have won together. Instead, he was stuck with me and I let him down."

"Peter, please, you can't put all of this on your shoulders," Pepper pleads. "There's no one to blame except for Thanos."

"You have to say that because you're nice and that's what nice people do! They lie and say everything's okay even when it's as far from okay as it can be."

Tony's last words ring in his ears.

"It's okay, kid, it's okay."

He walks out with his Aunt's frame in his hand.

Chapter 14: Meeting a Fellow Spider

Chapter Text

Natasha is just outside the room when he stalks passed her and she follows him quietly. The elevator opens for him and she steps in before the doors can close. He stares at her with wide eyes.

"Um... hi." He crosses his arms and the picture frame is held close to his chest.

"Hi, Peter. How are you doing?"

"Fine."

"You sure? Looks like you've just made a very dramatic exit from a funeral."

He shrugs.

"It's okay. It was getting stuffy in there."

He doesn't respond. He's not sure what to say.

"Is that your Aunt?" She points to the frame.

"Yeah."

"She seems nice."

"She is. Was. She deserved better."

"There's a lot of people saying that lately." It's not meant to be rude, and as irrational as he's been behaving, he knows it.

"Thank you. For all the work you've been doing. Those kids need you."

"We're all doing what we can."

"I'm not," he says bitterly. He clears his throat. He hadn't meant to say that.

"I think you're doing exactly what you should be."

"I don't know about that."

The doors ding open. It's his floor. The Stark floor. She's not really meant to be here, but she follows after him and he doesn't object. He makes his way to the living room and sits on the sofa. He puts the frame on the coffee table and stares at his Aunt's smiling face.

"I would have liked to meet her," Natasha says. She sits beside him, a few inches away politely.

"She's the strongest person I know."

"She must be, to have raised such a strong superhero nephew."

That makes him smile.

Everything around him makes him think of them. He thinks of May when he looks around and sees that he isn't home. Pepper has her own ensuite washroom, but when he's in the shared one there are shampoos and body washes that aren't his or May's, there's only one toothbrush that's his own, and the towels aren't the brown ones with bleach stains from May's adventures in going blonde many (many) years ago.

When he opens the fridge and there are fruits and vegetables and a couple of takeout boxes, that's not home. May always had tupperwares of leftover pasta dishes since that was all she could make. Large containers of spaghetti sauce in the freezer. Dishes piled in the sink for when she got around to it, or Peter did.

He'd gotten used to finding long brown hair all over his home and sighing at a clogged bathtub. Her shoes next to his in the doorway. The Tower has a closet and everything's nice and tidy.

The nightmares are present almost every night and he wakes scared and nervous and that feeling doesn't go away after he's scanned the room. There's no May for comfort. No Tony to confide in. They hadn't done that often, but it was something they were learning to do for each other.

There's Pepper, two doors down, either crying herself to sleep or having a nightmare of her own. He's not as surrounded by Tony as she must be in their shared bedroom, but there are still traces of him where Peter has access.

A high tech coffee maker that Tony must have made himself sits in the kitchen. A stack of VHS tapes in drawers under the television and a hidden VCR because futurist Tony Stark is also sometimes old school. The pre-set playlists Friday has stored are all rock songs that Peter doesn't recognize, but they're better than the ones Quill has on his cassette player.

There had been a little note left on the fridge when they'd first walked in, a short and sweet, 'Love you Miss Potts' which has since been removed.

Peter can't stand to put on the Spider-man suit mainly because he's got an underlying fear of failure that's definitely going to take time to get over, but he also doesn't want to hear from Karen, the AI that was created solely for him. She'd know the truth from her connection with Friday, and unlike Friday, she'll ask how he is; what she can do to help. She'll suggest therapy, and 'talking about it', and he's not ready for any of that.

"Tell me about May," Natasha says, pulling him from his thoughts.

"She... did a lot for a kid that wasn't her's to take care of. Her and my uncle. They didn't want kids, and they got stuck with me. They were the best."

"Did she know you were Spider-man?"

"Yeah," he nods. "She was mad, at first. And then she was supportive. She yelled at Mr. Stark, which is funny now, but at the time it was mortifying."

May had immediately made the connection between the suit and his recent internship with Tony Stark. After spending some time pacing and calling him out for risking his life and hiding secrets from her and breaking curfew, she'd dragged him across the city to Manhattan and the Stark Tower.

He'd begged and pleaded to not walk into the Tower unannounced, but she had marched on and he followed obediently.

"You can't just walk into the Tower! I can send a text and ask for a meeting, or something," he'd said nervously.

"A meeting? After he gives you some sort of super weapon suit? I don't need a meeting for this discussion."

She stormed into the building, luckily after regular work hours, and looked around for someone to help her.

"The receptionist was kind of surprised. I don't think it happens a lot for strangers to walk in like that? Which seems surprising, but I guess there's no point trying to get into a Stark building if you're not wanted there," he tells Natasha. "Friday ends up letting us upstairs to... here, actually. Mr. Stark wasn't here, so we sat down and waited. He came up a couple of minutes later."

Tony came in in a dirty t-shirt and jeans and wiping grease off his hands with an already dirty cloth. There was a smudge on his cheek and he was perfectly relaxed. He smiled when he saw them, gaze falling on Peter for some sort of understanding of what's going on.

"Hello, Mrs. Parker. Pete. What can I do for you?"

Peter was staring down at his feet and avoiding his gaze. May met it coldly, lips pursed.

"We need to talk," she said plainly.

"She saw me in the suit," Peter had added. "I told her there was no reason to come all this way to yell at you, when I was the one out there, but-"

"But any person with half a brain cell will know that Peter didn't make that suit all on his own. He doesn't have the resources or the funding for it, and guesswhich genius billionaire happened to pop into his life recently?"

As she went on, Tony set down the rag and sat opposite her, letting her speak without interruption.

"How could you do something like this without involving me? I'm his guardian! I don't care that you're some superhero, you don't get to decide if he can go out there risking his life or not. He's a teenager, of course he's going to want to be a hero, you should have been talking him out of it, or letting me know so I could discipline him! You are so irresponsible and selfish; I can't believe I let you into my home and then you lie to my face! And now you want to pull him into this superhero gang thing when he's still in high school? What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Shedidn't hold back anything. She was upset and it was easier taking it out on this other adult rather than her nephew who'd clearly only wanted to do good, no matter how stupid it seemed to her.

"She yelled at him for a while. It was so embarrassing," he says, remembering how he'd put his face in his hands and tried to pretend this wasn't happening.

Once she'd run out of steam, Tony finallyspoke into the silence.

"I completely agree. I went about all of this in the worst way possible. If I could change how I did this? I would, absolutely. But I want you to know I never intended for him to get hurt, or for him to risk his life for me, or anything like that. He isn't a soldier, and he isn't an Avenger. The plan is small home-based crime and school. If the world's ending? He's running the other way. No questions asked."

Good luck enforcing that one, Mr. Stark, Peter thinks now.

"I did make the new suit. But that wasn't on any conditions; it was a gift. He was going to do this no matter what I said, and it didn't seem like my place to be telling you when he was fairly responsible about the whole thing and I didn't believe his life was in danger. I realize now, of course, how horrible it must feel for you to know that I had kept this from you. I gave him the suit to make sure he's as safe as he can be doing this work and I thought that that was enough."

"It isn't enough," May had fired back.

"Lately, I've been thinking the same thing." Peter had pulled his face out of his hands and stared at Tony, heart in his throat. Scared. "I'm open to hearing your suggestions about how you'd all this to work going forward."

"Is that when it became more of a mentorship?" Natasha asks.

He nods, "Yes. We were there for hours; it felt like forever. I thought... I remember thinking they were going to ask me to stop. I knew I couldn't; how could I have these powers and do nothing with them? I was lucky that they both understood that."

"Alright, so Friday, you got that all down? Peter spends every fourth weekend here starting next weekend for proper training; we'll start with basic combat and go over the suit's features more in-depth. Happy will pick him up once a week, depending on May's schedule, for actual intern stuff and he'll spend the night and we'll get him to school in the morning," Tony recapped a few hours later.

"Yes, boss."

"And I get access to the tracker. I won't invade your privacy, Peter, but if you don't come home one night I need to know where you are. And regular updates to what's going on. And no fighting things you aren't ready for. Does that seem fair?" May added in.

At the time, all Peter could do was nod and hope the night was almost over.

Not quite, but the rest goes over more smoothly.

"Pepper came home a bit later and we all had dinner together. They weren't mad at each other anymore, or at least they came to some sort of understanding, I guess, and it was nice. We came over pretty often for dinner after that, and May invited them over sometimes and we always bought some pre-made dishes and pretended she'd cooked it. It was obvious, but they never said anything. She didn't like him much at first, but I think she thought Mr. Stark was a good influence."

"I'd agree. Tony had his faults, but he had many good qualities too, and I can see all of them in you."

"I always wanted to be like him, even when I was little. I would dress up as him all the time, and I could recite some of his papers by heart even if I didn't really understand some of them. I told him once that I wanted to be like him, and he said he wanted me to be better. I don't know how that's possible."

"You've chosen the role model of the century. It's some big shoes to fill, but heavy is the head that wears the crown, hm?"

Peter's not sure what she means and doesn't ask for her to explain.

"I miss them a lot," he says softly.

She doesn't say anything to placate him; there's nothing that would work.

"Thanks for listening. I know this sucks for you too."

"It sucks for everyone, but talking helps."

"Do you want to talk about... something?" He offers since she has sat there quiet and patient for the last twenty minutes as he'd rambled on about something irrelevant to her.

"No, not yet. But I like hearing about Tony through your eyes. Will you tell me some more stories?"

"Sure."

Chapter 15: E.D.I.T.H

Chapter Text

Some time after Natasha has left and returned to the funeral service, Pepper finds him still seated in the living room. The television is on, but he's gazing out of the window. From this height and how far he's from the window itself, there's nothing he could possibly be looking at.

"Hey, Peter. How are you doing?"

He shrugs, "I'm fine. Is everyone gone?" He turns from the window to her.

"Most of them will be staying the night, but they'll head off tomorrow. Wong and Carol are leaving soon, though."

"Right. Sorry for leaving like that."

"It's okay, Peter. I know this is upsetting for you. I wish you didn't blame yourself, but I know it's not always easy to stop those kinds of thoughts."

"Do you ever get mad? That I came back and he didn't?" He asks suddenly, gaze unblinking.

"No, of course not."

"Why not? You should be."

"I'm not mad because it would be worse. Yes, I'd have my fiancée back, and our baby would know their father, but..."

"He has so much more to give the world than I do," Peter cuts in. "He could help so many people and I'm too scared to put on my suit! He'd be more useful, smarter, and he would actually be making a difference!"

"No, he wouldn't," Pepper says evenly. "Come with me."

She gestures for him to follow and he slowly steps off the couch. He glances at the photograph of his aunt but chooses to leave it behind for now. She guides him to the elevator and tells Friday, "To Tony's lab, please."

It moves.

"You haven't told me much about what happened up there, but Nebula kind of filled in some gaps for me. You were there when he died, right?"

He nods, unable to put those moments into words.

"Now, let's spin that around. You die, and he's the one who has to watch. Then he spends three weeks on a spaceship hoping he'll make it home. Do you think any adult would be okay after seeing a child they cared for die in front of them? Do you think May could have moved on? Do you think Tony would ever have been able to stop blaming himself?"

The elevator doors open to a very familiar lab. Pepper walks off confidently, and Peter forces himself to follow no matter how hard it is. The room's as he'd last seen it. A prototype in the center, messy desks, Peter's forgotten copy of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in his little corner.

"Listen, Peter, I know you and Tony never talked much about what you meant to each other. I don't believe he would have any idea how impacted you would be by his loss. I'm his fiancée, it's kind of in the description to have a hard time with this sort of thing. But if you didn't make it home? It'd be worse than losing him. He would hate himself for losing you and would blame himself for not being able to save you. He'd be suffering and I can't imagine seeing him like that."

She wanders to Tony's main desk and opens the bottom drawer after the security system clicks open for her. She rummages through papers and pulls out a little case. She turns to him and holds it in her hands.

"He expected a lot from you, but it's because he cared about you and respected you. It's because of you that he wanted a child of his own. He saw you as a child of his own. He'd spend the rest of his life looking back on that battle and wishing it had gone differently. He'd want to switch places with you and that's how parents love their children. In no world would Tony want to be the one that lived."

"But..." Peter protests weakly.

He breathes in deeply but the tears finally slip through. He'd managed to hold them back all day, but this was too much. She's speaking so confidently, as if she can't fathom her words being false, and it hurts but in a way that seems validating.

"Here," she holds the case out to him.

He takes it and gently opens it. There's a pair of glasses sitting on smooth black silk.

"He has an identical pair to these ones, but I know he was working on those just for you. They were going to be a sort of matching pair. Put them on and say 'Edith'."

Peter frowns but obeys. He tucks the glasses on his face, and he hasn't worn glasses in years but the weight is familiar. There's no prescription and no obvious difference. Not until he says, "Edith...?"

"Standby for retinal and biometric scan," a voice says from the glasses. "Retinal and biometric scan accepted. Hello, Peter."

"Hello...?" Pepper's smiling softly as she watches him speak to the AI.

"My name is Edith; Tony Stark's augmented reality security and defense system. Edith stands for 'Every day I'm the hero'. Tony loves his acronyms."

"Yeah, he does," he laughs softly to himself. He looks up at Pepper with a confused smile, "I... I don't get it? What's this for?"

"You will now have access to all of Tony's protocols," Edith interrupts, believing he's speaking to her. "I have access to the entire Stark global security network, including multiple defense satellites, as well as back doors to all major telecommunication networks."

"Okay..." He takes them off and carefully puts them back in the case. "I still - that's a lot. What do you want me to do with these?"

"Nothing, really. Use Edith if you need to. She behaves similarly to the AI in your suit, except she has much more access. Tony used it in emergencies, he liked having everything Stark at his fingertips. And he wanted you to have that, too."

Peter's quiet as he continues to stare at the glasses. They're too big for his face, and he's never worn this sort of style before. It's very Tony Stark. He does vaguely remember Tony wearing something similar, though he's never been fashion-forward enough to pay attention to how he looked or what he was wearing at any given time.

"All he wanted was your safety, Peter. He wanted you to have Edith to keep you safe. That should speak for itself, shouldn't it?"

"Yeah... yeah, I think so. Thanks, Pepper."

She leaves him in the lab, surrounded by memories.

Chapter 16: Acceptance

Chapter Text

Summer 2017

In the morning, Peter makes his way down to the common rooms to see Steve before everyone parts ways for an indeterminate amount of time.

There's an apology in order, and Peter isn't too proud to admit it.

He finds him in the gym, already finishing up and cleaning the equipment. He smiles when he steps into the room and there's clearly no hard feelings.

"Good morning, Peter. How'd you sleep?"

"Alright. How're you?" He asks politely.

"I'm well. Did you need help with something?"

"No, no, I'm good. I wanted to say sorry. For the way I've been acting."

"In all honesty, Peter, I've been feeling the same way. There's nothing about this that isn't frustrating. Sometimes the 'what ifs' are suffocating. The Avengers are meant to save lives and we failed; that's not easy to accept, but that wasn't on you."

"I'm not sure I see it that way, but I'm working on it."

"I can also understand why I wouldn't be your favourite person, I never got to clear the bad blood between me and Tony, but if there's ever anything I, or any of the Avengers, can do to help, let us know. At the end of the day, we want to be there for one of our own."

"Thanks," he says.

They don't know that Tony had 'knighted' him as an Avenger on that ship and he keeps that to himself. He's no Avenger; he doesn't want to be one. He'll take the camaraderie for what it is. They'll protect him in honour of Tony and that's okay.

They part ways with the air cleared, although Peter still wouldn't claim Steve Rogers to be one of his favourite people.

Things are starting to settle. People disperse and start working on their own initiatives. Peter sticks to New York but stays out of the suit for now.

The heartbeat in Pepper's stomach starts to grow louder and louder, at least to Peter, and she's slowly starting to show. She wears her puffier shirts and no one questions it yet. Her first trimester goes by smoothly enough for someone her age, and Peter shadows her steps while he's at home with not much else to do.

He'll go out to the city often and help the relief efforts. He volunteers at some food banks and animal shelters. He'll go into now empty homes and gather the food that's been left behind and donate it, and he'll ensure the homes are empty of children or animals that are otherwise uncared for. That's a bit less legal, but he considers it redistributing resources and who's to stop him?

Once after digging his wallet out of his pocket to present his ID at the library to check out some books, he finds a couple of twenties that he knows had certainly not been there before. He finally gets his hair cut and Pepper compliments him when he gets home. There are still some little hurdles between them, a few awkward steps here and there, but they're trying.

The newspapers ask where Spider-man is, but he thinks right now he's doing better things as Peter Parker.

Spidey probably could get away with walking ten dogs at once, but that would garner a few too many stares.

"Hey, Peter?" Pepper calls for him when he gets home from one of those walks. "I got your schedule for next semester."

Stark Tower doesn't get a lot of mail, most things go to a separate P.O box to be sorted. Anything that goes to their address gets heavily searched until it can be certain there's no ill intent. Mail from a high school had gotten through once Happy had grabbed it from a stack at the front desk.

"Oh, awesome." He takes it and reads over his classes.

Near the end of the last semester, he'd made his choice for the ones he'd wanted to take come fall, and then he'd flown to space and all this had slipped his mind.

He looks up at her and notices the paleness in her cheeks, "Still throwing up all the time? When does that stop?"

"I don't know," she sighs. "Soon, hopefully. You excited to get back to school?"

He tilts his head back and forth, "Yes and no. All my friends are gone, but I want to get school over with."

"Do you know what college you want to go to yet? Or what major? Tony used to mention you were interested in biochemistry and he was very dramatic about it being a betrayal."

Peter laughs, "Yeah, he's mentioned."

A few weeks after the funeral, they can now say his name in passing without either of them looking away or going tense.

"I'm not sure yet."

"There's no rush. I don't know if you've had the discussion with Tony before... before. He always fully intended to pay your tuition and I'm of course going to follow up on that. There's a trust fund already set up for you. So if you're not sure, have fun. I'm not sending you off at 18 or anything."

"No, he - he never said anything about that."

"Oh. Right. Sorry, I was sure he would have told you already. But that's right, don't worry about your tuition, it's taken care of."

It's a little awkward. She sits beside him and smiles brightly, "I also happen to remember it's almost your birthday!" She changes the subject, "The big 16, right?"

"Yeah."

"Did you want to do something?" She regrets the words almost instantly.

"No, not really. I'd rather we just... ignore it? Is that okay? I'm fine," he's had to defend his mental health a few times over the past couple of months, "I'm just not ready for that, right now."

Her smile softens, "If that's what you want. But counter-offer. What about a little something with just me and you? I'll make popcorn and we can watch a movie together. A night-in, to relax. What do you say?"

"That sounds nice," he agrees.

It ends up being 'Moana'.

New movie releases have gone on as normal, mostly, but production is at an all-time low with many popular celebrities having disappeared. Media is going to be slow going for a while, but they enjoy what they have.

He chooses something with little meaning to him. Too many movies he likes are tied to May or Tony by memories, and he wants to spend his sweet sixteen stress-free. As much as possible.

Pepper sets a red velvet cupcake with a single lit candle pressed into it on the coffee table and both of them share watery smiles.

"Happy birthday," she says kindly.

"Thank you." He blows out the candle.

The day after his birthday, he goes to a familiar cemetery and sits in the dirt in front of an equally familiar tombstone. There's one name on it: Benjamin Parker.

"Hey, Uncle Ben," Peter says. "A lot's happenedsince last year. I hope you're ready for a long story."

Chapter 17: Starting Over; Junior Year

Chapter Text

Fall 2017

School is interesting when it starts over.

The principal is the same, and so are a couple of teachers. He's in the same building. But there's a bunch of new teachers and students poached from schools that were forced to close down. There's one other person from his decathlon team that hadn't been 'blipped' as some are calling it. Cindy, one of the ones he didn't talk to often. He really didn't have a lot of friends, he's coming to realize.

People his age gossip about those they've lost, those they've kept. The changes they've experienced since the blip occurred.

He knows it's been traumatic for everyone; he won't act superior about it. But it's frustrating.

"My dad blipped, and my mom's already dating again!" One boy says annoyed.

"I lost my little brother." Another girl whispers, eyes downcast.

But they don't know. No one knows the truth like he does. They don't know what fight had taken place, where that loss had truly come from. Steve had gone to the news to give details, but they don't know.

It's hard.

They also don't know that he's currently residing at Stark Tower with Pepper Potts as his guardian. That's for the best, he thinks. The principal knows, but he sits quiet in his office. Cindy compliments him on the glasses that he keeps tucked in the front of his shirt at all times, and he thanks her awkwardly.

No one pays him much attention.

He misses his friends.

People talk about Tony Stark. Some say he failed, some say he tried. People talk about Captain America and say the same things. The Avengers are a thing of the past; some heroes remain but everyone works on their own. There are no 'planet endangering' threats to be wary of when the worst has already come to pass.

Classes are fine. He learns stuff. It's boring, but it passes the time.

When classes finish he continues his volunteering and also starts doing things with Pepper. He meets business people and sits beside her on important meetings. It's anxiety inducing, but no one expects him to speak and he fades into the background. He doesn't know why she asks him to join her but isn't in a position to say no either.

During his first semester of junior year, he doesn't make any new friends.

He pulls old lego sets from storage and thinks about Ned. He looks at doodles in the margin of old textbooks and thinks of MJ.

Not really surprisingly, because he doesn't go out as Spider-man anymore, his grades improve. After whatever volunteering he does, he goes home and tucks himself away to work on schoolwork and it's making a difference.

Early October, Pepper's in the backseat of the car when Happy comes to pick him up from school, one of his most important responsibilities now.

"Hi, Peter! How was school?" She asks as he clips in his seatbelt.

"It was good," he says hesitantly. "Is everything okay?"

"Absolutely!" She smiles, "But today is something special."

"Oh? What's up?"

"Well, I've got my usual appointment with the doctor today, and it looks like we might be able to get the baby's gender. I was hoping you'd come with me, is that alright?"

She's too excited for him to say anything but, "That sounds awesome! Of course I'll go with you."

He sets his backpack at his feet and Happy takes them to the doctor's office. The drive's long in traffic hour, but at this point, Peter's gotten used to it. He doesn't take the subway even though that would be quicker. Pepper wants him to be driven around and he lets her have her way.

They don't argue, they don't fight. He's not sure what would happen if they did.

Happy parks out front of the building and the two step out.

She takes in a deep, steadying, breath and they walk inside. She gives her name to the receptionist and they take a seat as they wait.

It's not long before her name is called and they head into the Doctor's office together.

Peter sits and watches as she answers basic questions, a little reassured to know everything is going as well as expected. She's in her 40's and having a child, this isn't going to be easy. After a couple of minutes, she lays back in the chair and Peter is by her side.

The doctor is kind and smiles towards him, "And who's this?" she asks.

"This is my son," she says without any hesitation. It's the simplest thing to say in this situation.

"Are you excited to see if you're going to have a little brother or sister?" She asks.

He nods, eyes on her protruding stomach. Somehow, it is exciting. He's never been a brother before. That was never a possibility for him. As he'd told Natasha; Ben and May had never wanted children of their own. He'd never expected a sibling. Being a part of the Stark family was as much a surprise as the idea of having a sister or brother.

They both watch anxiously as the doctor coats her stomach in some form of jelly and then presses a small device to her skin. Pepper grabs his hand and squeezes tightly.

Peter can hear a heartbeat neither of them can hear, but the image on the screen vibrates almost to how he hears it.

"Would you like to know the sex of the baby? They're in a very good position for me to tell you, if you'd like."

Pepper looks at Peter. He's smiling; happy and excited. There's a baby. Healthy and alive. He's going to be a big brother. She nods.

"Is it a girl or a boy?"

The doctor smiles, "Congratulations, Ms. Potts, you're currently 17 weeks pregnant with a very healthy baby girl."

Her cheeks are wet instantly.

"Are you sure? She's healthy?"

"Everything is exactly as it should be," the doctor reassures her.

They print a copy of the ultrasound and she tucks it into her purse. After she gets cleaned up and re-dressed, they return to the car to share the good news with Happy who hugs each of them in turn. Peter doesn't know why he's getting a hug when he's not the one doing any of the work, but maybe that's brother privilege.

Once they're back on the road, he looks her way though doesn't meet her happy gaze.

"Um, Pepper?"

"Yes?"

"Am I really going to be the baby's brother? I mean, the doctor assumed, and I went with it, but..."

"Of course you will."

The adoption papers are finalized in November.

Chapter 18: Lonely Holidays

Chapter Text

Christmas is...

Hard. That's really all he has to say about everything these past few months but it remains true.

The first holiday after losing Ben had been difficult, but May had tried her best to seem happy and pretend like everything was fine. They drank hot chocolate and wore horrible sweaters and watched all manner of terrible Christmas movies. There was an empty spot on the sofa but it was still home.

Stark Tower is starting to feel like home, a little bit. There are parts of Peter in between the Pepper and remnants of Tony and the beginnings of Baby Stark. It's still not Queens and that's obvious as December 25th is starting to approach and he and Pepper are back to tiptoeing around each other since neither of them knows what the other expects or wants.

Happy's the one that cuts into the tension, driving him home during his last week of school before the winter break.

"Hey, squirt. D'you and the boss make your plans for Christmas yet?"

"No," he says, staring out the window but mostly fixed on the display Edith's showing him. There are dozens of empty homes but the shelters are overflowing because law enforcement is going hard on squatters and the numbers are only going to get higher over the next few weeks as it gets colder and colder.

Several banks have closed, people lost their life's savings and their jobs and the safety nets they were depending on. He goes to the shelters as much as possible; Pepper donates a lot and any pocket change she shoves in his wallet he goes out to buy food to bring to them. It's something akin to survivor's guilt; he's well-fed and has a roof over his head and he's surviving and they aren't.

It's also a lot easier to focus on all these other people than himself, right now.

Edith's displaying Feast's bank records for him, they're a new foundation that's opened several shelters, and he has no right to this information but he can't help himself.

"Did you have any ideas about what you'd want to do? Or anything you want as a gift? But I'm not getting you that puppy you were eyeing at the Pet Society the other day, Pepper would have my head."

He laughs softly. He double-taps the side of the glasses and the display fades out.

"No, I don't want anything. I don't really have any ideas either. Do you have anyone - um. Nevermind. Sorry."

He knows nothing about any potential family and that's probably for a reason. As much as Happy initially considered him a nuisance, he has warmed up to him and especially since... since, he's been softer. More open.

"You don't follow someone like Tony Stark around for years when you've got a family waiting for you."

"You loved it, though."

"I did. I still do. Pepper's not a pain in the ass and you're... well you're tolerable. Sometimes."

"I feel so loved," he says dryly.

Bantering with Happy is on the newer side of things, but it never fails to cheer him up. That was probably the point.

"Now get out of my car," he says, parking in the Tower's garage.

"See you tomorrow!" He calls out cheerily as he leaves the car and heads inside.

Pepper's already on their floor making dinner when he gets there. She's 28 weeks pregnant and kind of enormous compared to before the pregnancy, though Peter will never say that out loud. She's cutting her hours down, shifting people around the company to take on some of her duties. She's not planning on a full maternity leave but is going to distance herself as much as she can.

"Hi, Peter!" She greets him, "How was school?"

There's an island in the kitchen with a couple of chairs and he sets his backpack down on one and sits in another. He starts pulling out his homework. He'd offer to help, but she doesn't take it as kindness.

She hasn't been particularly irrational or had overly emotional instances, that Peter has seen, but he doesn't want to set her off either. His only pregnancy knowledge or experience comes from TV shows and movies. It's a terrible base, but he wants to do right and not make any of this harder for her than it needs to be.

"It was good."

"Are you going to have a lot of homework during winter break?"

"No, I should be able to get most of it done this week, or over the weekend."

"That's good, you deserve some time to relax." She pulls out some veggies from the fridge and gets to chopping. She has to stand further back from the counter due to her stomach, but she leans forward and pretends it's not a problem. "I spoke to Rhodey earlier. He's getting a few days off and he wants to come by for a few days around Christmas."

"Cool," he says. He starts with physics since that's going to take up a good chunk of time.

"Is there anything that you'd like to do for Christmas? Did you and May have any traditions, or...? You celebrate Christmas, right? I never actually asked."

"I celebrate Christmas," he confirms, "but we don't have any traditions. Last Christmas, we'd just lost Uncle Ben, so, um, we didn't get to start something new. Did you have anything in mind?"

"Not really. But I was thinking it'd be nice to do something together. I could make dinner and have Rhodey and Happy over. We could invite the others, too. If you'd be okay with that. I think we have some decorations around; we could set up a tree."

He taps his pencil against the countertop and watches her hands move swiftly and precisely with the knife.

"Sure," he agrees. His hearts not in it, and she can tell.

"Why don't you think about it and we can discuss it again in a couple of days? Rhodey will be here, that's already set, and I'll invite Happy over. I'm sure he'll enjoy just hanging out if that's what you want."

He never thought he'd hear Pepper say 'hanging out'. Or that she would make him dinner most nights.

The thing with the two of them is that they're both trying to do 'what the other wants' so much that they tend to fall in a cycle of pushing things around until nothing happens. Thanksgiving hadn't been a thing. He'd had to search her birthday online to realize he'd missed it all the way back in September since she hadn't bothered to tell him. Or celebrate it. Edith is set to remind him about it next year.

"Sure," he repeats.

While in class a couple of days later, he overhears a classmate's family tradition and decides maybe he'd like to steal it to make his own.

He can't stand the idea of sitting around at home playing at happy family.

That's harsh, he knows. He isn't unhappy. They are a family, of sorts. But they'll sit around ignoring the elephant in the room and trying not to say any taboo names. He'll play with the food on his plate, not hungry, and think of his aunt singing along with holiday carols and Ben's actually decent cooking and remembering how he'd been hopeful that May would invite Tony over for Christmas dinner, or the other way around. Now he's at the Tower with none of them.

What he's got is a very pregnant Pepper Potts, a lonely Happy, and Rhodey who's spending his first holiday without Tony in nearly three decades. Peter had once thought he and Ned would grow up to be like them; inseparable best friends through the years.

"What if we make a tradition of our own?" He asks Pepper and she smiles, willing to do anything to bridge the gap between them this holiday is creating.

"That sounds nice," she agrees.

Rhodey comes over on December 23rd. He arrives in a taxi wearing his air force uniform with only a duffel bag under his arm. Peter can hear the mechanics of his leg braces working, but isn't surprised to find that Tony had managed to make them discreet to those with normal hearing. He drops his bag by the doorway and pulls Pepper into a hug first, and then tucks Peter under his arm in a half-hug.

"You're looking lovely as ever," Rhodey tells Pepper who rolls her eyes.

"Oh yeah, I feel extra lovely when I'm shoving down spoonfuls of Nutella out of the jar in the middle of the night."

"Classy," he teases. He squeezes Peter's shoulder, "How're you doing, Spider-kid? Pep says you're ace-ing all your classes."

He sees Rhodey glance down at the glasses hanging off the front of his shirt. Peter never goes anywhere without them. They're more nostalgic for the adults around him, but he hadn't considered leaving them in his bedroom.

"Um, yeah, for now. I think my exams went well, though."

Rhodey playfully musses his hair and steps away from his side to grab his bag. "Alright, I'll go get settled in, grab a shower. We'll catch up as soon as I'm freshened up."

"Take your time," Pepper says walking away.

Peter looks between them and then follows after Pepper. They settle in the living room with a repeat of Friends playing on the T.V. Pepper has a tablet resting on her stomach as she answers emails and he sits on the other side of the couch to blankly stare at the show. There are no decorations, they couldn't decide if they wanted any or not and hadn't had much of a conversation about it either.

School's finished for the semester and he spends his time at home with the two of them, along with Happy who spends even more time over than usual because there's not much else for him to do.

By first light on December 26th, there are already photos online.

There's one of Colonel James Rhodes playing card games with a woman in a raggedy coat and an older gentleman with an unkempt beard. There's another of Happy picking up empty bowls a different table, looking halfway through speaking to the people sitting down. Some of Pepper sitting with a hand on her belly and a smile on her face as she chats to strangers. Some of Peter surrounded by children as he reads them storybooks he'd borrowed from the library. And there are many of him and Pepper, standing behind a counter pouring out bowls of soup and handing them off to the people at the shelter.

A day at a food bank is unusual for the CEO, and full proprietor, of Stark Industries, especially on Christmas day itself.

No one questions the added presence of Happy Hogan or the Colonel, but questions pop up about the teenager by her side. Peter doesn't pay those much attention; the world's too busy to dig deeper about that.

He saves several of the pictures on his new phone. He doesn't change his wallpaper, a photo of him and Ben at the Stark expo when he was younger and wearing Ironman paraphernalia like the little fanboy he was (is - that'll never go away, he thinks). He considers changing it, though, and that still feels big.

There were no gifts, just hugs and "Merry Christmas" spread around and it was what they all needed for their first year after the big loss.

Peter steps into the new year finally feeling like things are moving forward, rather than standing still. 2018 is going to be a big year and he's ready to face it.

Chapter 19: Baby Stark

Chapter Text

Spring 2018

Pepper plays soft rock for the baby. Some Journey, Fleetwood Mac, and The Eagles. A bit of AC/DC here and there, some Bon Jovi, and Led Zeppelin. Peter doesn't know any of the bands or the song titles, but they're familiar from days in the lab with Tony.

He doesn't go down there. Still.

She talks to her, whispers soft stories about her father and the business he'd rebuilt with his own hands. Baby Stark will know her father and the legacy he'd left behind for her.

Peter doesn't partake in that, but he'll talk to her too. Mostly in passing.

"Hi, Pepper! Hey, Baby Stark!" He shouts in greeting coming home from school. 'Baby Stark' is his nickname for the unborn child, at this point, since Pepper hasn't made up her mind on an actual name yet.

There's the inevitable humming of the 'Baby Shark' song because he's a Gen-Z boy and the internet is too much a part of his life for him not to know the latest craze. It made Pepper laugh, at first, but now he's fairly certain she wants to strangle him anytime he starts up again. Happy's much more straight forward with his annoyance.

"I swear to God, kid, if you keep singing that garbage I'm making you walk home."

Pepper's second trimester goes by well. With a reminder about watching her blood pressure and some extra vitamins, the doctor isn't concerned. She has the copy of the ultrasound in her purse, though much like Peter, is starting to realize she doesn't exactly have a lot of friends to show it to. Even less family.

Her Uncle Morgan, who Tony had dreamt about naming their baby after, is alive though old and somewhere in Canada and hasn't made the trek to New York for a visit in at least a decade. She and Tony had gone up a handful of times during their rocky relationship, enough for the two men to grow fond of each other. She has a cousin somewhere in Chili, if she remembers right.

Her father passed away some years ago and her mother is rotting away in some Florida nursing home and good riddance to that relationship. She'd had no siblings, and her mother had only one estranged sister.

The Potts family is very small and has been since way before the Decimation.

The third trimester passes all too quickly.

She can't fit in any of her clothes. She orders new shoes when her's don't fit anymore. Bye bye heels. And she loves her heels.

The media has gotten wind of the pregnancy, finally, and there's speculation she ignores.

She does her work. She pawns off a lot of it to those she trusts to do it right.

No one's filled in Tony's shoes (yet), as the head of R&D, but they're still working even if things have slowed down. There aren't any bright new ideas coming out, but they're doing a lot to fill in the gaps 3.5 billion people left behind.

Peter's a godsend, honestly. She doesn't know what she'd have done without him.

He helps her into her shoes when her feet are almost too swollen to fit and she can't bend down to shove them in. He sets a blanket over her when she falls asleep on the couch. He pops off to the grocery store any time she's running low on olives and 70% dark chocolate. He holds his arm out to steady her when she gets in and out of the car.

He's a little gentleman and a perfect son. No wonder May loved him so much.

On her part, she tries to be rational. Tries not to let the aches and pains get to her. It's not easy. She's morose at best, miserable at her worst. She wants her fiancé and a lot more ice cream than the doctor suggests. She's really feeling her age as her body adapts and grows.

Happy is the one who takes the brunt of her frustrations as she snaps at him day after day over the phone or in person when he has to drive her around. He needs a raise. Rhodey calls often, too. To check in on her and the baby and Peter. There's so much to do and he can't be there as much as he'd like.

By the time her caesarian delivery appointment comes around when she's at 38 weeks, the penthouse is ready to house a baby.

Peter put together the crib and stroller and dresser and changing table and put on all the child-proof locks and babies require a lot more than she had known 9 months ago.

The only time Peter goes down to the lab is to build a personalized mobile to hang over the crib. It's Avengers themed; different parts for each hero. One an arc reactor, another Thor's hammer, another Captain America's shield, and any symbol that represents all those he'd looked up to himself as a child.

He grabs a chair and carefully nails it into the ceiling, right over the crib. Each part hangs down, but her father's is the biggest and brightest.

"I thought you didn't care for the Avengers anymore?" Pepper asks, leaning against the doorway.

"Everyone should believe in heroes," he says, slowly stepping down and admiring his work.

She hugs him and kisses his temple in gratitude.

She doesn't have a baby shower. The Avengers all stop by on their own to give her gifts at some point. Clothes and bottles and books. There's not much she needs, but the thought is nice. That they'd make the effort to come down to visit is nice. Peter keeps close by but doesn't have much to say to any of them.

Except for Bruce. He talks his ear off and it's endearing. She remembers when Tony had finally gotten to meet him and how enchanted he was with having someone of his own intellect at hand. The way Peter talks about research papers is familiar.

On March 4th, Happy drives her and Peter to the hospital. She'd phoned the school to approve the day off for the teenager. Without Spider-man, his attendance hasn't been much of a problem. (He'd stayed home on May's birthday, and Ben's. She hadn't made any fuss about that.)

Happy parks the car and Peter helps her out. They'll be there for the day, even though she'll need to spend at least two nights for proper recovery.

The reception desk takes her name and she's ushered to a room. Peter and Happy have to stay behind and her stomach flutters with nerves.

She hugs each of them in turn.

"It won't be long, right?" Peter asks. "They'll let us know as soon as we can see you?"

She nods confidently though she feels anything but.

"Exactly."

They've gone with the c-section because of her age, and set it a bit before the 40 week mark to avoid early labour. It's the logical solution to the issue, but she hates waiting in a bed all by herself in a hospital gown with an IV in her arm for close to an hour before she gets whisked off to the operating room.

She doesn't remember much after that.

Maybe another hour or so later, she's been stitched up and they place her daughter, who's been thoroughly washed, in her arms.

She cries and holds her close.

9 months is a very long time to wait to meet her daughter.

A nurse comes in to talk to her, talking about the baby's health and offering additional information. She's perfect, is all Pepper takes in. She's small and beautiful.

They let in Peter. Happy's in the doorway and he waves; she smiles his way and he returns it before retreating to give them some privacy. Peter walks over to her side and sits in the uncomfortable plastic chair. His eyes are on the baby and she can't blame him for that. She's a very cute baby.

"How are you feeling?" He whispers, uncertain about speaking loud in the otherwise quiet room.

It's just her surrounded by medical equipment. She's wearing a hospital gown pulled down enough so the baby's head rests on her bare chest, and there's no need to be shy because it's her and her two children.

"I'm alright. Do you want to hold her?" She offers.

He nods. Peter reaches forward and carefully pulls the baby into his arms. He makes sure to support her head, just like he's seen on T.V.

"She's really small."

She weighs practically nothing. She's sleeping, eyelids with teeny tiny eyelashes closed and barely-there tufts of hair are smoothed down over the crown of her head. She's wrapped in a baby pink blanket with little clouds on it and he stares at her hands and can't help but be fascinated by how little her fingernails are.

"7 pounds, 2 ounces," she says.

"Did you decide on a name yet?"

"I did. Peter, meet your little sister. Morgan May Stark."

His eyes snap up from the baby to Pepper. They're glistening with unshed tears.

"What?" He asks, not sure he's heard correctly.

"Did I ever tell you about Tony's dream?" She asks, and he shakes his head. "The day that you guys went to space, he told me about this dream he had. He said he'd dreamt about us having a baby named after my uncle, Morgan. I suppose it's what he wanted subconsciously, so I'm going with it."

"And... and her middle name?"

"I've never known a better woman than May Parker. If Morgan grows to be anything like her, I'll be a very happy mother."

"You hardly knew her, that's..."

"I knew her enough; she raised you. Listen, Peter, we're not getting Tony back, or May. That doesn't mean we can't still love them for who they were and what they gave us. Tony gave me this baby, and May gave me you, and I love her for it."

Peter nods. The tears fall.

"Thank you," he whispers.

He holds his sister with one arm and reaches out with the other. Pepper takes his hand and squeezes.

"Hi, Morgan," he says softly, shifting his gaze from Pepper back to the baby, "I'm your big brother Peter. It's nice to finally meet you."

Chapter 20: Three's Company

Chapter Text

Morgan cries a lot and Peter has very sensitive hearing; it's not the best mix.

When all you know about babies comes from T.V and movies, it's not a surprising discovery though it is a tad annoying. He loves his sister, though, and can't fathom holding it against her. He's also grown very fond of Pepper over the months, and he does his best to get to his crying sister before she's woken up. He has superpowers; he can handle some unrest.

Pepper has a business to run and he can see the bags under her eyes getting worse every day.

He picks her up out of her crib and leaves the room, wandering and whispering until he can figure out what the problem is. Over the past few weeks he's become an expert diaper changer, he can probably do it in record time. Guinness book of world records has nothing on him. He's spent hours fiddling with the microwave until he can warm up the milk without it making any noise so he can quietly make her a bottle in the middle of the night. He's figured out which songs she likes best as he rocks her back to sleep while humming something from Tony's playlist.

It's happened more than once for him to curl up on the couch with her settled on his stomach and they fall asleep together. He wakes with a blanket thrown over both of them until Morgan wakes him crying, again. Pepper has breakfast ready and she stares at him with a mix between gratitude and exasperation.

Despite the joy Morgan has brought into their lives, the nightmares haven't gone away.

He'll wake sweaty and crying, thinking of May turning to dust with no knowledge of why this was happening to her. Remembering Tony fading in his hands with no way to keep him solid.

He leaves his room and goes to Morgan's, the one beside his. Pepper's across the hall, but he has no intention of disturbing her because of nightmares. Not ever.

There's no actual seating in her room. He sits down on the floor next to her crib, back against the wall, and watches his sister sleep. This is real life; it's different, sure, but it's his new normal. Thanos is dead, he's on Earth. He's home, safe and sound. In the comfort of her room, he tells her stories of his own. He talks about meeting her dad, about Germany, about Ben and May. He talks until his breathing steadies and his heart rate calms.

"Edith, what time is it?" he asks. The glasses are hanging off the front of his pajama shirt, like always. With his heightened hearing, he can hear her response without needing to wear them.

"It is 3:34 a.m, Peter."

He gets up, kisses Morgan gently enough not to wake her, and returns to his room feeling better than before.

Pepper doesn't get a babysitter; Morgan stays with her throughout the day, no matter the meetings or tasks she needs to handle. She'll have Happy take her if she must, or Peter will take her off her hands once he's back from school. They all work together to take care of the infant and over the weeks they work out some sort of balance.

She grows and grows like it's nobody's business and Peter's never seen that for himself. It startles him when he looks at a picture on his phone from the day after she was born and compares it to her 8 weeks later. When she was born, she'd had blue eyes and that's apparently normal for babies, and they had quickly turned brown to match her parents. Her hands and feet are tiny but she's longer and finally weighing in the double-digits.

He loves her, he really loves her.

He looks at her tiny face and lets her wrap her fingers around his index and feels himself melt into putty. Morgan is the part of the family that'd been missing this whole time; she's the gap between him and Pepper that's now filled with love for this new life and she's a link that no piece of paper could really create.

Throughout the whole pregnancy, the doctor had repeatedly said the baby was healthy, and that stays true after her birth. Pepper is exhausted but she heals well from the surgery and there are no complications from her late birth. That doesn't keep the littlest Stark from falling prey to regular medical issues, and while he's studying for his exams Pepper comes home with Morgan after an appointment and announces that Morgan's incessant crying and mild fever is caused by an ear infection.

Peter, despite having his own medical concerns before the spider bite (terrible asthma and his proclivity for catching the stomach flu at least once a year every year), was never one of those kids with ear infections. He knows about it well enough from Ned, who seemed to need ear drops anytime he was within a foot of any kind of water.

Pepper sets down a prescription bottle of said ear drops and goes to put Morgan down for her nap.

"How long until she's better?"

"A couple of days. She said to do the drops for 10 days, but we should see a difference within 2 or 3. Morgan's not going to be in a good mood though, so be ready for a lot of crying. I know you have the super hearing going on, if it's too much feel free to go a couple floors down. We had rooms set up for the Avengers, you can sleep there and it'll be quieter for you to study."

"It's fine," he says with a shrug.

She sighs like she doesn't believe him but doesn't press it. She goes to her office to get some work done, a baby monitor on her desk to keep an eye on Morgan.

Within thirty minutes Morgan has woken up and is back to crying.

Peter gets it, rationally. She's in pain and uncomfortable and she doesn't know why and has no way to express it, but... it's loud.

He gets his soundproof headphones out of his backpack, something he'd made himself with some of Tony's stuff ages ago, and slips them over his ears before heading to the bedroom to grab Morgan. A proper compromise.

Pepper finds him not much later, taking her time knowing that Peter had checked in on Morgan and there's nothing she can really do to make it better. He's made his way back to the sofa, the coffee table layered with his school books. He's laying down with Morgan on his chest and holding up his biology textbook to read it over her head. Her face is tinged red from the mild fever and she's fussing, with Peter's t-shirt gripped tight in her small fist. He's reading the words out loud and it seems to have helped her stop crying, even though she's clearly still miserable.

She stands with her arms crossed over her chest and waits for him to notice her presence, no point talking with those headphones on his ears.

Once he does finally notice, he smiles sheepishly and slips them off.

"Hey, sorry."

"It's okay. Just checking in."

"It's really sad," he says, "I never thought about how sad it would be to see a baby sick. Like, logically of course it sucks, but it's so sad."

"I know," she agrees. She walks over tothem and sits on the edge of the sofa by his hip. He tucks himself closer to the side to give her room. She rubs Morgan's back, "she'll be better before we know it."

Peter hasn't felt so helpless in a long while. Almost exactly a year ago, to be precise.

"I'll bring her to the office with me, so you can study in peace."

He shakes his head, "It's okay, she's not bothering me."

"Peter, I know you want to help but you have exams and that's more important. And I know you aren't properly focused like this."

"But you're busy-"

"Not so busy that I can't take care of my baby." Her expression is clear and Peter doesn't argue.

Pepper gently takes Morgan into her arms, prompting her to shift her grip from Peter's shirt to her finger to be able to separate them. Morgan decides she wants a fistful of hair and Pepper resigns herself to her fate.

"Come on, Morgan, time to cuddle with mom. Your big brother has very important exams he needs to study for and we can't be distracting him."

"Message received," Peter drawls, "I'll get learned."

Pepper walks away shaking her head with Morgan tucked into her neck.

"We'll order in for dinner, okay? Study hard!"

Chapter 21: Year One

Chapter Text

It's been a full year since the Snap. Blip. Decimation. No one's really settled on one name.

The day the world fell apart.

With the story out to the world and spreading, thanks to what remains of the Guardians and Captain Marvel, people start to accept what's happened and that it won't be undone. Earth has built monuments to the ones they've lost. They've built pillars with names upon names in memorium in Washington, and it's unveiled on the first anniversary of the catastrophe. Steve is there, with Natasha and Bruce.

Thor hasn't left New Asgard in months.

Pepper goes too, with 2 month old Morgan in her arms and Rhodey by her side because perception is still important and people would talk if they weren't there. Happy drives them but stays in the car. Peter doesn't go at all.

The event is streamed live on the news and all over social media pages. It's a big deal.

Peter watches 'The Mask' instead.

Across the galaxies, there's talk.

Of heroes and failures and Thanos and Infinity Stones. Thanos is dead, the stones are gone, and so is half the population. Grief; never ending, never wavering. Memories that are starting to fade but they try to remember and hold onto lost faces and voices. Some beings curse the Terrans for their negligence, for their weakness. Some say if they'd been given the chance, they would have won.

Some give them the benefit of the doubt; most don't.

Nebula comes down to Earth. Rocket wanders off to New Asgard, and she pops into Stark Tower.

To: Nebula
It'll be an Earth year next week. If you can make it, I'd like to see you.

From: Nebula
I will see you soon.

She brings him a box of metal bits from some planet known for its weaponry. She tells him she knows he wouldn't have much purpose for a sunbeam gun, but that she's sure he'll make good use of the parts. It's a strange gift, but he prefers it to a keychain.

She sits beside him while the movie plays.

A lot of planets have different yearly cycles and count time differently, and it's not going to be an anniversary for everyone. Nebula had kept track of Earth's time, however, and had already been making her way back. Three weeks with Peter is enough to know Terran sentimentality.

"Thanks for coming down," he says when the credits start rolling. "Friday, can you start the sequel? Thank you."

Nebula awkwardly reaches out and pats his head, "You're welcome."

It's not exactly comforting, but it isn't not comforting either. He leans closer to her, a blanket wrapped around him and partially draped over her lap. He's not pressed up against her, but they're close enough that he can feel warmth radiating off what parts of her are still flesh.

The event lasts a few hours and Pepper and Rhodey have to do their required mingling, but the newborn does provide the perfect excuse to leave early. Rhodey finds an excuse to tag along and they make it back to find the two kids watching 'The Mask: The Animated Series' for whatever reason.

"We're back," Pepper calls out when they get off the elevator.

Rhodey wanders to get himself something to drink and she tugs Morgan out of the stroller and leaves it there to put away later.Morgan's cranky, and Pepper passes the living room on her way to Morgan's room to put her down for a nap.

"Hi, Pepper, hi, Colonel. How'd it go?" Peter asks offhandedly.

"It went well," Rhodey answers from the kitchen. He wanders in with a glass of juice and takes a seat on the recliner. He lets out a sigh as he leans back in the cushiony material. "Way too many people crying."

"I can imagine."

"It's good though. It's nice. You should go someday; when there are fewer people."

"I know, I will."

In a minute Pepper joins them with the baby monitor in hand and takes a heavy seat next to Peter. Like Rhodey, she sighs when she sits down. "I'm so tired. That was awful."

Peter holds back a laugh.

"Come on, Pep, it wasn't awful. It was..." Rhodey tries.

"Someone asked me if Rhodey was the baby daddy," she tells Peter.

"You can't be serious."

"I am dead serious," she lets out another heavy sigh, "I'm done with the day. I'm ordering in pizza with extra, extra, cheese. Nebula, I'm sure this will sound offensive but do you eat pizza?"

"I would hardly consider that an offensive question. I've never had this 'pizza', but Peter has mentioned it often and I would be willing to try it."

"Maybe people that aren't from Earth can't eat cheese, or something. I don't know, it's been a long day. Friday, you know what to do." She rubs her eyes and stands. "I'm going to get changed. If I don't come back in ten minutes, I've decided to take a nap. Don't wake me up unless the building's on fire."

She walks out without a glance back. Peter's never seen her so exhausted, even while pregnant or getting up for the sixth time in one night to hush Morgan.

He looks to Rhodey for answers.

"The president sort of made her do a speech without giving her any warning. Sprung it on her right in front of thousands of people and she couldn't exactly say no. The whole thing's been draining."

"That's bullsh*t." Peter flushes when he realizes he'd cursed in front of War Machine, but the Colonel doesn't seem bothered by it.

Rhodey smiles grimly and nods, "Basically. She's damn good with speeches and that sort of thing, but no one likes being put on the spot. And then with everyone asking the worst kinds of questions, I think she'll need some time to herself."

She doesn't come back in ten minutes.

The rest of them eat some of the pizza that shows up in 35 minutes and place Pepper's part in the oven to keep warm until she's ready to eat. At the barest hint of noise from Morgan's room, Peter gets there before she can get loud. He changes her and then brings her to the living room where she won't wake up Pepper.

Nebula had arrived in the morning and had only briefly seen Morgan before Pepper was rushing out the door. Now she peers down at the small human with a curious expression.

"I didn't know humans were ever this small."

"Yup. We start from about 6 to 10 pounds, I think, and we just keep growing for 18 or so years."

"Still hoping for a couple of inches?" Rhodey asks, teasing.

"Hey! It can happen!"

"Tony held out hope until he was at least 30."

Nebula stares at the baby who stares right back. Peter takes her hand, grip loose if she chooses to pull away, and guides it close to Morgan who reaches up to grasp it.

"You met Mr. Stark when he was my age, right? What was he like?" Peter asks, tentative but curious too.

"Oh, boy."

Peter incorrectly takes that to mean this is a topic he doesn't want to talk about, and says, "You don't have to answer that, sorry. I wasn't thinking-"

"No, no. Just... when I first met Tony, well, he's a lot like you are now. Full of spirit. Curious as all hell; got himself into a lot of trouble wanting to know if he could do something just because. His entire teenage existence was that part from 'Jurassic Park' about doing something because they could instead of if they should. He was a lot of fun though. Roped me into enough shenanigans to last me a lifetime."

"Were you a troublemaker, Colonel?"

"I'll have you know, I was the innocent victim to peer pressure."

"Sure," Peter says, obviously not believing that for a second.

He looks at Nebula, who hasn't taken her eyes off of Morgan. He glances back at the Colonel and hesitantly asks, "Do you miss him?"

"Every day," Rhodey answers honestly.

"Do you think it'll ever go away? I still miss my Uncle Ben, and that feels like it was so long ago and then it just started all over again, and... I'm sorry. Today's been hard enough already."

"I don't know that you can ever stop missing someone that you love," Rhodey says carefully, "but you're not going to mourn forever. The pain eases up eventually. You have to focus on the good memories they gave you and not that loss. And when something happens and you wish they were around, remind yourself that they aren't truly gone. The people you love made you the person that you are, their beliefs and morals are in you and give you the strength to keep going. At least, that's what I tell myself."

"That... makes sense. Thank you."

Rhodey smiles sadly, "He wouldn't want us sitting on our asses missing him."

"No, he wouldn't," he has to agree.

"He'd also be saying that your taste in TV shows is crap, and maybe we should put on something half-decent."

Peter laughs, caught off guard but relieved by the change of topic.

"Fine, fine. What about 'The Office'?"

"Now we're headed in the right direction."

Chapter 22: The IronSpider

Chapter Text

In the grand scheme of things, Spider-man was only ever the friendly neighborhood hero. Queens misses him, mostly. He hears people talking about the missing superhero and wondering if he'd been part of the 50 percent. There's a much larger picture at stake, however, and that's what most people are interested in talking about.

"The Avengers Now; Are They Still a Team?", one headline reads.

"Who will take Ironman's place?", is another one.

Captain America is working with rescue efforts around the globe, Thor's disappeared, and Bruce is stuck between his medical and educational work. Natasha is staying with her foundations and Clint's apparently a vigilante of sorts (except not the Spider-man kind). But everyone wants to know - who will lead them? Who will fill in the great shoes that Tony Stark has left empty?

No one has stepped up to that idea; not in the business, not in the superhero world.

Peter can't ever see himself being that person, but that doesn't mean Spider-man should be leaving people behind either.

But.

Every time he looks at the suit hanging in his closet, or even just thinks about it, his heart rate starts picking up. Pepper tries to sit him down to talk about PTSD, but he's not ready for that conversation. She's familiar with it from years with Tony and knows the symptoms. She hands him a pamphlet and tells him Friday has a queue of therapists if he decides he wants to talk about it.

Eventually, he tells himself. When he's ready.

He wants to be Spider-man again. It feels good to do good and it's not like there isn't a market for stopping crime. Although there are no Avengers-level threats, there are plenty of thefts and assaults and robberies for him to take action against.

The fact that he's terrified of putting the suit on deters him from even trying.

He moves the hanger with the suit aside and pulls out a t-shirt. His hand feels clammy.

That's fine, that's perfectly fine.

Except that New York is not ready to be without a superhero, it seems, and he gets roped back into it before June is even over.

It's not a supervillain; no one's out to cause chaos or commit crimes. It's a pre-teen who finds an alien gun in an abandoned apartment who takes it out back to shoot bottles and who doesn't expect the ensuing explosion.

Peter's not even in the area. He's stepping into the animal shelter ready to start walking dogs and socializing cats and finds several employees gathered around the television watching the news. He slides in between two of them and his eyes fix on the flashing images.

One of the kids was livestreaming on Facebook, because why not, and the news station is replaying the recorded clip. This was probably less than five minutes ago but news spreads fast.

The purple glow makes his hands shake. Old memories resurface; Liz Allen (is she still alive?), her father who'd tried to murder him with similar weapons (is he still alive?). A ferry split in half. Tony telling him off for being reckless. Tony who was trying to be a part of his life but having no idea how to go about it properly. He'd figured it out long enough for them to have a few months together.

It's two boys, probably 12 or 13 years old.

"Watch this!" The one in frame says as he presses down on the trigger.

The beam is caught on camera. It blasts right past the empty glass bottle through the opposite wall and the bricks themselves are set ablaze. The two boys scream and the camera's view slips down as they run away, no longer bothering to film the destruction.

"The fire department is on the way, everyone is asked to stand by-" the footage is moved to the corner of the screen and the reporter is returned to the forefront.

Peter turns back around. He jams Edith on his face and says, "Edith, can you send me a suit?"

"Only the IronSpider has an auto-pilot deploy feature, will this one suffice?"

He's actually never heard a name for the new suit, but he knows that's the one. Red and gold, just like Ironman. He swallows thickly and nods, "That's fine. I'll get somewhere private; get it to me there."

He slips around to the back of the building and waits.

The suit slams into him harder than he expects but manages to keep to his feet. When he stares down at his chest where it'd hit him, there's a square metal piece attached to the front of his shirt, but this time it doesn't fully expand. No imminent threat of death to activate it, he guesses. He throws aside his bag and clothes and the IronSpider forms around him.

He's only worn it once before. Tony has a way of making new suits smell like new cars and it still has that scent, but he's certain he can still smell ash.

He takes in a shuddering breath to still his thoughts.

"Edith, can you connect to the suit? Or activate Karen? I need GPS tracking, didn't catch where the fire was."

If he focuses he can hear ambulances, but they could be out and about for dozens of reasons.

"I will initiate the AI you call 'Karen'."

"Thanks. Deactivate."

He slips the glasses in his backpack and shoves it under a dumpster. This time he knows exactly where it is and he'll be back for them. A backpack he can manage losing, those glasses are irreplaceable.

The screen over his eyes displays a series of numbers as the AI is turned on, and a familiar voice says, "Hello, Peter."

"Hey, Karen! Can you tell me where the fire is? Alien tech. It's on the news."

"Yes, Peter."

The address appears in the corner of the display. He lifts up his right hand, finger on the trigger of his webshooter, and he hesitates.

Come on, Parker, he tells himself. You got this. You can't let the cops get that tech. It's dangerous. You're a hero, aren't you?

When that fails, he guilts himself.

Tony believed in you. He gave you this suit to do good; so go do good!

He blinks until his vision clears. He's not sure if it's tears or anxiety or something else. He presses down, the web lands true, and he tugs himself into the air with practiced ease.

Time to return to Spider-man.

The fire's spread to the adjacent two buildings and over to a small shop; if he hadn't seen the video himself, he would have believed this to be caused by an explosion instead. The firetrucks get there when he does and people are pointing and whispering and the suit doesn't block the noise but acts like a filter.

"It's Spider-man!"

He waves distractedly. He crounches on a lampost on the opposite side of the street and asks Karen to pull some information for him. The display changes, the colours shifting until the silhouettes of people inside the building glow red and orange. They're hard to spot around the flames, but their heat signature isn't as high and Karen's advanced enough to make the distinction.

He swings off the wall and crashes through a window on the top, and fifth, floor of the building.

He takes several minutes to pull people out to safety. They're mostly squatters and maybe a handful of actual residence. A couple of dogs and cats and he brings out an aquarium. His first suit would have caught fire, the second one would have done the job. The IronSpider has a perfect air filtration system that's keeping out the smoke, and the material is completely fireproof and he walks through the fire without a hint of hesitation. He dodges the sprays of water from the hoses, blasting through windows and extinguishing fire as it goes.

People thank him and greet him and he rushes back in to help more people.

His heart is racing but now it's adrenaline. It's relief, too, at knowing these people are safe because he'd chosen to do something. The damage caused by the gun was too instantaneous for the people to have been able to save themselves; how many would have succumbed to smoke inhalation or burns before the fire department could get inside?

"Any signs of the tech?" He asks Karen.

"Over there," she replies. There's a flicker on the display and he turns his gaze until something is highlighted in the distance.

The heat sensor falls from his screen, now that all the people have been safely evacuated, and he heads in the direction the AI is pointing him towards.

While the two boys were running away, a very smart decision, they'd left the alien gun behind. A slightly less smart decision.

He sticks to the side of the non-ruined building, next to the one that's very ruined, and sees it lying innocently on the ground. It's almost identical to the one's the Vulture and his goons had been using when he'd fought them. He'd known they hadn't gotten all of the alien tech and had never made an attempt to follow up after taking down Toomes because that had been in Tony, and the FBI's, hands.

Peter leaps off the wall and lands in a crouch beside the weapon.

Spider-man can't be seen swinging around town with a gun on his back. Nor does he know enough about it to risk taking it apart right here in an alleyway. It doesn't feel like the coolest thing he's ever done, but he decides to cover the entire thing in a thick layer of webbing, adding more around the nozzle to make it almost square shaped. It's like a birthday gift wrapped by Spider-man, except no one can get to the gift for a few hours until the webbing disintegrates.

He holds it in one hand and swings out with the other. He throws it back and forth from one hand to the other while the opposite one holds a line of webbing to keep him going forward. It's awkward but it works.

He gets to a nearby roof and stops there, staring down into the crowd. It doesn't take him long to find the two boys huddled together at the far back.

As excited as people are to see their hero again, they're mostly fixated on either getting away from the danger, or getting in the best position to film it and aren't paying him too much attention. He leaves the gun on the roof and jumps over to the next one over, the closest building to the boys. He crawls down the side until he's almost to the ground.

"Pst! Kids!" He whispers loudly, trying to get their attention.

One of them turns and then shoves his friend to get his attention, "Dude! It's Spider-man!"

That's the one who'd been behind the camera. The one who'd pulled the trigger turns with his face ashen and eyes wide.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

Peter looks around and satisfied that no one's watching, slips to the ground and gestures for them to get closer. They hesitantly take the steps.

"I'm not here because you're in trouble. I mean, you're probably in trouble, but that's not my job to decide. You really should be more careful with strange objects, you could have really hurt somebody."

"I know," he says morosely.

"We got everyone out. Only minor injuries reported so far. You got lucky."

The two boys shamefully stare at the ground.

"Like I said, though, it's not my job to discipline you. I can only suggest you listen to whoever is going to discipline you. I'm here to know where you got the gun. Where'd you find it?"

"Um..." they share a look.

"You know who I am, right?" A nod. "Then you know I'm one of the good guys. I want to get this stuff off the streets and make sure this doesn't happen again."

"It was in there," the camera boy says, pointing to a nearby apartment complex. It's the one the boys had gone behind to test out the weapon.

"What were you doing in there?" He asks.

"I used to live there with my parents, but then the landlord got blipped and we got kicked out. I was hoping my bike was still in the storage, but then we saw there was loads of stuff in the storage lockers so..."

"Gotcha. I would have done the same. The snooping, not the shooting a gun thing. Thanks for your help. See ya! Stay in school!"

The two boys wave at his retreating figure.

He gets into the building and finds the storage room and has Karen scan for anything of interest, but luckily it had been just the one gun. She finds the name of all those who'd lived in the building a year ago and scans their files, traces the movements of all those that survived to find any points of concern. One man's in jail for possession of drugs, another has a couple of months for squatting in this very building, but no one's in the category of 'carrying illegal alien weapons'.

She does find that one of those that were Blipped had been loosely associated with Toomes in the past, and that answers that question.

Karen sends alerts off to Edith to monitor the potential suspects and to keep an eye out for more wayward weapons, but at least this situation's gone over fairly well. The buildings are toast, but there's too many empty ones anyway.

He goes back for his backpack and the weapon and swings his way to Stark Tower.

He goes in via the garage. He leaves the weapon in the lab to look over later and switches back into his clothes and hangs Edith off the front of his shirt like usual. The IronSpider shrinks down into a bracelet that he places around his left wrist. It's a bulk of black metal completely nondescript yet it holds so much. Tony's nanotech is a work of art. He takes the elevator up to their floor and that's where he finds the two of them.

Pepper's there waiting for him. She's pacing the stretch of the living roomandMorgan's laying on a blanket near the sofa under some toy that dangles objects down close to her face. Her head swivels towards him and he knows instantly that she knows.

"Peter!" She takes quick strides to his side. She takes his face and moves it this way and that to inspect it. "Are you alright? I saw you went into that fire and you can't just-" she huffs out a breath, cutting herself off.

"I'm okay, Pepper," he reassures her. "The suit's completely fireproof. It was a spur of the moment thing, or I would have warned you ahead of time. I didn't mean to worry you."

"It's... fine. I didn't think you were going to do the hero thing anymore. You haven't mentioned - I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but I really thought you weren't..." Her hands fall to her sides and then she crosses them over her chest. Her eyes can't quite settle on his, searching him up and down as if believing there's an injury she simply isn't finding.

"I wasn't sure I would either, but I'm Spider-man. These powers aren't going anywhere and the right thing to do is help people. The IronSpider suit is epic," he says, lighting up at the thought of the new suit, "it's crazy intuitive and I was able to get Karen in it, that's the AI Mr. Stark made me, and it's super cozy and there's these retractable limbs and- are... are you okay, Pepper?"

He stills, watching her cautiously. There's something off about her that he can't quite put his finger on.

"I thought you weren't going to do that anymore," she repeats.

"It wouldn't be right if I didn't," he says simply.

"Yeah, that's what Tony always said," she says softly, more to herself. She finally meets his gaze and her expression is stricken, "I know in my head that the hero thing isn't what killed Tony. That Thanos was going to do what he did whether or not Tony was on that ship or he was down here beside me. But I can't help putting the two together and I always knew Ironman was going to kill him and now he's gone and I can't lose you too, Peter."

She walks away, running her hand through her hair and unable to look at him.

His mouth falls open and he can't think of anything to say in response.

"All this saving the world nonsense is what almost took him from me dozens of times and now he's gone and you and Morgan are all I have left of him and if I lose you the same way I just don't know what I'll do," she continues. Her voice wavers.

He rushes forward and grabs her wrist, stopping her pacing. He steps in and wraps his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he mumbles, "I didn't mean to scare you."

Her arms wrap around his shoulders and she presses her cheek to his hair with her gaze on her baby a few feet away reaching up to a stuffed unicorn hanging above her face. She takes in a deep, shuddering, breath. She squeezes her eyes shut and a tear slips out.

"I know you can't help it; it's who you are," she says. "Tony was the same. I just... got a little blind-sided today, is all. I'm glad you're okay."

"Queens," he says. "That's my home base, always. New York. Nothing bigger. I'll be safe, I promise. I've got powers, I'm not defenseless. I'll be okay."

A year and a few months ago he'd had the same conversation with May. Except this time he can't use Tony Stark as an escape - "Mr. Stark is sort of my superhero mentor. He'll make sure I don't do anything stupid." This he tells her after committing plenty of stupid already, but Tony had been there to keep things together. There's no more mentor. No hero to be his backup in case things go bad.

He doesn't bring that up.

"You'd be safer here."

"I know."

She squeezes him tighter.

"What do you think the cops would have done with that alien gun?"

"I know. I know. And I know I can't stop you. Promise me you'll be careful, and promise me you'll call me if you need help. I'm not Tony, but I've got resources too. I can help."

"I promise."

Morgan spits up and it breaks the silence. Pepper clears her throat and goes to her daughter. There's a washcloth on the coffee table and she grabs that to wipe Morgan's mouth clean. She pulls her into her arms and rocks her gently. She turns to Peter with a watery smile.

"I'm sorry, hun. It took me by surprise, but I know May and Tony were supportive and I am too. I might need some time to wrap my head around it, though."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Come here." She beckons him closer and he does so without hesitation.

She pulls him in with one arm, holding both her children at once.

They've all lost so much that the fear of losing more is so all-consuming, but she knows Peter is Spider-man and there's nothing she could ever say to get that out of his head. She'll learn to accept it, just as she did with Ironman.

Chapter 23: Spider Mentor

Chapter Text

After Pepper's not-quite-a-breakdown but close enough, he asks Friday for a number he'd only intended to use for emergencies.

"Hello, um, Ms. Romanoff?"

...

"Right. Natasha. Sorry."

...

"Yeah, I'm patrolling again. That's kind of what I'm calling about."

...

"I know you're super busy, but I was wondering if you might have some free time over the summer. I'd like to get some more training, maybe hand-to-hand combat, and I know you said I could call you for hero stuff and you're also the best there is, so I was hoping I could train with you a bit? Just a couple of hours, to get better."

...

"Really? That's... that sounds awesome! Thank you so much!"

That's how he spends three weeks of July in South Dakota. Natasha's created the Black Widow Orphanage and has the home base somewhere centered between the US and Canada. It's for young children displaced by the Snap, with their family's gone and no one to care for them. Peter could have been one of them.

Pepper, Happy, and Morgan escort him to the private jet that flies him a few states over. There's a lot of hugs to go around, but Pepper holds on the longest.

She knows he's doing this for her, mostly. To assuage her fears and her guilt.

"Take care, Peter. Call me, okay? And at least text me every day, so I know you're okay."

He agrees with her demands and then presses several kisses to his baby sister's cheeks.

"Bye-bye, Morgan."

She whines and spittles and he gives her a few extra kisses. So she knows how much he loves her in their time apart. She's starting to do the waving thing and figuring out smiles and it makes his heart melt. He makes sure to tell Pepper out loud.

"Love you, Pepper. See you soon."

She kisses his temple and sends him on his way.

"I love you too, sweetheart."

Happy goes with him to man the jet and return it to the Tower after dropping him off. It's mostly quiet. Peter's finished all his schoolwork and he doesn't have anything to do. He spends most of his time going through the news. A lot of people are excited about Spider-man's return. Some aren't and he tries to ignore those. Tries.

Natasha meets him at the landing point and shows him to his room inside the building which is a repurposed and refurnished one-story motel. She has to leave him to finish a potential parent interview but will find him later. It's one he'll share with her. The limited bedrooms are left for the children and she's set up a cot next to her own bed. He doesn't complain; there's no reason to. He leaves his suitcase next to the cot and wanders the halls. There are dozens of young kids and he introduces himself to each of them.

He'll go around as Spider-man in a few days to do his part to keep them entertained while school is out, but also plans to spend some time playing with them on his own too.

Natasha catches up to him within the hour to give him a proper tour of the complex. There's over a dozen employees and something like thirty kids in total, though there are various other locations too with plenty of other children. The organization is pretty well funded and there's a kitchen with full cupboards and toys and games and after a year to adapt to this new reality the people are in high spirits.

She's also in charge of keeping up with what's happening across the globe and galaxies and has a control room where she can talk to Okoye, Carol, and Rocket to get updates. One of her main responsibilities is traveling across North America to bring in some kids, but for the next three weeks she's agreed to stay put to be his personal mentor. It's insanely exciting and he simply trails after her like an over-eager puppy.

It's a stressful three weeks, but it's productive.

He misses Morgan and Pepper. He texts every day like he'd promised and calls every two days. Morgan's four months old and won't start doing anything more than eating and sleeping for a few more weeks, but he can't help feeling like he's going to miss out on something big.

Natasha drives them a few buildings over to a gym that lets her use a private room without any comments. They work mostly on self-defense techniques and basic hand-to-hand combat. He has very little formal training and has relied mostly on the speed and strength his powers had given him. He and Tony had done some workout time together, but they had a terrible habit of getting distracted by just about anything else and didn't really get into it.

He does learn a lot, and this time is worth it. Obviously three weeks isn't enough to get much better, but she gives him a good starting point and some tips and tricks and he plans to try harder on his own time to practice.

A few days in when he puts on the IronSpider suit, there's still some lingering anxiety but that fades as soon as the kids see him. Their smiles are infectious and it feels good. It's amazing being a hero. Pictures are online of Spider-man's visit to the orphanage and no one questions it (Spider-man randomly appeared in Washington D.C and no one batted an eye; no one does so now).

Tony Stark had become a hero with nothing but his brains and a tonne of metal and Peter could never be that but he's willing to try. Because trying means that he's still out there helping people and doing the right thing.

In between workouts that actually leave him sweating and missing his family and reading stories to kids, three weeks pass by fast.

"You've done good, kid," Natasha says kindly and it's a direct contrast to her usual stern reprimands whenever he does something wrong.

Tony had always chuckled when he'd done badly at something and they would try again and it had always been sort of 'hanging out' mixed with 'education'. Natasha's practically conducting military training with him and he appreciates that it's different and efficient, although it caught him by surprise at first.

"Thanks," he mumbles awkwardly.

His bag's hanging off his shoulder with the meager belongings he'd brought along and he really wants to go home and see his sister and Pepper. Not that he hasn't enjoyed these three weeks, of course. Natasha's strict but amazing in her own right and he might have a slight celebrity crush if you can have that on a superhero whose number is saved in your phone.

Ned would probably pass out if he knew.

"Call me if you need a hand with something, okay? Remember what I said - you need to know your limits. If a threat is above your skill set, it's better to ask for help than die trying to go at it alone."

He nods, "I remember. Thanks for helping me out."

"Maybe we can do this again next summer. This is your last year in High School, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Senior year. Then... adulthood, I guess."

"Planning on MIT? Like Tony?"

"I don't know," he admits. "I'm still thinking about it."

"I'll try to come down in a couple of months. I'll ask you again then."

"Sure."

"Go on," her hand falls heavy on his shoulder and she smiles, "Happy's waiting. I'll see you soon."

He goes to leave and hesitates. He hasn't asked, hasn't had the courage, but his curiousity wins out.

"Have you heard from Mr. Barton?"

Her smile turns sad and she shakes her head, "No, but he lost a lot. He spent a lot of time and energy trying to have some semblance of normal life in a work environment that didn't allow it and now all of that's gone. He doesn't know what to do with himself. I don't resent him for needing to be alone."

He averts his gaze, guilty.

If only he'd been stronger. If only someone else had been in his place.

"You're not to blame, Peter," she says gently. She knows about his outbursts, about his insecurities and fears and guilts. She also knows her words are pointless. "Go home, Mr. Parker. Your family is waiting for you."

He goes home and pulls Morgan into his arms and kisses her over and over. He hugs Pepper and neither of them is ready to let go for a little while.

There's no making her feel good about his choice to return to Spider-man. No matter how many weeks or months or years he could spend with Natasha, she would always fear his loss. He's always going to fear losing them in turn. He's made his choice and she accepts it, how little she wants to.

Three weeks isn't enough to change how she feels about it, but it does make her feel better knowing that he's been taught a few things from a professional.

After getting his family time in, dinner with Pepper and laying next to Morgan as she spittles and sleeps and stares around with big, bright eyes, he heads down to Tony's lab.

A lab. Pepper's lab?

He'd placed the bips and bops that Nebula had given him last month down here, and he sets the material down in his workstation. She'd only been able to stay for a week and he wishes she were here now to help him. Aside from building the mobile for Morgan's crib, he's never really had full run of the lab without Tony present before. He doesn't need adult supervision, but he thinks he'd feel more confident if there was someone making sure he wasn't about to blow himself up.

He rummages through Tony's spare parts and gathers what he needs on the desk that's sort of his. Had been, when Tony was in charge. Pepper hasn't come down here at all in the last year.

It's adjacent to Tony's preferred work area, which is still overrun with parts and papers and a general mess that Peter doesn't have the heart to clean. His own workstation is pretty much identical; there's a hologram projector built into the tabletop, drafts of experimental web fluids and combinations he'd been pouring over more than a year ago are strewn over the surface, and he has some drawers next to it with a lock requiring a pin code.

The alien gun he'd taken into his possession not long before leaving to train is sitting in one of his drawers, finally de-webbed. He has no idea what to do with it, but doesn't trust handing it off to anyone else either; except maybe Nebula, next time she's in town.

His chair's worn and set just to his liking and it feels uncomfortable even though it isn't.

"Can you pull up the diagram for this watch?"

It's one of Tony's, imbedded with Ironman weapons.

"Good evening, Peter," Friday greets, voice coming from the desk itself. "To access anything relating to the Ironman suits, I will need to ask the boss for permission. Please standby as I reach out to her."

"Oh."

Several seconds go by before Friday speaks again, "Permission granted."

Holograms appear above the desk for the diagram he'd requested.

"Thanks, Fri. Hey, um, any reason I needed permission? It's never been an issue before."

"When admin access was transferred from Tony Stark to Pepper Potts, any previous exceptions were deleted. Your clearance level doesn't allow you access to the Ironman equipment, however, Tony Stark had given you permission outside of your level status for a multitude of requests, including access to anything Ironman related."

"I... didn't know that."

Friday has never said 'no' to any of his requests before. The AI has never had a moment to pause or question what he'd asked. It had always been granted to him and he'd never thought about that before. He'd never made a habit of looking through schematics or coding relating to the Ironman suits, but he has used them for reference and there had never been any issues.

It clicks now how strange that is.

Spending these hours in the lab is nostalgic. And amazing.

He's missed this, as much as he's missed the suit.

Playing with data, playing with parts and shaping them the way he wants them. He can only do this thanks to everything he's taught himself through library books and side-tracked time in a classroom and all the resources that Tony's given him.

It becomes hours stretched through days, going up for food when Pepper insists (through Friday - she still hasn't come down to the lab) or for some cuddling time with Morgan when he needs a breather. All of this is exhilarating; it's such a huge part of his life he'd been neglecting for too long now.

The metal Nebula has given him is perfect for molding and holding the nanotech and he uses it as a new base for his webshooters. He mixes in some of the nanites that build the Ironman suit and they now contain multitudes of weapons and means of protection. He's tied everything into the one watch, rather than a bracelet. It's a Stark watch and fancy looking, and he knows it's the exact kind Tony always wore both to carry around his suit and for fashion purposes.

Peter's never owned a watch. It's a little old-school for his generation, at this point, and it's not like it would help him be on time anyway. Yet he likes carrying this little part of Tony with him, just like he does with Edith. There's so much of Tony Stark that he will always admire and look up to.

It seems childish, almost, to still be emulating someone who's no longer with them. He should have grown passed it. Pepper doesn't seem to mind, and he's seen plenty of movies where the protagonist carries their father's old watch around. Tony isn't his father, but the concept stays the same. He's not going to let anyone tell him Tony Stark isn't worth using as a role model for how he shapes himself.

After all, one of the main reasons he dedicates most of his life to helping people is because his Aunt and Uncle had done the exact same thing, in their own right.

He's decided to build in some Ironman tech because he can't hide behind Spider-man all of the time.

Pepper and Morgan are important, in the sense of general media (and to him as well, of course). If someone goes after them, which is hardly unrealistic as people have gone after Pepper plenty of times to get to Tony, he may not always be in the position to change into his Spider-man suit. There are no other heroes in New York; seeing people safe is his, and only his, responsibility now.

Having drones on hand, a blaster, a shield, all of that will make the difference between fearing for his secret identity or being able to protect his family without a moment's hesitation.

He wraps the watch around his right wrist. He cleans up his workspace and when he asks Edith for the time, it's way too late.

Before he walks out of the room, he stops near the bots and runs a finger over Dum-E's surface.

He stays an extra hour to wipe them clean of dust and another hour after that oiling them and making light repairs to get them going. They've been sitting here by themselves for months waiting for orders that wouldn't come. He'll do better by them from here on out.

He makes his way upstairs and everyone's asleep. He has a text on his phone letting him know dinner's in the microwave, and he shovels that down quickly.

He slips into Morgan's room and leans over the side of the crib to press a kiss to her forehead. She shifts but doesn't wake.

"Goodnight, Morgan."

He's got plans for patrol tomorrow, but when he lays in bed he can't help but pull out his phone to continue reading what the internet has to say about his return. It's all he's done since the fire, wondering if the people will refute his return, or rejoice in it.

Chapter 24: Baby's First Halloween

Chapter Text

October 2018

Pepper doesn't want Morgan going out Trick-or-Treating.

"I'm not sure, Peter," she says when he asks her, nearly midway through the month. "You know I'm off to Vancouver that week and I'm already worried about leaving her here. I know you'll be a great babysitter, don't give me that offended look, but the idea of you two being out on the streets on your own makes me nervous."

"It's hardly out on the streets! I wouldn't bring her somewhere sketchy. May and Ben had this nice little neighborhood they'd take me to, it's not dangerous. And I can protect Morgan if something does happen. Happy can come with us, too."

"I know she's safe with you but she's still so young and really needs a lot of attention. I don't even want to leave her side for a few hours let alone days and I know I have to, but I don't want this adding to the stress of that."

Being CEO still comes with business trips and she can only postpone so long. Happy's going to stay over for those days, to watch over Morgan while Peter's at school. He'll be the main babysitter on duty since Happy does have actual work to do as Head of Security (and teenager chauffeur).

"That's okay," he relents. "Next year she'll be old enough to eat the candy so that'll be more fun."

Morgan's on baby food now instead of just milk but she's not quite ready for mountains of sugar.

"I'm sorry, Peter."

"It's really fine. I get it. It's a mom thing."

Pepper doesn't want Morgan leaving this Tower in her absence in fear of what the world could do to her - no matter how safe she knows her baby would be in Peter's presence. As Peter walks away, after shooting her a reassuring smile to let her know there are no hard feelings, she thinks maybe that might be a tad irrational. She knows her feelings are valid. She's read enough pregnancy books that mention that fear of the first separation to know it's very real.

There's got to be some form of compromise, she thinks.

A week and a half before Halloween, and twodays before she's set to go off to Vancouver, she drops a bundle of bags on the coffee table. Peter and Morgan are on the floor, where she's very used to finding them, playing with shapes. He's watching her try to shove a square peg into a triangle hole and makes no attempt to correct her. She'll figure it out eventually.

He looks up at the sound of the bags hitting the tabletop and he quirks a brow in her direction.

"What's all that?"

"Your Halloween costumes! I had my seamstress make one for you and Morgan."

"What for?" He sits up and crawls to the table. It's not regular bags; it's proper garment bags. Do not ask the price, he tells himself.

"I've made some arrangements to let you two Trick-or-Treat... inside the building," she finishes with a hesitant smile.

"Oh. How's that going to work?"

"Some of the offices and labs are going to have little candy buckets and we're going to do a whole thing with it. I sent a message out that they could bring their kids in to work if they don't have school or after school, and a few people were interested in doing some sort of haunted house type thing in a few office rooms on floor 15. Everyone seemed pretty excited about having an excuse to have fun."

"Wow, yeah that sounds really awesome! And you don't have to worry about us getting kidnapped."

Her lips purse.

"I mean, be totally safe at all times because I do exactly what you say, always."

"Better." She comes around and sits on the couch. "Does that sound okay? I know it's not the same, but-"

"No, it's perfect! I didn't mean to make a big deal out of it, I was just thinking it could be fun. But this sounds even better."

"Good, that's what I was hoping. You gonna go try yours on? Friday gave me your measurements from the suit, but there's still time to make adjustments if we need to. I'll get Morgan into her's."

Peter grabs his bag, the obviously bigger of the two, and heads to his room to change.

He laughs when he unzips it and has to wonder what Morgan is going to be dressed as. He pulls on the outfit, the material nicer than anything he's ever owned in his life. (That Peter's owned, Spider-man's suit costs a number with way too many zeroes). There's even a pair of shoes to go with it.

There's another laugh when makes it to the living room again and Pepper's got a very furry Morgan in her arms. They're both smiling at him and Morgan holds her hand out in his direction.

"She's so adorable!"

Peter takes Morgan from her and poses, "How do we look?"

"Very heroic."

She takes pictures and sends some off to Rhodey, Happy, and even Natasha to make her smile.

Pepper gets on her flight to Vancouver two days later and is already calling while she's on the plane. Peter tries not to freak out about being in charge of an 8-month-old. It helps that Happy is in the guest room and a reliable adult. He's pretty awful when it comes to diapers though.

Stark Tower has employees that work all hours of the day, and after school on Halloween day he and Morgan get into their new costumes and he makes the rounds.

He holds Morgan up to the doors, many of them decorated with webbing (not the good or cool kind) and little spiders and signs proclaiming the holiday, and he taps her fist against them in the quietest of knocks. It's on the child-friendly side of things and there are actually some other kids walking around in their own costumes and bags for candy. The adults appear content with a way to entertain the little ones, especially those who are working late this Halloween evening.

"Trick or treat!" He says when the doors open.

He rocks Morgan and she laughs and babbles.

Everyone gushes at how adorable she is and how cute they are as a matching pair. He eats way too much candy and feels disgusting but he still continues eating.

He skips the haunted hallway, though he does hear some screaming coming from there and spots a lab tech gone goth with runny makeup from fear sweats.

Morgan's dinner time approaches and he heads back upstairs with their loot. He drops the candy on the kitchen table and presents it to Happy with a loud, "Ta-da! Best haul of my life."

Happy rolls his eyes and says, "Whatever you say, Spock."

"I know you know that's the wrong series!"

"Don't spoil your appetite. I'm making Stir Fry."

"Sir, yes, sir." He salutes and heads off to get them both out of their costumes.

Over two thousand miles away, a few hours behind, Pepper stares at the wallpaper on her phone with a gentle smile.

She has it rotating between two pictures, each staying in frame for five seconds before switching out.

The first is one of her and Tony, both dressed elegantly and arms wrapped around each other with obvious love in their expressions. As much as she hates people taking pictures of her without permission (even if that's most of her life), paparazzi have a way of catching very candid moments that hold lovely memories.

The second is the recent one of the kids; Peter, decked out in full Han Solo outfit and gear, with a baby Chewbacca in his arms looking cutely ferocious.

She wants to be at home. She wishes she could have been there to walk them down the streets knocking on doors asking for candy from strangers. Such an odd holiday.

Rhodey responds to her picture of the kids with, "Next year we go as the Addams Family."

"Deal."

Chapter 25: Operation Spider-Boss Pt.2

Chapter Text

July 2018

"Boss?" Friday interrupts her in the middle of signing paperwork.

"Mm?" She signs her name and moves on to the next page.

"As per your request, it has been a year to the minute that I last brought up Operation: Spider-Boss.Are you readyto initiate the protocol?"

"Oh, that."

She sets down her pen and crosses her arms over the desk. Right. It's Tony's last request that she hasn't yet followed up on.

She'll bring Peter into board meetings and discuss business things with him to get his input and to guide his thoughts in the right direction, but she's been hesitant to bring up Tony's actual plans for him. He's still so young, and there's so much on his plate. He's going into his last year of high school, he's just put on the Spider-man suit again... He'll be off to train with Natasha in a handful of days.

"Friday, show me Peter, please."

A new tab opens on her computer and a feed to the camera in the living room appears. There are cameras all over the building for security purposes, though they're hardly used. In view is Peter laying on a baby pink fleece blanket on his back while holding Morgan above him, bringing her down to kiss her face and making funny expressions at her. She's in a cozy onesie covered in rainbows and unicorns and her hair is slowly growing out, but she's still so small and weighs nothing to Peter and his super strength.

She watches for a handful of minutes.

Peter sets Morgan down on his stomach and wraps his arms around her to keep from rolling off of him. He simply holds her. His mouth is moving, he must be telling her a story, but Pepper doesn't ask for audio. She's already a bit uncomfortable watching someone who doesn't know they're being watched.

"Postpone for one more year, Friday. Maybe next summer when he's getting ready for college he'll be in the right place for this conversation."

"Yes, boss."

She waits another couple of minutes before closing the video feed on her computer.

A teenager and an infant; it should sound like she has her hands full, but she counts herself lucky.

Mostly.

She clicks on her phone and the latest headline she'd been halfway through reading pops up. There's Peter in his suit swinging through the city. Spider-man has returned. He's in a new suit, and everyone points it out enthusiastically.

It's red and gold and it makes her heart ache. Tony created it for him, as a sort of 'sidekick' suit to his own. She remembers his ramblings. He'd come to bed late, too late but earlier than years ago, and he'd whisper his thoughts to her and she'd listen half-attentively. He built this specific suit expecting to give it to Peter on his 18th birthday, and with the intention that they would work together more closely on future missions.

It wasn't so much an Avengers initiation as simply an acknowledgment that Peter would hold a greater part in his work life, and not just time sitting in their lab wreaking havoc.

Tony had held so much hope in his relationship with Peter. He'd taken him on as a son without ever saying so out loud, or probably even to himself, and those expectations sit on her shoulders now. A year and some later, she's starting to feel that hope too.

She closes the tab on her phone; they have nothing good to say anyway.

Between the teenager and the infant, it's clear right now the teenager is going to be harder on her heart.

It's been a long day, she decides. She turns off the computer, sets the half-read paperwork aside, and heads off to the living room to join her kids.

There's many years ahead of them. For now, she wants Peter to enjoy this before she drops the bomb of Tony's true dreams on him.

Chapter 26: Headline; Spider-man Returns

Chapter Text

"The menace has returned! Spider-man comes out of the shadows and crime has risen. A coincidence?"

The daily bugle says.

"An homage to the late Ironman? Spider-man takes to the streets in a new suit."

Another article says.

"A year goes by and now Spider-man is back; is it a copycat or is he really back to protect the streets?"

Another.

"The Avengers are gone, but Spider-man remains."

And another.

"Is Spider-man following in Ironman's footsteps?"

And another.

There have been some over the monthsabout Peter, though most don't refer to him by name.

"Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts seen with Colonel Rhodes and a teenager at a food bank for Christmas day."

"Publicity stunt? Pepper Potts spends day at food shelter with veteran, teen, and bodyguard."

"Pepper Potts seen with teenager Peter Parker, student at Mditown School of Science and Technology. What is their story?"

There are some less desirable headlines, of course. The news will pull at any straw to have a story, something no one else is talking about. Even if it means inventing their own fake plots.

"CEO Pepper Potts seen with newborn; who is the father?"

They've pointed out Tony Stark (some claim it's too obvious, although that's what Pepper says and will forever say as it's the truth). They mention James Rhodes, Tony's best friend, and the media loves to write up scandalous headlines for their benefit. The newborn is clearly purely white, but that doesn't stop them from making the claim or asking her point-blank.

There are those who ponder if the daughter's father might be Happy, which would be mildly more scandalous than the best friend. Or some other employee they don't name.

It's awful, how inclined they are to state her infidelity though she has never been anything but devoted.

As much as Peter loves Tony, he doesn't know him as well as Pepper. The only person who might know him better is Rhodey, though that's still up for debate. She's been by his side for decades, has shared his home and bed and heart. She knows things that he's whispered late at night that no one else is privy to.

Rhodey has heard him mumble, softly in their dorm, "Jarvis is... he's gone. He..."

He knows how much the butler had meant to him. That Howard had been barely a father and Jarvis had stepped into the empty shoes.

Happy has sat in the passenger seat as Tony had driven them anywhere of interest for years on end. He'd never been able to let anyone drive, not after what happened to his parents. Happy had been genuinely shocked when he'd been told, "Take us home, Happy," and Tony had slipped into the backseat with Peter.

None of them would ever do something likewhat they're insinuating which would deeply hurt Tony, our would have, had he survived.

She ignores the headlines, even if Peter can't.

"Welcome back, Spider-man!"

"New York doesn't need a hero!"

He doesn't ask Friday for numbers. He assumes it's about 60/40 percent, the 60 being the number of people who want him back. That's the results he's seen, anyway.

@Leffi12
My daughter wandered off when we were downtown - thank you Spidey for bringing her back to me!

@MiaMia2022
Finding these weird webs all over town. Guess Spidey's back.

@69Zoe
Come on, @DailyBugle, chill. Spidey didn't cause the end of the world. That was Thanos. Get your facts straight.

There's a lot out there. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, regular news websites. It starts out with claims of a potential copycat, but people clear that up fairly quickly.

@JaniceDoplin
Copycat my ass; our Spidey's back! He helped me get my Coco out of a ditch two years ago, and last night he stopped by with dog treats. #SpideyRemembers #SpideyisQueensHero

@LoganSpice
Spider-man spent the entire day with our kids here @BlackWidows and she says he's the OG. I believe in Black Widow and Spider-man. Thank you, heroes!

So many have horrible things to say about him and Pepper, and so many have wonderful things to say. It comes to a point he's not sure who to listen to.

Pepper says, "Don't listen to all that garbage. They'll always say what they want to say. That doesn't make it true."

@1Leorn12
Two years ago Spidey walked me home after drinking too much. If it weren't for him, who knows where I'd be. #Spideyrules.

It sets off a hashtag in his honour.

Peter clicks off his phone and finally manages to find sleep.

The people will talk; he can't help that. He'd learned that the moment he'd decided to go into superhero-dom years ago. Now he has shadows following him and he has to find his place. Is he an Avenger? Sort of. Is he following in Tony's steps? Sort of. He likes to consider himself his own person, but in a world of precedence, he has to be 'like' someone. He'll do all he can to be like Tony, rather than anyone else.

Chapter 27: Senior Year

Chapter Text

His senior year of high school starts and ends with a fight.

Here is where it starts.

The new year's just begun, he's got his classes with people he now knows though still doesn't talk to. Teachers are already talking about college applications and scholarships and are referring students to the guidance counselor for help.

People talk, he's learned. And not just online.

It had started last winter, when pictures went up online of him in Pepper's presence. There were questions about it, a few classmates asked and he answered as plainly as possible. It wasn't as overwhelming as it could have been, since he'd already had a history with the Starks. Talk about his internship is still ongoing, Cindy has asked if it's still a thing and he nodded to make his life easier.

However, he'd found, back then, that most of his fellow students had enough going on in their lives that they'd left him in peace.

After an extra year to get used to their new lives, Senior Year feels almost like school used to, before the Snap. Students know each other, they know the teachers; everyone's back to their cliques and patterns and good spirits.

Walking the halls, he's heard all sorts of things.

"Saw those pictures over the summer of Parker with the Stark kid... I guess the internship changed into a babysitting gig? How do I get that kind of job?"

"Peter was hanging out at the Black Widow Orphanage this summer, suppose that's a perk that comes with being some rich widow's latest plaything."

"They say that Tony Stark was fighting Thanos in space. Well, there was a great Youtube video I saw the other day that says it might be one giant conspiracy, between Pepper Potts and his security guy."

Oh god, conspiracy theories. There's a lot of those. The lizards did it, all the people have been abducted to create a new and superior race of 'humans', it was aliens (okay that one's actually true).

Peter doesn't pay the words any attention. Mostly. Usually. He does his best to have tough skin and not let the words affect him. That's easier when the comments are about him, he's never cared much for public opinion. He spends more time trying to bring up Spider-man's reputation than his own.

He does not, however, take kindly to the words against Pepper.

It comes to a head in mid-September when school is back in swing and students are falling into old behaviours.

His first class was biology and that went as well as it usually does. He stops by his locker to switch his textbook out for physics and all the noises of the hall flood in. Combinations clicking into place, slamming metal locker doors, shoes scuffing on tiled flooring, and the gossip of his classmates. There's one conversation that comes to him louder than the rest the moment the name Pepper is mentioned and he zeroes in on it.

"I didn't think gold diggers were so determined. f*ck the old until their heart gives out? Nah. Pepper Potts went the extra mile. Screws her way to CEO, suddenly Tony Stark is conveniently Blipped, and she's got a lil' bastard but he's not around to confirm if it's his or not? Now she's got the entire Stark fortune and the business and there ain't a soul alive to take it from her."

"That's insane, bro. How many billions does she have now? Like, her great-great-grandkids are set."

"How much you want to bet the brat's not even Stark's? You know, all these pics around of that Parker guy suddenly in the picture, and he used to say he interned there... Maybe he got a little cozy with the boss' wife, you know what I'm saying?"

"Dude-"

Peter slams the idiot back against the locker he was standing in front of with his buddy and pulls him off his feet with a tight grip around his collar. His own locker is left hanging open, his backpack forgotten on the ground, and he stares daggers into the teenager's very soul. He must be a year younger, since Peter doesn't recognize him from any of his classes, but he's still taller than Peter is by a good couple of inches. That doesn't stop him from shoving him up until all of his weight rests in his grip.

"Hey, idiot-" he pulls him forward only to slam him back roughly. His friend has taken a couple of steps back and no one appears ready to interrupt him. "I'm only going to tell you this once so listen up. If you ever, ever, talk sh*t about Pepper or Morgan again and I hear about it, I'm going to make your life a living hell, do you understand?"

"f*ck you, Parker," the boy manages to spit out through being choked. "Looking out for your sugar mama?"

"No, I'm defending my mom, you sick f*ck."

There's something in the boy's expression that sits gross in his stomach. He drops him back to his feet and he stumbles to regain his balance. He decks him before he has a chance, mindful of his strength even if he'd love to see him fly through the wall.

"Eat dirt, asshole." The boy falls back against the string of lockers with a very bloody nose.

"Peter Parker!"

A teacher shouts his name and then he's hauled to the principal's office while the other boy makes a pitstop to see the nurse. He glares at anyone who meets his gaze on the trek there and hopes his message spreads. In the reception room, she has him sit on a stool next to the door of the principal's office while she talks to him first. A couple of minutes pass and the teacher leaves and Morita calls him in.

"Hello, Peter."

"Hi, Principal Morita." He sits back in the chair and sets his hands in his lap. He keeps his eyes on the placard on the desk with his name on it.

"What happened?" He asks tiredly. "Why did you hit another student?"

"Does it matter?" He shrugs, "The punishment's the same, isn't it?"

Morita sighs, "Tell me what happened, Peter."

"He was saying awful things about Pepper," he says. "I wasn't going to ignore it."

The principal is one of a handful of staff that knows that Pepper Potts is his guardian. He understands more what those words mean than anyone else in this school.

"And you resorted to violence?"

"I told him off, but... I knew it only insensitized him more and he wasn't going to stop and if you'd heard what he was saying, it-it made me so mad, and you know I'm not violent! I've never been in trouble for this sort of thing in my life and you know that."

"I do, Peter, which is why I'm confused by your behaviour. I also happen to know that you have amazing opportunities to get into a great college next year and this isn't the sort of thing you want on your record."

"I couldn't stand the disrespect, and I hate that I resorted to violence, but I'm not sorry for putting a bully in his place."

"Well, we'll discuss this further when Ms. Potts gets here. You can wait outside, I need to have a talk with Mr. Darcy. The nurse says the nose isn't broken, so we don't have to rush him to the hospital."

"Pity."

The principal shoots him a disapproving look and he huffs.

"Um. Why is Pepper coming? Aren't you just going to suspend me for a week or something?"

"We discuss the punishment with the guardian, and I need the full story. And yes, you're likely suspended, and you're going to need a ride home. Go on."

Peter takes a seat outside the door and the other boy walks by with a bandaged nose. They glare at each other but neither speaks to the other. He tugs his phone out of his pocket but there are no missed texts. After a five minute conversation, the boy's brought out of the office and left in a nearby conference room to keep them separated while they wait for both of their guardians to show up.

Pepper gets there first.

She steps in the entryway of the reception room and eyes him carefully in search of injury. Once she's figured there's none to be found, she sighs and approaches. He stands to meet her and she gives him a tight hug and then pulls back but keeps him at arms length.

"What's going on, Peter? He told me you got into some sort of altercation with another student?"

He doesn't meet her gaze.

"Sort of," he admits. "I punched a guy."

"What? Why would you do something like that?" Her hands squeeze his shoulders but he still won't look up.

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters!" She huffs gently and lets him go. She sits in the seat next to his and tugs on his arm to pull him back down. "Talk to me, honey. What happened?"

"I don't even know his name. He was saying horrible things and it pissed me off. I know I shouldn't have hit him, and I swear I won't do it again."

"What was he saying?"

He shrugs.

"Peter," she says tersely.

"He was just talking sh*t and I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, we don't have to do this here but we are talking about it."

She puts her purse in her lap and they wait. A father shows up for the other boy and the receptionist gets them all in the principal's office. Peter takes a seat and Pepper stands behind him. Mr. Darcy, the father, waits near the other chair but stares at Pepper uneasily. When the other student walks in, Peter feels smugly satisfied by the petrified look on his face when he spots her in the room. He swallows thickly and takes a seat next to Peter who tries not to grin.

"Welcome everyone, thank you Ms. Potts and Mr. Darcy for coming on such short notice. Unfortunately, there's been an incident here today."

"I'd say," the father says, "My boy has a broken nose."

"It's not broken, Mr. Darcy, the nurse has taken a look at it and it's fine."

"We'll see what a doctor has to say," he huffs.

"Of course," Morita placates. "I've listened to both sides of the story, and I'll reiterate it for the parents. Joshua was talking with a friend of his in the hallway. His words were disrespectful and derogatory of Ms. Potts, Peter's guardian. Peter overheard and pushed Joshua against the locker and then punched him. Is that accurate to say, boys?"

"Yes, sir," they agree.

He can feel Pepper's eyes on him.

"Joshua will be suspended for the rest of the day, and as this is Peter's first strike, he'll be suspended for three days."

"That sounds fair," Pepper says. Her gaze is on Mr. Darcy, smile steady and he only nods in agreement. She reaches into her blazer pocket and holds out a small piece of paper, "Here's my card. I'll cover any medical costs."

Peter's seen her covered in vomit and in pajamas and hair mussed from sleep and he forgets that she's probably the most powerful woman on earth. As obnoxious as an angry father might be, no one wants to make a bad impression in front of Pepper Potts, CEO. He takes her business card and quietly slips it into his pocket.

"Is that everything?" She asks, leading the conversation as she does in every room.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Thank you for involving me, I'll be sure to discuss this further with Peter at home and I assure you this won't be a problem again. Farewell, Mr. Morita, I'll have him back at school on Thursday."

Peter follows a quiet Pepper out of the room. Out in the now empty hall, as the next class has started, she turns to him.

"Your bag? Is it at your locker?"

"Yeah. I'll go get it and I'll meet you outside."

She nods and walks off without him. He's fairly sure she's angry, though she's not making it obvious. It's that silent rage he feels is going to blow up at him and he's not looking forward to it. He can only recount one time where May had gotten really angry with him (the day she'd found out he was Spider-man) and had mostly done the 'disappointed' thing since that worked better to keep him obedient. The only other adult of authority in his life, Tony, had gone off on him a handful of times for reckless behaviour, all well-deserved looking back. He has no idea what to expect from Pepper and that makes it somehow worse.

He finds his backpack still on the floor. He shuts his locker and heads out searching for Happy's car. Oddly enough, there is a black non-descript car, but the passenger window is rolled down and Pepper's behind the wheel. He slides in beside her and drops his bag at his feet.

"Where's Happy?" He asks.

"Watching Morgan."

"Oh." He droops in the seat and stares ahead, "I'm sorry you got dragged all the way out here."

She puts the car in drive and gets going before letting out a soft sigh and saying. "It's part of the whole guardian thing, though I am surprised it's come up at all. I didn't take you for the acting out type."

"I'm not. I've never done that before; I don't want to be that kind of person."

"I..." she taps her fingers against the wheel as she thinks. "I understand how difficult it might be to hear people bad-mouthing the people you're close to. I do, I really do, but you can't let them get to you. We're in the kind of position where it's going to be commonplace and if you let it get to your head now, it's never going to leave."

"But I don't want to get used to it either! I don't want to just sit back and let people talk trash about you because it's easier than telling them to back off!"

"You can't fight everyone, Peter, that's not how this works. You know that! You know the difference, I know you do. I know the kind of things people say about Spider-man, I've talked myself out of buying the Daily Bugle just to shut it down almost every other week, but that won't stop Jamieson from being a man on some obsessive mission to prove you're a menace. You never bother with any of that and I will not let you do it for me. I won't stand for it."

"If you'd heard-"

"I have heard, Peter! I've heard just as much, if not more, than you have. I have heard everything there is to hear about how much of a bad person I am. I have heard it all, Peter." She takes in a deep breath and Peter clamps his mouth shut.

He glances at her and her eyes are glistening.

"I don't give a sh*t what some 12-year-old brat says about me. I have a job to do, I have kids to raise, I am a grown ass woman and I don't need you defending my honour; I can handle myself. And I need you to focus on you. There is so much good you can do for the world, Peter. Tony used to tell me all about the things you wanted to build to help people. That stuff about using the nanotech for limb replacements? Genius - and we'll look into that after you're done school. You will put those kinds of people in their place in due time, I promise."

"I'm sorry, Pepper, I didn't... I wasn't thinking. I was just angry."

I'm defending my mom, you sick f*ck - he's not particularly proud of the cursing. He says her name and thinks back on those words and knows that in a way they're true. She'd adopted him; she's his official guardian and on paper that makes her his mother. He'd told her once he didn't want a new mom and he'd meant it, but... Aunt May had always been 'Aunt May'. That's who she'd always been to him. Even when she took on the mantle of guardian and cared for him like a mother, she was still 'Aunt' - that was the nature of the relationship.

He and Pepper have no prior relationship; she wasn't a friend or aunt or anything else. She was his mentor's fiancée. Now she's his guardian and he knows that's huge but it feels less accurate, especially now that she has a daughter that's his sister.

He doesn't tell her any of this, for now. He needs more time to think about it.

"You let your emotions pile up, and that's okay. It happens. But don't take it out on people that aren't worth your time. Go set stuff on fire or build something, that's what Tony always did. I've spent the past 2 decades advancing in a career that wanted me to stay at the bottom. There are still days where people are waiting for a man to show up at meetings, only to find out I'm the one in charge. It's discouraging, but you have to remember all the work you've put into who you are and they can't take that from you."

"Thanks. I'll try."

"It's not easy, especially not at first. If you ever want to rant, I'm all ears. Okay, kiddo?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Oh, and you're also very grounded."

"I figured."

Chapter 28: College Applications

Chapter Text

Pepper drops a stack of papers on the coffee table over his physics textbook and worksheet.

He's sitting on the floor with Morgan in his lap chewing on a rubber toy to soothe her teething. She's leaning against him and he has just enough space to reach out and do his homework, but he knows he gets hyper-focused and doesn't want her out of his sight if he can help it. Pepper lets him watch her alone often, like when she's off to cook or has a random evening meeting to attend, and he isn't risking being the one that lets the baby drink bleach or something.

"What's this?" He sets down his pen and looks up to see her proud expression.

"Friday tells me it's about time to start working on college applications. Early admission is always best to get yourself out there, at least that's what she says. I haven't been to college in a while," she admits, "and if you ask how long ago no one will ever find the body."

He laughs and shakes his head, "I bet you went from college to CEO."

"Atta boy," she teases.

"So? What are you thinking? Where do you want to start?" She grabs a throw pillow off the couch and joins him on the floor.

Peter won't ask if that's comfortable.

He moves aside his homework and repositions Morgan to face her mom on his right. She babbles around the toy and he bounces his knee to make her giggle. He brings the applications closer to him. He's going to do it digitally since that's easier, but it's nice to have the papers to look over. He skims them over and there's a lot of names he recognizes.

MIT, of course. And Yale and Stratford and California Institute of Tech and Harvard and Columbia. A lot of big names.

He'd grown up expecting to go to college on scholarships, it's almost dizzying to think he can go to these places without having to think twice about the cost. Apparently paying for his schooling is part of Tony's will and there's no point in him trying to talk Pepper out of it. How he'd gone from searching for scraps in junkyards to this, he still can't figure out.

"I, uh, yeah. Um. I don't know. These are... huge."

"I know, but you're top of your class in a STEM school, these are great fits for the sort of degree you're looking for. There's obviously some bias towards MIT in this household, but any of these are great options. Or you could also look out of country too. I just thought these might be a good place to start."

"I... don't know. I've been thinking maybe ESU. It has a good physics department."

"Well, it's... yes, I've heard that." She frowns, watching him carefully. "But that's... I don't want to say unambitious, Peter, but that's exactly what I'm going to say. You've never mentioned ESU before."

"I've been thinking about it more lately. I think it'd be good. I don't need a Harvard degree; I don't need some bigwig diploma. I know SI tends to prefer those, and I don't want to put you in a position where you think you need to hire me after school even if I don't qualify, but I'm okay not working here either, if that's what it comes down to. IT is a huge field; if I can't use my degree I could-"

"That's not what this is about, Peter. It makes no difference to me where you choose to go to school, this decision is purely for you. Am I going to offer you a job when you're done? Yes. But that's because you will do wonders for this company and if I let you go off to Oscorp, Tony's ghost is going to rise from the grave just to whine about it for the rest of my life."

They share a laugh at that and Morgan joins in. Peter leans down and kisses her head.

"Now, when I was printing these out I asked Friday for some suggestions, and she told me that you've often specifically stated you wanted to go to MIT. I don't know if you were saying it to make Tony happy, or if that's what you've always wanted, but if it is, then apply. There's no harm in doing so."

He fidgets and sets down the applications. He wraps his arms around Morgan to ground himself.

"I... yes. I've always wanted to go to MIT. I mean, it's where he went and look how awesome he was at literally everything! But I've just been thinking that maybe... I don't know. It's... far, don't you think?"

"Far? What do you mean?"

"It's far from here. From home."

"It's a 4 hour drive, that's not terrible."

"It's not convenient. What if something happens here?"

"Is this something you used to worry about, or is this new?" She asks gently, starting to follow where he's going with this.

"It's new," he admits. "I've just... I was off to MOMA when that spaceship landed. What if I was 4 hours away? I would have been alone and Mr. Stark would have been alone to save Dr. Strange and..."

"I see," she says. "You have Edith. You can summon a jet whenever you want; that'll get you here in no time."

"Very inconspicuous. Also - I know people aren't great when it comes to figuring out my identity, I really should have been outed by now, but someone's bound to wonder why Spider-man's suddenly showing up in Massachusetts from September to December, and then January to April."

"I don't imagine there's much need for Spider-man on a college campus."

"You never know! Would you rather I take on thugs as Spider-man or as Peter?"

"As neither, since you're asking."

He huffs and pouts. He pulls Morgan closer as a distraction and blows a raspberry against her cheek. She giggles and drops the toy on the carpet. He picks it back up and wipes the drool on his jeans and then hands it to her. She sticks in back in her mouth without pause.

"Okay, how about we both think about it some more? I'm sure we can figure something out that'll make you feel better about it. For now, how about we fill out some of these? There's no harm in applying; if you get accepted and you decide that's not where you want to go, you can always turn down the offer. I'll write up some referral letters for you, for the ones that need one."

"Boss? A general F.Y.I, Mr. Stark did have some referral letters stored in a folder called 'Peter's Hogwarts Acceptance Letter', if you would like to make use of them," Friday says, cutting in.

"That's perfect," she says. "Thank you, Friday."

"Why was he always so weird with naming things?" Peter asks with a soft smile.

"I have no idea. And no one could beat him when it came to acronyms."

The air gets heavy with memories and Pepper leans forward and brings the pile of applications towards her to break the tension.

"Okay, question 1 - 'First Name'."

"That's not a question."

"It's an empty field that needs filling."

"Fine. My first name is Beyoncé."

"Are you going to make this hard on purpose?" She jots down the actual response.

"That's the plan."

"Do you want me to have Friday print the ESU application too?"

"I'd like that. Thank you. I don't mean to be difficult, but-"

"Yes, you do."

"Yeah, I do. But I really appreciate you doing all of this. I know ESU isn't Stark worthy, so I don't mind applying for scholarships, if-"

"Shush. I'd pay for you to go to clown school if you wanted."

"Really?"

"I regret even saying it. Come on, back to this. Date of birth?"

He fakes a gasp, "Do you not know my birthday, Ms. Potts?"

"August 10th," she shoots him a pointed look after writing it. She doesn't do the year. "You just turned... 17, didn't you? Yeah, so that means... 2001? What the hell how is that even possible," she mumbles as she fills it in.

He'd had another very quiet birthday; a movie and a cupcake with a candle. Morgan threw up on him. Pepper got him a new backpack since he'd lost his during patrol and Happy threw a Big Mac at him. It was really nice. Even Rhodey had made it down for a visit. He'd made some pointed remarks about how wonderful MIT is, and it's as if everyone's waiting for him to make a choice he doesn't want to have in the first place.

He lets her fill out the first one before pointing out he'll have to do it online anyway and then she makes him go change Morgan's dirty diaper in retaliation.

He places her gently on the changing table and goes about it quickly, an expert in maneuvering her in and out of a onesie. He's too quick for the wiggly feet and Pepper gets him on changing duties as often as possible for efficiencies sake.

"What do I do, baby Stark? Do I do like your daddy and go to MIT? It's what I've wanted since I was a little boy and read your daddy's papers before I went to bed. But how can I go 4 hours away from this beautiful baby face, huh?" He squeezes her cheeks playfully and kisses them. She wriggles and laughs and her eyes are wide with joy.

She started crawling a week ago and it's like every time he looks away for a second she's grown some more.

The thought of being too far away to protect them terrifies him.

He'd been on some planet in space while May had faded to dust on Earth.

(Tony had faded in his arms and he still couldn't save him.)

There's still time to think about it.

Chapter 29: Just Breathe

Chapter Text

"Did you fight in space with Ironman?"

Spider-man saves all with no bias towards any age, race, gender, etc, etc. Fully family-friendly superhero - he even tries to help the bad guys when he can. He will admit to a soft spot for old ladies who offer to buy him food, and kids. Especially kids.

They're the future of the world; they're the purest form of human being that exists. Even if a good few of them are going to turn into assholes one day.

Space. Red dirt. Broken ships. "He did it."

They're also his biggest fans and he loves waving at them as he swings by and answering questions when he can and giving them high fives and hugs. A couple had homemade Spider-man costumes on Halloween and that must be the highest form of compliment there is. The younger they are, the more likely they are to be open with him and inquisitive and unabashedly excited to see him.

Young children will ask all sorts of questions.

Peter doesn't know how much of the battle against Thanos has been shared with the public and the young girl's question catches him by surprise. He's crouched on an advert, a bit higher than the average person and had only landed for a breather, and she's staring up at him with big eyes and a smile and her mother's watching from her side.

"Oh," he says smartly, no words coming to mind.

People are walking by and pointing and greeting him. His brain has shut off and Karen has to whisper him back to himself.

Space. "There was no other way." Falling and crashing.

"Peter, your heart rate is rising."

"Yeah, yeah, um... yeah. I did. I - I gotta go. Stay in school."

The words end mumbled. His hand reaches up and he presses down on the webshooter. His body moves him and it's muscle memory that gets him away from the child and the growing crowd. His hand gets shaky and his next shot misses.

"Crap!"

He catches himself before falling more than a handful of feet but his heart is suddenly in his throat and he uses his momentum to swing onto the first rooftop he can get to.

His feet don't catch him and he lands on his hands and knees.

Space. Ironman. "It's okay, kid." A broken moon, scattered into pieces around them.

With the area clear of civilians, the mask draws back and he takes in a deep, wet breath. It comes out shaky and it catches in his throat and he can't focus on his hands pressed against the cement beneath him. In. And out. In. And out. He turns it into a mantra as he tries to steady himself, but his entire body joins in the shaking and his face is soon wet with tears.

"Peter, you appear to be experiencing a panic attack. Would you like me to contact the boss?"

"The boss... the boss isn't alive anymore," he whispers and there's a wobble in his chin he knows means sobs are incoming. He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to push out the intrusive thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Peter. I was referring to Ms. Potts. Would you like me to call her? I also have multiple exercises that may help."

"No, no, just... stop talking. Please."

She doesn't say anything else.

When he blinks, he sees red. He blinks again and the grey cement returns. All the words said on that desolate planet hover in his thoughts and the memories hit like physical strikes. So suddenly he feels lost; he couldn't say if he was on Titan or in his bedroom in Queens. The loud New York City life is gone, and all that's left is Thanos and his sh*tty beliefs and Dr. Strange making some half-assed form of apology and Tony trying to reassure him as he crumbles to ash beneath his hands.

Space. "It's okay, kid." A helmet left behind.

It's okay, kid.

It's okay.

It's not okay. He doesn't know when it's last felt 'okay'.

It probably takes minutes before he comes back to the real world; he blinks and shakes his head and when he opens his eyes again the city is back and with its noise with it.

His face is streaked wet and his eyes sting and his strength feels depleted in a way it's never been since the spider bite. He forces himself to his feet, wipes his face, and orders the mask back into place. The noises grow muffled and it makes it easier to focus. Stark Tower is the tallest building in the city, he can see it from here and forces himself to start moving towards it. He's still shaking and he can't quite catch his breath, but he heads out anyway.

He can't cry himself to sleep on some person's rooftop.

He goes in through the garage. He's told himself, at least since his return to the suit, that it would be best if he wasn't seen climbing into random windows of Stark Tower, to put some distance between Spider-man and the Avengers. He also doesn't want to see anyone right now, not even Pepper or Morgan.

There's a change of clothes in the lab, from him switching from the suit to civilian clothing and back to test new features and sew the torn material. He pulls on the extra sweatpants and t-shirt and pulls on a hoodie for warmth. He tries to get his mind on other things.

"Peter, you appear to be experiencing a panic attack. Would you-"

"No, Friday! Don't hound me too, okay? I'm fine!"

His hand slams down on his desk a little too harshly and the sound is loud in the quiet room. Dum-E beeps in the corner, distressed by his distress.

"Yes, Peter," she says and there's nothing further.

As much as he often humanizes Tony's AI's and bots, he can't bring himself to feel guilty about this instance.

He takes his seat and opens a hologram of his current suit and stares blankly at it. His heart is still beating too quickly, he still can't catch his breath. He's a mix of nauseated and light-headed at this point. His hearing is catching the tiniest noises, attuned more than usual due to the adrenaline brought forward by the panic attack, and it feels like a jackhammer is being used right beside him with no way to power it off.

He's not sure when he moved from his stool to sit on the ground. He's got his arms wrapped around his legs and buries his face in his knees.

All of this sucks.

The word 'space' is an ever incessant echo in his brain and it's stupid and childish and he shouldn't have this kind of reaction to a little girl asking him an innocent question.

He's Spider-man; he's a hero. He's better than this.

After fighting the Vulture, and his stint being the bottom floor of a multi-story building, he'd had some issues with claustrophobia. He'd gotten over that. (Nor has he let himself be in a situation where that theory could be disproved). This... this can't be something that sits heavy in the back of his mind for the rest of his life. He can't live like this.

He's still rocking himself for comfort when Pepper strides through the elevator. She's out of her work clothes, wearing padded socks and pajamas and the lack of telltale heels clicking on tile catches his attention. He lifts his head and meets her gaze and he can't make his expression anything better than miserable.

She stops in front of him and holds out her hand.

"Come here, sweetheart."

He takes it and she helps him to his feet. She guides him to a sofa nestled against the wall near their desks that Peter, once upon a time, would curl up on after a long lab night with Tony when his mentor would get too distracted working and Peter couldn't bring himself away from his gentle mumblings. She sits and pulls him down by her side. Without saying anything, she wraps her arms around him and tucks him under her chin.

"It's okay, baby, it's okay," she whispers while one hand strokes his hair and the other rubs his back. Her grip is tight and she doesn't say anything else and he appreciates her gentle reassurance.

It's only in her arms that he finally manages to stop the shaking. His breathing evens out. The raging thoughts still.

She hums in a way that's calming and he holds her as long as he needs to, too exhausted to be ashamed or embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles once he's gathered himself. He doesn't let her go.

"Sh, it's okay." She runs her fingers through his hair. "Are you feeling better?"

He nods, face pressed against her shoulder.

"I don't want to rush you, sweetie, but I left Friday in charge of Morgan and we should head up before that goes badly."

He can't help the laugh and it's a nice contrast. He nods in agreement though can't force out any words yet. She gently untangles them but keeps an arm around his shoulders as she brings them upstairs. Morgan's in a little playset in the living room and she'd hardly noticed her mother's absence. Pepper sits them down on the sofa near her and pulls him back into her arms.

"Friday gave me a rundown of what happened, but do you want to talk to me about it?"

"Not really."

He feels her soft exhale, close to a sigh but not so loud. She draws back and places her hands on his cheeks, keeping their eyes locked.

"I'm not going to say you can't be Spider-man; that won't get me anywhere. But I am putting my foot down. You're going to a therapist, or I'm going to get micromanage-y about when and where you're going out in spandex."

He frowns but doesn't respond.

"You're not well, Peter. If you aren't going to take care of yourself, I'm not going to give you opportunities to feel like this. I'm talking extra monitors, turning Karen into the world's biggest tattle tale, and no going out past a certain time. I've left you to be independent, and don't make me take that away."

"I'll get better," he whispers, "I'll get over it. I just... It caught me by surprise."

"You won't just get over it, Peter!" She huffs, "If you keep at it the way you have, you'll turn out just like Tony."

"And is that such a bad thing?" He retaliates, pulling out of her grip.

"He wasn't always the man you got to know. There are decades of trauma that he struggled to overcome, and it wasn't until these last few years that he seemed to settle and want something from himself, and I don't want you in that same position. There are so many parts of Tony that I see in you, all the wonderful parts, but don't fall into that stubborn trap where you believe you can fix yourself without any help. The things you've lived through, the things you'll do, they'll take their toll on your mental health and you need to take care of yourself now before you get to a point of no return."

He stares down at his lap.

"While you're in my care, I'm not going to let you torture yourself. I'm the adult here, Peter. Trust that I know what I'm talking about."

"I do," he mumbles. He nods, "Okay. I'll go see a therapist, but I don't think they'll be able to help."

"I promise you there are therapists for superheroes out there, and I'll find one. Then I'll make them sign NDA's as long as any company's Terms and Conditions."

"Thank you."

"Alright, what do you say to a quiet night in, hm? We can put on a cartoon and I'll order something in."

"That sounds nice," he agrees.

He falls asleep about halfway through 'Treasure Planet' with his head in her lap and her gently petting his hair. In all this time, sometimes he still needs to remind himself that no matter how much he's lost, no matter how frightened he might be of things he considers trivial though anyone else wouldn't, he's still got Pepper in his corner looking after him.

Chapter 30: Turning in Applications

Chapter Text

Peter knows there's plenty of time before college applications are due. Different schools have different deadlines, some even allow late admission, but the pressure is there the longer he stares at the pile of papers sitting on the dresser in his bedroom.

He's got several pages bookmarked on his old laptop he's managed to get mostly functional from spare parts around the various storages in the building. He has several applications almost completed and saved with half-typed out essays and waiting to be finalized. Pepper had handed him a credit card to pay the admission fees and it's all sitting still for him to just finish what he'd started.

He shuts his laptop once again and heads out to the living room to play with Morgan. She's not walking yet, but she's getting really good with the crawling and he keeps her close while they play with blocks.

Pepper makes them lunch and sets food down on the coffee table, out of Morgan's reach, and takes a spot on the sofa. There's some cartoon playing in the background and it's cozy.

"How're the applications coming along?" She asks. She knows there's been no charge yet to her credit card and that tells her what she really needs to know.

"It's fine," he says distractedly. He pulls the 'H' cube out of Morgan's mouth and switches it for an actual teething toy.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about," she says, straight to the point. "I got everything signed off yesterday and wanted to tell you as soon as possible. Come on up here." She pats the spot beside her.

He grabs the toys and Morgan and sits down with her in his lap.

"What is it?"

"What do you think of this?" She brings out her phone and shows him a series of photos from her gallery.

It's pictures of a small house, or cabin, he's uncertain.

"It's a three bedroom, and one and a half bathroom. There's a small basem*nt for storage and it's right next to a lake."

It's rustic looking, very much not New York City style. She shows him a big kitchen with wooden cabinets, a couple of empty bedrooms painted white and ready for moving in, a nice bathroom with a bath and a stand-up shower, and a beautiful view of a lake. The building is surrounded by trees and there's a spot for a garden. It's unfurnished and clean and he's not sure why she's showing him this.

"It's nice?" He offers.

"I hoped you'd like it since I bought it," she says with a smile.

"Oh! Yeah, it's really nice," he says with extra enthusiasm to make up for the lack of it a moment ago. "Is this like one of those summer cottages?"

"No, I was thinking more permanent."

"Um."

He glances around, and her smile grows wider at his obvious confusion.

"And I mean permanent-permanent."

"You want to... move out of the Tower?"

"Yes, and no. I'm keeping the Tower, people are still going to work here, Happy is going to be in charge of the building's security, but the three of us are going to be here starting next June."

"And where is 'here'?"

"This is in Massachusetts. Conveniently a fourty-five minute drive from MIT's campus." She looks very proud of herself.

"Uh..."

"I know, right? I couldn't believe the find, either."

"But - but what about... everything!"

She puts down her phone and turns her body more towards him, "You were worried about being too far, and now we won't be. It's still nearly an hour, but at least we won't have to fight with New York traffic. And before you get into it, yes, I wanted this for me, too."

"How so? Your entire career is here."

He's completely blind-sided by this entire conversation. His anxieties start to creep in at the thought she would do something so huge because of some of his insecurities. He should have just applied to ESU and convinced her that's what he wanted.

"That's true, but that's not my entire life. I've thought a lot about this and I'm not sure I want Morgan to grow up here. I'm never going to stop worrying, but I don't want that stress of knowing that the city is so much more dangerous for her than we would be outside of it and not doing something about it. I'm ready to put being a mom first. I'll still be CEO, I'll still go off on business trips and attend some meetings, but Facetime exists and there are a lot of responsibilities I can give to others, I've just always trusted myself to do them the best."

"Oh."

"So I want you to apply to MIT with that reference letter, and when you get accepted we'll celebrate properly."

"What if I get rejected?"

"Then I'll find another place to buy close to wherever you choose to go."

"What if I don't want to go to college?"

"We both know that's not true."

"You can't just..."

"You'll find, Peter, that I can and I will." She reaches up and pinches his cheek affectionately. He pouts in fake annoyance. "I don't want my daughter growing up in a place where she can't go outside without bodyguards. There's even a school close by for when she gets older."

"Okay, but... what about Spider-man? I can't leave Queens for years."

"And you won't. We'll figure it out - a jet from the new place to here won't be as obvious and you can split your time. The Tower is still going to be one of our homes, but at this point, it's just not what's best for either of you."

The appointments with the psychiatrist Doc Samson, who came highly recommended by Dr. Banner, are going over fairly well. He's signed NDA's, his superhero persona is safe and he shares what he can. It's not easy, he's still at a point where there's only so much he wants to say, but it's a pressure off his shoulders that had been weighing him down too long. Leaving New York City, not completely, but having that safe space far from crowds and danger is going to help. That claustrophobia he pretends doesn't exist? He's realizing maybe he's just gotten so used to feeling trapped from his time in the city, that the near-constant tingle at the base of his neck actually isn't normal.

"And you really want this? This isn't because of me?"

"It's for you, and Morgan. And me. I need this space away, Peter, and I know you need it as much as I do. Let's take this time to settle as a family; Stark Industries isn't going anywhere."

He reaches out with one arm, the other holding his sister still, and he hugs her tightly. They'll all be better for this reprieve.

"Thank you."

As much as he wouldn't recommend this to others, neither would Pepper, he only submits one application. He attaches Tony's letter of recommendation and he can't help but ask Friday, "When was this put together?"

"It was completed November 26th, 2015."

A month or so after that horrible Homecoming; that's when they'd started figuring out the base of their relationship, and where it was headed. That's around when the 'internship' become Internship.

He waits anxiously for MIT's response.

Chapter 31: Baby's First...

Chapter Text

Pepper offhandedly says, "Friday, keep track of anything important Morgan does," about a month after her birth.

The AI obediently does exactly that.

Friday has an ever-expanding folder saved with video files of all of Morgan's 'firsts' - the internet identifies those as important.

July 12th - Morgan rolls over from her back to her stomach for the first time. It's during playtime and Peter smiles though he doesn't know enough to know that it's a big deal.

August 1st - Pepper adds baby food to her diet and she spits out the mashed carrot flavoured mush. Her little bib is covered in orange guck and Peter sticks out his tongue in distaste. He's changed her diaper loads, but the puking and spit up doesn't sit well with him yet.

August 13th - She sits up in her crib and looks for her stuffed llama and then falls back asleep. No one is around to see this moment and Friday saves it to her records and shares it with Pepper in the morning.

September 9th - The hint of a tooth pokes out of swollen pink gums. Pepper gushes over it and Peter tries to share in her enthusiasm. He gives Morgan a teething toy they'd frozen and she chews at it happily.

October 3rd - Morgan starts crawling and they double-check their babyproofing now that she's actually a danger to herself. Friday offers some pointers and they add some additional locks.

October 7th - Pepper puts down some chopped up banana on the tray attached to her high chair and Morgan shoves a piece in her mouth. It's the first time she feeds herself.

October 28th - While Pepper is away on her business trip to Vancouver, Peter hears Morgan babbling in what almost sounds like words. It's almost 'mama' and Peter continues to whisper the word to her in the hopes that that will be her first real word.

December 15th - Morgan finally says her first word and it's 'mama'. Pepper texts everyone she knows and Friday saves over 2 hours worth of footage on this particular day. Peter thanks his little sister for making her mom so happy.

December 25th - It's her first Christmas; the Stark's spend the morning doing volunteer work as they had last year. Once they're home, with Rhodey and Happy joining for dinner, that's when Morgan says her second name. She's been babbling for the past week or so with sounds that are almost words, but she clearly says 'Pe-er' while reaching for him and Peter is still a teenage boy and laughs. It takes her a while to figure out the 't' sound. Friday keeps the two minutes where he kisses her repeatedly and then holds her out in Lion King fashion, declaring himself 'second favourite'.

January 20th - Morgan pulls herself to her feet using the couch for support. Pepper watches anxiously with her arms out to catch if she falls. She does, landing on her butt, but she laughs and Pepper joins in.

January 26th - On a Saturday, Peter and Pepper sit on the floor trying to get Morgan to walk from one to the other. She gets halfway, taking some first real unsupported steps, falls, and then crawls the rest of the way. They try for a while, but she's more enthused at the idea of playing than she is by walking.

There are so many firsts that come before her first birthday.

By March 4th, 2019, she's getting the hang of taking a few steps, using the couch or tables or family members for support. She says 'mama', 'Pe-er', 'yes', 'no', 'hello', and a few things that reference some of her favourite foods and toys. She sleeps through her nights, but will sometimes get into terrible crying fits if either Pepper or Peter go to leave her at random times of the day. She's not fond of him leaving for school, but she's gotten used to the routine and seems to have realized he always comes back; now when he leaves he gives her a kiss and she waves and says something that's almost 'bye-bye'.

A few days after her birthday has passed, Friday interrupts Pepper in the middle of putting food in the oven.

"Boss? There are a couple of updates that need to be done to some programs that the staff uses which is linked to my database."

"Go ahead with any updates, Friday. I approve them."

"The updates must be manually completed through my mainframe, as a safety protocol put in place by Mr. Stark when he first designed me."

"Oh, I see. Hum."

Pepper considers herself fairly tech-savvy, especially for someone who didn't grow up in a high tech environment, but that seems a bit out of her scope. She wanders from the kitchen and pokes her head into the living room where Morgan is playing with a stick and a sock and Peter's trying to do homework.

"Peter, sweetheart, can you do something for me?"

"Of course, what's up?"

"Friday says there are some updates for a few programs we use across the building, but they need to be done manually. Do you think you can do that for me? I know how to click an 'update' button, but that's as far as my knowledge goes on the matter."

Peter laughs softly, "Yeah, no problem."

He puts down his homework and pen and heads out, leaving Morgan under Pepper's watchful gaze. She's completely entertained by putting the sock on the stick and then taking it off; over and over.

The mainframe is on its own floor, the highest security protecting it. It's connected directly to the arc reactor powering the entire building. He doesn't need Friday to tell him he absolutely doesn't have access to this floor; he doubts anyone but Pepper does. She's approved this stop with Friday, and the door opens for him after he inserts his 7-digit passcode. It's a random series of numbers that changes after each use - Tony gave him the equation when he first got his code and has to math it out. It's only used for the garage and this floor, that he knows.

Everything else works on facial and fingerprint recognition. After a fight with a god that can shapeshift, Tony had added some extra security measures for what was most important in the building.

He takes a seat behind the only desk in the warm room. There are fans keeping it cool, but he can still feel the heat radiating off the tall mountains of hard drives. He boots it up and several holograms appear, showing various folders and drives.

"Mr. Parker, please input your security code."

A holographic keyboard appears and before he can open anything there's a prompt for his code.

"Again?"

He puts in his code and the prompt fades out, now everything is in front of him ready for the investigating.

"Friday, bring up the programs that need updating."

There are four of them; each of them showing him notes to compare the old version to the new one, what the changes will entail, and the impact on using the programs. Two of them are minor upgrades, updating speed and removing system glitches, regular patches. He puts those through without a second thought.

The third involves a price hike per user key occurring in the next month. The per-person price is not outlandishly higher, but when Friday shows him the total cost from the before and after, he draws back. He can't possibly make that decision.

"Okay, can you check in with Pepper if she wants to go with the update? We could always use a different system. I'm not familiar with finance tracking software, but I'm sure there's a cheaper one out there."

In a few seconds Pepper's face appears in front of him, using her phone to facetime him from upstairs.

"Hi, sweetie! Friday told me one of the programs is increasing the price, is that right?"

"Yeah, by fifty bucks, and we've got about fourty thousand users on it."

"So what are you thinking?" She asks.

"Pe-er! Pe-er!" Morgan squeals excitedly and her hands reach for the phone. Pepper holds it out but turns it so that Morgan can see him.

"Hi, Morgan!" He waves. He turns his eyes to Pepper, "I'm not sure? It's kind of expensive compared to the other programs we're using, but I can see why based on what we need it for. There might be other programs out there that do the same thing and might be more affordable."

"Let me give you a professional's advice. One of the reasons Stark Industries has strived so long, and why we haven't taken a hit like thousands of other companies after the Snap, is because Tony, and his father as much as I hate to admit it, were futurists. They believed in the long term goals. Yes, it'll cost more right out the gate. If we were a startup company with less assets, we would definitely want to be shopping around. As it is, we've been using this particular program for years because it's the best there is. We have the funds for it, and in the long term we save by having a user friendly tool, one that requires very few updates and patches, and one that comes with a competent IT team for when we need them. It takes us about three hours to train someone to use this program, compared to the next best which takes nearly two workdays.

"Now, with that, what do you think we should do?"

"Well, in that case obviously we want to accept the new update and cost."

"I thought you'd see it my way. Call me again if you have more questions, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" He does a salute. "Bye-bye, Morgan!"

She waves and babbles what's almost a response.

The call closes and he goes back to work. He approves the third update and moves on to the last one. This one will actually have a small interface change and approves the update but post-pones when it goes live. He sends the information off to Pepper for her to notify the employees that use this particular program of the change before it occurs.

It all feels very grown up and he's flattered and humbled by her trust in him.

While here, he snoops, just a little bit. It's in his nature to be curious, he can't help it. He finds loads of notes for Spider-man suits, some he'd never seen before. There's one design with something in the center of its chest that's no spider emblem. It's circular, and he zooms further in for details and finds it's a power source, much the same as Ironman's. Notes pop up about using an actual miniature arc reactor and that's... Something. The suit is bulkier, far more tech than relying on his abilities. Interesting. He forwards all those to his personal files to look over later.

He flicks through folders.

There's a lot about the business itself, stockholders, investors, a lot of stuff he knows little about. There's a lot about the arc reactor itself, he finds complete schematics which he quickly closes.

"Friday, can I add an extra password to that? Just... seemed a bit easy to get to."

"If you like. Keep in mind the boss will be able to override it."

"But no one else?"

"That's correct."

"Good. I'll add one."

He adds in a password, just to ease his worries. He doesn't work too hard on it - anyone who would manage to get this far would expect to be bypassing a Tony password, not a Peter password, and he's sure they probably look very different.

He continues through.

There is. So. Much.

Tony was apparently a hoarder of all things. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of pictures of Pepper and Happy and Rhodey. Some from college days and Peter smiles softly at a younger Tony standing next to Rhodey with his diploma in hand. There are also thousands of songs, ranging from Queen back in the 70s to Kesha's 'Tik Tok' from 2009. Dozens of half-started projects and research endeavors; he forwards himself a few non-weapon related ones that he wants to further develop.

He's surprised to find a folder that has a last update date from last week titled 'Morgan M. Stark, 03/04/2018 to Present' and he pops in there. It's videos and pictures of Morgan. Everything from birth to now that Friday has stored from her own footage, or anything Pepper saves on her phone.

He clicks open the oldest file and it's a picture of the three of them that Happy had taken, and later sent to Pepper, on the day Morgan was born. Pepper looks exhausted, but there's still that pregnant glow about her. Morgan was so tiny; he zooms in to her little face and wonders how a year has gone by already. He's there with his arms wrapped around both of them and there's a huge smile on his face.

Soon he has dozens of open files all around him, different pictures and videos all from the past 12 months. He has a couple videos playing while muted and the one he has with audio is from Christmas. A folder slips into the corner of his eye that he didn't move and he hesitantly swipes the air to clear everything else and moves it to the center of his field of vision. It's using the same style of title and has written under the little folder icon, 'Spider-Baby, 04/12/2015 to Present'.

That's two months before he'd met Tony. Or Tony had come over claiming a fake internship and then flew him over to Germany to fight some of the Avengers. They met in very strange circ*mstances, he's starting to realize as he grows up. He's not sure if he should open the folder. It's probably just more suits, better categorized and stored.

"You may have interest in this folder," Friday interrupts. "It has a similar function as Morgan's."

He obeys the AI and taps the icon.

A list of thousands of files appears; pictures, video recordings, audio recordings, diagrams, and schematics, and various other things. He goes to the oldest and finds a few recordings stolen from the internet, anything relating to Spider-man's first outings to the city. There's him swinging in his first awful suit - he's really lucky he didn't get killed in that thing. Catching a bus, climbing a tree and rescuing a cat, stopping car thieves. It moves on to developing the first iteration of his suit. It went through a lot of changes before it got to him, apparently.

There's actual internship documents, his school schedule and grades which is strange though he knows Tony had done his research to find him. In that time range there's an audio recording that he opens up and it's... sobering, hearing Tony's voice.

"... what the f*ck is that stuff made of? Anytime I go for a sample it's gone. It's got to disintegrate. Silk? I hope that stuff doesn't come out of him, that'd be weird. Real spiders do silk, but the tensile strength is astronomical." He rattles off a few options and then curses again. "Screw it. I'll just get the kid to tell me. End recording."

He wipes away a stray tear.

After that there are similar types of ramblings, more stuff for suits, more things about Peter. The start is very formal and professional. It's more about Spider-man than it is about Peter, although there's plenty about him too. Then it goes further and there's pictures of the two of them, random recordings of them in the lab or chatting in the elevator.

"Why was this saved?" Peter asks.

"For the same reason I'm cataloging Morgan's progress; Mr. Stark considered these moments special and requested to keep them."

"He thought me not shutting up about decathlon practice for over thirty minutes important?"

The video is paused in one corner of the hologram's field of access. It's them in the lab working on some Spiderbots he wants to get together and he's going on and on about how practice had gone and he has no idea how this would have any future relevance.

"I can't say for certain, but I would suggest it's for the same reason the boss has kept this."

A video pops up of Morgan babbling in Pepper's arms.

Peter laughs, "Rude!"

He swats away the video and keeps going, not bothering to get into the 'why'. The person who could explain isn't alive anymore. He finds the picture taken of them with his actual official Internship certificate and forwards that one to himself. He has a printed version in his bedroom, sitting next to one of him with May and Ben when he was younger, but he'll keep the digital copy too. Tony still kept a copy of his grades for every semester, a little note attached to the last one to help him with Spanish if he continues to take it since that's his least performing class.

He hadn't bothered taking it in his last year.

It's really a catalog of random moments of them together, anything that could be considered remotely intimate.

He's got glasses tucked into his shirt that has access to all things Stark and he's built himself a watch around Tony's work, and Pepper has told him before that Tony had seen him something akin to a son.

This isn't where he'd expected Pepper's request to go, but he's glad for it. There's an extra closeness to Tony that hadn't been there before, with the knowledge of his love shown through unorthodox means. Not for the first or last time, he wishes he were here, but he can't be. There's no bringing him back; not even the greatest minds could come up with some sort of solution.

Nebula had had no ideas, nor Bruce or Rocket or Natasha. No one has any plan to fix what's been broken, not now that their only ability to fix the damage was destroyed. At least he can keep Tony through these pictures and videos; he gets to hear his voice. He gets his daughter as a sister and his fiancée as a mother.

"Alright, what's shut down procedure here, Fri?" He asks, closing down any open files.

"Shut down initiated."

The hologram shuts off and the room suddenly grows dark.

He heads upstairs and smiles when his sister excitedly shouts for him, not quite managing her 't' sound yet.

Chapter 32: Dear Peter...

Chapter Text

The letter comes in the mail in a thick orange-ish envelope and Pepper lays it on the table in front of him.

"So."

"So." He takes in a deep breath and takes it in shaky hands.

After a long pause of staring at his own name and the Tower's address, Pepper nudges him, "Open it. Don't keep me waiting!"

It's almost too quick; he's fairly certain only one classmate so far has gotten their letter. She'd been accepted, but that doesn't make him feel better. Maybe they'd opened his application, saw his awful essay and maybe they thought the letter was fake and they instantly rejected him. He tries to take another steadying breath and then tears open the top. He pulls out the stack of papers.

"Dear Peter, on behalf of the Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MIT class of 2019!" It starts off slow and then his tone gets higher as he reaches the verdict. He drops the papers and throws himself into Pepper's arms.

She's beaming and her grip is tight. "Oh my god, Peter! That's amazing, I'm so proud of you!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

She takes his cheeks in her hands and presses multiple kisses to his forehead and cheeks, leaving a lipstick stain she rubs away with a laugh.

"I knew you could do it, Peter! May and Tony would be so proud too."

He knows that's true and it only makes him happier. No matter the financial struggle, May had always told him to shoot for his dreams, and Tony would have done anything (probably less legal things too, though thankfully not necessary) to see him wherever he chose. If they're looking down on him, he knows he's made them proud.

She takes a picture of him with his acceptance letter and then he runs off to grab Morgan.

"Morgan! Your big brother's going to MIT, just like daddy, what do you say to that?" He pulls her into his arms and kisses her cheek.

"Yay!" She cheers for something she doesn't understand. "Pe-er!" She claps her hands together in joy.

He spins around in place with his arms out and she laughs and insists he keeps going. Pepper comes in to interrupt them, placing her hands on her hips until they settle down.

"Since this is such a celebratory moment, I was thinking we go out for dinner. What do you say? Got any favourites?"

He brings Morgan in close again and sets her on his hip. He ponders the question for a moment but settles where he usually does.

"Well, there was this Thai place me and May used to go to sometimes."

"Alright then. Friday, can you ask Happy if he's available to drive us?"

"Yes, boss."

"Perfect. While we wait, I'm going to call Rhodey."

Peter continues to play with Morgan while Pepper gushes about his acceptance to a very receptive Rhodey. He cheers and offers his congratulations for his excellent choice in schooling.

"I knew he'd make the right choice," he says. "He'll be running the show in no time. Tony... he'd be real happy. He always talked about the kid following in his footsteps."

"He would," she agrees. "We're going out for dinner to celebrate."

"Don't let me keep you. Spider-boy needs his nutrients after all. I'll take to you soon; tell the kid he's done good."

"I will, bye Rhodey."

"Later, Pep."

Happy makes the drive with no complaint, as happy as the rest of them are once he hears the news. In the car, Pepper texts Natasha to let her know as well, since she's apparently taken an interest in Peter's wellbeing, even more so after spending a few weeks with him over the past summer.

Morgan's buckled into her car seat and Peter makes faces at her. She hasn't been in the car much; mostly doctor's appointments and the like. They've kept her socialized mostly by having her meet a bunch of people throughout the building. Pepper has a lot of anxiety about letting her out of their home. Tony had a lot of enemies, and so did Ironman. There are those who won't hesitate to go after his family in some skewed version of vengeance.

The restaurant brings out a high chair and Happy joins them around the table. It's a waiter that Peter doesn't recognize, but none of the employees seem overly preoccupied by Pepper's presence and treats the group with normal respect. A few people are staring, wondering if it's truly the Pepper Potts. She pays them no attention and Peter follows her lead.

They have a nice dinner. Morgan behaves almost the entire time, getting into a cranky fit towards the end and Pepper pulls her into her lap and she settles down. She falls asleep in the car ride home.

Over a year after moving in with Pepper, this was their first real outing. They really should do more together, get them all out of the house for a little while. That little place out in the middle of nowhere is going to do them all a lot of good, he thinks. Even if he's going to be spending most of his time on MIT campus (which he still hasn't quite wrapped his mind around), he needs to make more family time.

May always did her best to take him out whenever she could, either to dinner or to a movie she pretended to like. He's going to get busier and busier and he has to make time for them when he can.

Back home, he trails after Pepper as she puts Morgan to sleep. Once Pepper steps back, he steps into her newly vacant spot and gives Morgan a kiss and hands her her favourite toy, a stuffed llama.

"Goodnight, Morgan. Sleep tight."

They head out together, shutting the light behind them. Morgan is exhausted enough not to cry or put up a fuss. Happy only dropped them off, shooting another congratulation his way, and then left for home. The two of them head to the living room to watch t.v in the now late evening hours.

"Thanks for dinner, Pepper."

"It's the least I could do for your accomplishment, Peter," she says, eyes on the television. "I know I'm not your person of choice, but I hope I could make it special for you. I know how much this means to you."

"You're exactly who I would want to share this with. Sure there's more, but you wouldn't be off the list." He shifts over closer to her side and she wraps an arm around his shoulders.

"Thanks, sweetheart." She kisses his temple.

They watch several episodes of Brooklyn 99 and then make their way to bed. He puts his acceptance letter on his dresser and reads it over in the morning to make sure it was real.

In a few months, it's time for college and a new chapter of life.

Chapter 33: Ironman's Son

Chapter Text

Pepper takes about a thousand pictures, if he were asked to give an estimate.

Senior year's come to a close. Pepper gives him a new suit to wear to the graduation ceremony, ignoring the fact it'll be hidden under the gaudy blue robes. She's dressed in a nice red dress and Morgan's been stuffed into a suit of her own because she insisted on dressing like Peter. What hair's managed to grow out of her head is tied into two tiny pigtails poking outwards with short strands.

Every student was allowed to invite four people to the event, more than previous years due to the extra space the Snap has given the school, and he's bringing Pepper, Morgan, Happy, and Rhodey who's made the time to come down.

"We really should get going, or we'll be late," he points out, trying to slip away from her phone lens. Morgan's in his arms, she'd wanted a picture of them together, and the two men are already waiting at the car for them.

"I know, I know. Just..." she sighs. "You're graduating already! You'll be 18 in two months, an actual adult. You're making me feel really old."

He laughs, "You've also got a fifteen-month-old, that counts for something, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I've got another 18 years of troublemaking ahead of me. Off we go, Mr. Parker."

They manage to get into the car with little fuss from the toddler and a bit of fuss from the mom and eventually make their way to the school. Peter has to part from his family to join his classmates and he leaves with hugs and kisses. He slides in next to Cindy, one of few people he still talks to regularly. His stunt of punching a junior earlier in the year had spread all sorts of rumours that had taken a long time to quell down, but he hadn't bothered trying to make friends either.

They're bundled into rooms while gowns and caps are distributed. He wraps himself in the really awful material and follows everyone's lead. They're then ushered into alphabetical order and he steps into the 'P's obediently and walks out to a slightly static song playing over the auditorium speakers.

There's a cluster of chairs on the stage in long rows for the students, and the families are gathered in the cushiony audience seats. They come in through the back and walk through the center aisle; they make their way around to the stage and take their seats in some semblance of order. A few away from his is Cindy in the 'M's and she shoots him a thumbs up that he returns.

He looks out into the crowd in search of his family, but he's in the center of the students and there's only so much he can see above their heads. He leans back in his chair and waits. It's almost easier this way, not having to see who's here and who isn't. So many people around him are in the same position and the speakers (the Principal, a couple of teachers) mention it. He'd rather they didn't.

They were just two years away from this. The two year anniversary has recently passed and he still hasn't gone to the memorial site.

Back at fifteen, he thought about his graduation more as a way to finish high school, rather than as the ceremony it held. He'd never imagined himself up here in the gown taking a picture with May and Tony, but now that it's out of reach he wants nothing more. He's going to have a nice picture of him with Pepper and Morgan, and it'll still be special but it won't be the same.

He imagines them out there in the audience, cheering him on. May would be crying. He thinks, now so much more knowledgeable about his mentor, that Tony might have cried too. At least gotten a bit misty-eyed, maybe. He'd have been real proud of his entrance to MIT and would have taken all the credit (teasingly). His classmates would have been jealous, he thinks, mind far away from Morita's speech. With May the prettiest woman there because she was always the most beautiful person in every room, ignoring Peter's bias. And Tony Stark, of course, personally attending some random teen's graduation like no one should think twice about it.

The speeches go by and then they present the diplomas to each person, calling one name after another.

It feels like it takes forever to get to him, and he knows there's a long while to go after his name.

Then it'll be go time.

He steps out front, shakes hands with the principal, takes his diploma and turns to the crowd to smile. He searches through the hundreds of faces and finally finds them, sat near the front to the side. Pepper's between the two men, with Morgan sitting in her lap. She's bouncing her to keep her occupied, hard to keep her focused for so long without her getting cranky otherwise. They cheer and his chest fills with warmth; there could have been no one. He's got people, loved ones, even if he feels alone sometimes.

Rhodey's taking pictures since Pepper has her hands full. Happy's clapping and might be wiping his eyes? He's definitely poking fun at him later. As soon as Morgan spots him her hands go out to grab him, not quite realizing that he's much further than she thinks. He sees her mouth move and it's her attempt at his name.

There's a zip in his spine and he glances around and nothing's amiss. He knows it's the nerves. He wants to get off this stage and go to them and leave, but it's not time yet.

He goes back to his seat with his diploma. He shoves it under his seat for the time being and tries not to zone out too much.

It takes another solid twenty minutes for the rest of the people to get up front, take their pictures, and get back to their seats.

Now it's go time.

Pepper had been overjoyed to learn he'd been chosen as valedictorian. He'd hesitated to tell her he didn't want to do the speech, not one for public speaking, but she'd been reassuring and kind about it. She'd convinced him, with all the best intentions, to go through with it. He'd regret it later in life, she told him, and he'd relented. She helped him with the speech and sat with Morgan as he practiced. It was the most awkward minutes of his life, but she was patient and genuinely helpful with great advice.

It helped that Morgan cheered every time and made him feel pretty good about his awful public speaking skills.

If he does this terribly, at least he's got four fans in the audience.

They call him up.

"Now we would like to bring forward our 2019 class valedictorian. This young man was chosen for a multitude of reasons. In his time here at Midtown, he's lead the Decathlon team to victory two years running, is currently resting at a 4.9 GPA and top of his class, and is the recipient of the Stark Industries September Foundation Internship. He also will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall. Please give a warm welcome to Peter Parker!"

He walks to the podium and stares out into the crowd. His speech was pre-printed and is sitting there in case he needs it. He has it memorized, but the reassurance is what's most needed.

The hairs on the back of his neck are prickling with nerves. He glances out at the hundreds of faces and focuses back on his family. That strange feeling at the base of his spine doesn't go away and he knows there's something that he's not figuring out.

He coughs awkwardly and reaches down into the front of his gown to pull out a pair of glasses. There's some chuckling around the audience as if this might be a joke, or they're aware of his nerves and being kind. As he brings them up to the bridge of his nose, he double taps the side of the frame.

Edith activates.

He brings his hand up to his mouth as if to clear his throat and he draws back to whisper away from the mic.

"Scan the room," he whispers his order.

With a forced, pleasant smile, he leans forward and starts his speech. His hands cling to the side of the podium and his muscles are clenched with the spark of adrenaline.

"Hello everyone, thank you for joining us..."

Without the stress of trying to remember the speech, he has no trouble with it. The words come out automatically and he keeps half his attention on the information Edith is throwing his way. On the outside, no one can see anything strange with the glasses, they can't see her displays, but there's unease in his family's posture to indicate they're aware there's something off. They all know Peter doesn't need reading glasses.

'Andrew Yang - John Yang's father, age 43.'

'Marjory O'Shia - Emily O'Shia's mother, age 39.'

'Ash Flue - Liane Miles' uncle, age 40.'

Edith gives him names and ages, and any relation to those behind him. Mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, guardians, siblings, cousins, partners, even going so far to show him Facebook pictures if it's a friend. As his eyes land on different people, different boxes appear with their information. Everything makes sense so far.

"... although it has been a trying two years, we worked hard to get to this point..."

His eyes land on one man, a few rows behind his family. The description box appears and his stomach knots unpleasantly.

'Carl Princeton - unknown, age 28.'

His eyes flicker back to him on multiple occasions, but he keeps scanning. He finds two more.

'Logan Drew - unknown, age 32' and 'Milo Tustein - unknown, age 38'.

They're strategically placed around the room and he hesitates to jump to conclusions but if they aren't associated with any of the students, why would they be here? And the tingle in his spine only gets worse when he looks at them and he knows to trust his instincts. He looks at a point in the center of the three men and divides his attention between them, waiting to see if they'll make any movements. He brings his hands down from the side of the podium to in front of him, out of sight of the audience.

He doesn't need Edith to point out what exactly one of them is pulling out of his pocket, as he catches sight of a glint of silver. The man's in the top row to the left, completely out of view of everyone in the audience, and inconspicuous to those on stage.

The room slows as his adrenaline kicks into high gear. In the same two seconds the man is lifting his hand to point his gun, Peter reaches forward. He double taps the watch on his wrist and it wraps up his hand in something all too familiar to the those in the room. He stops speaking, takes aim, and fires the repulsor. The red armour encases his entire hand up to his wrist and the watch has an in-built power source for the repulsor.

It hits the man in the chest, but the distance is far enough that even his speed in doing the action isn't enough time to stop the gun from going off. The guy is thrown through his seat, the back cover breaking beneath his weight.

Everyone bursts into action and the commotion brings him back to himself and to normal speed. There's screaming and people are falling to their knees and covering their heads.

The bullet is aimed true and moves towards his head. He could dodge; he's watching it near him. But he can handle a bullet, the teenagers sitting behind him can't. He throws up his hand, protected by metal, and catches it in a way that hopefully doesn't look too purposeful. It could be luck if looked at the right way.

He instantly aims at the next guy and shoots off another blast. He's also thrown back and Peter runs around the podium to get a better view of the audience. With one hand he tugs off the robe for better movement, it falls to his feet, and he flicks off the cap. He's tense and poised to fight, the repulsor out in front of him and his eyes scan the crowd.

"Edith! Where's the last one?"

People are standing and some are trying to run. The teachers and principal are trying to gather the students who have also thrown themselves to the ground. It's chaos.

She highlights the last one, climbing over seats with a gun in hand trying to get to Pepper. At least, that's where his brain goes.

The front row isn't so far from the stage, a few seats are empty, and the jump isn't completely unbelievable for someone with balance. He takes the leap, lands with one foot on the back of an empty chair and another on its armrest, and aims at him, taking care to aim and not hit one of the multiple people surrounding the assailant.

Happy's in the aisle seat and he's stepped out, searching the room. Rhodey has an arm around Pepper and she's crouching down with Morgan crushed tight in her arms. Rhodey spots the man getting close but stays down to give Peter a better view. None of them have any sort of weapon on them; none of them saw any reason for it.

Peter shoots the last one just as he makes it to their seat and bends down to reach out for Pepper. He hits him in the face and that will leave scars and is probably horribly painful but he doesn't care right now.

"Police have an ETA of 2 minutes," Edith tells him.

Every time there's a sound, mostly coming from his own weapon, there's another bout of screaming.

Happy grabs the one that tried to get to Pepper and drags him out of the seats. He throws him on the ground, presses a knee to his back, and keeps him still. Peter returns his attention to the other two. The first one he'd shot is back on his feet and looking frantically for his gun. He hits him again, throwing him back. People are on him this time, civilians taking action to keep him down. When he moves to the next one, he's in a similar state.

He slides off the seat and heads towards his family. They've all slid out into the aisle, a few feet away from the beaten assailant.

Morgan's face is pressed against Pepper's shoulder, crying from the noises and the general chaotic energy around her making her scared. Pepper's rocking her and whispering softly while keeping an eye out for more danger, though it seems to have passed. He gets in for a hug.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"I'm fine, Peter. Are you? He shot, didn't he? Where did it go?"

"It's okay, it hit me-"

"It hit you?!" She asks incredulously. She takes a step back and looks him over anxiously.

"No, no, not - it hit the gauntlet." He waves around his metal casted hand. He's hesitant to put it away.

"Okay, okay," she says as she catches her breath.

The police come in around this time. They gather the three men, Happy and Rhodey identifying them and gathering the fallen weapons. Peter returns to scanning the room, ensuring there's no further danger. Edith gives him the all-clear and the tingling has calmed. He takes off the glasses and hangs them off his shirt.

"Peter!" Someone from the audience calls his name. He turns and it's a young woman, one of his classmate's sister. She has her phone in front of her face, aimed at him.

He smiles awkwardly, "Um, yes?"

"That was amazing!" She gushes, "Anything to say to the world?"

"Oh, I'd rather n..."

The whole thing hits him in that second. These men had come to his graduation, a rare occasion for Pepper and Morgan to be out of the house with minimal protection, and had taken advantage of that to go after them. For what reason? To what purpose? To ruin everything? There are sixty-something students in this room with all their loved ones waiting for a chance to celebrate something they'd had a 50 percent chance of never achieving.

All of them are lucky to be here and they had taken an opportunity to bring in weapons and wreak havoc and frighten all these people. Some of them could be dead, if not for his precaution. If he hadn't prepared the watch just in case, because his paranoid brain told him he might one day need to protect his family outside of Spider-man, he would have been shot. Then who else?

Anger hits him all at once.

"Actually, yeah, yeah I'd like to say something." He steps closer to her and faces her camera. "You recording or streaming, or something?" He asks.

"Livestreaming!" She answers, already moving on from the traumatic experience as a well-experienced New Yorker.

"I've got one thing to say, then. Anyone out there watching this that wants to go after my family? Don't waste your time. I will always be there to keep them safe and I won't be so nice to the next idiots that try to lay a hand on them." He does a quick two-fingered salute to the camera and leaves her, and her recording, behind.

He returns to his family, feeling a little better though still angered by the whole ordeal. He takes Morgan from Pepper and she's stopped crying though her face is red and blotchy.

"Peter," she says his name sadly. He kisses her cheek and holds her tight.

"It's okay, munchkin. I know it's really loud, but we'll be home soon and we'll play together. What do you say?"

"Tired," she mumbles. She shoves her face against his shoulder and he rocks her.

"I know, kiddo," he whispers.

The police start escorting everyone out of the building, creating a checkpoint on the way out to verify everyone's ID's, to be sure they've caught everyone with weapons. It takes a good couple of hours to get the whole thing cleared up.

There hadn't been much left of the ceremony anyway, so the students mostly just gather their things, and new diploma, and are heading out already discussing prom later that night.

Peter's opted not to go. His last school dance had been a disaster and he doesn't have any friends to hang out with and he'd rather be home. After this, he's glad he'd made that choice. Pepper hadn't even tried to convince him to go.

They have dinner together instead and finish the day hanging out in the living room chatting while a movie plays in the background.

They have a reservation at a fancy restaurant, but none of them are in the mood to go; especially the two kids at this point. Morgan's put down for a nap, Peter changes out of the suit. Pepper still insists on a picture of them with the diploma, since that had been taken from her.

One of the pictures taken earlier that morning, of the three of them, is printed and sits on his dresser next to his other favourites; one of him dressed like Ironman with his Uncle Ben before the Stark Expo, a selfie May had taken of the two of them on Homecoming night, and the one of him and Tony with the Internship certificate.

He gets texts from Natasha and Bruce congratulating him. Nebula's response to his graduation is as congratulatory as she can make it when she doesn't understand the concept and he appreciates the effort.

The school mails him his cap, forgotten on the stage. It goes into his closet.

He doesn't find out the actual reason for their attack, that information gets to Pepper and she doesn't see it necessary to trickle it down his way, it would only upset him further.

And in the morning, the headlines read -

'Don't mess with Ironman's son; Peter Parker takes on 3 assailants with Stark tech!'

Chapter 34: Operation Spider-Boss Pt.3

Chapter Text

"Boss, it's time for your yearly reminder. Would you like me to activate Operation: Spider-Boss?"

It comes through as a message on her phone, to keep the request private while she's outside. She's sitting on the porch and watching the two kids play out in the yard; she gets exhausted just watching them go on for hours on end. Peter's spider powers are truly a childcare blessing disguised as a means to save lives. He should go into the babysitting gig.

Has it already been another year?

"I'll get back to you, Fri," she whispers and sets away her phone.

This time, she considers it for all of ten seconds.

Last year, she hadn't considered it at all. Peter wasn't ready then. He had enough on his shoulders with his senior year and applying to college and having a newborn baby sister around the house and going out saving lives and helping people almost daily.

She looks out at them and she can't bring herself to change her mind. Not yet.

Peter will be wonderful when he gets his hands into the business, she fully believes in his ability to grow into a leadership role and make tough calls and do great things for Stark Industries. But he's still just a boy in her eyes. He's not even 18 yet. She can't sit him down and lay all this on him. He's already nervous about going to MIT and being away from the family, she needs to give him time to settle into this new schedule. It's going to be rocky as it is with him being at school, then traveling home to spend time with them, and then flying out to the city to patrol.

He burdens himself with all these responsibilities and it wouldn't be fair for her to give him more.

Not yet.

"Higher, Peter, higher!" Morgan squeals as he throws her into the air, careful to keep his strength in check to keep from launching her into the sky. He catches her and throws her again, this time a little bit higher.

That's not the whole story, though. There's another reason she doesn't want to go into that this year.

The attack at Peter's graduation ceremony had a lot more purpose than he'd guessed and she has no intention of giving him the whole story. The men talked to reduce their sentences and Happy took the information away to work with and passed it all along to her.

There's a mole, of sorts, apparently.

Someone, somewhere, knows that Peter's in the running to take over the company one day. The idea itself isn't new; there's been speculation ever since Peter's been seen by her side and joining in meetings that are typically considered confidential, and his name's already been tied to a few products from his work with Tony before and some things he's done in his downtime in the past couple of years.

But the actual fact of it, of 'Operation: Spider-Boss' and 'E.D.I.T.H' and his access to the AI's, all of that isn't documented anywhere other than Friday's databases meaning any discussion on the topic is word of mouth and gossip. Yet the way those men spoke made it seem like they had gotten the information from a somewhat credible source. They gave some names, but they're pseudonyms and Happy's trying to trace it back but so far no luck.

She's guessing it's related to the Edith project. A handful of people had been around to help prepare the drone satellite and get the security systems in place. Anyone with enough insider information would know that Peter's listed as the head admin with Pepper as his backup. It would look odd to anyone and conclusions could easily be drawn from that information. The few involved in the project know how powerful Edith is, why hand that over to a teenager if he wasn't important?

Peter could set off the next world war if he were so inclined. He could annihilate the entire planet in minutes. He has ridiculous amounts of power at his fingertips and she understands how that could seem insane to a third party looking in.

Employees sign NDA's for all sorts of things, and Edith was no exception, but that doesn't mean none of them are the mole. Or maybe they told the wrong person and they're the ones who sold the information to the highest bidders. Or they spoke to someone who spoke to someone who spoke to someone else. It's a whole effort to find where this all started and Happy's working diligently to track it down, but so far no luck.

"Be careful, sweetie!" She calls out when Morgan's thrown a little higher than her heart can take.

Peter would never let her fall but that doesn't soothe the nerves.

"Sorry!" He calls back and manages to convince her to move onto something else.

Those men had been there to kill Peter; they'd had no intention of harming her or Morgan. At least, not at the start. In an act of desperation, they may have injured them, but that wasn't their motive.

There's money out now to take down Peter Parker and bring the company to ruin. No heir, no future. Those three were just the first idiots to try their hand at it, aiming to use a full room's chaos to their advantage.

Some will want to take Edith from him, or try to get information out of him, and others will turn his death into vengeance on Tony Stark.

Peter will take the company's secrets and his family's safety to the grave and that reminds her too much of Tony's self-sacrificing bullsh*t and it makes sleeping a little hard at times. It helps knowing he has his suit, he has Edith, he has Stark tech on hand to protect himself, but she decides not to make things harder on him right now.

College is priority, not hitmen and the weight of a company's power and the enemies it brings with it.

She grabs her phone, "Remind me again this time next year, Friday."

"Yes, boss."

Chapter 35: Summertime Sunshine

Chapter Text

Summer 2019

The move to the cabin is smooth and done within a week of Peter's graduation.

Their new home has been furnished over the past few months, and Peter's leaving behind everything that isn't necessary. The Tower is still going to be his second home, where he goes to sleep after swinging around the city as Spider-man.

Pepper gives him boxes and he sorts through what he's going to bring and what he'll leave behind.

He packs up most of his clothes but leaves a bit behind for when he comes around. All of his textbooks and a few of his favourite novels and movies are brought along too. He carefully wraps his prized picture frames in dishtowels. A few other bits and ends go into boxes, things that he'll need and things that remind him of May and Ned and Tony. The IronSpider still sits in the watch on his wrist, and he places his old suit in the one suitcase he'll be keeping on his person during the drive. He puts his laptop in there too, and the USB key that has his Spider-man information on it.

Pepper's requested one moving truck for all their belongings that Happy's driving down, and will drive back to the city, and Pepper's driving her own car filled with anything too important to have away from them.

They've decided to integrate Friday into the new home, as a security precaution. Peter's got all the necessary parts stored in a metal briefcase sitting in the trunk along with anything Spider-man related. Morgan's strapped in her child seat, he's in the passenger seat, Pepper's behind the wheel and they're on their way. It's not a particularly long drive in theory, but neither Peter or Morgan are used to travel.

He finds himself fidgeting in his seat, uncomfortable by the tight quarters. He turns in his seat often to look at Morgan and make faces at her. She's got her llama in her lap and a toy that's keeping her somewhat preoccupied until she falls asleep. It'll mean she'll be a nightmare to put to sleep tonight, but at least the ride is quiet.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Pepper asks softly to keep from waking Morgan.

"I'm good. I'm excited to see the new place."

"The pictures don't do it justice, I promise."

"You sure you don't mind me using a jet to get back to the city to go for patrol? That seems so excessive."

"Well, it's that or you stay there and I don't want that. Neither do you. I came down last month to look around and I saw out in the woods there's a good spot to keep it stored and hidden, and with the stealth mode no one will see it flying back and forth."

"I guess so."

"We'll manage, Peter. But remember you promised me two entire weeks before you go running off saving people."

"Yeah, I remember."

He's got a busy summer ahead of him.

First things first; getting to their new home.

It's beautiful. Cozy and comfortable looking and perfect. Peter rolls down his window and sticks his head out as they drive up the gravel road. It's bumpy and it wakes up Morgan, who yawns loudly behind him. Following close behind them is the moving truck, arriving with no delays. The move hadn't been publicized, but neither was Pepper's presence at Peter's graduation.

As soon as she puts the car in park he unbuckles the seatbelt and pretty much leaps out of the vehicle. He opens the backdoor and carefully unties Morgan from her confines and takes her into his arms and out into the fresh air.

"Welcome home, Morgan!"

"Home!" She repeats. "Peter, home!"

Pepper joins them and throws an arm around his shoulders. "What do you think, kiddos?"

"It's beautiful," he tells her.

"I'm glad you think so. Want a tour before we start unloading?"

"Sure," he agrees.

She takes them through the house and then the grounds that's all theirs. The three bedrooms are on the second story and fully furnished with the essentials; one for Pepper, one for Morgan, and one for Peter. The basem*nt is unfinished and perfect for storage. A big kitchen with no food yet; they have a few groceries in the car.

For the first time in his entire life, in the quiet between Pepper's words, there is just that. Quiet. He can hear the rustling water, Happy's footsteps out in the yard. There's a fly in the next room over and the gentle hum of electricity keeping the lights powered on. But no cars, no talking, no shouting, no televisions and radios and phones going off. It's peaceful in a way he's never experienced. It's nice.

He hands Morgan over to Pepper and goes out to help Happy unpack, taking in multiple boxes at a time to keep any of them from needing to do more work than necessary. Without furniture, overall there really isn't much. All the boxes are labeled and there are some suitcases with their clothes and he stacks them in the appropriate rooms. Of the three of them, Morgan's the one with the most stuff.

The nearest town is a twenty-five minute drive east, and they don't want to have to go out more than they have to. They've got diapers stock-piled, though are working very hard on the potty training. Morgan has clothes up to sizes for 3 years old and all the toys she'll ever really need. They hope she'll take a liking to the outdoors, now that that's actually something attainable for her.

After all the boxes are unloaded and where they need to be, they stop for lunch before Happy heads back to the city with the truck.

"What do you say to a walk? Unpacking can wait for later."

"I'm down with that."

They're both exhausted and ready for a breather. Especially one that won't result in being surrounded by still full boxes.

They go out into the woods for a walk. They start off slow as Morgan walks between them, holding their hands, and she's still unsteady on her feet. A few yards out is a small opening that will be good to land the jet that Pepper points out to him. By this point, Morgan's tired of walking and he's got her in his arms. They'd debated bringing the papoose, but Peter never tires of carrying her.

She points out birds and bugs and asks all the questions of a curious toddler. Peter indulges her, holding her up to the trees and kneeling to the grass to give her a better look. All of this is so new for her and Pepper smiles warmly while following after them taking in the fresh air.

Her phone's in the house and she won't be looking at it until morning. She's insisted on 24 uninterrupted hours of moving time and her new assistant knows to take her on her word. It had taken a long few months to get the right people to take on a lot of her workloads, but she refused to settle for anything less than the best.

Eventually the knowledge of unpacked boxes has them turning back to their new home.

By the time her phone is ringing at exactly 7am, there are still way too many boxes to sort through.

They spend the following two weeks getting organized. Peter hardly stops to sleep, working on getting everything set up before he has to leave. He'll be heading off but not to New York. He's going back to South Dakota for another round of training with his spider mentor.

It'll be a month this time.

He gets the security alarm installed in the house, connected to all the doors and windows to monitor for intruders. Rather than a code, it's a fingerprint scanner attached to Friday's database. He installs a camera in Morgan's room that Pepper can access through her tablet as a means to keep her anxiety settled. The main thing is ensuring no one gets on the property at all, and he works with the AI to put down sensors on the edges of the property lines that will alert Pepper if anyone gets too close.

For protection, there wasn't even the consideration of a gun. Neither of them has ever had any desire to learn how to use one. Instead he'd deconstructed two iron legion suits for easy transport and puts them back together in the garage. They'll stand next to the car fully charged and waiting for an order, just like those remaining at the Tower. Pepper will have access to them through a bracelet he gives her, and all other tech in the house.

All of this is for when he isn't there, really. He's fairly confident he can protect them when he's present. But he can't stand the thought of leaving them out in the middle of nowhere without some of the Tower's defenses at their fingertips.

He'd never forgive himself if something were to happen to either of them.

"Peter, sweetheart, I know it's summer and you don't have school, but you really should head to bed. You know Morgan's not going to let you get any sleep." Pepper tells him while getting herself a glass of water at 2 in the morning.

If it's not Morgan asking for him specifically, it's her crying or shouting or squealing because she has no concept of inside voice yet and Peter's super-hearing is never able to ignore it.

"I know, I know. I'm just running some final tests."

"You still have tomorrow," she reminds him.

"Yeah, okay. I'm closing up."

"Thank you. Goodnight."

"Night, May." He calls out distractedly.

Her steps halt, but she shakes her head and continues up the stairs back to her bedroom. He doesn't notice the slip-up and she doesn't draw attention to it. She's mostly surprised it doesn't happen more often.

In the house there's an extra room next to the kitchen that Pepper's let him devote to a sort of lab, or hub station. He plans to bring over some more tech to build a hologram desk like he has at the Tower, but for now it's a regular table where he sets any electronic bits that he has. He's fixed it up for Pepper, too, so she can connect to the Tower and work from here as much as she wants.

When he has to leave them, he feels good about it.

Throughout the entire month, he texts home every day and calls every two days. He facetimes so he can see his sister and they talk, working on her speech little by little.

Natasha is as brutal as last year and he appreciates it. He's spent a lot of time in the past few months in the gym at the Tower, working on his speed and agility, correcting his punches and kicks. He'd even had Happy show him a few moves from his own repertoire. It's better with a partner, and Natasha is an amazing teacher, but he's worked hard to be more of a match to her than he was the year before.

He's surprised when Bruce pops in for a visit, sometime in the last week.

It's a stop on his way to California, where he'll be teaching for a semester. He's been working in various countries as a doctor, providing training and education to those who lost more doctors than the amount of patients allows. Now it appears he wants to settle in an academic role, and Peter has a moment of pause, daydreaming what it would be like to be Dr. Banner's student.

As much interest as he has in biology and biochemistry, he's almost more of a physics nerd and has no interest in a medical doctorate. He doesn't have much interest in any doctorate; it sounds like too much time in a classroom and not enough being productive.

For now, his focus is on a bachelor's, and then maybe a master's.

He brings them some news about Thor, having stopped briefly in New Asgard. The God of Thunder is miserable after the loss of his brother and Bruce has no idea how to help. Valkyrie is the one taking care of the people, guiding them to build homes and resources and aiding them in building relationships with the humans living near them.

Peter remembers being ten or so and seeing the Avengers on TV, saviours of the world. Protecting them from Loki's evil schemes. He, and so many other children, had looked up to them as the heroes they truly were. He'd always admired one more than the others, but the Avengers were... well. Superheroes. Like the people in movies and TV shows with powers and intelligence and bravery stopping alien threats and evil villains.

Of the six, none are as they once were. The Hulk refuses to come out, Bruce tells them. And now Bruce is a teacher and does all he can to help with his brains rather than brawn. Natasha helps the children, knowing their pain, but keeping out of fights because the administrative work requires more of her attention. Hawkeye is still M.I.A, though Peter would bet Natasha knows more than she lets on. Her expression grows sad when he asks about her best friend. Thor, depressed and in need of a therapist and drinking too much and burrowing in his own misery, stays at home. Captain America has spent the last year trying to find a fix for the damage, spending time in Wakanda with the best minds to see if there's anything, but he comes up empty-handed month after month.

And Tony, of course. Ironman. K.I.A. The one that didn't make it.

He goes home a little bit more knowledgeable, a little bit stronger, a little bit more prepared to take on the bad guys. He still feels out of his depth sometimes.

"Morgan!"

Her hands go up knowing he's going to pick her up and he does. A month is too long.

"Peter! You're home! I miss you."

"I missed you too, munchkin." He kisses her cheek. "Have you been taking care of mom while I was gone?"

"Yes. We played lots! Mama made cookies. With chocolate."

"Ooh, yummy!"

He's put the jet in its sort of official parking spot and Pepper and Morgan are there to meet him. Pepper steps in then, having let Morgan run at him first, and pulls the two of them into a tight hug.

"Missed you, Pete," she whispers.

"Missed you too."

After a lengthy hug, she lets him go and they head back home. Morgan talks the whole way, very enthusiastic about cookies and ladybugs, which apparently have shown up in the past couple of weeks close to the house.

The rest of the summer is spent at home with the family.

Days out in the lake, swimming with Morgan in floaties and Pepper sitting at the dock. Taking long walks out into the woods alone or with Morgan, to give her mom a bit of alone time. Long hours on his computer doing research of his own, working on ways to improve the house's security without telling Pepper. In some of Tony's old files he'd found a design for a suit for her, but he puts that aside as a later project.

He convinces Nebula to come down for a short visit.

She pauses upon seeing Morgan, now sixteen months old rather than three.

"Hey Morgan, this is your Aunt Nebula. Say hi."

Morgan waves but tucks her head into his neck, shy around a stranger.

"Hello, Morgan," Nebula says.

"Hi," she answers softly.

It doesn't take long for her to get comfortable around Nebula and soon she's 'Aunty Nebs'. She stays for a week, Rocket took their jet to New Asgard to hang out with Thor in the meantime. Two years after the Snap, the message has spread and she tells him that people are settling into the new reality. Nebula herself is more at ease than she used to be, adapting to her new environments and a life without Thanos there to control her every move.

"I'm not sure I understand the meaning of this," she says.

"It's educational," he explains. "It'll help her learn shapes."

"I see."

She doesn't.

They're sitting cross-legged on the floor with Morgan who's shoving wooden shaped blocks into empty slots on a board. She's having fun, handing them pieces when she moves on to a different one that's caught her attention and then taking it back a few seconds later. Pepper's on the phone in the other room and they're in charge of watching over her. Nebula's spent most of her time trailing after the littlest Stark, completely fascinated by her growth and behaviour.

Peter's shown her his watch, built with some of the metal she brought to him from somewhere out in the galaxy. She pats his head proudly in her own way of showing affection.

"What other... things... does she play with?"

"Anything, really. She spent hours with a stick and a sock once. It's all to learn hand-eye coordination, motor skills, depth perception, that sort of thing. Apparently humans aren't born knowing much of anything. She's cute though. And she's an attentive listener and likes when I read her stories, so that's fun."

Her lips lift into the hint of a smile. She's learning to open up, bit by bit.

"Aunty Nebs, hold this." Morgan shoves a cube into her hand and picks up the entire board. She overturns it, dropping what few pieces she'd managed to get in and starting from scratch.

"Do you want to do something else for a little bit, Momo?" He offers.

She hums to herself, thinking over the suggestion.

"Yes!" She decides, "Peter, storytime please?"

"Sure. Which one?"

She picks her current favourite, 'The Giving Tree', though it changes every few days. He hands it to Nebula and has her read out the lines while he does the dialogue with voices to match. Her bland tone and his overdramatic readings have Morgan giggling and laughing between them.

Pepper leans against the doorway and watches them silently, heart warm.

Chapter 36: PRNDL

Chapter Text

"Do you know what's the first step?"

"Um. Turn it on?" His hand sits on the set of keys plugged into the ignition waiting to be turned.

"No," she says kindly. "Seatbelt first. Always."

Peter is a born and bred New Yorker. He knows little to nothing about cars because he's spent most of his transport time on buses or in the subway. He wouldn't even be able to confidently name parts of a car, let alone drive one.

He reaches to his left and tugs the seatbelt down to click it in place. His hands fall back on the steering wheel and he waits for further instructions.

"Go, Peter, go!" Morgan cheers from her car seat. No one is over who can watch her and so she's joining his training session.

"Great. Now the next step is to turn on the car. Because we have it in park, it won't go anywhere. Go ahead and turn the key all the way. You'll hear the car start and the key vibrates a bit, and then you can let go."

He does as she says, holding it longer than necessary but she doesn't say anything.

"Good job, Peter. Here are your options; 'D' is for drive, that goes forward. 'R' is reverse, to go backward. 'N' is neutral; that's mostly used if your car gets stuck somewhere and it needs to be pushed. It makes it so the wheels can turn, but there's no acceleration. And the rest don't matter."

Her type of car has numbers beneath the 'L', which are apparently unimportant.

"If I'm looking at the road, how am I going to know I'm in the right spot?" He asks.

"On your dash, right there," she points to a glowing green 'P', "that tells you what you're in. Keep in mind it's not something you need to focus on during your driving, so when you park the car you can look down if that makes you feel better. It gets easier as you go, but remember every car is different and requires different learning curves. Happy's going to come down with yours in a few weeks and you'll need to get some more practice in to get used to how it works."

"I really don't need-"

"You're the one who said you didn't want to use a jet to go to school. Your only other option is driving."

They've gone over this before. He has to do that fourty-five minute drive to MIT starting September and Pepper doesn't have the time to be driving him nor would he feel comfortable asking that of her. He's got to start doing some things independently, driving included. She took him for his written test ages ago and now it's time to put that into practice. Her car is automatic and she says she'll show him manual further on, but for now, they're focused on getting him comfortable with the easier type of engine to drive.

"I know... Okay, so what do I do next?"

He has no idea if May ever had a driver's license. Ben did, since he needed to drive the police cruiser, but May had never even brought up learning to drive before. He'd never intended to leave the city, except for school.

"Put your right foot on the brake, that's the one on the left. Only ever use your right foot; I'm not entirely sure about the reasoning, but that's just how it is. There we go, the gas is on the right and the brakes are on the left. And now put the car in drive."

He presses down the left pedal and his right hand sits on the gear shift. He doesn't move it.

"I can't," he says.

"Of course you can, Peter. It's okay. There's no one for miles and we've got a clear road ahead of us. I'll stop us if something goes wrong, I promise."

She'd moved the car to face their long empty driveway and they've got plenty of empty roads for practicing.

"I know, but that's not what I mean. I can't do it with Morgan in the car." He releases the brake and turns in his seat to look at his baby sister. She smiles and waves.

"Peter, are we going soon?" She asks. She's learned to enjoy car rides from their occasional visits to the nearest town.

"What if something happens? I can't, I just, I can't. I'm sorry, Pepper."

She smiles and nods in understanding, "It's okay, Peter. I know this is stressful. If it makes it easier, I'll have someone come down to watch Morgan so she doesn't have to be with us."

"I'm really sorry," he repeats.

"It's really okay," she says kindly. She grabs the keys and turns them, turning off the car. "I'll go make some calls, you okay to watch Morgan?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

He feels a bit embarrassed, but she's still smiling and pats his shoulder. She leaves the car and he follows suit. He goes to the backseat and frees Morgan from the car seat. Pepper heads inside and he takes her out to some of her toys sitting out front. He sits down by her side and plays with her for a good couple of hours.

Surprisingly, it's not Happy that comes down a week later. He's too busy with things at the Tower, especially now that Pepper is working from somewhere else. Rhodey somehow manages to get some time off work to make a visit and he insists on being the one to teach him how to drive. Pepper only shakes her head and lets him have his fun.

Rhodey climbs into the passenger side and settles back. Peter sits rigid in the driver's seat.

"Wanna hear a secret kid?"

Peter turns his gaze to him, obviously curious. He nods.

"I taught Tones how to drive," he says. "And he was a sh*t student."

They both laugh, and Peter feels his shoulders relax a little bit.

"You didn't know him back then, but he was a real pleasure seeker, if you know what that means? He loved driving fast and breaking laws because being a Stark meant you got away with that sort of thing. It eventually started getting better, but he was always stubborn about it. You're a lot less rebellious, so I'm hoping you plan to listen to me," he says with a stern look.

Peter nods, "Sir, yes sir!"

"Let's get started. Have you ever driven before?"

"Nope."

"You passed your written test, right?"

"Yeah. But May didn't drive so I don't know much. I've watched a few videos online."

There were a couple of videos about how to drive, and then he got sucked into car repair videos and those are much more interesting to him.

"Then we'll start with the basics and work our way up. Don't be nervous, Tony was in your shoes a few decades ago. He couldn't tell the two pedals apart."

It does make him feel a little better.

The driving goes okay. When Pepper asks he says terribly, Rhodey says it went well. They meet in the middle at 'okay'. He's too trigger happy with the brake and the gas. His powers make it harder for him to know how hard he's pressing and how quickly he presses down. Seatbelts exist for a reason and he reinforces that as they go on.

"It takes practice," Rhodey reassures him. "You'll get the hang of it in no time."

"Was Mr. Stark this bad?" He asks.

"Worse. And after his parents..." Rhodey clears his throat and hesitates.

"I... I know his parents passed away a long time ago, but I never knew what happened," he says.

"It's... complicated. But he spent a lot of his life thinking they died in a car accident. From then on he was obsessed with not letting other people drive him around. It made him anxious. His driving got somewhat better then, but that's also around the time he started working on air travel and jets and such."

"He never mentioned. He let Happy drive us around sometimes."

"I'm not surprised; he loved spending time with you. Go on, let's keep going."

Peter tries again and again. He slowly gets the hang of the driving thing.

Then Rhodey has to go and Pepper schedules his driving exam.

Somehow he passes.

Not much later Happy brings him a car, something new and way above his price range but he knows it's either one of Tony's cars or something Pepper got for him and there's no point talking about money. He takes it out around the back roads until he gets used to it. The pressure on the pedals is different, the noises are slightly off. It takes some getting used to, much as he'd been told.

In a few weeks he drives it up to MIT. It's filled with some of his most precious things, what bits he wants to keep in his dorm room. Pepper follows in her own car with Morgan to say goodbye.

He doesn't really like driving, he's found. He much prefers swinging around with his webs, but it's what he has to do to see his family and he'll do whatever it takes.

Chapter 37: Into The Dorm Life

Chapter Text

Happy's been crazy busy over the summer and he can't join them on their ride to MIT. He hugs Peter tight to hide his smile and misty eyes. They'll be seeing each other in no time at all, but it's still an important milestone and he's getting texts from Avengers, of all people, wishing him luck.

Pepper takes her own car and buckles Morgan into her car seat, and Peter makes the drive by himself with his playlist for company. A part of him would like to have them right here with him, to chat and spend time with before they have to part ways, but it works out in a way too. Pepper's been melancholic all morning and he knows it's from love but it's hard to be in that kind of energy too long.

He's considered more than once dropping out before even starting. He talks himself out of it, but the thoughts are persistent.

He's going in for a major in physics and a minor in biochemistry, and the next three years for his bachelor are going to be difficult, but he knows he's going to learn a lot and he's excited about it. It's going to make everything he does for Stark Industries better. This time away from home is a necessity. They've arranged his schedule, easier in the first year when classes are more flexible, and he has classes four days out of the week, leaving him with Monday's off but with more packed days. The intention is to trade off those three days either at home, or at the Tower, and he'll see how that works out in the long run.

Fourty-five minutes later, following Pepper's car and his GPS closely, they make it to the school. They're arriving on the first day where the dorms are open to avoid the rush, and there's only a handful of other people meandering around. An older student stops to greet them, offering a few pointers and hands him a flyer that includes a map of the campus.

Recovering from the Snap is going to take time, and the world has a lot of empty spaces. Colleges are no different. Certain floors and buildings are shut down, moving resources together to make the most use of their space. It also means he's getting a dorm to himself, as are most students. Apparently a handful asked for roommates, something to do with the 'experience' (and to shave off some of the cost), but an entire floor's been closed off since it won't be used this year.

He goes over to Pepper and Morgan, taking his sister in his arms and staring up at the large building that will serve as one of his three homes.

"That's where I'm going to be staying for a bit, Momo. What do you think?"

"It's big," she says.

"I know, right? And I'll be going to school over there," he points to a building in the distance. He's not actually sure if that's where his classes will be, but she won't care for accuracy.

"Wow! I wanna go to school."

He and Pepper laugh, and she pinches her cheek gently, "Not quite yet, Morgan."

"You're stuck with Mom for a couple more years. Don't worry, your time will come," Peter adds.

"I wanna go now with you," she protests.

"I know you do," he says kindly. "Are you going to help me bring in my things?"

"No."

She's not quite two, but she's diving into the 'no' phase very enthusiastically. He laughs and reaches into the trunk for her papoose.

"You don't have to help, but you're stuck with me."

He gets her into the backpack style carrier and puts her on his back, keeping his front open to carry boxes. It's easier for him to carry her weight and his stuff, rather than leave her to Pepper. Morgan usually enjoys this method of transportation and today's no exception; she squeals behind him and waves at her mom and random strangers. She says hello to anyone that'll look at her.

Because he's packed so little it doesn't take them much time to bring everything into his tiny dorm room. He shoves his clothes in the little dresser. He puts his books, notebooks, and laptop on the one shelf and that's pretty much the extent of what he's got. Other than his watch and Edith, everything Stark and Spider-man is staying home along with anything personal. His photographs are still sitting safe at the Tower, but he's got them on his phone for when he gets homesick.

He sets the last box down next to the bed just as Pepper's finished spreading out the blankets and pillows.

"We're done! Thanks for all your help, Morgan. Couldn't have done it without you." He reaches a hand back over his shoulder and she squeezes his fingers.

"You're welcome," she says. She's learned to say that after a thank you. She doesn't catch the sarcasm.

They free her from her confines and she starts investigating the room.

"There's no toys!" She says with the full indignation of an 18-month-old. She pulls herself up on the bed ruining the blankets her mother has just laid out.

"I know, right? It's awful."

"I don't wanna go to school anymore."

The two laugh and Pepper gives her her phone to keep her occupied as they talk.

Pepper pulls him into a hug, the two standing in the center of the small space. "I miss you already."

"I'll be back in a week," he laughs softly.

"You sure you don't want to come back in a few days after orientation week?" She draws back, letting her hands settle on his cheeks.

"I'll be fine, Pepper," he reassures her. He hadn't had a chance to visit the campus before and he'll use this next week before classes officially start to get acquainted with the area.

She sighs and nods, "I know. We're going to head out before little miss here needs her nap. Are you sure-"

"I'm sure. I'm all set."

"If you need anything-"

"I'll call. Promise."

She brings him closer, smushing his cheeks, and kisses his forehead.

"You better."

The loneliness doesn't hit the moment they're gone, even as Morgan cries. She really hates being away from him, no matter how often they've done it (school, patrol, sometimes just needing some alone time). Pepper's teary-eyed as she takes her screaming daughter away with a final kiss to Peter's temple. He doesn't cry when he shuts the door behind them.

The loneliness hits that night when he's crawling into the new bed and he can hear a few random strangers snoring away in rooms around his own and there are cars driving nearby and people on their phones. He's spent plenty of nights in the city over the summer, but the Tower is still home, still safe and sound and the walls keep out a good amount of noise.

He pulls out his phone and goes through his gallery. It's mostly full of pictures of Morgan, at this point. A lot of Nebula awkwardly holding her. Some selfies with everyone. Him making a funny face while Happy's rolling his eyes and one of him and Rhodey doing peace signs. He scrolls through back to 2017 where all this bullsh*t started. He has old pictures with May, making faces and him sneaking candid shots when she wasn't looking. He has probably hundreds of him and Ned trying out every Snapchat filter in existence. He even has a few with Tony.

If he goes far back enough there's Ben.

As awful as he'd been with losing backpacks and notebooks and pens, he never lost his phone. Then after meeting Tony he'd been allowed to use his storage to backup everything and even after losing his phone in those three weeks lost in space, he could get a new phone and import everything dear to him.

They'd all want him right here, in this dorm, doing his best. He wants this for himself too.

He's got this.

Chapter 38: Relationships

Chapter Text

In all his time in High School and now College, Peter has had little to no desire or willingness to date. Before the Snap it had been something of interest, in the average teenager way. Liz Allen was amazing and he'd genuinely been attracted to her, and he'd started feeling something for MJ, but in this new aftermath, he can't begin feeling like he has the time for all that. There is so much in his life that's priority that the idea of trying to shove in a romantic relationship makes his skin crawl with anxiety.

He does, however, surprise himself by actually making a couple of friends.

He meets Harry in his Multivariable Calculus course. Tony would hate him associating with anyone Osborn, and it was a rocky start since Peter couldn't quite get the knowledge of radioactive spiders out of his mind, but Harry's a pretty solid guy and he, in turn, doesn't mind Peter's association to the name Stark.

There are still plenty who look at him curiously or steer clear of him or ask questions he doesn't want to answer. He's too humble to call himself a celebrity or even to consider himself remotely important or interesting, but people he's never met know his name now and it's a little nerve-wracking.

Harry's indifference is refreshing.

"Do you want to go to that club everyone's talking about tonight? I heard it's got great music."

"Sorry, I can't. I have to head home. But I'll see you in class on Tuesday?"

Harry laughs softly, "Yeah, see ya, Peter."

He exits the library leaving Peter to his studying. Another classmate, Gwen Stacy, takes Harry's now empty seat with a grin on her lips. She's in his English class and she sits near him but they haven't talked much yet.

"You realize he was asking you out, right?" She teases.

"Oh. Um." His face feels warm with a rare bout of embarrassment.

"It's alright. Hey, want to study together? If I sit cooped in my dorm any longer I might explode."

"Sure," he agrees with a laugh.

It's odd to think she's the daughter of Deputy Stacy, an officer he'd worked with on occasion as Spider-man. Then he'd been Snapped away and he'd had to make some new friends on the force.

As it is, he has Harry and Gwen. A few months ago he'd had zero friends, and it's a massive improvement. As much as he thinks they're both wonderful, he has no intention of dating either of them, no matter the flirting from Harry's part (now that Gwen's pointed it out, it's kind of obvious).

Pepper's happy for him when he calls and laments all the college stories in his repertoire and tells her about the two friends he's managed to make and keep.

His classes are great; for the first time in years he feels like he's learning things. Outside of Tony's lab, of course. It's a good time for him, and when he gets home he listens to Morgan's stories of bugs and trips down to the nearest village for groceries. She's really taken an interest in insects. Pepper finds it off-putting, but Peter gives her an entomology book for kids the next time he comes down.

Pepper doesn't date either.

Every second week he goes down and that engagement ring sits on her finger and she doesn't consider taking it off for a second. He thinks about asking her, but he thinks they may be in the same boat on the matter. She has a daughter and a business, she's too busy to start all over.

Tony left behind some big shoes to fill; Pepper wouldn't even know where to start finding someone to take the place he'd left empty.

It's selfish. Completely. One hundred percent. He'll never say it aloud. But.

But.

He's glad she isn't dating. That it doesn't seem to have crossed her mind at all.

He couldn't imagine some new man in her life, some new father for Morgan, some man in their home.

When Gwen stares at him meaningfully every time Harry leaves them still trying his hand at flirting a bit, he tells her he already has two love's of his life, two ladies that mean everything to him and he has no room for anybody else. His mother and his sister; that's all he needs right now.

Pepper hugs him every time he gets home and they talk about his friends, about college and classes. She tells him what she's been up to company-wise and Morgan-wise in his absence. They talk about everything that isn't dating since that isn't something of relevance right now to either of them.

It helps, he thinks, that May had never 'replaced' Ben. He doesn't spend much time thinking about 'what could be' if Pepper were to start dating. Since May had never done it, why would Pepper?

Being single is nice. It's good.

In the three days he spends in New York one weekend, doing his patrolling, he gets stabbed during a mugging gone stupid and he makes his way to the Tower to patch himself up. There's no one to worry, no one to stress about it.

He can't say he doesn't miss Tony sitting by his side as he heals then slinking away with his suit to see how he can improve it to make sure this doesn't happen again. He misses it; dearly. He misses Tony's almost paranoiac protection, he misses May's love and care. He misses Ned thinking he had the best life ever, no matter the difficulties it truly held. He misses MJ's weird insults. He misses everything about the life he used to have and what he once thought his future to be.

He didn't use to have Pepper, though, or Morgan.

Sometimes, he wonders if he'd trade what he has for what he used to have and he can't answer that question.

All the relationships he has, before and after, they're all so meaningful. They all fill spaces in him that need filling. Everything new isn't what's old and he loves each of them in their own right. No one can replace May, but no one can replace Pepper either.

He sleeps in his empty dorm room missing everything that was and all that is and he thinks he's glad for the simplicity that comes with family. Pepper and Morgan and Happy and Rhodey; they aren't going anywhere. No matter his choices or decisions, no matter any arguments. They're family.

Family is nice; no strings attached.

He really loves his family.

Chapter 39: Monsters Outside

Chapter Text

She stares at the monster outside her window for ever and ever. The big light in the sky makes the darkness move and dance but it's not the fun kind of dancing like when Mom spins her while music plays. It's scary, with big gnarled arms and sharp, twisted hands, glowing eyes and sharp teeth. She holds her stuffed llama close to her chest and rocks herself back and forth in her crib, eyes fixed on the monster.

She cries softly, too scared to scream or call for Mom.

The wind rustles the monster and she shoves her face into her llama's soft fur. It'll get in soon and take her away. She doesn't want to be pulled into the dark.

Her bedroom door slowly opens and she doesn't turn. She doesn't want to turn her back to it.

"Momo?"

"Peter!" She cries out and drops her toy.

Her big brother will keep her safe from the bad guy.

She uses the support bars on her crib and pulls herself to her feet. She holds out her arms and Peter pulls her into his hold, shielding her from the monster outside.

"What's wrong, munchkin?" He asks softly.

She buries her face against his shoulder, safe now that she can't see it staring at her. He hums until she calms enough to answer his question.

"There's a monster," she mumbles into his neck.

"What do you mean?"

"Outside." She points at the window.

"Hm. Okay..."

She feels him walk towards the window and she keeps her face tucked away. If it can't see her, she's safe. Peter won't let it eat her.

"Can you point out what's got you scared? I don't think I'm seeing what you're seeing." He rubs her back and gently coaxes her away from his body until she can see outside the window.

"There! It's big and scary." She points towards the big creature and then hides back in his shirt. She has no idea how he can't see it; it's right there.

"Are you talking about the tree? The moon's just making some weird shadows, munchkin."

"No! It's a monster! It's mean and big and it's gonna eat me."

"Alright, why don't you come sleep with me for the night, and I'll take care of the monster in the morning?"

She nods against him. He gives her back her toy and takes her to his room. She's been in here often to play with his things. He doesn't like it when she touches the red and blue clothes in the secret room, but everything else is okay.

He sets her on the far side of the bed and she keeps her eyes on him as he closes the light and slips into the bed beside her. She curls into his side and feels safe and warm and like nothing in the world can get to her. She falls asleep, forgetting the monster outside.

Her hero is still there when she wakes up bright and early and last night's fears are forgotten. She shakes him awake and he sighs but knows it's time to start the day. She runs out of the room going to wake Mom next.

She's too young and distracted to listen in to their conversation over breakfast. She catches bits and pieces, but Mom gives her dry cereal and banana slices and she's busy eating and also mushing it in her hands.

"Yeah, I know, it's been happening every night for the past week or so. It's that tree outside," Mom tells Peter.

Morgan hands her big brother a piece of cereal, sharing her breakfast. He takes it with a happy "thank you" and she smiles brightly and continues to eat.

"It was fine over the summer, but now that it's getting colder and the leaves are falling, the branches are making strange shadows against her window and it's not clicking for her what it is. I've tried showing her; I brought her to the window during the day and it's perfectly fine. She knows it's there, but as soon as it gets dark and she can't see it properly, she can't make the connection."

"I can see why it'd scare her, it does look pretty freaky."

"I considered tearing down the tree, there's plenty more out there, but..."

"It's kind of extreme."

"Exactly. And it's important for her to learn to face her fears. I was thinking about getting some blackout curtains, but that might mess with her sleep cycle. I might have to, though, if I can't figure something out. I'm sure it'll pass by spring and the tree starts blooming again."

"Hm," Peter hums in thought.

"Peter!" She calls without anything to say, yet annoyed that he's only giving Mom attention.

He steals a bit of cereal and chews it loudly, moving his eyes in funny ways making her laugh. Some of the banana dribbles down her chin and he wipes it up and she keeps laughing.

She doesn't get to play with Peter all day, as much as she cries to keep him from leaving. He promises to come back, but it's always so long until she sees him again. Mom plays with her and feeds her some yummy grilled cheese for lunch and then they watch a movie together. It's bright and colourful and she sings along with Elsa and insists they watch it again.

Mom's making more food when her big brother comes home and she throws herself into his arms, "That was fast!"

"Like I said, just needed to make a pitstop at the Tower. You want to hang out with me? I got a surprise for you."

"Yes! Surprise!"

Peter bundles her in her fall coat and booties and tugs on an old sweater of his own and his worn-out sneakers. He takes her out to the trees and they stop to stare at some squirrels preparing to hibernate (she has no idea what that means when he tells her). She watches in excitement and awe as he makes some sort of bed with his webs between two tall trees. Once he's finished and it's nicely thick, he takes her into his arms and carries them up into it, laying down and placing her on his stomach.

She curls into him and stares up at the bright sky. Her cheeks are red from the cold, but she's warm in her layers and next to Peter. There are fluffy clouds and birds are flying past and it holds her attention for a while as they rock gently in their odd bed.

"I wanna sleep here," she says.

"Maybe when it's warmer out. Remind me next summer."

"What's my surprise?" She asks.

"For my favourite sister," he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a block of red and gold metal. "I made you your very own superhero."

"Oooh!"

She reaches out for it but he holds it away.

"Just a second, let me put him in his hero pose." He unfolds the metal bits as if it were a Transformer toy until it takes on a human shape.

The hero is familiar; she knows the glowing blue light as the one that hangs from the mobile over her crib. She's seen a few pictures around, one in Mom's room and one in Peter's. The figure is covered in armour and there's a faceplate that moves up and down and the face beneath it is even easier for her to recognize. The man has very distinguishable facial hair. Peter moves him until his right arm is held straight out and then he hands it to her.

"This is... Daddy?" She asks tentatively.

His smile is bright, "Exactly! When he was dressed like this, people called him Ironman."

Peter and Mom don't talk about Daddy much. They'll both show her pictures, and they've given her a name for him, but they say she can't meet him and it makes her sad.

"Daddy's a hero. Like you?"

"Sort of. Daddy's the hero. The ultimate hero. See, I know I've told you he's in heaven, but that doesn't mean he can't protect you. So dad's looking after you from up there," he points at the sky. "And he'll never let anybody hurt you, not even the monster outside your window. He'll stay with you, and he'll blast anyone that tries to get close. Like this," he takes her hand and shakes the doll from side to side, "Pew, pew, pew!"

She laughs, "Pew, pew!" she repeats after him.

He lets go of the toy and his arms fall around her, holding her tight.

She stares at the doll, or action figure as some may call it. It's not heavy even though it's metal. All the limbs move and there's blue in the center of his chest and on the palms of his hands. Mom has a picture of her and Daddy dancing, and Peter has one of him and Daddy holding some paper, and the expression on the doll isn't the same as in those. He's not as happy.

He does look like a hero, though.

"Storytime?" She asks.

"I don't have any of your books, munchkin."

"No, a Daddy story."

"Oh, um..." Peter ponders the question for a moment and then settles on a story. "Okay, well, I can tell you about the first time he saved my life. When I was 9, I was at the Stark expo with Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and..."

She listens half-attentively as he tells her his story and then she asks for more. He talks until Mom shows up and ushers them inside for dinner. Peter carries her and she plays with her new toy and protector.

"Where'd you find that?" Mom asks.

"I made it. Used some stuff at the Tower. I'm hoping maybe it'll help tonight."

"Oh, I see. And did you really need to make the hammock so high? I know you can make the landing but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I didn't think we'd be out here so long," Peter says.

"Not the right answer."

"I know," he smiles.

She keeps the toy with her throughout dinner and the rest of the night. Peter carries her up to bed and sets her amidst her blankets and her stuffed llama. He takes the Ironman figure and sets it on her window sill. He adjusts the limbs so the right hand is outstretched towards the glass, ready to shoot anyone who dares come too close.

"Here we go, Morgan. Daddy's gonna keep you safe from the monster outside."

"Are you sure?" She asks, eyes fixed on the window.

"I promise. He's a hero, remember?"

She nods fast, "I remember."

"Goodnight, Morgan."

He gives her a kiss and tucks her into the blankets. On his way out he closes the lights and shuts the door softly. She holds her llama close and stares over at her window. The moon floods her room and Ironman's shadow stretches long. In front of him is the monster, and he stands between her and it.

She closes her eyes, knowing her Daddy's there to look out for her. She doesn't wake up Mom or Peter that night, sleeping soundly in the safety of her bed.

Chapter 40: Truth Be Told

Chapter Text

"Thank you for joining me, Peter."

"It's no problem, sir," he says awkwardly, taking a seat opposite his teacher.

"I've got this research paper I'll be publishing soon. As my top student from the first semester, I was hoping you would give me some fresh perspective as a young, new student."

There's a lot of paperwork spread over the desk, a lab station that they're using rather than his own office. Rhett Leak is in his early thirties, per Peter's best estimate, and a new teacher after the Snap. It's the first week of the new semester after the holiday's and he's teaching a handful of the first year chemistry courses, and so Peter is going to be in two of his classes again this semester.

He's a good teacher; he wants his students to call him by his first name though Peter feels weird about it. He's enthusiastic about his lessons and Peter loves that it feels like he's actually learning. It's also humbling, of course, to be invited to review an actual research paper before anyone else.

"Yeah, of course. Where do you want me to start?" He gestures to the various papers around him.

"Here," Rhett says, pointing to a specific stack. "The rest is just some of my garbage," he says with a smile. "Let me get you some coffee. As old as you young folk make me feel, I actually haven't been out of school that long. I remember the desperate need for caffeine."

"Thanks," he says, already pulling the document towards himself. He feels uncomfortable with the entire situation, he doesn't like being alone with this guy though he's been nothing but kind. There's something tingling at the back of his neck that's making him uneasy though there's nothing to cause it.

He leaves the room and heads to the nearest teacher's lounge and comes back with two mugs and a couple of packets of sugar and milk. Peter drinks his coffee black and ignores the add-ons, taking a few sips as he settles himself for a long read.

"I don't know that I'll have much to tell you on this particular subject, I don't know much about it."

"Oh, don't worry, Peter. You're plenty smart, I'd say you're probably a genius if you ever got yourself tested. You'll find your way through it."

"Thanks," he mumbles, embarrassed. He continues to read.

"Say, I noticed you have those reading glasses with you all the time, but you never wear them. I know my handwriting is quite awful, but if you need them for long distances then you should at least make the effort to see the board," he jokes, pointing at Edith sitting safely tucked into his collar.

Peter touches them distractedly, still reading, "No, not really. They're more for decoration. They have sentimental value."

A lot of people say that - sentimental value. People carry around all sorts of things that remind them of loved ones, something more commonplace since the Snap. Gwen carries her father's badge no matter how illegal that actually is. Harry has his mother's favourite red lipstick tucked into his backpack for luck.

He tugs his phone partially out of his pocket to stare at Gwen's latest text, inquiring about his whereabouts. He shoots off a quick response promising to meet up to study once he's finished.

"I see. Suppose girls have a thing for nerdy guys," he teases. "What's that blonde's name you're always with?"

"That's my friend Gwen. We're just friends."

"Mm." His nails tap anxiously against the countertop. He reads but the words don't make much sense and this time, he doesn't think it has anything to do with whether or not he knows the material. There's something off about this that he's not grasping. It's 2 pm on a school day in the middle of campus, there's nothing threatening here.

He reminds himself that he'd been shot at during his high school graduation and has never received much of an explanation for it.

"Would you mind if I try them on? I've always wondered if I should try for that style. My reading glasses at home are getting old."

"Sure," he says distractedly and hands them over.

He feels...weird. His vision's getting blurrier as the seconds pass and his skin's starting to feel itchy.

"How do you activate the security protocols on this thing?" Rhett asks and Peter's head flicks up, eyes wide.

There's two of him in front of him and something is definitely not right.

"What?" He asks. His tongue feels like cotton.

"Tell me before you get useless." His voice is suddenly darker and his expression is no longer kind. "How do you connect to the drones? The missiles? A password? Abracadabra, alohom*ora. Come on, Parker. Spit it out before I make you."

His stomach hurts, and he blinks to still his doubling vision. He has no idea what this guy's given him, but he shoves the coffee cup off the desk in anger and it smashes loudly against the tiled floor. There's no one close enough to hear it. His body is hardly reactive, muscles tense with pain and nerves burning. It was a heavy concoction; he's surprised he couldn't taste it in the coffee.

"Edith, send a drone," he manages. "Code purple."

The teacher frowns, but his attention is now fully on the glasses. "Is that this thing's name? Edith, ignore Parker."

He manages to keep on his chair even though he feels like laying down and passing out. He hears Edith's response and wants to smile even if the pain prevents it.

"You are not authorized to make commands. I would suggest you return me to my master."

"I'm your new master now, bitch."

A Stark drone smashes through the window, shattering the glass panel. Before Rhett can make any sort of remark or curse, the drone shoots out a tazer line and immobilizes him, sending him crashing to the ground.

Peter slips out of his chair, using the table for support, and makes his way around. He falls to his knees beside him and takes back Edith, placing the glasses on his face.

"Drone, go back," he orders with the wave of his hand. It flies out through the broken window. He pulls himself to his feet and heads to the nearest sink; luckily there are many of them in a lab.

"Edith, text Gwen, tell her to come here."

He manages to get the words out before he's throwing up. His healing factor's already kicking in, expelling whatever drug he'd tried to give him. He doesn't want to know what condition he'd be in currently if it weren't for his powers.

"Yes, sir."

After the contents of his stomach are emptied, both his huge lunch and the tainted coffee, he drops down to the floor and leans back against the counter. He keeps an eye on the teacher, though it's unlikely he'll be moving for a while.

"Call Pepper," he mumbles.

He feels suddenly heavy and weak and tired. He also has no idea what to do from this point onward. It rings twice before she answers cheerfully.

"Hi, Peter! How's your first week coming along?"

"Hey, Pep. Hey, um, question for you."

His soft-spoken words have her drawing away from Morgan and whatever movie they're watching and going somewhere more secluded. The noise from her end dims down and it's only her voice coming through. "What's wrong?"

"If a teacher tried to steal Edith and murder me, maybe murder me, I'm not sure, what should I do? Do I call the cops? What if they take Edith? I don't.. don't wanna..." He swallows thickly and tries to take in a deep breath. "I don't want to lose her."

There's a pause of a few seconds and then, "I see you sent out a drone. Are you okay? Are you safe?"

"Yeah, he's unconscious."

"Good, okay. That's what's most important. Give me a name. Which teacher?"

"Mr. Rhett Leak."

"Okay, thank you. Now I want you out of there, get back to your room. Do you think you need a doctor? And don't lie to me, Peter, I swear to God-"

"I'm fine. He drugged me, I think, but I threw it up. Just gotta nap."

"I don't want you alone. I'll send Happy-"

"I don't-"

"I'm sending Happy, Peter. Stay in your dorm until he gets there. And I'll get some police down to get this sorted out and look into this guy. No one is going to take Edith from you, okay?"

"Okay."

That's when Gwen shows up, opening the door without a knock as if she owns the place and smile bright until she takes in the room.

"I gotta go, Gwen'll help me to my room. You sure it's okay to leave?"

"Peter!" His friend calls, taking a wide step around the teacher and kneeling by his side.

"I'll call you soon, okay? Happy will be there in less than an hour. He'll call you when he's there."

"Yes, ma'am," he jokes and it falls short.

"Let your friend help, be good."

The line closes and he turns to Gwen with a forced smile.

"Long story, help me up?"

As odd as the situation might be; a knocked out teacher, a broken window, and her friend sitting on the floor, she doesn't ask questions right away. She helps him to his feet and then helps him back to his own dorm, the two of them trying to act like there's nothing wrong to anyone who glances their way. He moves Edith back to the front of his shirt.

She sets him in his bed and he lays back, sighing as his aching head hits the pillow. The worst is passing, he thinks. Maybe. She sits by his feet and watches him with a frown.

"Long story?" He repeats hesitantly and knows this time it's not enough. He explains as much as he can with the little energy he has left, keeping most of Edith's true use a secret but there isn't much else he has a reason to keep from her.

"Guess you never know who's a psycho," she says thoughtfully once he's finished.

"Guess not."

She gets him some water and crackers and she's still there when he gets a call from Happy exactly fifty minutes later.

"Hey," he mumbles, slowly sitting up.

"You good to make it out or want me to come get you?"

"No, I can get there on my own. Did, um, what happened to my teacher?"

"Don't worry about it, it's taken care of. Come on, the boss is waiting."

He hangs up and Peter gathers a few things with Gwen's help and makes his way out on his own.

"You sure you don't need my help getting to the car?" She asks.

"I'm sure. I'm okay. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it."

"Do you know what's going to happen to Mr. Leak? We should have called the cops, Peter."

"Pepper and Happy, that's SI's head of security, they both said it's fine."

"Alright..." she says hesitantly. "Text me?"

"I will."

A lot of people aren't used to the idea of 'it'll sort itself out' and Peter had been one of those people for a very long time. Then when he'd met Tony and then Pepper, he'd learned exactly what it meant to have both money and influence and the ability to have law enforcement pretty much at beck and call. Rhett Leak is definitely in custody and getting both the third degree and a full background check all at once.

What Peter wants to know is how his teacher had known about the AI in the glasses in the first place.

He has some books and clothes in a backpack and he throws that in the backseat and takes the front seat next to Happy. It's Pepper's car, and he won't be surprised to find Happy had taken a jet to the cabin and then taken her car up to his campus.

He leans his forehead against the cool window and lets out a steadying breath. His body is sore and he's fighting through the drugs well enough, but he thinks it'll be at least a day before he's a hundred percent.

"The guy's on his way to the station and he'll be far, far away from you for at least the next decade. Hopefully, by then he'll have learned his lesson."

"Do they ever?" He quips tiredly. "How did he know about Edith? He didn't know her name, but he knew about the glasses."

"I'm not sure," Happy says, but Peter can tell that's not quite true. He's too tired to push it right now.

He sleeps for the fourty-five minute drive and Happy gently nudges him when they arrive. Pepper's standing on the porch and Morgan must be distracted somewhere inside. He grabs his back and meanders over to her. She pulls him into a tight hug, only letting go when he starts to squirm in her arms.

"Oh god, Peter, I'm so glad you're okay," she whispers.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he mumbles tiredly. "I'm going to sleep a bit."

"That sounds good. Let me know if you need anything."

He nods and heads up to bed, stopping to greet Morgan and getting stuck there for five minutes before she lets him leave her side. He falls face-first into his bed, not bothering to change, and takes a nap.

When he wakes up an hour or so later, he's finally starting to feel better. He heads down to see Pepper and knows he needs some answers to what's going on. Morgan's outside with Happy and he sits beside her on the couch.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Better. Pepper, Mr. Leak knew that the glasses had access to security protocols. How is that possible?"

She sighs softly, "Yeah, that's... well." She runs a hand through her hair, not quite meeting his gaze. "I didn't expect it to get this far. I thought you'd be safe at school."

"What's going on?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Peter, but we thought we had it handled."

"What are you talking about?" He asks, a bit more forcefully this time.

"It's come to our attention that some information about Edith has been leaked. It's not public, exactly, but people are paying good money to get details about what she is or how she works, a good handful of people have bits of information. Unfortunately, some knowledge about Edith also means some knowledge about you, since you're her current primary admin."

"How long have you known?"

"Since your graduation," she admits. "Those guys had some info and from what we managed to get from them, they wanted to hurt you to hurt the business. I've had Happy working on it ever since to try and find the source, but at this point, the information's out and there's no stopping it. I never thought someone would pretend to be a teacher to get to you or Edith, I'm so sorry."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asks hotly. "Those guys tried to kill me, I had a right to know why."

"I didn't want you having this on your shoulders when you were just about to start college. Peter, Yes, you had a right to know, but it wasn't right that this was happening to you in the first place!"

He breathes out slowly.

"If I leave Edith here or at the Tower, will that solve the issue? People will leave me alone?"

"I wish I could say yes, I really do, but... Your name is tied to the business now. People know that you have certain accesses and permissions, they know certain roles you might get into later on and even if I take that all away, that won't stop them from trying to get to you."

"But I don't have anything to do with the business. Edith is just a-a protection thing! I mean, I've been to some meetings, but that's not... anything."

"This isn't how I wanted to tell you this. I wanted to wait until you were older and out of college and ready for this sort of thing. I don't want to do this now, Peter. I don't!" She takes in a deep breath to calm herself. Peter says nothing, only waits her out. "I'm sorry. Listen, Peter... Tony had a lot of hope about the part you might one day have in the company. He never wanted to pressure you into anything, but if you were willing and ready, he wanted you to, well, to follow in his footsteps, so to speak."

Peter sits quiet, watching her as he absorbs her words.

"I brought you to those meetings to get an idea if you might be interested. You have a lot you can do for Stark Industries, and Tony trusted you. After I retire someone has to take my spot and Tony wanted it to be you. I want it to be you."

"Uhhh," he says smartly, brain not keeping up with her words. "What about Morgan?"

She smiles and holds back a laugh, "Morgan is turning two in two months, not sure she's quite ready for CEO yet. I'm not talking about next year, Peter. This is farther down the road and only if it's something you want. It's just that some people have been able to tie in Edith and what happened at graduation and other little things to the idea that you're the heir to the company and that's why you're being targeted. I didn't know this myself until your graduation."

"I can't... what?"

"I'm going to need you to take a deep breath, okay?" She takes his hands and locks their eyes, guiding him for a few inhales and exhales. "No expectations, no rush, no worry, alright?"

He nods but can't quite meet her gaze.

It's a lot to take in, all at once.

"I want you to stay over for the next few days. Hopefully, by Monday the school will have replaced him and you can go back to normal."

"Is there a normal anymore?" He asks tiredly.

"Of course there is, sweetheart. Right here, with me and Morgan. That's not changing. I'm not going to ask you to do anything you aren't ready for. We'll do everything one step at a time, I promise. And while you're at school, make sure to keep Edith close by. Apparently these kinds of people will pop out when you least expect them."

"Yeah, for sure."

"Are you okay?" She asks gently.

"I think so. Do you think it'll happen a lot? For people to want to hurt me, or...? I'm used to that as Spider-man, a bit at least. I never thought I'd have that problem as Peter Parker."

"I hope not, but..."

"Yeah."

It's his new reality. Although not by name or blood, he's a Stark now. Even if he never chooses to take over the company and fill in Tony's shoes, or Pepper's, people will always associate him to the company.

He'd never thought, even for a moment, that he'd end up in this sort of position. It was naive to think, looking back. There's no working with Tony Stark or Pepper Potts without assumptions being made. He doesn't know what he wants to do, it's too soon to think about all of this. He's not ready to make any decisions, and he's going to take her up on the offer to take it one step at a time.

Right now he needs to focus on college and also apparently potential murder attempts. At least he's learning to trust that nagging feeling in his spine a lot more.

Chapter 41: Year Three; Operation Spider-Boss

Chapter Text

June 2020

Peter decides it's finally time for him to make his way to the memorial site in Washington D.C. He goes with Pepper and Morgan, using them as emotional support.

They walk the rows upon rows of tall structures etched with thousands of names. Pepper knows where she's going and he follows with Morgan in her stroller. He's uncertain of the exact number, but there are definitely hundreds of people walking around in search of lost loved ones. She stops and he halts behind her.

"There he is," she points somewhere in the center.

He unclips Morgan, takes her into his arms, and steps in beside her. He follows her finger and finds the first of two names they're here for.

'Anthony Stark'

"Look, Morgan. There's dad." He traces the name gently, reading it out for his sister.

"Daddy!" She reaches out and he holds her up to the structure for her to touch the name.

Nobody bothers them as they walk around. In this place surrounded by the names of those lost in the blink of an eye, they choose to be respectful. They're all here to mourn. They're all in the same shoes.

It's almost strange to see Tony's name wedged in between so many others. Peter's biased, of course, but he doesn't feel like he belongs here. He should have monuments (there are some), and songs (he's fairly certain some exist). He deserves more than a name on a piece of rock. He fought Thanos, he was there trying to save the universe. He's a hero.

Guilt resonates through him at the mere thought of it. Would that mean May only deserves this rock? No. And no one else would think that of their loved ones.

"I'm glad you decided to come," Pepper says softly while Morgan touches the monument.

"Me too."

Pepper takes a blanket from the small storage compartment in the stroller and sets it down. They all sit together, eating small snacks and chatting. Morgan doesn't know what's going on. She's too young to have an understanding of what the world has gone through, but she knows she misses her dad. They tell her stories about him and reminisce about the positive and wonderful things that he'd done.

It's hard not to cry. It's obvious how much they all love him in the way they talk about him, he can see that affection reflected back at him when he locks eyes with Pepper. Then he spots that far away look in her gaze as she tells them about meeting Tony for the first time and it makes his stomach clench with guilt because Tony should be the one here instead.

He can't let that thought settle. Three years later, the thought still nags him in his nightmares and more vulnerable moments. Doc Sampson has helped a lot though, and he's made progress.

"I think it's time for us to go find May, what do you think?"

"You guys don't need to come with me if you want to spend more time here."

"I think Morgan's looking forward to paying Aunt May a visit, aren't you, baby?"

She nods vigorously, munching on the last bit of an apple slice.

The entire memorial site is sorted alphabetically. They walk from the 'S' section to the 'P's. It takes longer than it should since Morgan refuses to get back in her stroller and insists on making the walk all on her own.

He glances through the rows. There are flowers in front of many of the monuments, pictures taped to the surfaces on some others. People are sitting on blankets of their own or standing or kneeling. Some are praying, in their heads or out loud and he can catch bits and pieces. They're either whispering actual prayers or telling their lost ones about the life they've been living without them. A lot of them are crying. There's a good deal of cursing and shouting.

They find the right structure and his vision is good enough to see her name somewhere near the top.

'May Parker'

"Up there, Momo. That's where she is."

Morgan has been told and seems to generally understand that both Tony and May aren't around to be physically seen. She claps excitedly and knows not to expect anything more than this piece of rock etched with the names of strangers.

He tells her stories about their Aunt May. She likes those a lot, but mostly when they're at Peter's expense.

"-and that's why I will never, ever, eat meatloaf again."

"And to think, before I had some of her cooking myself I was convinced you and Tony were exaggerating," Pepper says with a soft laugh.

"Everyone always does," he jokes back.

As much as he's dreaded coming here, and there's a lot of guilt at seeing the pure grief on all these people's faces knowing that if he'd been better... No. None of that. As much as it hurts, there's a sense of relief too, about getting it over with. This is something they have left of Tony, of May, of all these people. He can't pretend this doesn't exist.

They pack up for home a couple of hours later once Morgan's eyes are drooping and neither Peter or Pepper have the emotional energy to stay any longer.

He stares at the pictures on his bedside table back at their little cabin.

Around four weeks later, Pepper presents 'Operations; Spider-Boss' to him. Apparently she feels no need to hide it from him anymore. As someone who's hidden his fair share of secrets to protect others, he gets it, no matter how much it sucks.

"And what's that, exactly?"

"Tony wanted this protocol to go live after... in case of his... It's something he wanted to go over with you when you turned 23, but you already know most of it at this point and there's no reason not to tell you now."

"What does it... do? Or mean?"

"The idea of the protocol is to prepare you, as I've been doing, to take over the company one day. If that's what you decide. It'll also give you more access than you currently have."

"I really feel at this point I've got too much access."

"Nonsense. This means you won't need to ask my permission to dig into files or get into Friday's coding, and everything relating to all the suits."

"Oh. That's actually useful. Thanks!"

"I thought you'd like that part," she says with a gentle smile. "Overall, it's a sort of schedule to get you ready for the future and I've already been working on that. He wants you to get a degree, which you're doing, and I've been introducing you to the various aspects of the business. There are no hidden agendas in it."

"Like the Training Wheels protocol."

There's a confused tilt to her smile, but she nods, "Based on the name, I'm sure that's true."

"He liked his weird names."

"He really did."

Pepper officially activates the protocol 'Operation; Spider-Boss' and the only real difference is she isn't constantly getting alerts from Friday asking if Peter can access this drive, or this blueprint, or this document, and repeatedly saying yes because she has no reason to lock him out of anything. He knows more what to do with the Ironman suits than she does, and is less likely than even she is to do something untoward with them.

She's never met someone as kind or forgiving as Spider-Man. With everything he's gone through, he's learning when to trust and when wariness is warranted, and yet will always find room to give the worst a second chance. If Thanos came down to Earth right now, she's convinced he would try to reason with him because that's in his nature.

Where she would want vengeance; where people would scream and shout and cry and curse, he's grateful for what he has left. She loves him for it. Loves the light he brings to her and Morgan's life.

It's obvious Peter thinks that Tony's the one who should be here. She remembers his, "Do you ever get mad? That I came back and he didn't?" and she knows he thinks switching places is the better option. But if that were the case, she also knows she'd have a depressed husband on her hands blaming himself for Peter's loss, and failing to save the universe.

There's no 'better' choice, not really. The two men, because by now Peter is a man no matter how she views him as a boy and her daughter's big brother, they'll only ever miss each other. Sometimes, in the middle of the night when the room is dark and her bed cold and empty, she thinks she should have switched places with Tony. They'd have each other, there'd be no need for her to push her way into a relationship she had no part in before this all happened.

There'd be no Morgan, and she turns over and pretends she hadn't thought it at all.

Three years is a long time to grieve, but the world is still grieving and she reassures herself that she's still in line with them. She's not fallen behind or trying to catch up, she's right where she needs to be.

Chapter 42: HandyMan

Chapter Text

In the year after moving to the cabin, Peter finds himself looking up all sorts of tutorials and guides to do any maintenance required. The Tower has a proper team for that and they do work on all floors except for the penthouse and the personal labs. But at home, he's all Pepper has for support on that front. He's too embarrassed to admit when he doesn't know something she asks him to do and locates the resources to figure it out without her knowing.

She has no affinity for it and has her hands full with Morgan and the company. Peter doesn't mind doing the little things, he just wishes it didn't make him feel inept, sometimes.

A creaky door? A bit of oiling, that's fine.

Morgan put jello in the DVD player? Sure, he's got this.

The window jams? Okay, cool, fixed.

There's a leak in the bathroom sink? Um... he figures it out eventually.

The car needs an oil change? Google to the rescue, but it's done.

He starts to realize he's not as handy as Pepper thinks he is when she asks him for help changing the tires on her car, or when the microwave is making weird noises and she turns to him expectantly. She's used to Tony being able to fix just about anything in the world and he only has so much experience in comparison.

Despite the stress, he does enjoy it. He loves feeling useful, even in the simplest ways. He can't pay rent; he's got a bank account now with some funds she gives him for food and regular expenses when he's off to class, and he can't pay that back to her in any way. He especially loves doing these things with Morgan, who sits beside him and stares with curious eyes and wanting to touch and do everything herself.

When he was younger he'd done some small things with Ben and he knows that joy of learning from someone he believed to be the smartest person in the world. Tony would have wanted to do this sort of thing with his daughter, and Peter's happy he can give this to her in some way.

He's very surprised when that trust and belief in his abilities extends further than his little home.

Rhodey comes by at the end of August just as his summer semester has ended and a few weeks before his fall semester starts. He's doing school all year-round to finish more quickly, having used the summer to knock out some mandatory prerequisites needed for the degree. For now, he's back home with the family, enjoying the short no-homework period.

The noise coming from his leg braces when he climbs out of the car is louder than usual, and he can tell it's loud enough to be heard by normal people as Pepper cringes by his side. Morgan is unperturbed and rushes into his arms.

"Uncle Rhodey!"

He lifts her and holds her against his hip, "Hello Miss Stark. How are you doing today?"

"I'm hungry."

After a short greeting and getting Morgan back to her feet, Rhodey heads to the rear of the car and pops the trunk. He pulls out a silver briefcase and sets it down by his side.

"For you, pipsqueak." He points at Peter.

He rushes in to grab it, "What's in here?" It's heavy. Not for him, of course, but for anyone without super strength.

"That would be my best set of legs."

"I thought your's were on the noisy side today. Are you using a spare set?"

"The first pair that worked. I keep them as backup in case of, well, this sort of thing."

"What happened?"

They start heading in as Rhodey explains his predicament.

"Was on a mission out East. There's been some recent territory battles and we got called in to help. Can't say much more than that, so don't go asking you curious Geroge. Long story short, we ended up in a battle zone and I got shot right below the kneecap. I mean, in the brace, no harm to me at all," he reassures the suddenly wide-eyed Peter. "Tones work was always top of the line, and had it hit anywhere else I wouldn't be bothering you, but it got right in between the joints and lodged in pretty good. Managed to get it out, but the limb won't bend as well as it used to. Think you can sort it out for me?"

Peter puts the briefcase down on the kitchen table and carefully opens it. The leg braces are folded neatly, but he can see where the damage is.

"I don't know, maybe? Are you sure you want me working on them? What if I make it worse? I'm not sure I could put it back together."

"I'm sure Tones had some blueprints around somewhere you can find."

"Yeah, but... Isn't there, like, a professional you can see for this?"

"Are you saying you aren't a professional?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Well, everyone's gotta learn somewhere." Rhodey pats his shoulder and sits down with a loud whir of his leg braces. "I don't trust my legs in just anybody's hands. Tones trusted you with his stuff, and I trust you with mine. Have at it, kiddo."

"You can't mean that," he says, shaking his head in disbelief. He gently closes the lid.

"Course I do. Have fun. I got leave as long as I need to get this sorted, so take your time."

Peter wants to keep protesting, but Pepper interrupts with food and Rhodey tells him to take the briefcase away and then it's in his possession and there's no chance to change his mind about it.

He takes it to the Tower for the first few days, getting the blueprints from Friday and running some basic diagnostics to figure how to fix the damage. Once he has an idea and starts getting to work, he winds up gathering what he needs and taking it all home. He sets the metal contraption on his little workstation in his makeshift lab and fixes the dents and redoes some wiring. He makes a few minor upgrades that Friday recommends and talks to her distractedly as he does frequently while in the zone.

"Move that over there, okay, remove layers one and two, show me the meat of it..." The holograms move and rearrange as per his request. "Now that goes from here to... here. The rubber wire cover's looking a bit worn out, probably has another couple years but I should probably change that while I'm in here."

"You're the handyman here, but it could probably do with a change in the soles while you're at it. It's starting to wear away from my time out in the desert."

"Will do, Mr. Stark!" He startles himself out of his distracted state and looks up sheepishly at the Colonel, standing by the entryway, "I mean... sorry. Rhodey. I get lost in thought, sometimes."

"It's alright, squirt."

That doesn't happen as often as it used to. It comes out around Friday or the bots; when Dum-E hands him a sock rather than the screwdriver he'd asked for. Anytime he gets so into his work that the world around him fades and he feels all of fifteen again sitting by his mentor learning the most intriguing parts of the universe.

"How's it coming along?"

"Good. You said no rush, right?"

"No rush." Rhodey steps closer, noisy leg braces getting him along. He pulls the seat adjacent to Peter's and settles down to watch.

They're both quiet for a while. With company, Peter goes a bit more silent though still giving Friday the occasional command. He likes Rhodey plenty, they get along. Rhodey was there for him when he came back from space, he was there by Pepper's side when her husband died and left her with the weight of the world on her shoulders, he's Morgan's favourite uncle and someone Peter respects ultimately and admires wholeheartedly. It's still a little awkward, and that's all Peter. He's not used to working with anyone by his side that isn't Tony.

Years ago in Queens, he'd take his junk to his room to work away from May and Ben who'd admonish his mess. He doesn't like people staring, fearful of reproach or being seen failing. He and Tony had managed to find a good balance between feedback and advice and letting each other do their own thing in peace. There's no replacing that partnership and Rhodey isn't trying, but he's not sure what to do with his presence either. Should he be talking or dictating what he's doing?

Rhodey doesn't boast his own MIT degree as much as Tony always did and most people do, and he's certainly following what he's doing and doesn't need Peter trying to 'educate' him on it. Luckily, as the better adult in the room, Rhodey cuts into the silence once it stretches almost too long.

"Pep told me about that teacher."

"Yeah," he comments, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. As Happy had known about this idea that exists about his potential role in the company and the hitmen that accompany that ideal, he's sure Rhodey did too. Natasha and Bruce's occasional texts to check-in are further indications everyone else knew about it except for him.

"Sorry you had to go through that. Most psycho's aren't that bold."

"It takes all sorts, I guess."

"She also told me she told you about the why."

"She did," he confirms. He's not sure he wants this to be the conversation that breaks the silence.

"Want to share any thoughts about it?" Rhodey prompts.

"Not really. There's not much to say."

"He loved you a lot. He never told you, he was never good with talking about his feelings or expressing them the best way, but he did love you."

"Pepper's mentioned." He spots Rhodey's inquiring head tilt and lets out a soft breath, "Would have been nice to know before, you know? That way I don't always have to wonder if it's true or not. I'm grateful, don't get me wrong. Eternally grateful for what he's given me, and not just the material stuff. Without him I wouldn't have Pepper and Morgan and you. I wouldn't have a home."

He clears his throat and starts stripping the wire as a means to distract his wandering thoughts.

"What makes you think it isn't true?" He asks.

"Did Pepper tell you to talk to me about this?" He fires back, "Because I'm okay. I still see Doc Sampson at least once a month, my panic attacks are under control, I don't need her worrying about me."

"She didn't. I know how Tony worked and that means I've got a pretty good idea how that brain of yours works too."

"If you say so. But it's normal to have those kinds of doubt, doesn't mean that it means something."

"Did you ever think your Aunt didn't love you?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Then why Tony?"

"Because he never said it, I guess. It's always nice to hear the words."

"Mm." Rhodey nods in understanding.

"Also..." He glances quickly at Rhodey who's only kindly encouraging and he returns his gaze to his work. "What if I was just... convenient? He knows I have a moral code, he knows I learn quick and listen well. I'm sure there are better candidates out there, but maybe he chose me to make it look like some sort of charity case, à la 'Annie'."

There were multiple articles over the years that referred to him as 'Annie', an orphan kid taken in by a rich family. It'd be a great publicity stunt.

"Do you really think that?"

"Only sometimes," he admits. "It sounds dumb even when I say it out loud, but sometimes it makes more sense than he took me in to fight the Avengers and then decided to keep me around because he liked me."

"Suppose it's a strange story, but you can climb walls so there are stranger things out there." That makes him chuckle, and he meets Rhodey's smile with his own. "He did love you. I know you know that, deep down. No matter what things you're putting in your own head about why that isn't true. Would you like my opinion about the whole thing?"

"I would." He finally lets go of the wire and angles himself towards the war vet, still going out to fight battles he doesn't need to fight but will because it's justice.

"I think in a few years, after you learn from the best, A.K.A Pepper, you'll make a great CEO. Tony took it on too young but he figured it out. If you get the time to ease into it, you'll be better than he was and that's what he was hoping with you. You've got a big heart in there kiddo. What took Tones nearly twenty years to figure out, you already know. Doing good and helping people is better than any alternative. And this is coming from the guy who once thought Tony should continue making weapons." At Peter's shocked expression he nods, "Yeah, I know. I was a soldier; the better weapons we had, the better to protect our people with. Took a while, but I know better now."

He continues, "You aren't Tony, and we're not asking you to be him. We want you to be Peter Parker because that's the kid Tony trusted to lead Stark Industries into the future. The throne is there and in my opinion, you're the right person to take it. In a few years, of course."

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, Natasha had once told him.

The weight is nearly unbearable on his shoulders but his reassurances ease the pressure. A little bit. Maybe he doesn't need to fill anyone else's shoes, not even Tony's.

"We've got Nat's fundraiser gala in November, after Thanksgiving. You should come; meet some investors and business partners and a bunch of snobby rich folks."

"Sounds fun."

"It's called networking and it's important, as much as it's a pain. It'll be a good way for you to see what's in store for you, if that's what you decide."

"I can't tell if this is your way of talking me out of the whole thing."

"You need perspective. It's not all sitting in meetings or in a lab. If you can get through a gala and come out on the other end in one piece, then you can handle anything that comes your way."

"Suppose it couldn't hurt."

Peter can think of hundreds of ways it could hurt, but he agrees. He still doesn't know what he wants to do, but maybe getting more involved will give him more to work with.

"You're a good kid; you just need to let everyone else see that for themselves."

He finishes working on the leg braces in the next couple of days and hands them back with a proud smile. He's got a few modifications in there and fixed all the problem areas and had managed to do a lot of it without Friday's help. Rhodey switches out the louder ones for the much better, top of the line, version and the difference is obvious. There must be a way to make them less expensive and more readily available to the public.

As he sketches down his thoughts and ideas, he finally starts to think that although he might not be as handy as Tony was, and he might not know as much, he's got imagination. Hope. Aspirations.

What Tony's left him he can improve upon. Make better. Make new. Stark Industries is the paper and pen and opportunities; he's the one who can put it all together until it means something. The research and development team has no idea what's in store for it.

Chapter 43: Higher and Higher

Chapter Text

"Okay, Spider-man, you can do this..."

He leaps from his current precarious spot to the next ahead. Around him are floating boxes, wooden pieces and the tops of street signs and adverts and parts of brick walls. He lands and it's wobbly beneath him but his reflexes keep him from toppling over. He keeps going, keeps jumping to the next available surface.

"How do you get yourself into these messes?" He mumbles to himself.

The crate he lands on next teeters to the side and he startles, leaning back. His foot is too close to the lava. Its heat radiates around him and he's starting to sweat beneath the suit. That isn't helped by the nausea rolling in his stomach.

He stares down, makes sure his feet are safe from the boiling death liquid, and then starts searching for where to go next.

"This isn't real," he tells himself. "Not real. Come on."

The lava feels very real. Very warm and bubbling and spread out as far as he can see. There's an ache in his side, his nerves are burning, his mouth is dry and he knows this feeling as much as he hates that knowledge.

"Just gotta get to the Tower..."

Talking to himself makes it easier to concentrate on the tallest thing standing out amidst the sea of red. Home's in the distance, he just has to make it there. There are parts of buildings he can use to swing himself and he's too close to the heat and it makes him nervous. He knows it's not there. Seeing it makes it hard to remember that it's not really there. Quite frankly, it's terrifying.

Slowly he gets there, slamming against a top-story window. He doesn't know how high he is, but the window opens for him and he's confident Friday wouldn't let him burst into some meeting. He steps through and glances back at the world he's seeing; red sea, bits and pieces of broken landscape, and a bright day. It was going so well, too.

"Hello, Peter. Are you alright?" Friday asks with as much concern as an AI can show.

"Lab, please, Fri."

The inside of the room is desolate. He sees broken desks, computers are strewn about and shards of glass are scattered on the floor. That can't be real. The floor is stained with blood. The paint on the walls is dripping. Every time he blinks the shapes are different, the parts on the floor move from where they were before. None of this is real. He steps and glass crackles beneath his foot. Not real.

Not real.

"Move, Spider-man, move."

He puts his hand against the wall and follows the steady surface to the elevator. It's open and waiting for him. It takes him down where he needs to be. He stumbles to the left-hand side of the room where he keeps some chemicals stored, and starts pulling out the ones he needs. It takes a few blinks, but the words get into focus and he takes the ones he's looking for. He places them on a nearby work station and grabs the necessary equipment.

He gets to work.

Nearly three years after the Snap, the world is really starting to sort itself out.

Therapist and psychologist are a new norm for many, there are support groups meeting up every day at all hours to get people along. People have rallied together to press forward with education, health care, food provisioning, and the proper care of what's left of the wildlife and nature. There's been steady growth in animal population, there have been efforts to replant the areas that had once been flourishing with trees and plants.

Heroes are nicely spread out. Ramonda, T'Challa's mother and the Queen of Wakanda, is currently in charge since both her children are gone. There's no Black Panther, no one to take on that role, but Okoye is leading the Dora Milaje and lending her hand as any superhero could. Bruce is out in California teaching. Natasha's home base is still South Dakota but has been taking care of some pop-up baddies in Russia and Germany and others scattered throughout Europe.

Captain America has mostly put up the shield (that's sitting in the garage at the cabin) and spends time in support groups around the mid-west, though he has gone up against a few people who'd been too far for anyone else to handle quickly and efficiently. Clint is doing things Peter doesn't want to think about, but some powerful yet awful people in China and Japan and Thailand have been slain with arrows. Thor doesn't leave New Asgard, but Valkyrie helps out in the Scandinavian countries and anywhere close by that needs a hero.

There's a gap in leadership and power in many countries and there are those who want to take advantage of it. Those with guns and weapons and sometimes powers of their own.

Peter feels like he's getting the short end of the stick in New York.

Today's a product of someone the media has called 'Scorpion'. It's accurate, based on the green-scaled suit and pointed tail. Which had jabbed into his hip and poisoned him with some sort of hallucinogenic drug. It's a great way to spend his Friday after class; finally making it down to the city for patrol and then getting his ass beat by some reptile wanna-be.

It beats last weekend's fight with the Rhino; the ribs have finally healed but not his pride. And a few weeks back with a newly-escaped Andrian Toomes who is now back in prison until someone breaks him out again. And last month was Elektro, and some back and forth with Wilson Fisk though that's a whole other can of bullsh*t that a hero going by the name Daredevil out in Hell's Kitchen is handling primarily. Let's not forget Screwball, and Scarecrow, and Black Fox, and Calypso.

There's no quiet in New York and no shortage of people with a few screws loose.

They don't always wait for Spider-man to be around, of course, and the police have their hands full trying to capture them when he's off in class (not that they know that).

The Daily Bugle is more than happy to blame him for all this chaos, completely ignorant to the fact that people like this are popping up all over the globe. New York's just... sort of a cesspool for the crazy, he's coming to realize. It's only made worse when he does apprehend them, because then they get some sort of vendetta against him that's unwavering in intensity and Spider-man's really making a name for himself.

This isn't his first run-in with Scorpion. He's attacked plenty of people and Peter's taken some samples and has an antidote documented down. He's never been the victim before, though, and this is harder than he thought it would be.

The room feels like it's spinning around him. His face is flushed and the mask draws back to let him breathe more freely. He knows the ingredients and measurements by heart, and thankfully his hands can work without too much input from his brain. Once he manages to ingest the disgusting purple liquid, he slides to the floor and lays on his back. He closes his eyes and waits for the world to right itself.

A familiar beep rings out beside him and he reaches out blindly to pat Dum-E's metal base.

"S'okay, Dum-E. I'ma take a nap."

The robot beeps once in worry.

He dreams of space.

The moon cackles as it comes crashing around them. Dr. Strange is talking beside him in gibberish, tone low like he's reading scriptures. Peter Quill and Drax are rhyming and finishing each other's sentences in Dr. Seuss fashion. Mantis morphs into Flik from 'A Bug's Life'. He spins in place, eyes fixed on various points but none of it makes any sense.

Thanos is there, big and purple and frightening. Then there's a hand wrapped around his throat and his feet dangle beneath him. His face is warm with tears and his suited hands grip the thick wrist tightly. When his eyes flicker down again, the suit is gone and he's dressed in Hello Kitty pajama pants and a New York tourist shirt. Shame floods through him.

"I'll crush you like a bug, little Petey."

It's Thanos' voice, but his lips are shut and it echoes around him, booming in his ears and vibrating in his own chest. As his lips manage to part to taunt him more, black sludge drips down and his next words are too garbled to understand.

Drip. Drip.

The hand fades out and he's falling. He crashes and tumbles and there's suddenly sand in his mouth and crusted into his eyelashes. His body is sore and the heat of flames flickers around him. This is a familiar scene, one that featured in most of his nightmares when he was fifteen years old.

"Crying again, Mr. Parker? How typical. Because of you they're all dead. My daughter is dead. Don't you wish you'd asked someone else to homecoming? Maybe this could have been avoided..." Adrian Toomes holds out his arms to gesture at the wreckage around them.

The plane crashing down and his fight with Thanos aren't correlated in any way, but as he looks at the scattered boxes of highly sensitive Avengers and Stark equipment, he thinks of Titan and it's broken spaceships. The plane is in pieces around him, everything is on fire. He spins in place and bodies start to appear in the sand. A wave pushes water up the beachside and the bodies are dragged down and the sand is coated in blood. The water turns red and thick and he smells iron in the air.

He stops. On the floor before him is the helmet he'd found back on Titan, fallen and forgotten. He drops to his knees and carefully pulls the Ironman helmet into his lap. He presses it to his forehead and sobs.

"All your fault, Peter, all your fault..."

"I'm sorry," he says, voice thick with tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I tried, I really tried..."

There's no city in the distance; it's only darkness.

The sand starts to disappear, Toomes fades out with a final laugh. His grip tightens around the helmet. It melts, the gold and red paint dripping down into his lap. His skin bubbles as the metal liquefies in his hands and he knows he should scream. It should hurt, but there's no pain.

Drip. Drip.

His eyes burn when he forces them open and his sight lands on the lab ceiling. The memories of the drug-induced nightmare fade away, but will surely return during his next sleep. He tilts his head to the side and spots a small puddle of purple liquid pooling near his head. He looks up and Dum-E's holding the glass jar that had contained the antidote slightly sideways and droplets are falling ever so slowly.

His skin is prickling with the dregs of anxiety and his face is wet. He shivers and carefully sits up. The heater in the suit turns on, the AI always in tune with his needs.

"Thanks, Dum-E," he mumbles. He reaches up to take the container from him and sets it on the station before he drops it.

This should have been his weekend at home with Pepper and Morgan. He should be pouring over that essay that's due and a pack of math work he needs to get done by next Thursday, but here he is. He trudges up to his room, crashes for an hour long power nap, and then heads out in search of his missing baddie.

Maybe if he gets him quick enough he can go home tomorrow.

This is the worst part of being a superhero. The sense of duty, the inability to leave someone out there that he couldn't catch on the first go around. He's missed too many classes and too many days with his family because of this and he can't make himself shove down that sense of responsibility. Pepper always gives him a look much like Aunt May's once upon a time, that tells him she wants to scold him and coddle him and keep him safe at home but she knows there's no hope of that working out.

Every time he gets back home and Morgan looks at him with big eyes and with all the stories a two-year-old can come up with, and then he leaves and she begs him not to, the guilt sets in heavy in his heart. But she's only safe if he keeps fighting.

New York is big and he's only one person. He can't be in all these places at once, and he knows where he's needed most.

Chapter 44: The Sanctum Sanctorum

Chapter Text

Peter was born in the city and has had many years to walk its streets and learn its personality. He knows he's walked down Bleeker Street in the past, but somehow he never noticed the outlandishly posh building sitting between two normal houses. Telling himself it's probably magic doesn't excite him as it would have a few years ago. If Ned were here, they'd be sharing all sorts of theories about the Sanctum and magic and wizards.

Ned died not knowing real life wizards were real and that's a shame.

He stops in front of the building. He walks onto the first step to be out of the way of pedestrian traffic and stares up to take in the full view. It's tall and fancy and looks like it could be a museum. He tucks his hands into his sleeves, the weather cool nearing the end of October. A long pause later, he finally makes his way to the door and knocks.

It opens almost immediately. He goes through and there's no one there.

The front hall is wide and furnished with things like vases and large portraits and a long staircase that divides into two parts halfway up. There's a red carpet from the door to the bottom step, and to his right there's a brass coat stand. He keeps his sweater on, but carefully takes off his shoes and places them next to the doorway. It all looks too nice for him to be walking around in sneakers.

He walks to the staircase and leans against it, leaning forward to get a view of second story, spread out around the room and barricaded by a wooden banister.

"Hello? Mr. Wong? Are you here?"

It's a quiet building and somehow (magic, probably) the sounds of the street are completely muted, even to Peter's hearing. His words echo loudly.

For nearly a minute there's no response. He draws back from the stairs and shuffles in place, waiting. The door surely wouldn't have opened if no one was here; he's never been here before and the place would have no reason to let him in. He doesn't touch the weird vases or portraits, but he has to draw his hand back multiples times because the curiousity is there.

"Hello, Peter Parker."

He hears Wong's voice before he sees him. He comes out of a room on the second story and carries a book under his arm. There's no smile or anything to show he's happy to see him. That's fairly normal, however, and he takes no offense by it.

"Hi!" He calls out.

"And what can I do for you, Mr. Parker?" He asks pointedly.

"Can't I be here just to say hi?" He offers.

Wong makes it to the bottom of the staircase and gestures for him to follow. They head into a side room which hosts a small kitchen, apparently. A kettle is on the oven already and steams coming out of the opening.

"The Avengers don't pay casual visits," he says.

"I'm not an Avenger."

"That's not what the news says."

"Well, they have a way of being as wrong as possible."

Wong pours out to cups of tea and hands him one, "Take a seat. I'm sure this won't be quick."

Peter takes it hesitantly, "I can come back if I'm interrupting something?" He gestures vaguely to the book.

"Just some light reading," he says offhandedly. "Sit."

It's not much of a request at this point and Peter obeys. Near the kitchenette, there's a couple of sofas sitting in front of a fireplace and it seems like a hazard to have a fire going all the time, but he won't comment on it.

"What is it, then?" Wong prompts once they're seated.

To the side of the couch he's sitting on, there's a small stand overflowing with books of all sorts of languages and he sets his cup on top of it and then puts his hands in his lap. He fidgets with his fingers anxiously and forces himself to meet Wong's unimpressed stare.

"I know we talked about this after it all happened, but... I know Thanos used the stones to destroy them, but is there no other option? How were they created? Couldn't we make them again? Or find someone to do it? Thor's a literal God, he'd be strong enough-"

Wong lifts a hand to stop his rambling.

"As you said, we've gone over this. There's nothing we can do to undo the damage, not at this time."

"But you guys are all sorts of magic, there has to be something you can do!"

"Stephen gave away the stone for a reason; I believe in his decision."

"But what if he wanted us to be proactive? What if that's what he saw? It doesn't make sense for us to sit around and do nothing; that can't possibly be what he wanted from this."

"What's brought this on?"

"Nothing, I just... I've been thinking, that's all."

"I see."

It's not really new thinking. Everyone wants to know if there's a way to fix what's been done. Steve spent months in Wakanda with what's left of their tech people, now that Shuri's gone, and with a lot of great minds to see if something could come together. Wong had given his insight from the get-go and has since refused to further discuss it. Thor has no optimism or drive to find any god-ly ways to fix it. Nebula and Carol have found nothing out in space.

Three years later, no ones really trying anymore.

After his most recent battle with Scorpion, spending too long in some hallucinated nightmare, he's been feeling unsettled.

The regular nightmares are never easy, but there's something that sits heavy in his stomach lately about the whole thing. There must be a way... If Thanos can wipe out half the universe, there must be another option to bring them back. He remembers the helmet melting in his hands as if it were real. The Vultures laugh rings loud in his ears. His words are even louder.

"It's all your fault, Peter. It's all your fault."

Tony wouldn't give up, he thinks. Tony would have fought to his last breath. He's a real hero.

"We can't make new stones," Wong says, interrupting his thoughts. "Their very being came into existence before the Big Bang and were compressed into stones by cosmic entities. There is no redoing this, nor would we truly want them to exist again."

"But..."

"Nor are there any other options. Nothing in the universe is as strong as those stones. No gods, no celestials - nothing has the same level of power. Maybe some necromancy, maybe a wish to the god of death would return a tortured soul to a broken body, but there is nothing that can return trillions of lives to the way they once were. I'm sorry, Peter, but that's the truth."

"And you guys can't do time travel, or something? You can't go back in time and not let this happen? We could talk Thanos out of being a psycho and-"

"There's no such thing as 'time magic'. Only the Time Stone could manipulate time. Even if there was such magic, it would be uncontrollable, unpredictable, and would find a way to make things worse. The more powerful the magic, the less it should exist."

"But have you looked? Maybe in one of these books..." He picks up his tea, grabs the book beneath it, and then puts the cup back down. He flips it open, but he doesn't recognize the language. "There's so many, one of them must know something about fixing all this."

"If you know Sanskrit, have fun."

"You know what I mean."

"Peter, I say this as kindly as I can - we lost and you need to move on."

"I can't."

"And I can't help you with that."

"I won't move on. I shouldn't have to. I'm in a world with gods and magic and superheroes; we can't sit back and lose. That's not right."

"It's true we lost half the universe. That's an indisputable fact. But there is still half a universe out there worth protecting. I do my part here, and you do yours out there." Wong moves his hands which glow orange, and a small Spider-man appears in his hands. Next to the hero is a father holding his daughter tightly. He recognizes them. "When you saved this girl, you saved this man's entire universe. What you are doing is not insignificant, it is not without meaning. It won't bring back your family or Stark, but you keep people from losing more than they already have. That's important."

"He wouldn't have given up," he says petulantly.

"Why are you so sure of that?" His hands return to his lap and the illusion is gone.

"Because... because he's a hero! He saves the world, that's his thing. He's stubborn, and smart, and brave and he would have figured something out."

"He would have no more options than you do right now."

"It isn't fair."

"There are many who agree," Wong says, voice softening a bit. "I'm sorry I can't be more help, Peter, but there's nothing I, or anyone, can do for you. If there was a solution, I wouldn't be keeping it secret."

He sighs softly. It's honestly what he expected from this, but he'd had that small inkling of hope. He stands and sets the book down. His tea is cold and he hasn't taken a sip. To avoid feeling horribly rude, he picks it up and chugs until it's mostly empty. He puts it back and forces a smile.

"Thanks for your insight, Mr. Wong, and for the tea. I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'll head on out, it was nice seeing you."

"Goodbye, Peter."

He goes home feeling cold and drained. He hates this helpless feeling. He'd been doing so well, too, but those images of Titan, and Thanos... they had brought everything he'd tried to put behind him back to the forefront and it feels like he's taken twenty steps back in his progress. The idea that there's no solution doesn't sit well with him in the world that he lives in, but he's not in a position to find any other options. If Wong, and Thor, and Nebula, and Carol have nothing...

What other options are there?

Chapter 45: Mom

Chapter Text

It's not instantaneous.

He doesn't start calling Pepper 'mom' one day to the next. He was so young when his parents died that he can't remember calling anyone mom; the word doesn't come easy to him.

It's a slow development and it happens largely (mostly) because of Morgan.

Right after she was born, he'd tell her things like;

"Your mom needs a nap, so we gotta be quiet, okay?"

And;

"Your mom left me in charge, so you have to behave." (And then she throws up on him.)

For the first few months after Morgan's birth, he'd refer to Pepper as 'your mom' because that's what's true. Tony was always 'your daddy' or 'your dad'. May was 'my Aunt'. Rhodey was 'your Uncle Rhodey'. He instinctively separates the people they know by who's her family, and who's part of his, even if there isn't much left on either side. As months go on that little added word, to differentiate between hers or his, falls away on its own. But only when he's talking to her.

It really doesn't take very long before he starts cutting it out because it seems unnecessary. And in the long run, he decides he doesn't want to have that conversation with Morgan. How Pepper is 'your mom' but not 'our mom' when she knows Peter's her big brother. That separation is a possibility for questions he doesn't want to try to explain to a young child. He won't lie and pretend it isn't also about the possibility of Morgan rejecting him if she were to know the truth.

She's a sweet and nice kid, even at nearing two and a half, but that fear sits in the back of his mind. She loves him, but maybe she won't understand the family dynamic, maybe without that blood tie she won't view him as highly as she does now. Maybe she'll renounce him as her brother and the thought alone makes his stomach knot unpleasantly.

It turns into;

"Morgan, you know what mom said - no more cookies until after dinner."

And;

"Uncle Happy's coming over this weekend, we'll put your drawing on the fridge so he can see it right away."

Morgan, of course, doesn't notice the difference. He'd only changed it once she started talking and could start mimicking his words. The first time Pepper hears it, her expression softens but she doesn't address it. No one does, likely not wanting to make him uncomfortable. They all notice it's only in association to Morgan and no one points that out either.

There's plenty of mix-ups, too.

"Pepper says dinner's ready," he reads out a text. They're out looking for spiders and they're too far out for her to shout.

Morgan's face scrunches, "What's Pepper?"

"Oh, I mean mom. Dinner's ready."

"Okay," she says and her expression smooths out.

And on the other hand;

"Mom's in the kitchen - I mean, Pepper. Pepper's in the kitchen," he awkwardly points Rhodey in the right direction.

He ruffles his hair as he walks past him and doesn't say more than, "Thanks, squirt."

There's the inevitability of it slipping out around Pepper herself, but those are almost the easiest because she brushes it off smoothly and he knows that she understands. At this point, it's almost strange to remember his own words, "I don't need a mom," but that's exactly what she's been to him. The guilt makes his chest hurt because he'd never called May, 'mom'. She was as much - no, more - his mother than his biological mother had been. She raised him, made him the person he's learning to be proud to be.

That's what eats at him and keeps him hesitant to pursue the matter.

Pepper had never wanted to replace May, and they aren't the same, but why would one be 'mom' and not the other?

"Peter, it's late. You really should head to bed."

She finds him sitting in their home office slash lab, weary eyes re-reading an essay he needs for class. He's exhausted and the nightmares haven't been helping. Ever since that unfortunate meeting with Scorpion, things have been weighing on him heavier than usual. She steps up behind him and gently rubs his back until he looks up at her with an equally weary smile.

"I will. Soon. I'm almost done."

"Alright, have a good night." Her hand falls away and she takes a few steps towards the exit. He hears her stop and turn back to him, "Are you okay, Peter? You've seemed a bit down lately. You know I'm here if there's anything you want to talk about."

"I know. I'm okay. Just tired, is all."

There's enough of a pause for him to know she wants to push back because she doesn't believe him. Eventually, she concedes.

"Well, if you need me you know where to find me. Good night, hun."

"Night, M- Pepper."

He doesn't know if he was going to call her May again, or mom. She steps out, not saying anything. He rests his head on the desk and closes his eyes for a brief pause in his homework. It takes nearly half an hour before he forces himself back up and tries to refocus on his work

Morgan's been in bed for hours. The world around him is quiet. His mind is anything but.

Slowly and carefully he tucks all of his homework into his binders and pushes it to the edge of the desk. He stands and stretches with the intent to head to sleep. He turns off the computer and makes his way upstairs as quietly as he can. He may have spider stealth, but Morgan has toddler ears and those are as effective as any superpower.

In front of his own door, he hesitates.

He veers off.

Pepper's door is closed but he can hear her even breathing behind it and knows she's still awake. He knocks twice softly before his anxieties can make him change his mind.

"Come in," she calls.

He opens the door and she's sitting up in bed, blinking blearily into the sudden light from the hallway. She reaches out and switches on the lamp by her side and the room illuminates with its gentle orange glow. He stands awkwardly in the doorway, uncertain about getting in any further without her approval.

"Hey, Pepper. Um, I was just, uh... You know what? I think I'm good, um, I shouldn't..." He gestures over his shoulder with the intent to walk away.

She moves to her knees and pats the blanket beside her, "Come on in, Peter. What's going on?"

He decides it's time to simply bite the bullet and do this. He steps inside and closes the door behind him in the hopes that Morgan is sleeping soundly enough not to wake from their talking.

He's never been in her room, neither here or at the Tower. There's never been reason for it. He glances around quickly with the curiousity he can never really suppress. The baby monitor is on her bedside table next to a book she's reading about recycling since that's something SI is looking into. It's all neat and organized, no stray clothes or knick-knacks Morgan can play with, unlike his own room he's found somehow messier than he'd left it after she got into it. She has one painting on the wall of a beachfront, and one picture frame on her dresser of her and Tony dancing in each other's arms.

When he looks at her again, she'd followed his gaze and is now staring at the picture herself.

"I miss him," he says bluntly.

She smiles warmly and returns her gaze to him, "I do too."

"And I miss Aunt May."

That's not what he'd come here to say. She doesn't say anything to that.

"I... I really miss her," he repeats. "I went to see Wong last week and he says there's no way to bring them back. I knew that before I saw him, but I think it's hitting me now? Like, I'll wake up tomorrow and they'll still not be here. Morgan's never going to know them. May would have loved her, more than me probably since she's so adorable, and Tony, well, obviously he'd have spoiled her and I don't know why I'm thinking about all that lately."

They're both silent for a moment as his words sit heavy in the air.

She pats the blanket again, "Come sit."

He sits on the corner of the bed, feet on the floor and hands in his lap. She slides forward and moves to sit beside him, curling her legs beneath her and leaving some space between them.

"What's really on your mind, kiddo?"

"I've been thinking a lot, lately. About a lot of things."

"I can see that. Is this about May and Tony, or is there something else going on here?"

"Yeah, it's not just that," he admits softly. " There is something I wanted to say... I've been thinking that I want to call you mom, instead of Pepper. But always, not just with Morgan like I do now."

"Oh?" She prods gently, eyes a little wide as if she's startled and trying not to show it.

"I was thinking it would be easier, you know? With Morgan, especially, and I've been getting confused and messing it up a lot lately, and having one name for you might just be easier than switching around. And you said when you first adopted me that we could talk about it, if ever I wanted to do that... if that's still an option."

His ears can catch the quickening of her heart rate in the otherwise quiet room, Morgan's soft breathing coming from the monitor falling into the background. He's inclined to believe it's because she's happy about the idea, and a part of him knows she does see herself as his mother and he's never given her reason to think otherwise.

"I - yes, of course we can talk about it, and I'm more than happy with you calling me mom if that's what you want, but is it? What you want, I mean? I understand that Morgan's young and it might confuse her if she calls me mom and you don't, but she'll get older and she'll understand eventually. You don't have to force yourself to do this on her behalf."

"No, it's not just for Morgan. It is what I want."

"Then why do you look so sad about it?" She asks.

"I keep thinking..." he chokes on his words and forces down a deep breath. The back of his eyes prickle with tears and he sniffs those back. He starts over, "I keep thinking that May would be... that it'd make her sad. Or that it's disrespectful to her, in a way. She was never 'mom' to me and she was, in my heart, but never out loud and it makes me feel guilty, I guess."

He presses his palms to his eyes in an effort to keep back the tears that are trying their hardest to get free.

Pepper slides over, removing the space she'd placed herself. She wraps an arm around his shoulders and brings him into her warmth with his face tucked into her neck as she's done with her daughter when she was frightened of the monster outside her window, or every time Peter has to leave and it upsets her.

"I understand what you mean, sweetie, but would you like a mother's opinion?"

He nods and hugs her back.

"First of all, Aunt is no less than 'mom', alright? May knew she was your mom, she knew she was the world to you. A title doesn't change the intent or the meaning you put behind the word when you say it. As for how she'd feel about it, I can't speak for her, but I can tell you how I'd feel. If something ever happens to me, and I leave Morgan alone, I wouldn't be upset by her having a new family. If she ever called someone else 'mom', I'd be happy that she has someone taking care of her and loving her when I can't. I'd prefer being here with her until I'm old and withered, but if I couldn't be... I'd want her loved."

"You really think so?" He asks as her toddler would.

"I really do," she says.

"I think Aunt May would have thought the same."

"That's what I was thinking, too."

She runs her fingers through his hair for a couple of quiet minutes as he calms himself. Once he's ready, a little more reassured and emotions held together with children's glue, he pulls back. He wipes his eyes and smiles at her.

"Thanks for hearing me out. And sorry for disturbing you in the middle of the night."

"It's all good, sweetheart. You're always welcome to disturb me at any hour of the day," she teases gently. "Do you feel a little bit better? Or is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"No, that's all. Way more than enough for one night. I'm going to head to bed."

She kisses his cheek before he stands, "Goodnight, Peter."

"Night," he gets to the door before he stops and turns back to her with an awkward smile, "Um, night, mom. I'll, uh, I'll get used to that."

It doesn't feel as odd on his tongue as it would have three years ago. It wasn't instant, but time with Morgan has made it familiar and a more realistic possibility than it ever had been before. He's already used to it, at this point. Her smile makes him feel even better about this decision.

In light of the awful nightmares and Wong's brutal honesty, he's holding tight to this feeling.

Chapter 46: Shop 'Til You Drop

Chapter Text

This is awful. Terrible. The very worst of tortures. Why anyone would subject themselves to this is inconceivable.

And the betrayal. The utter betrayal cuts deep into his heart and soul.

He'll never look at Pepper the same way again. How she could say, "Peter, we'll be in and out, I promise" to his face and it's been two hours and he's still got pins in his pants and a row of nicely hung clothes to his side and someone kneeling at his right measuring the length of his leg.

Pepper smiles apologetically at the unimpressed look on his face. He's too kind to express his disappointment out loud since she's paying for all of this, but he's sending his feelings to her telepathically. Rhodey, sitting beside her on a cushiony sofa he wishes he was also sitting on, is grinning way too brightly at his misery. Morgan got to escape by going to the Tower with Happy to play since she'd probably wreak havoc in this small shop that smells of leather and cleanliness with no other customers. He wishes he were with her instead.

"Please change into the next suit, Mr. Parker," the seamstress says, stepping back.

He awkwardly steps off the little pedestal, staring at Pepper displeased.

"It's the last one, I promise. The material's different on each one and we have to measure all of them separately, to have them as best fitted as possible."

"I really don't need this many suits," he tries.

"You do, sweetie. Now go on, the sooner you get changed the sooner we can leave."

He sighs and obeys.

There's a small range of colours, black to navy to maroon. He's got a few different coloured button-downs to wear beneath them, but he's done with those and slips back on his science pun t-shirt and is glad for the small familiarity. They did the dress shoes already, and despite Pepper's sternly raised eyebrow, he's worn his sneakers with every outfit just to annoy her a little bit.

This isn't the first time he's had to buy clothes in the past three years; Pepper will hand him the occasional t-shirt and say it made her think of him (the jokes are awful and he loves them), or she'll hand him money for jeans when he finally grows that extra inch and his ankles start showing. He needs new shoes constantly with the wear and tear he causes them. He's gone with her and Morgan when they needed warmer clothes as winter drew near. He and Morgan got matching rubber boots to walk in the woods after it rains (they're pink camo and it makes him feel extra fabulous).

None of this is fabulous.

In all that time he's only needed something proper to wear once. For his high school graduation, Pepper had gotten him a suit with pretty accurate measurements and that had been that. Now she insists he needs a properly fitted suit for Natasha's fundraiser gala and silent auction, hosted a week after Thanksgiving to raise money for her orphanage. They're selling some signed Avengers paraphernalia and other stuff (art, he thinks? Vases? Whatever rich people buy for way too much money.)

Apparently it's not going to be one suit, it's going to be five 'just because'. All requiring a lot more complex fittings than the Spider-man suit had ever needed... He's not bitter. He's just a bit annoyed.

It makes him feel posh and he hates feeling posh because he's the furthest thing from posh! He still uses coupons at the grocery store and still tinkers with garbage and lives off ramen packets at school because that's how he is. This store doesn't have a single price tag and he doesn't belong here. He does it because Pepper asked.

He's still not sure why Rhodey's here. He claims to be off duty for the next three weeks until after the gala, but he thinks it's all a ploy to watch him be miserable.

He puts on the navy suit, the final one. He stares in the mirror and looks himself over.

Alright, it does make him look older. He's still got a babyface and hopefully, his twenties will get rid of that, but at nineteen it makes him look fourteen, still. But he has finally started getting facial hair, a few whiskers here and there and learning to shave was interesting with Friday as his teacher. (When they started sprouting, he wasn't quite seventeen yet and he was still too shy to ask Pepper for guidance.) He doesn't look much different to the boy May and Tony left behind, only a little bit taller with a few more scars and a longer medical report.

Pepper says he's getting more mature, especially when he convinces himself to prioritize studying over patrolling. He doesn't see mature in the face staring back at him, but hey, he'll take the compliment.

He steps out and Pepper and Rhodey stop chatting to look him over themselves. He gets on the pedestal so the seamstress can get to work. It's long all over and extends past the ankles and wrists. He readies himself for another stretch of time where the older woman is too close to him for too long. His focus is on pouting and being pointlessly fussy because it gives him a childish sense of satisfaction.

He doesn't notice the two adults share a look and a sad smile.

Pepper pulls out her phone and scrolls the internet for the picture she wants. She holds it between them and they glance between the boy in front of them and the Stark figurehead on her screen.

"How they aren't related, I have no clue," Rhodey says. He touches the screen and zooms in.

Tony always wore neat shoes, but avoided sleek dress shoes, much as Peter's doing now (except more dirty and ratty), but it's reminiscent of the younger Tony that Rhodey had first met. Pepper's been in this spot before, watching an equally uncooperative Tony get fitted into a suit; nice slacks and blazers, a few dress shirts that he never wore. Peter's nerdy t-shirt hidden beneath the lovely blazer is so much like Tony she feels her eyes burn with memories.

The ruffled brown locks and youthful yet wise gaze that's seen too much. Calloused hands that even Spider healing factor can't make smooth. A smile that lights up an entire room effortlessly. Quirk and sass that are plentiful. She knows their differences; they both do. Tony with his Ph.D.'s and Peter who's struggling to be motivated enough to finish his current degree because he'd rather put his focus on saving lives. Tony with his falsified confidence and Peter who struggles with being too humble far too often.

None of those differences shine as she looks at the young man right now and glances down at her lost fiance.

"People wonder about Morgan, but I'd be more curious about this one."

Rhodey shakes his head at the thought. Three and a half years later, people are finally over the idea of him possibly being Morgan's father. How that was a thing to begin with, he'll never understand.

"This is the fifth one, Mr. Parker, please you know how this works..." the seamstress pleads and he turns hardly obediently.

"Do you think he'll get used to this?" She asks.

She does feel a little bad about dragging him here when it's clear this isn't somewhere he wants to be or has even been in his life.

"As much as Tones ever did," he answers which doesn't help. "He'll be fine. He's got us looking after him."

"I hope that's enough."

"It will be."

It doesn't take long for the seamstress to finish, despite Peter exaggerating how torturous the whole ordeal is, and he gets back into his own clothes and they head out for food. She doesn't mention right away that he'll have to come back in a couple of weeks to try it all on again to ensure the measurements and changes were done correctly. For now, she fills him with Chinese food to bring up his spirits.

She closes the tab on her phone with the picture of Tony from some meeting or event, she can't tell them all apart anymore, the years blend together in her memory.

Peter's going to look dashing, and he's going to do well, she can feel it.

Chapter 47: Black Widow's Fundraiser

Chapter Text

"Well! Who'd have thought you could clean up so nicely," Gwen teases.

"Haha," he says dryly in response.

He tugs at the hem of the suit, feeling warm in the increasingly full room.

"Very dashing indeed," Harry agrees with a wink.

Peter rolls his eyes, but he's grateful for their presence. Natasha had given him the all-clear to invite his two friends to the fundraiser. Harry's father hadn't been invited, no matter the riches he could have brought, and it's a snub that Tony would have appreciated if he were here. They're both dressed nicely and clean up much nicer than he ever could. He's uncomfortable in this environment, though he appreciates the red handkerchief Pepper gave him to put in his breast pocket and the Hydrogen pun t-shirt she let him wear beneath the suit so long as he kept it buttoned.

The room is full of all sorts of people. There are women in gowns and jewels, men in tuxes and ties, almost all of what's left of the Avengers (no Thor, sadly, and still no Hawkeye), and simply those she felt like inviting even if they can make no contributions. Peter included, and his friends, though Harry did put his name down for a painting of the Avengers he told Peter if he won he'd hang in his room to annoy his father. There's some journalists, photographers, all the caterers and their staff. Some military personnel that Rhodey or Natasha had invited, and a handful of the Orphanage staff.

He chats briefly with Logan, one of the caretakers at the orphanage that he'd met over the past few years of visits, and one who had been vocal on social media about Spider-man's genuity.

He greets all the Avengers; Steve, Bruce, and the hostess herself, Natasha. However, before his friends arrive he mostly sticks by Pepper's side as she introduces him to some influential people; investors and politicians and stockholders. They're all kind in person, but he feels the moment he turns his back they'll have some choice things to say about him.

Staff in clothes nicer than most of his own walk around with trays of champagne (that Pepper doesn't let him drink) or appetizers, which he eats with fervor. Unfortunately, he doesn't like a few of them, but he chokes them down anyway to be polite.

All of this is taking place at some overly fancy banquet hall a few blocks from Stark Tower that has an enormous golden chandelier in the ceiling, sparkling floors, and a small orchestra playing classical music. It's separated in two halves, one with tables for seating and the items that are up for auction, and the other half is open for dancing and mingling.

Morgan got to stay home with Happy.

He wishes he was also at home with Happy.

Pepper has the entire building monitored by the Tower's security team, and of course there are the Avengers themselves. Peter has his fully loaded watch and Edith is tucked in the inner pocket of his blazer. None of the things for sale are dangerous or worthy of causing a ruckus to steal, no giant diamond or precious artwork. It's all been carefully orchestrated to be of no interest to bad guys.

As soon as his friends arrive and his phone vibrates in his pocket to alert him of their 'Here' text, he bids Pepper farewell and spends most of his time with them, despite their teasing.

All those he knows pop by to say hello to his friends. He tries not to think of Ned, who had always wanted little more than to meet the infamous Dr. Banner, or MJ who would have loved to meet the Black Widow herself. Rhodey banters with Harry, Steve and Gwen discuss politics for some reason. Pepper's simply happy to finally meet them.

"Hey, sweetie, mind if I steal you away for a bit?" She asks after greeting his friends.

"Sure," he says with a shrug. "I'll see you guys later."

Gwen's still in full debate mode with Steve, but Harry waves him goodbye and he follows her into the masses.

"How are you doing?"

"I haven't spilled something on myself or broken any of the expensive stuff over there, so I'm kind of on a high right now, not gonna lie."

She laughs and links their arms, "Glad to hear it. I dragged you off to introduce you to someone."

"How many more someone's are there? I feel like I've met everyone in this room and I don't remember any of their names."

"This is the last one, I promise." She stops in front of a woman that looks about in her early fourties with a gentle expression and a little notebook in hand.

"Hi, Marisol. This is Peter."

"Hello, Peter," she says with a slight Spanish accent and shakes his hand.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you."

"Marisol is a reporter for The Post, and she'd like to do a piece about you," Pepper explains.

"About me? Why?"

"A lot of people out there want to know who you are and what you have in store for Stark Industries. So far, there have been very few answers," Marisol says.

"I'm not nearly interesting enough to warrant questions."

"You don't have to," Pepper cuts in, "But I chose Marisol for a reason. She'll write something honest and genuine, and I've pre-approved all her questions. It is about time that the public knows something, and this is the best way to do it."

"Couldn't this wait?"

"Yes, but she's also doing a piece about the fundraiser. It'd be a good way to lead into talking about you."

"We can postpone if you like," Marisol offers, "But it'll make your piece much more front and center, and you seem a little on the shy side."

Peter looks to Pepper for courage, "I guess that's fine."

"There's a nice sitting room through that door you can use."

"Wait, am I gonna be alone?" He whispers to her worriedly.

"No," she whispers in return with laughter in her voice, "Bruce is already in there. He needed a break and he won't mind listening in and making sure she doesn't get out of line."

He looks back at Marisol who's standing with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised in slight impatience.

"You don't need coaching, and you have nothing to hide. Answer honestly, and as best as you can, and you'll be okay. She'll make it make sense."

"Okay," he hesitantly agrees.

"Shall we?" Marisol asks.

He nods, "Alright."

Pepper releases his arm and he walks off with the reporter. She seems nice enough, but he knows how untrustworthy looks can be when it comes to not so nice insides.

In the side room she'd pointed them towards, beyond a large door with golden trimmings and a golden handle, they find Bruce next to the window staring outside with a glass of water in his hand and a couple of uncomfortable-looking couches. The walls are beige, but that's hardly visible beyond all the paintings and extra decorations lining the walls. He greets them but doesn't move from his little perch.

Marisol takes a seat on a nice red sofa and places her phone on the table in front of it. Peter awkwardly takes a seat on the adjacent sofa and crosses his arms, uncrosses them, shifts, and shifts again. She doesn't point out his obvious discomfort.

"I'll be recording the conversation; it's a lot easier than trying to write it all down and will ensure the most true to word recounting. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine." He glances at Bruce, but he's staring outside.

Seems he's just going to be the silent observer, cutting in only if needed.

"How does this work?" He asks, feeling very out of his depth.

"I ask questions, and you answer. It's not much more complicated than that. People want to know Peter Parker; so answer as Peter Parker. The more genuine the better."

It's really not much more complicated than that, he will readily agree afterward.

He remembers those scenes in movies, of celebrities bombarded by reporters with cameras and microphones and questions and the idea of that environment makes him anxious. Marisol is patient and smiles every once in a while when he stutters, and it goes over fairly well.

"Please state your name for the record."

"My name is Peter Benjamin Parker."

"And how old are you?"

"I'm 19."

"From my understanding, you currently live with Pepper, is that right?"

"Yes."

"I know this is a more sensitive subject, let me know if you don't want to answer. What was your situation before the Blip? Were you living with the Starks?"

"No, I was living with my Aunt May. My parents died when I was very young, so she and my uncle raised me, and then my uncle passed away when I was fourteen."

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry for bringing it up. Are you comfortable giving me a bit of background about how you ended up in Pepper's care? The only public information is that you were the recipient of the Stark Industries September Foundation Internship, and not much else. It seems like a big jump to go from High School intern to Pepper's adopted son."

"I still think that way," he admits. "It's all a bit of a blur, at the beginning. Mr. Stark took an interest in my work and gave me the internship. We worked together and he taught me a lot. And although I wasn't close with Pepper at the time, she knew that Mr. Stark and I were close and she also knew I had nobody left after the Blip. Being one of the nicest people out there, she invited me to stay with her."

"Did that come with any stipulations?"

"Like what?"

"Was there some sort of agreement that you would work for her someday? Did you apply to MIT because that was agreed upon before you moved in with her?"

"No? Is that something people are asking about?" He's seen all sorts of rumours, that one isn't part of the extensive list.

"You appear to have a certain... bias, towards Stark Industries. Word is going around that you have a lot of promise in the tech industry, yet people are wondering why you chose SI over anywhere else. I can see how HammerTech is no one's top choice anymore, but Oscorp has a much less controversial history than SI."

He knows about radioactive spiders and he doesn't want to know what Oscorp is doing beneath the surface. When it blows up in Norman Osborn's face, Peter wants to be as far away from the ensuing chaos.

"I'm not blind to what SI used to do, but I'm a believer in change. I'm already working on some things with the R&D team, which I can't disclose, but we're looking to help people and save lives. Mr. Stark only ever built weapons because he wanted to protect people, and SI will always follow that idea, just in different ways. It may be some form of bias, I won't pretend it isn't, but it has nothing to do with stipulations or agreements or even my admiration for Tony Stark. Getting to work under him for the little time that I was able to, helped me to realize that pursuing this line of work in his company is exactly where I want to be. Getting to work with the Pepper Potts is just an amazing bonus."

"Is it true that you're the heir to Stark Industries?"

His eyes flicker to Bruce. He's turned towards them but doesn't seem to consider this an inappropriate question. Apparently Pepper okay'ed it.

"I'm not sure 'heir' is the right word for it? The intention is for me to take over after Pepper retires, but in the nearer future, after I graduate MIT, I'll be taking over as head of the Research and Development Team."

This much he and Pepper have discussed.

"Where Tony Stark hasn't been replaced, correct?"

"Right."

"When you become CEO, will you change the name of the company?"

"Change it to what?"

"Maybe keep the idea but change the name, go with 'Parker Industries', or change it altogether. After all, you aren't a Stark. At least by name. Branding is important."

"Oh, oh!" It took him a few seconds too long to understand her meaning. "No, no, I would never."

"Why not?"

"This might come across as controversial, but hear me out. Stark Industries is what it is because of Tony Stark. It's true that Howard did a lot, he started the company, but the soul of Stark Industries lived in Tony. It's not only about how brilliant he was and all the amazing things he built; that's only the tip of the iceberg. He saw what the company could be and lead it there, he stopped the weapons production the moment he knew they were being used in the wrong hands, he's given the world so much more than people will ever realize. He's risked his life to keep us safe over and over again. He created Ironman because the world needed a hero."

"Some might say Ironman's creation created a need for heroes in and of itself."

"And they'd be wrong," he defends hotly, "Thanos was coming, Ironman had nothing to do with that. Loki was always coming. People can feel free to try and deny that, but we all know what's true. I will never change the name of the company. Everything that I do in my work here, and everything I'll do in the future, will be because of how he's inspired me nearly my entire life to be a hero in my own right. The only reason I'm even here is because of him. Stark Industries is going to go into the future with his ideas and beliefs, and it will always keep his name in his honour."

"I see." She smiles warmly and flips the page in her notepad. "You mentioned you couldn't tell me what you're currently working on, but is there anything you can share about what you've done while working with Stark Industries?"

"There's not much to share, but I can say that we're moving towards the healthcare industry. With how many doctors and nurses we lost, we're trying to close that gap to facilitate their work and automate some of their more menial tasks. We've had amazing feedback so far and I'm excited to see how far we can go with this."

"And the world is excited to see where you take Stark Industries. I'm very excited as well. Do you have any final thoughts or words to say to the people?"

He licks his lips anxiously and meets Bruce's gaze, trying to figure out if he should say anything further, or let this sit as is. He already feels like he's said too much. The Doctor smiles and he warms. He's got this.

"I suppose the last thing I'd like to say is... I'm not Tony Stark. But I'm trying my best to honour his life's work and I hope people give me a chance to prove myself."

"That's perfect. Thank you so much for giving me a few minutes of your time, that's the bulk of the questions everyone wanted answered and I won't keep you from the party any longer."

"Is that it?"

"Yes, that's it."

They shake hands and she walks out with her phone and notepad. Peter stands in the center of the room awkward and silent for a long moment until Bruce places a heavy hand on his shoulder to break him out of his thoughts.

"How are you feeling, Peter?"

"I think I feel good. How'd I do? Did I say something stupid?"

"I would have intervened if I'd had any concerns. You did really well for your first interview. I look forward to reading her story tomorrow."

"I'm glad I didn't need any backup, but thanks for being here, just in case."

"No problem, Peter. Why don't you head on out to the party? I'll catch up in a little bit."

"Sure."

Harry wins the Avengers poster. Gwen has a little too much to drink and Harry heads out to take her home with his new prize in the backseat. At the end of the night, the funds are counted and the event has raised something over the two million dollar mark. Almost everyone has cleared out by the time they head out home too. Pepper finds him as he's starting to yawn and wonder if he should go patrolling.

"Come on, sweetie, we're heading out. The little Missus is going to wake us both up bright and early and I intend to have some sleep."

"Actually, I figured since we're here-"

"You've had such a long day, Peter. It's already past midnight-"

"And that's when people need my help the most."

"Morgan won't let you sleep in."

"It's the weekend, I'll take a nap in the afternoon."

"Don't you have that report due soon you said you needed to work on?"

"It's due in two weeks, I have plenty of time. It'll just be a couple of hours and then I'll head home, I promise."

She sighs, defeated, "Fine. But get changed at the Tower. I don't want you leaving that suit on the side of the road somewhere you won't remember later."

He agrees because she isn't wrong.

A designated chauffeur drives them to the Tower, where they're all spending the night to return to the cabin sometime tomorrow. Happy's snoring away in the guest room and Morgan's sleeping soundly in her crib. Pepper keeps an eye on her through the camera in her room, but Peter has his spider stealth that gets him in to give her a kiss and back out without waking her up.

He changes into his suit and goes on patrol.

There's a less than fortunate round of cat and mouse with the ever elusive Screwball, but he stops the bomb from going off and no one's hurt. She says he'd won this 'game' and that's that. It's a way to pass the time, he tells himself. At four in the morning, he waits by the nearest newspaper stand until it gets restocked with today's paper. He's on the tail end of his adrenaline and his eyes are getting droopy and Karen is nagging more than usual.

He really should change her coding to be less 'caretaker' and more 'assistant', like Friday, but he hasn't had the heart to do it yet.

A few early morning commuters greet him once he's swung down and digs in the bin to grab himself a copy of today's New York Post.

"Good morning, Spidey!"

"Good morning, random citizen!"

He takes the paper up to the nearest rooftop and flips through to the piece of interest.

This is what's really kept him up all night. He's read, or gotten snippets, of enough of J. Jonah Jameson's work to know how awful the media can be about Spider-man; he has no reason to think it would be kinder to Peter Parker. Pepper trusted Marisol to treat him kindly in her article, but at this stage in his life, he knows that not everyone can be held to their word.

"... fundraiser hosted by Natasha Romanoff brought in celebrities from all across the globe, even gathering most of the retired Avengers... blah, blah..." he skims over the parts about the event itself, and in the final couple of paragraphs, "One of the guests was the mysterious Peter Parker, aged 19. We've seen him with Stark Industries' new CEO Pepper Potts frequently in the past three years, yet little is known of him, or his involvement with the company. I had the opportunity to sit with him for an exclusive interview."

Below that is a transcript of her questions, a little more streamlined with his stuttering cut out, but it's all true to what occurred.

"As the new heir to the Stark enterprise, Peter Parker is evidently new to the business scene, but has a lot of heart and optimism and that might be what the world needs right now. I look forward to seeing how he follows in Tony Stark's steps, and how he'll make Stark Industries his own."

All the anxiety that had built inside of him melts and he feels about seconds from passing out from fatigue. He rolls up the newspaper, tucks it under his arm, and swings home. He makes it up to their floor but doesn't get passed the living room. He drops the paper on the coffee table and falls face forward onto the sofa and is asleep instantly.

He wakes with a blanket thrown over him and Morgan sitting at his feet watching cartoons. The exhaustion from the gala, and school, and Spider-man, and essays, and Stark Industries meetings, is catching up to him. It's not all that surprising that he's slept through Morgan's wake up routine, but he is surprised she hasn't expressly tried to wake him up.

The moment she sees he's awake she crawls up the sofa and sits on his back.

"Good morning, Peter!"

"Hey, munchkin."

"Mommy said not to wake you up. Are you awake? Can we play?"

He laughs and nods, "Sure. Give me ten minutes to shower and change and then I'm all yours."

"Yay!"

Chapter 48: Back To Basics; Civil War

Chapter Text

It's a long process. Between the red tape, and meetings, and debates, and more meetings, and arguments, and more debates, and a sprinkle of threats, it takes nearly a year for a resolution to occur.

The catalyst takes place on March 24th, 2021.

It isn't the start, by all means, but it's the turning point.

During the third week of March, someone the internet calls 'The Moleman' starts causing trouble in Las Vegas. He's built this giant drilling machine and uses it to get into the casinos and banks to rob their vaults and is out before he can be caught. He uses some form of vibration to make the tunnels collapse behind him and there's no way to find where he's headed, or where he'll be next. The full amount that's been stolen hasn't been disclosed, but it's in the high six figures.

Steve and Peter head that way to try and put a stop to it since it's clear the police can't stand against the massive metal drill and waiting for them to bring in the proper weapons or manpower would only result in a lot more property damage and injuries, possibly even casualties. He takes the jet out to the desert where Steve picks him up, and they have a quiet four-hour drive to the populated city.

Peter has a handful of homemade seismometers that he places around the city. They're connected to Friday and she'll keep read on them until there's activity. The choice locations will help them triangulate where the source is coming from once it starts getting signals. They go incognito with hoodies and baseball caps and rent a room in a hotel as centralized as they could get on such short notice.

It would be amazing and a great almost-vacation if he were with anyone that wasn't Steve Rogers, but he makes do. They're polite and have enough in common to have some things to talk about.

So far the attacks have been without any pattern and they're certain it's intentional. It takes two days before the next one happens. This is, of course, on March 24th.

He should have spent his day in class. Instead, he spent it napping and talking to Morgan over facetime and watching TV in their overly luxurious hotel suite. Once night hits and the city truly comes alive, he and Steve head out to a nearby rooftop, change into their suits, and get ready to spend the night waiting.

In those sluggish post late-night, pre early-morning hours of three to five, that's when The Moleman comes out to play.

He gets the alert in his suit and there's a general area where the vibrations are coming from. It appears to be coming from out of the city into it, which is what they suspected. Hiding a giant drill wouldn't be easy, and he couldn't climb out of a hole with bags of cash in the middle of the Strip either.

To make their lives easier, Peter holds onto Captain America and swings them through the city no matter how odd it might seem. It's faster than trying to drive through the busy streets, especially on unknown roads. Everyone knows this isn't either of their homebases, and people stare and point. Friday keeps him updated as they go, and by the time they arrive at the location where the readings are highest, the drill shoots out from the ground in the middle of the street, pushing away any cars that were near it.

It heads towards the nearest bank, crashing straight through the pedestrians and metal doors.

They land heavily next to the fifteen-foot wide hole in the ground and start working on securing the area first. They free those stuck in their cars and get the pedestrians out of immediate danger.

Once assured that there are no civilians that need help, they head into the bank to stop their thief.

He's in the vault in the backroom, giant vacuum sucking in the cash and coins of varying currencies, mostly American and Canadian. He doesn't leave the inside of the drill, which leaves them trying to stop it entirely or at least get inside of it.

As fights go, it's not their best.

Neither of them knows how to work with the other. They've never fought side by side. The last time they were on the same battlefield, he was fifteen and excited just to be invited with little knowledge of the reasons behind the fight and all he knows is to go for the legs. This doesn't help against The Moleman.

By the time Peter tears into the drill and Steve is on the outside trying to keep it from going underground, the destruction they've left behind is... a lot. It tore through the street and hit the first floor of multiple hotels.

People are screaming and crying up and down what's left of the street, Steve climbs in the drill to apprehend the culprit and Peter leaves to try and get people out of collapsing buildings. He uses up nearly three cartridges of webbing to keep them upright long enough to get people out, and then it all comes crashing down. The suit protects him from the ensuing cloud of dust; the civilians are not so lucky.

Steve's wrapped a pipe around The Moleman's hands to keep him contained. He hands him off to some random people on the streets and calls out for his partner.

"We gotta go, Spider-man."

"But this place is wrecked. We should make sure-"

"We've overstayed our welcome. If you want to get out of here undetected, we need to go now. The authorities will take it from here."

"Fine."

It comes out terse, but he gets it. As Spidey, he's had to make a few last-second getaways before the police can start asking questions and knows there's only so long he should stick around. Steve's been in enough fights to know when to get scarce and he swoops down to grab him and swing away.

He lands them in a pre-chosen back alley to change out of their suits and walk back out into the streets in cozy civilian clothes, completely incognito. They find their car and Steve makes the drive out to the middle of nowhere to return him to his jet, before making his own drive home.

Peter quietly bids goodbye and that seems to be that.

Until it isn't.

There's a lot of background stuff that he isn't privy too, and he doesn't ask because it's all politics and that's not of much interest to him. It's only five or so months later, some Saturday in September when he's hanging out at home, that Natasha gives him a call.

She'll occasionally text him. He loves updates about the kids and the orphanages. She keeps up with his life and will send him the odd congratulations when he's doing well, or will send him a video of him in action and offer some pointers. Phone calls don't happen and the moment he sees her name on the display his heart drops.

"I'll be there in an hour, we need to have a chat. See if Pepper can keep the little one occupied, you'll want to do this privately."

"Sure. Anything you can say to make this sound less ominous?"

"Afraid not. See you soon."

The call cuts.

That's not scary at all.

He convinces Pepper to take Morgan out for a walk with the promise that he'll tell her everything afterward, and they go before Morgan can catch sight of Natasha and throw a tantrum when she's told she can't spend time with her immediately.

He's pacing the length of the office over and over and rushes out as soon as he hears her car outside the cabin. He opens the door before she's even on the porch and ushers her inside. She's in jeans and a sweater for the cooling fall days and has a packet of documents in her hands, and there's nothing rushed in her demeanor. It soothes his nerves a bit.

"Take a seat, we got a lot to discuss."

They go to the living room where she takes the loveseat and he sits on the very edge of the sofa, foot tapping anxiously. She puts down the documents and the pile is thick and full of black ink.

"Let's get right into it."

He nods, "Okay..."

"There's been a lot of talk amongst the United Nations lately about the Supers, but we'll get into that in a bit. I want to bring you up to speed with the whole thing since I believe you've been left out of a lot of previous discussions on the matter. When you were brought out to Germany all those years ago, did Tony ever tell you what the reason for the fight was? The big reason, not the personal issues."

"The Accords stuff."

"What do you know about them?"

"A bunch of countries decided that Superheroes should be registered and that they shouldn't go out fighting without following a process. That they needed to be asked to fight rather than go about it all willy-nilly."

"That's the general idea," she confirms, "Tony agreed with it, Steve didn't. At the end of the day, it never went through. Implementing those kinds of laws and processes takes months, probably years, and after the Snap it all fell through. General Ross, who spearheaded the idea, was gone and the nations had other things to focus on."

He'd never put much thought into it, but he hasn't heard anything about the Accords in the past few years and it makes sense they've become nothing with no one around to press the subject.

"Why didn't Steve agree with it?" He asks. "If that many countries thought it was the right thing, who are we to disagree with that?"

"I'm not here to talk about that, Peter. If you want, you can ask Steve but I'm not involved in that discussion and I'm staying out of it. The reason I'm here is the fact that interest in the Accords has resurfaced and the initial proposals are being revisited."

"Okay, but I'm not sure why that's a big deal."

"That's because you don't know everything. Yet. It's not so simple as taking accountability. Yes, that's a large part of it, and you're right to think that way. We aren't above the general population and if they don't want our help, we shouldn't force it on them. In the same way armies shouldn't shove themselves in places they aren't invited. However, there are some less desirable aspects to the Accords you need to be aware of. You're Spider-man, Peter. You're a part of this as much as the rest of us."

"I'm not part of the Avengers though."

"It's not Avengers only. It's anyone who goes around using their powers in public. Spider-man included."

"As I said, I agree with them, so I still don't see why you're worried about it."

"You will," she says, her expression unwaveringly steady. "You don't get to sign the Accords as Spider-man, you'll have to sign them as Peter Parker. Which means you have two options. You choose not to sign and you hang up the suit for good, or you reveal your identity and sign them. There's no in-between. In the documents, it states that very few people will know your identity and that it'll be safeguarded, but the moment the Accords become public knowledge someone will be hacking that database and your name is going out to the highest bidder. And you won't continue being Spider-man without signing the Accords because you won't put me in a position where I need to arrest you."

"Oh."

That makes it click, all of a sudden.

He wouldn't want to stop patrolling. The mayor likes him well enough and he feels he could get away with sticking to Queens without someone coming out to arrest him. So long as he signs the Accords. Which he can't do without going public with his identity because there's no trusting the governments to keep that information private and it would absolutely be better to reveal it himself than to wait anxiously for it to happen for him. If he hangs up the suit... he's not sure he can mentally convince himself to do that. But can he convince himself to endanger Pepper and Morgan even further? Or any future family?

His silence is all the tell she needs to know her point has come across.

"There was a meeting this morning. I taped it and I'll send it your way, although there's not much more than what I'm telling you now. Here's the first draft, go over it and let me know if there's anything you need to be clarified. They want this to take effect within the next year. I understand you want to do the right thing, but you need to take this seriously. The rest of us are already out to the public so that's no concern and we've all agreed to sign. Bruce has opted out as he has no intention of fighting, but it's agreed he's going to be a primary physician and will work with us for medical purposes only. You don't have to sign if you want to keep your identity secret; we're all capable of fighting if it's asked of us and you can help us plenty with what you're already doing."

"I don't think I'm doing much. Did they ask about Spider-man in the meeting? Did they say I have to reveal my name? Maybe there's a way to get around that."

"You're making our weapons. Mostly mine, to be honest. And all these advancements you're working on in the medical field are amazing. You don't want to know how much Bruce talks about you. There is a lot you can do the way you are, you don't need to compromise your secret identity. They brought up a lot of people in the meeting, including you. You've helped a lot in the city, you're becoming well-known and that comes with its own problems. Anyone who signs the Accords will have to give their name - including you."

"I... I don't know. When do I have to decide?"

"There's no date yet, but sometime in the new year."

"Why is this a thing again? I've heard nothing about the Accords for years."

He won't suddenly change his thoughts about the idea of them because he's involved, even if he feels he shouldn't be. He is, however, curious why the interest has suddenly returned.

"Remember that fight in Las Vegas earlier this year? I believe it was in March."

"Yeah. The Moleman."

"Questions came up afterward. The amount of destruction left behind cost the city millions of dollars to fix; it's still being repaired. Some people think you and Steve shouldn't have gotten involved and should have left it to the authorities, and a lot of others are grateful. It's always a mixed bag with this sort of thing."

"But they couldn't have stopped him without us. That drill-"

"Perhaps," she shrugs, "But that's the whole point of the Accords. You can't force people to take your help if they don't want it, and the damage left behind needs to be held accountable by somebody. You saved a lot of lives, no one's disagreeing with that, it's the idea of two strangers going in and taking charge without being asked that's causing a bit of an uproar."

"I get that," he agrees sullenly.

He's trapped. Pushing back against the Accords to protect his identity would make him the worst hypocrite. Them continuing on and coming into a world-wide law of sorts is going to make his life infinitely more complicated. He does genuinely get the point of them. He probably wouldn't appreciate some random hero popping into Queens saying they could handle Adrian Toomes better than he can. People with amazing powers can be dangerous; laws need to be implemented. There also needs to be ways of handling those types of criminals (how many times has Adrian been arrested? Or Scorpion? Or Rhino?)

"There are no easy options and no easy solutions here. I wish I could guarantee that your identity would be safe and this whole thing wouldn't be so bad, but I can't do that."

"I know."

After finding out that information about Edith got leaked out somehow, he knows there's no truly safe place to store anything anymore.

"I'm sorry, Peter, but this is why I wanted to do this in person. You have a good six months to think about it. If at any point you have any questions, you have my number."

"Yeah... yeah. I guess I'll think about it... Am I still allowed to patrol? In the meantime? Or would you have to arrest me?"

"You can keep patrolling. I would suggest sticking to New York; no more adventuring further out. Unless you want to give them more ammo."

"Thanks. Did you want to hang around for dinner? Morgan'll be upset if you came all this way and you didn't spend some time with her."

"Sure."

She leaves him with a gentle pat on the shoulder. He sits there, staring at the paperwork and trying to get the energy to start reading but his mind is too frazzled. The two women trade spots - Morgan squeals excitedly outside and bounds off with Aunt Nat, and Pepper comes in and takes a seat by his side. He's fidgeting and she doesn't say anything until he can gather his thoughts enough to face her.

"They're reintroducing the Accords. They want to implement it sometime next year."

"Oh."

She doesn't need to ask any questions; she knows plenty about that. She remembers Tony coming home with a black eye, quivering left hand, and failure resting on his shoulders as heavy as the weight of the world.

"She said that it's for all Supers, not just the Avengers. So I either sign them, or I don't. If I sign, I have to give them my name and we all know that's not staying a secret for long. And if I don't sign, I can't be Spider-man anymore."

Without a word she wraps her arms around him and pulls him into her side. He curls up against her and already feels better in her warmth.

"I don't know what to do, Mom."

Pepper always knows everything, she'll have some insight.

"I'm afraid I can't help you there, Peter. I can't tell you what to do. I have my opinions, but they're biased, and you need to decide this for yourself." She wants him to put up the suit for good, but that's what she's wanted since she adopted him. It's no different now.

"If... if people know, it'll put you and Morgan in danger."

"And Tony being Ironman was never going to put us in danger? We were attacked at your graduation; we're in danger no matter what. But I can take care of myself and my daughter. You think about what you need and what you want. This has nothing to do with me and Morgan, I promise we'll be okay no matter what you decide."

"I don't know. I don't want to be forced to make that kind of decision."

"I understand, sweetie, but sometimes big choices are about the lesser of two evils and this looks like one of those times."

He turned twenty a month ago, he's in his seventh semester at MIT thanks to year-round classes, he's in the final testing stages for cost-efficient prosthetic legs. He's a real proper adult who does his own laundry and sometimes cooks for himself and can babysit his little sister without letting her drink bleach on accident.

He wants to stomp his foot like Morgan does during her tantrums and he wants to scream and curse the gods and also cry a lot.

He does none of those things, but he does stay in his mother's arms until Natasha and Morgan come back from their walk. He ignores the papers on the table for now and spends the day with his family.

There's going to be plenty of time to think about the Accords. Six months is plenty of time.

Chapter 49: Rescue

Chapter Text

There's a number of meetings for the Accords he's technically invited to however never attends. For now, until he's made his decision, there's too much risk going out anywhere outside of the city as Spider-man. He still goes patrolling even if it makes him nervous, but at least that's home and Natasha had reassured him he'd be fine for the time being.

After she's left, he spends the following few weeks reading over the draft and highlighting parts he doesn't understand or doesn't like. Pepper will help him with the first, and he sends the second off to Natasha to discuss during their meetings.

The documents are very clear about the signing process.

He'd have to give his name, age, date of birth, and hand off a piece of ID and let them take his prints. They'll do a criminal background check and if everything looks good they'll put him down as an Avenger; the placeholder name for the Accords, and UN's, Superhero soldiers. If the person chooses not to join, or can't because they either can't fight due to some physical or medical issue, or there are reservations about the person's intentions, they will be given an official warning to cease using their powers for any sort of fighting and refusal to obey will be a jail sentence. Anyone underage (Peter feels mildly guilty as he reads it over) will be forbidden from doing any sort of hero work, and are to keep their powers private and under control. Those who disobey will either be tried as a juvenile or will be sent to a school for Supers that Natasha is working on getting built. It's becoming more and more their reality that an actual establishment will be a necessity, and they plan to get ahead of the situation.

There are murmurs going around about the Accords as talk of them is coming to light. He's humbled by the response he's seen on Twitter in his defense.

It's because he and Steve couldn't handle one giant drill that this is happening in the first place and he doesn't always feel worthy of their kind words.

"I'm not going to make it back this weekend, maybe not next weekend either," he tells Pepper during one of their regular calls.

"Are you sure?"

"I know Morgan's not going to be happy about it, but I'm working on something and I'd rather get it done as soon as possible. I'm also almost done the semester, and then I'll have all the credits I need for my Bachelors in Physics and I was thinking of taking a semester off to figure out if I want to keep going."

It's already almost December, three months since Natasha popped in with the less than stellar news about the Accords.

"Weren't you interested in getting an Associate degree in Biochemistry as well?"

"I was thinking about it. I could start up next September after this Accords stuff is sorted."

"If that's what you want..." she trails off.

He has plenty of ideas for what she wants to say, but she always bites her words back. The Accords are a bit of a sore spot between them.

"Tell Morgan I'll bring her a present next time I come around and I swear I'll be by as soon as I can. This is just really important."

"I believe you, sweetie. I've got to pop off to a meeting, so I've got to let you go. Don't work too hard, okay? Don't forget to get some sleep."

He does his best to reassure her although he knows it's all lies.

He spends most weeknights in his bed surrounded by every bit of homework he has and all his textbooks. Friday will read some parts out to him and he tries to absorb the information about supersymmetry while reading about quantum chemistry and it's a lot to take in. He's grateful for the fact he doesn't have a roommate to complain about him having the lights on all night long. He should change out of the shirt he's been wearing for three days and definitely needs to clear out the ramen packets overflowing his tiny trashcan.

On the weekends, he heads to the Tower. He drives home, grabs the jet without letting Pepper or Morgan know, and makes the flight out to the city.

After a few hours out on the streets stopping a few baddies and getting electrocuted (could have done without that - thanks, Electro), he hunkers down in his main lab to get to work.

For a long time, he'd thought of it as Tony's lab, or even Pepper's. Four and a half years later, he's accepting it as his own space.

He takes care of Dum-E and U regularly. Eventually, he finally put away his worn copy of To Kill a Mockingbird and has spent some hours cleaning Tony's half of the room and re-organizing his own. Nothing is thrown away, just stored. The room is swept by Dum-E every so often, he orders in parts when he needs them and he signs the delivery form. He belongs here - and when he sits in his chair the room fades out just as it would back in his room tearing into a broken DVD player with Aunt May a door down.

His December nights are spent making a brand new suit, but not for himself.

Everything Spidey is built into the nanotech and he can build himself something in minutes easily with the equipment around him. Despite the various suit designs he's found in Tony's files, and the few he's built, he tends to stick to either his first design or the IronSpider. He's added in a few gadgets and has even added in Edith's coding to be able to use her while in the suit if need be, but he doesn't feel the need to go any fancier. Spider-man works off his powers; too much is only going to make him sloppier.

This suit is designed similarly to Ironman's Mark 45.

Bulky titanium alloy from head to toe. Blasters and shied and laser beams. An AI built-in; he calls her Elsa based on Morgan's favourite movie. He steals Friday's coding and modifies it as he needs, ensuring it will always prioritize two people's safety above all others. He gets the measurements from Friday and he uses Tony's existing equipment to build this new version.

Through days and nights, he stands in front of the silver metal skeleton and digs through it, moving wires and adding features and changing his mind about the shape of certain parts and making adjustments to minimize the weight of the armour. He goes back to the drawing board and they make another version, and then another. Only when he's satisfied does he send it through the painting device that Tony had previously constructed to get his suits that lovely red and gold.

"Alright, Fri, put her on through."

It comes out a shiny blue and silver and he names it Rescue.

He gives the command to shift it from armour to an easily transportable briefcase and makes one stop before heading home to Pepper.

At the cemetery where Ben is buried without May's ashes beside his, he takes a seat in front of the headstone with the case by his side. The grass is damp and it seeps through his jeans but he doesn't notice. He brushes dirt and dust from the engraved slab of cement and feels his eyes burn but knows he won't cry.

'Ben Parker. He was loved.'

Those words are never far from thought. Like 'May Parker' and 'Anthony Stark' etched into towers out in Washington.

"Hey, Uncle Ben."

Six years after his death he still visits as often as his busy schedule allows.

"I don't have much time before the Accords become official. I've finally made up my mind. I think you'd be proud of me. It's a hard decision but it's the right one. Morgan's been doing well. Pepper decided to homeschool her until she's six, and then she'll start in the first grade. It's easy enough since she's home and we can look after her. She can do her numbers up to ten, and she can name a dozen colours. She's also getting good with animals and their sounds. I helped her learn how to use her tricycle over the summer; we have a long paved driveway and we would go back and forth for hours. She loved it. Reminded me when you taught me how to ride a bike. Pepper's good, too. I can tell she's still really sad about Mr. Stark, but I don't know what I can do to make it better. I don't know that May ever stopped being sad. I'm still sad a lot."

He tugs at blades of grass and tears them into pieces in his lap for a long while, rambling on to his Uncle until his soul feels a little lighter. Therapy helps, Pepper helps, but talking to nothing is good too. Doc Sampson encouraged it and considers it healthy enough.

On his way out he pats the tombstone.

"Thanks for listening, Uncle Ben."

He picks up the briefcase and goes home to Pepper. He's got bags under his eyes, his hair is slightly greasy, and his stomach rumbles loudly to protest how often he hasn't fed himself in the past couple of weeks; she smiles sadly when she spots him.

She tugs him into a hug and he feels about ready to fall asleep standing but Morgan's excited laughter cuts that short. She tackles his leg and he struggles to keep his balance.

He shrugs out of his backpack and reaches in, rummaging loudly and makes a loud, "A-ha!" once he's found her present. He hands her a framed butterfly given to him from a student in the entomology department at school. She shouts happily and rushes in to take it to her room and he and Pepper get a couple of quiet minutes to speak.

"I made you this."

They're on the porch, since they haven't had a chance to head inside yet, and he orders the armour to take shape in the available space.

She stares at it and remains quiet.

"It's got all the usual things, a shield and blasters, and I put an AI in it. It can connect to your phone and all the cameras here and at the Tower and the motion sensors we have around the perimeter."

"I... It's lovely, Peter, but-" she trails her fingers on the sleek blue armoured shoulder.

"There's a carrier in there, too. If you ever need to grab Morgan and escape. The AI has Morgan's safety as it's top priority."

"I don't believe we're on the same page."

"I can't do it, Pepper. I can't reveal my secret identity. I can't put more of a target on you and Morgan than there already is. I have to put up the suit and that means I need to be completely discreet with my powers from here on out. I have the watch, and Edith, but if something happens then... I need to know that even if Spider-man isn't around, that you and Morgan are safe, you know?" He shrugs and his eyes drop to the floor.

She sighs softly. She places her hand under his chin and makes him meet her gaze, "But will you ever be able to rest?"

"I don't know," he admits with a broken voice.

"Why don't you rest up for now, and we can talk about this more after you've eaten and had a nap? You're exhausted. How do I turn this off?" She gestures to the suit.

"I called it Rescue. You can change that if you want. I also call it stealth mode, so - Rescue, activate stealth mode."

The suit shifts back into a briefcase.

She takes it in hand and gently guides him into the cabin.

After a shower, a change of clothes, dinner, and a nap, he still hasn't changed his mind. She doesn't try very hard to dissuade him. She eyes the briefcase in the corner of the room wearily. She's very tired of heroes and armoured suits and wondering how long until Peter takes on a villain stronger than expected. Or the one that gets the lucky shot. And how long until Morgan decides she wants to be a superhero too, like her father and brother?

Where does the cycle end?

Chapter 50: Circle of Life

Chapter Text

"On behalf of Spider-man, I would like to inform you all that effective immediately, he will be retiring from the superhero gig... Going forward, Stark Industries will continue to work with the Avengers and provide them with support if the need arises..."

He sighs and shuffles the stack of flashcards back to the beginning.

He's in his black suit, his shoes are polished and his hair is slicked back. Pepper's in another room, giving him space to breathe and rehearse his speech. A few halls away is a room full of reporters waiting to hear his statement. He's never done a press conference before. There was that one time where Tony had asked him to do one after inviting him to join the Avengers, but he's still fairly confident (or in denial) that that was all fake and there were no actual people waiting to ask him questions.

Pepper had offered to do it, but although this is him speaking on Spider-man's behalf to the world, this is him actually retiring. It feels important that he be the one to say the words, even if most won't understand their significance to him. This will be his first appearance as heir to Stark Industries, it'll be expected of him going forward to do these sort of speeches.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us. I'm sure you're all wondering why you've been invited here today..."

Pepper did take care of a majority of the speech, and how to make it concise.

There are some ways to make Spider-man announce his own retirement well enough, but it was agreed that it would be better if the suit didn't come out again. If Spidey asked for a meeting, who knows what kind of people that might drag out of the woodwork and he wants this to go smoothly.

It's plausible enough that Spider-man and Stark Industries work together. Not only thanks to the IronSpider, a clear indication of their alliance, but from the moment he'd stepped out in an actual suit rather than his old onesie. He'll go out there on Spider-man's behalf and announce his retirement, and he'll soften the blow with plans to help the Avengers from the sidelines. Stark Industries will be much like Bruce Banner; there for support, but not on the frontlines. He'll continue working on their weapons and any upgrades he can think of, the Iron Legion will be available should they need it.

Morgan and Pepper will be safe. Rescue will be there to ensure it.

Natasha and Rhodey appear disappointed by his choice, and Pepper and Happy are relieved; all the more adult-y adults have their strong opinions but are trying hard to keep it to themselves so as not to influence his decision.

His baby sister doesn't know much about his superhero life although she's seen all of his powers at use. She has no opinions on the matter and at least that's someone not creating more guilt on his conscience.

"Spider-man has asked me to pass along a message. He would like to thank New York for the past five years, for all the support you've given him and the kind words and encouragement. Without you all, he wouldn't have had the courage to continue on as Spider-man, to do everything in his power to see you all safe against those who choose to use their intelligence and strengths for their own greed..."

The suits are all properly stored back in his lab. He's scared, but he's ready, too. He's been a hero so long that the thought of being regular Peter Parker is a little bit thrilling. He'll have plenty of hours to spend with his family and in the lab, and now he won't have to worry about getting stabbed and shot at every other day.

"To those worried about Spider-man's enemies and the ones that plague the streets of New York, once the Accords are signed and established everyone will be protected by the Avengers. People like Max Dillon and Aleksei Sytsevich will not be free from justice..."

He groans.

He sits on a small loveseat and tucks away the flashcards. His head falls back and he closes his eyes to try and calm his thoughts.

It's February 2022, the Accords will be official in the coming month. More importantly, Morgan is turning four in three weeks. He's got a full weekend of camping in store for the two of them, letting Mom off the hook to get some R&R, and he uses that as ammunition to keep on going. He's got this. He can do this.

There's a knock and he invites Pepper in, knowing it's her by the sound of her heels.

"Hey, sweetie. You ready to go?"

He stands with another groan. "Yeah, I guess so."

She wraps an arm around his shoulders and they walk out of the room side by side. They go through empty halls up to the main room where the conference is actually taking place. This is at the Tower, having an official room built for this very purpose. Morgan's upstairs with Happy, and he wishes that just once he could be there with them while the anxiety-inducing events are taking place.

Natasha had wanted to come but was held up doing something in Brazil, but Rhodey managed to make it down for the day. He'll be going up after Peter to provide more information about the Accords, finally getting the go-ahead from the officials.

He's waiting for them close to their destination, and he pats his shoulder and wishes him luck.

"You got this, kiddo."

He knows Rhodey sometimes sees Tony in him; it's frankly the greatest compliment. Tony would never do this. He couldn't lie to the world about his identity as Ironman, he wore his hero title with pride and honour. He would never be so selfish to only live his life protecting his loved ones while leaving the rest at risk. Peter doesn't think he's old enough to make that choice yet. Morgan's not old enough for him to put her life at risk and she's not old enough to make that decision. Pepper's suffered enough.

She gave him a home and a family; he needs to do this for her.

Even if it kills him inside.

"You remember the order?"

"Mhm," he nods, feeling his stomach knot as they near the room with whispering reporters. "You'll go on first, introduce me, then I go, do my thing, introduce Rhodey, and then I'm out of there."

"Exactly. Take a breath, follow the script, and you'll be okay. I promise."

The hall opens into the conference room and they can stay to the side hidden from view as she walks ahead. She stops in front of the podium. As much as the audience can't see them, they can't see them either. Pepper's still in their sights and she's standing tall and confident and he tries to take courage from her. Rhodey keeps a hand on his shoulder as she talks as a means of comfort.

After a couple of minutes, she speaks his name and his stomach drops. He takes in a deep breath. She turns towards him and her arm is out, inviting him to join her on the makeshift stage. The reporters are clapping politely.

He walks out into view and the clapping gets louder. She smiles warmly and he returns it, grateful for her presence. He takes her spot at the podium and she slips out behind him to join Rhodey offstage.

His hands shake as he places his flashcards on the podium for reference. He stares out into the crowd and isn't convinced he won't vomit then and there.

There's maybe twenty of them, maybe thirty. He's never done well at facing a large group of people. He hated presentations back in school and is thankful his particular field of study doesn't require facing stage fright. They all have their recording devices and notepads, and it's reminiscent of Marisol's interview which he reminds himself had gone well.

Another deep breath.

"Thank you," he says and takes to the mic. "Hello everyone, and welcome. Thank you for joining us, I'm sure you're all wondering why we invited you here today."

It's quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

"As some of you may know, a concept of a decree of law called the Accords was introduced back in 2015. Dozens of countries came to the agreement that the superheroes, including the Avengers, needed to be more properly organized and documented. The idea would be that vigilantes would be criminalized while giving the world access to these people with amazing powers to help us in our times of need. More information regarding the Accords will come to you via Colonel Rhodes, who will come up here to speak after I've finished. For now, I'd like to keep us a bit more localized. You may have connected the dots here; the Accords will impact our local hero Spider-man."

A hushed whisper.

"You may all have opinions on him, but we're not here for that debate. It's become mostly common knowledge now that Spider-man works with Stark Industries, and I'd like to confirm that that's true, and I'm here to be his messenger regarding the Accords."

He moves aside the topmost flashcard and his eyes skim the next one. His hands are still shaking. He glances briefly to his left and spots Pepper's comforting smile. He breathes in deeply and continues, slightly off-script.

"As discussion of the Accords progress, it's become increasingly obvious that Spider-man would need to make a choice between signing the Accords, or leaving the superhero life behind. He had a lot of concerns about signing due to his secret identity. Signing the Accords would mean giving his name to these authorities, and there's always a fear that the information may get out."

Pepper frowns from her spot in the shadows and her hand rests on Rhodey's elbow. They'd both agreed not to discuss intricacies about why Spider-man wouldn't sign the Accords - or why he couldn't. That was deemed in-the-know information. After years with Tony Stark, she doesn't like people going off-script for any reason.

"Spider-man has a lot of people he loves and cares for, and he has to be cautious about revealing his name to people, even the most trustworthy of them. As much as he'd love to have the best of both worlds and protect the streets with his identity hidden, at this point in time that's just not feasible. And I'm here to say, on his behalf..."

He moves another flashcard. The room goes completely quiet. He's too off-script for him to go back to his notes.

"I... uh, actually, all I have to say is..."

The room slows to a crawl, which happens when his adrenaline spikes. The only danger is the thoughts in his head right now.

Pepper's hand squeezes tight and Rhodey flinches as her nails dig into his skin.

"He's gonna pull a Tony," she whispers anxiously.

He glances her way and then back at the young adult. He knows exactly what she's saying.

Peter looks their way and there's obvious uncertainty in his expression. Every part of him is exuding anxiety. They've spent weeks perfecting this speech, but it takes a hero with a too big heart to turn that to waste. While one hand holds way too tightly to Rhodey, she gives him a thumbs up with the other hand because he needs this courage.

"What I'm trying to say is... I am Spider-man."

The room bursts into life.

He gives it a moment, staring out blankly at the suddenly excited room. His heart's racing and his hands are still shaking while clenched around the crumpled flashcards. He raises his hand when a few seconds pass to bring them all back to near silence. They all have heads bowed and are writing his words down, despite the recording devices. He swallows thickly and he presses on.

"I'll be signing the Accords as Peter Parker, and will lend a hand to the Avengers whenever we're called upon. A discussion will be had about my involvement here in New York, however, my main priority will always be to keep my family safe. I would highly recommend to any of those who would like to make them a target, to think long and hard about that decision."

Whispering continues.

"That's all I wanted to say and I won't be taking any questions at this time. Thank you for coming. Please welcome Colonel Rhodes."

He walks off with their questions at his back. He blinks and suddenly he's a few feet further than he thought he would be and Pepper's in front of him. His hearing is fuzzy from adrenaline and he wonders briefly if he's about to have a panic attack.

"Mr. Parker can you-"

"What is-"

"How long-"

"Where are you-"

He doesn't respond to anything; he can't even hear them. Rhodey passes him by to take the stand and leaves him with a quick pat to the shoulder and a smile. When he meets Pepper's gaze, her expression is soft and a little bit sad. She wants to shout at him and call him irresponsible even if that's not necessarily true. She's upset and frustrated because she had been so close to him getting out of this awful superhero life. She forces herself to smile for him, though.

"Come here, honey." She pulls him into a hug and he falls into it with a deep sigh.

She needs to be there for him more than she needs to wallow in her own thoughts.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Mom, I don't know why I did that, I'm so sorry," he mumbles into her shoulder. His fingers curl into the back of her blazer and he has to focus not to tear it on accident. He can't even remember his own words, but he knows what he's done.

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay." She rubs his back with one hand and the other lands in his hair. "You did it because you're heart is so big and so full of love and it doesn't belong to just me and Morgan. We're always going to share it with the people of New York and that's okay. We're all going to be okay."

At this moment when the tears fall free, he believes her.

She has Rescue and the Iron Legion. She has Edith and Friday. Mostly - she's got Spider-man at her side. He'll keep his family and Queens and anyone who asks for him safe just as he has since he was fourteen and learning to be a hero. Hanging up the suit would have been like cutting off his air supply and he would never have recovered from it. They both know it.

He wouldn't be Peter Parker - the nephew May raised, the mentee Tony inspired, and the son Pepper supports unconditionally if he could ever abandon his city.

Hopefully, the world is ready for him.

---

@ F.E.A.S.T
After the Blip, Peter Parker spent hours and hours helping us build our shelter in New York and brought us food and supplies every other day. He's our hero, with or without the suit. #SpideyRules

From: Natasha
Good job, Spider-man. Welcome to the Avengers.

@TheDailyBugle
Stark Industries conspires with New York menace... no one is surprised! Listen to my podcast for more discussion about the rise in crime Spider-man has caused. (Link).

From: Cindy Moon
WTF?!?!

@ZachTries
Hard to believe the dorky high school kid Parker is Spider-man. My theory? Body double. Go to my Youtube channel for more info.

From: Gwen
This explains. SO. MUCH.

@PetSociety
#SpideyRules #NewYorkStandsWithSpidey Peter used to walk our dogs every day despite the busy schedule, half we didn't even know about! He's a true blessing to New York and gives honour to the Stark name.

From: Harry
My dad is freaking out and this is the best day of my life. (Video). I've never heard him swear like this before. This is amazing.

@Pepper Potts
Please see the attached conference notes for any questions regarding Peter and Spider-man. If you are a reporter and have further questions, follow the usual SI process. No one is to harass my son on the streets. Thank you.

Chapter 51: Llama the Llama

Chapter Text

"Mommy!"

Morgan's cry has Pepper looking up from her book, though it's a common enough sound for it not to cause her any alarm. She's curled up on the couch reading and Morgan approaches with teary eyes and her favourite stuffed llama in her arms.

She's had Llama the stuffed llama pretty much since she was born and it's worn and damaged and the colours are faded. It stays in bed with her every night and she drags it around after her all day long. Morgan holds it out to her with pouty lips. The llama is in one hand, and it's torn out button eye is in the other.

"Her-her eye," Morgan says in a wobbly tone followed by a loud sniff. "We were outside, and-and," she hiccups and she looks completely devastated by the damage. "I grabbed her and her eye was stuck and it - it came out and-"

"It's okay, sweetie, that's nothing that can't be fixed." Pepper takes the eye and the toy and gently run her fingers through her daughter's messy hair. Morgan nods but she's still pouting. "I'll take care of Llama, I promise. You go back outside and I'll let you know when I'm done."

"Do you really think you can save her?"

"Of course, baby. Now go on, Mommy needs to focus."

Morgan nods rapidly and goes outside with wet chubby cheeks and mourning her beloved toy.

Pepper sighs to herself as her daughter turns out of sight; there's nothing quite so heartbreaking as seeing her daughter so sad. She heads to a hall closet to tug out an old sewing kit that she just barely even remembers is there. She settles at the kitchen table with the kit and the toy. Llama is placed down with its lost eye beside it, the threads in its empty eye socket are loose and torn at the ends.

She opens the container and it's neatly organized - a handful of needles in one pocket, a few different coloured threads, a small pair of scissors.

The llama is a light brown, lighter now from age and there's a stain on its tail from some sort of juice that got spilt on it a few months back. She goes with the brown thread that matches the closest and sets that on the table with the scissors and a needle. She moves the kit aside and puts her attention on the needle and thread.

About an hour later Morgan's patience has run out and she comes back inside to find her mother sitting in the kitchen and her llama still in surgery.

"Mommy, are you almost done?"

"Um, yes, sweetie, just... I'll tell you when I'm done. I have to concentrate, go run along please."

Morgan frowns and pouts and runs upstairs without being any bit mindful of how noisy she's being. She throws open her brother's door and jumps into his bed at his feet where he's sitting on his pillow with a tablet in his lap. He doesn't like her barging in without knocking, but she forgets a lot. She falls on her back and spreads out her limbs dramatically.

"Peter! Llama's been in surgery for ever and ever!"

As used to his sister's behaviour as their mother, he isn't alarmed by any of this though puts away the tablet to give her his attention. His room's the best place for some quiet, but with Morgan around that only goes so far.

"What do you mean? Why's Llama in surgery?"

He's fairly certain he's filling in the gaps well enough to know what she's talking about. He got her her beloved stuffed llama when she'd been alive less than a week and he's honestly surprised the thing is still around four years later.

"Her eye fell off," she says with a returning pout. The tears have dried up, but now it's the impatience that's causing her frustration.

"Oh, I see. Well, let me go see if Mom needs a nurse. How about you make a nice bed for her? She'll need to recover after surgery."

That revigorates her and she sits up with a wide smile, "Yes! I can do that."

She runs off to her room to make some sort of fluffy monstrosity for her toy and he goes downstairs to check in on Pepper and Llama. He stops in the doorway and watches with an amused grin as Pepper sits there in her glasses and tongue slightly poking out from between her lips as she tries to get the thread through the needle.

"Having a hard time?" He asks after he can't watch her struggle any longer.

She lets out a heavy sigh and puts the two items down. She moves her glasses up to the top of her head and her expression is one of annoyance.

"I've never felt more my age than I do at this moment. My eyesight has never bothered me before, but this is the hardest thing I've ever tried to do in my life. What kind of mother am I if I can't even thread a needle? I've been looking at tips online and none of it helps."

He takes the seat beside her's and grabs the offending items.

"Morgan says you've been at it for ever and ever," he says with laughter in his tone.

"I'm sure it feels that way for her," Pepper says dejectedly.

Peter puts away the brown and takes out the black thread instead, "It's better to match to the button since the shade of brown we have doesn't quite match the fur," he explains. He unfurls the end of the string and far too smoothly gets it through the tiny metal hole.

"You didn't need to make it look that easy."

He smiles sheepishly, "Sorry. To be fair, before the powers I was terrible at this part too." He says while waving the knotted needle.

"Did you learn to sew to make your suit?" She asks curiously.

"No, May taught me before that. She considered it one of those things you can't survive without knowing, like laundry and how to make enough spaghetti to feed an army. Between me and Uncle Ben, we had plenty of clothes to repair."

While he's explaining he grabs the stuffed llama and the black button eye and quickly sews it in place, using the small scissors to cut the thread when it's done. He carefully knots the end and sets it down with a proud smile.

"I see - I suppose she's right. I spent an hour trying to thread the needle and it took you a minute to do the full surgery."

Pepper takes the now in one piece toy and moves it around to get a good view of the sewing job. Not that she knows much, but she thinks it's very good. It'll last a while until Morgan finds a new way to destroy the poor thing.

He cleans everything off and returns the equipment to the small kit. He points to the llama, "You should get that back to Morgan, not sure she can hold out any longer."

"I can't take credit for it; you should give it back to her." She goes to hand it to him and he shakes his head.

"Nah, it's fine. You spent a lot more time on it than I did anyway," he teases.

She gently smacks his cheek with the llama and stands, "Alright, but you're going to show me how to do this sewing thing later."

"I will, promise. Your patient's waiting, Doctor Mom."

Pepper presses a kiss to his cheek and wanders off to find her troublemaking daughter to give her back her favourite toy. Peter hears her joyous squeal from his spot in the kitchen and he smiles softly to himself.

---

"Aunt May, do you think Uncle Ben is going to be okay?" Peter asks, gaze on the window where fire trucks and ambulances and police cruisers are passing by by the dozen.

"Of course, baby. The Avengers fought off all those awful aliens, so he's only out to help people. He's not getting himself into any trouble, I promise," she reassures him with a pat on the hand. "Remember, flip it inside out and we want to hem right here..."

She helps him with the jeans and shows him where they need to hem them. Peter's growing, but not fast enough for jeans to fit him properly and May's distracting him from what's going on outside by keeping him busy inside with some overdue chores.

"Can't we watch T.V? I want to make sure-"

"No, Peter. We don't need to see that."

"Do you think Mr Stark's okay? That was a really big fall."

"He's a big awesome hero, right? That's what you always say," she teases, "I'm sure he's just fine."

(Even now, a decade later, he remembers that almost nauseated feeling in his chest realizing that his favourite hero might not be as invisible and indestructible as he once thought.)

"Yeah, you're right. He's the best; nothing can stop Ironman."

"Exactly. Be careful, sweetie, eyes on your work."

He pulls his eyes from the window back to the jeans on the tabletop and mumbles, "Sorry. Feels like we could be doing something more... useful, you know? Can't we help? You showed me how to clean wounds, and bandage them, and we could bring some people water, or..."

"Let the heroes take care of all that for now, okay?"

"We could be heroes too!" He protests.

She shakes her head, "And we will. Right now, I'm teaching you an important life skill so back to work, Mister."

"Doesn't feel very important," he grumbles under his breath.

She still hears it and shoots him a disapproving look.

"It is important, Peter, and one day you'll see that for yourself. When some snot-nosed little kid comes up to you with a pair of ripped jeans or a hole in their sweater, you're going to feel like a proper hero when you can fix it all up without a second thought. I bet even Ironman can't sew his own clothes."

Peter laughs, "he doesn't need to! He can just buy new clothes."

"Well, a five or six-year-old isn't going to want a new pair of pants or a new teddy bear, they're going to want you to fix up the old one. That's where you'll come in."

"I guess so." He cuts the thread and knots it closed, fingers dexterous despite the issues with his vision. He admits, "I do feel pretty grown up."

"Good job, Peter. You did really good. Do you want to do another pair?"

He glances at the window and then back to the jeans.

"Might as well do them all while we have the stuff out," he says and her smile is worth it.

He grabs another pair of jeans from his room that needs hemming and stops in the doorway to their dining room slash living room. May's staring out of the window with a worried expression he knows she's been hiding from him all this time. Ben's in more danger than she's letting on and they both really just want him home safe. This is as much a life lesson as it is a distraction for both of them.

He puts the pants next to the first and leans down to give his aunt a hug. She laughs into his shoulder and pats his back.

"What's this for?"

"You'll always be my hero, Aunt May."

He tries to pull away but she grabs his face and brings him in until she can press a kiss to his cheek. Her eyes are glistening and it gives him a sense of pride to know a few words can make her this happy. The city outside is broken into pieces and Ben is out there with his team trying to save lives, and in their little apartment, she's doing her best to keep him happy and safe and confident that he'll be home without a scrape.

"Alright, back to work my little Jedi."

When Ben comes home with a shadow in his eyes from the things he's seen that won't ever be forgotten, it's May that brings the light back in his gaze and reassures Peter that everything's okay. She works too much overtime at the hospital and spends her hours at home cooking while Ben is doing his own overtime and making sure Peter does his homework and doesn't go to bed too late watching the news. She sits by their sides to drive away the darkness of the battle that occurred in their city.

She's the rock in the Parker household.

---

"Thank you, mommy!" Morgan squeals with joy and he can hear Pepper's laugh right after.

He really misses May.

Chapter 52: Welcome to the Endgame

Chapter Text

The Accords are finalized and signed some time in April after it's been reviewed and changed and updated a couple of dozen times. None of them are willing to sign something that will endanger themselves and any future generations of Supers.

Countries, and their cities, will be allowed to decide whether heroes can continue defending the streets. He's relieved when the Mayor agrees to let him continue patrolling New York, so long as he doesn't go further than the city without additional permissions and keeps the NYPD updated, meaning no more running off after a bust. And giving official statements. It's a small price to pay, he reasons. The Mayor actually gives him a key to the city as some form of thanks (and probably publicity) and Jamieson is wonderfully infuriated by it.

Peter maybe snail mails him a selfie of himself and the decorative key because he can be petty when he wants to be.

Overall, his routine doesn't change much.

He's taking a few months off school and will go back in September. The Accords had taken too much of his time and energy for him to do everything at once. He's also hoping the time away will make him less interesting to his classmates. For now, he splits his time between home and patrol and some work in the lab which is not much different from what he was doing before minus the homework.

What's changed is people's reaction to him as Peter Parker. More people talk to him on the streets. Random parents have told him to stay in school and thank him and wish him well. Strangers in shops stare and whisper behind his back and it's all very strange. He's gotten more used to attention over the past few years, but this is another level entirely.

The baddies have surprisingly not changed much either; none of them care that he's Peter Parker, they still just want to fight him. There have been a lot more insults regarding his age and he likes to tease that they got their asses kicked by a teenager and that usually leads to him having to dodge some sharp projectiles. There's been some online backlash about his age in general, but now he's no longer a minor and any of that debate is null and void.

Every day at home is a breath of fresh air outside of all that craziness; home is safe and sound and completely hidden away from the world.

"Peter, you promised we'd go outside after lunch!" Morgan huffs and puts her hands on her hips dramatically.

He glances at her from his seat in his second lab, working on schematics, and he smiles.

"I know, munchkin. How about a race? You go get dressed, and I'll get this cleaned up, and the first one done gets an extra cookie after dinner."

"Deal!"

She's out of the doorway instantly.

He chuckles softly and hurries along to keep the impatient Stark from waiting. He needs to stop giving her so much sugar, but he just can't help it when she looks so cute all the damn time. How Pepper has any resolve, he'll never understand.

Her rubber boots are on the wrong feet and her jacket isn't zipped up, but he gives her the win anyway.

"Be back in time for dinner!" Pepper shouts from the living room, "Five o'clock on the dot, Peter. Don't make me send one of the suits after you."

"Yes, Mom!" He calls back distractedly, not quite sure what she's said but certain there's some scolding in her words.

Morgan has different games she likes to play outside and he indulges every whim. Sometimes it's tag, sometimes they're playing pretend and he lets her borrow the Rescue helmet so she can be a hero and he's the villain in her made up story. They walk through the forest in search of animals and bugs and after some insistence from the future Madame President he swings through the trees with her held against his chest. He loves the way she squeals with joy and when they land her hair is all messy and he'll spend a good hour brushing it out later.

Nearing dinner his phone beeps with an alert from Friday. A car's passed through the sensor nearing their driveway. He's got it set up that recognized vehicles will alert him but it won't trigger any security measures, and his breath comes easy knowing it's only that. It informs him it's Natasha's car, and he grabs Morgan to head out and meet her.

They aren't expecting company and she's not the type to drop by unannounced. It makes him a little uneasy.

"Looks like we have a visitor, munchkin."

They walk through the clearing to find her discreet beige Toyota already parked and three passengers stepping out. Two out of three he knows very well, but the third he hasn't seen in person in five years; it's always pictures, flashing faces of those they've lost. He stops still and stares at him.

Morgan runs up to Natasha who pulls her into her arms for a hug. Steve takes to her side, smile gentle and a little awkward.

Scott Lang waves in the face of Peter's staring, and he hesitantly waves back.

"Hello, Morgan. How are you?" Natasha asks.

"We found a centipede. It has lots of legs."

"That's awesome," she says.

"Morgan, can you go inside and help Mom with dinner? I need to talk to Aunt Nat for a minute," Peter says distractedly finally stepping in closer.

"Okay," she agrees with a pout.

Natasha puts her down and she runs inside, shouting for Pepper to let her know about their guests.

"Peter, this is Scott Lang. Scott, meet Peter," she introduces them and they shake hands. They hadn't exactly exchanged names back out in Germany.

"Okay, I've got a few guesses here. Body double? Shapeshifter? ... Ghost? Oooh, astral projection? Or are you from the past coming to warn us about Thanos? A few years late on that one."

Scott laughs, "No, none of that. Just regular ol' Scott."

"Um, why are you here? We thought you were..." he waves his hand vaguely in the air, and they all catch the meaning.

"Let's take a seat, we got a bit of a story for you."

Peter guides them to the porch and they take seats staring out toward the lake to talk. Scott goes first, describing his experience in the Quantum Realm, and coming out five years later when it'd only been five hours for him. He came back to a daughter much older than he'd left her and went straight to the Avengers with the things he's learned.

"Wait, but that means... If someone can go into the Quantum Realm, we could potentially send someone in now and have them exit at a different point in time, though I'm not sure how that would... I suppose if we warn our past selves, that could help them, but it's all that grandfather paradox stuff, right? If we go back and do an action, will it impact us here, or is it going to create some sort of alternate dimension."

"That's what I was thinking!" Scott says, excited to find Peter on the same page. "We believe it's the alternate timeline type situation, so we can't go to the past to try and change our present."

"What we'd like to do is go back in time to collect the Infinity Stones, bring them to our present, and use them to bring everyone back. It won't undo the last five years, but it's something," Natasha adds.

"That's amazing, but..."

His doubt stills and Natasha continues on. The unfortunate part is that Bruce has made it about three-quarters of the way, but is just shy of figuring it out. They've used up a lot of their few remaining Pym Particles in trying to figure out how to use the machine, and there's little room for further error.

"That's why we're here," Natasha explains. "We wanted to get your help."

"How am I supposed to help?"

She smiles, eyes warm, "Bruce hit a wall in his research. He's figured out how to get us in and out, but there's still no way to navigate through the Quantum Realm and get us out at the right point in time. We were thinking maybe you can lend us a hand."

"I haven't studied quantum physics. I mean, I know some bits, and we definitely would have to keep in mind that any quantum fluctuations would mess with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutch Proposition, and that's a whole problem of its own. The values needed to navigate are... I don't know. There's so much that could go wrong, and we could end up making things a lot worse. I'm sure if we give Dr. Banner more time he'll figure out how to do it right."

"And he thinks you might have what it takes to get this finished. What do you say, Peter?" Natasha asks.

"I mean, I really feel like you should be going to literally anyone else. You could try some University professors or some physicists. There's a lot of great minds out there who've spent a lot of time studying all things quantum."

"This isn't the kind of information we want to be spreading around for multiple reasons," Steve says.

"I know, but... Listen, guys, I'm not Tony. I can't just pop out the science of time travel on a Friday night."

"That's not what we need from you. You, as you are, is who we need for this. You're smart and imaginative and have a way of thinking outside the box that Bruce, and we, believe will make all the difference. Will you at least try?"

Peter sighs and runs a hand through his hair while his eyes stay fixed on the lake. There's a chance - an actual honest to god change. Wong always said magic couldn't travel them through time, not without the stone, but Peter's always been a man of science anyway.

"I can't make any promises," he hesitantly agrees, "but I suppose I can take a look and see if something comes to me."

"Thank you, Peter," Steve says.

He bites his bottom lip and turns back to Natasha, he glances briefly at the other men but he's not quite able to look at them as he hesitantly admits.

"Are we sure this is the right thing to do?"

"Of course it is!" Scott exclaims, "We have to try!"

"You weren't there!" He shouts. His hand flies to his mouth and he chokes back his sudden anger. "You weren't there," he repeats more calmly.

"We lost. Five years is enough time for people to find new partners, there are new babies and families and the world is starting to be right again and what if we mess it all up even worse? What if we lose everything? We're not okay, but we're getting by and..."

"Trying is the right thing to do. Many people would agree to take the risk, knowing what they might gain from it," Natasha says, still seated back in her chair with her hands gently in her lap. She's unperturbed by his outburst and in a way, it's infuriating.

"Can you at least promise we won't do this if we aren't confident about it? If we mess up... the Quantum Realm is... we could accidentally open a black hole right here and that'll wipe out everything that's left. I'm not willing to take that big of a risk. Tony wouldn't want me trading his life for his daughter's and you all know that."

"I know," Natasha agrees. "We won't do it if it's too risky. So far, Bruce believes the worst-case scenario is that whoever goes in won't come out. And that's any battle, isn't it? We would never ask you to do something to put Pepper and Morgan in harm's way."

"Alright. Still, no promises that I can help anyway, but have Dr. Banner send his research over," he stands and changes the subject abruptly, "Would you all like to stay for dinner? Mom always makes loads."

They stay to eat.

Peter puts their discussion behind him for now and focuses on the food and the easy conversation. Scott's funny and makes Morgan laugh. Steve and Pepper chat about things he doesn't care to partake in; Steve works in support groups and that's too on the nose for him right now. It's also a bit awkward.

There's a chance. A silver lining sitting just out of reach for the first time since they found Thanos in his garden only to find he'd destroyed the stones.

Maybe he could save Tony, but everything he knows about physics, especially quantum physics, suggests this could so easily go horribly wrong and that's a price he's not willing to pay. But how far would he go to save Tony and May, and that half a universe that's faded away? He used to think there was nothing he wouldn't do and now an opportunity is presented to him and he'll admit that he's scared.

They leave after dinner and he gives Morgan her bath so that he doesn't have to face Pepper right away, but after she puts the little one to bed she finds him in the lab and there's no withholding the truth any longer. She takes the seat beside his and he tells her everything. Her expression is soft, but he can't figure out what she's really thinking.

"I know they're not reckless, but I'm still worried that something will just go wrong and we'll ruin everything. But also - what if I can't help? I'm not as smart as Tony or Dr. Banner, and I don't want to fail them. For some reason, they really think that I can do something but I don't think I can..."

"Why on earth would they put something like that on you? None of this is your responsibility," her expression turns into a frown and her tone is carefully controlled. "You have enough things to worry about without trying to, what? Invent time travel? This is ridiculous, Peter."

"It's... it could work. In theory."

"I'm sure; I've seen all sorts of things I couldn't have imagined when I was little, but that doesn't mean it needs to fall on you to fix the world."

"It's not really on me. Dr. Banner will figure it out. And for now, it's just research, there's no harm in that."

"And after? If it works?"

"We go back and try and get those stones."

She shakes her head and her hands clasp together in her lap, the skin white with the strength of her grip, "No."

"Um..."

"You can do all the research you want, but you leave the actual time traveling to the Avengers."

"I am an Avenger," he protests meekly.

"You know what I mean. It's not an Accords mission and you aren't obligated to do this. That's my final verdict on the matter, Peter, so don't bother arguing with me." She stands and leans over to kiss his head gently. She pats his shoulder and walks away before his mind can catch up enough to make any sort of protest.

That'll be a conversation for later, he decides.

By morning, Friday alerts him of dozens of files and tests that Bruce has sent his way to work with.

It's disheartening seeing so much that he's unfamiliar with; he hasn't been this out of his element since he started living with Pepper. He dives headfirst into it and spends every available hour trying to make sense of the data and then trying to find a resolution to it. What little time he'd managed to free up from stopping his schooling is instantly occupied once again.

Morgan gets grumpy about it and Pepper sighs while laying a blanket over his sleeping figure, but he puts in the hours over the next few months because he can't stop himself from at least trying, even if he feels like Bruce will call any day and tell him he's got it solved.

He doesn't. For nearly three months he can't make a call himself, either.

At one point, he feels so, so close, and yet...

"Simulation failed," Friday says.

Over and over. For weeks on end and it feels a little like going insane.

"What the hell... how is that a complete failure, Fri? At least give me like 1 or 2 percent!"

"Peter!"

He turns to his scolding sister and raises his brow in defiance, "What?"

"You said a bad word!"

"What? No, I..." he goes through his own words in his head and sighs with defeat, "Yeah, guess I did. Sorry, munchkin. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?" He pleads with a laughing smile.

She stands off the bottom step of the staircase. Her hands go behind her back and she rocks back and forth on her feet in a semblance of deep thought. He has no idea where she's copying this from. The littlest Stark is getting sassy with age. She laughs abruptly and then launches herself into his arms and he pulls her into his lap.

"Okay! Can we have juice pops?"

"You shouldn't even be awake at this hour, Morgan. But I suppose as long as you promise not to tell Mom, we can share one. What do you say?"

"Pinky promise."

With Morgan in his arms, he heads to the kitchen and manages to pull out the frozen treat without dropping her. He takes it out of the wrapper and bites a chunk off the top. It takes effort not to spit it out with laughter as her lips form the biggest pout known to mankind. He hands her the stick so she can eat the rest and she cheers up instantly. He walks them around the first floor, staring into the dark outside. She's warm and content in his arms and his heart is full, even if his work is a failure so far.

"I gotta somehow figure out how to time travel. You think I got it in me, Morgan?"

She nods, the entirety of her mouth sticky and purple.

"You're a hero. You can do everything."

He laughs softly - if only it were so simple.

"Thanks, Morgan. At least you believe in me."

He tosses the stick in the trash and wipes her mouth to hide the traces of their misbehaviour. He brings her up to her room and tucks her into bed with her favourite stuffed llama. She's a little country girl all the way; her bedspread is purple with butterflies and he hung the framed one on her wall, her shelf is littered with books on bugs, a random jar of dirt, and a rock collection. The figurine he gave her of Ironman is still on her windowsill keeping her safe through the nights. The laundry basket is full of mudstained clothes and she insists any bugs found inside the cabin are to be brought out alive.

She says spiders are her cousins and he wonders sometimes how she'll do at school.

"To bed with you, Lady Stark." He kisses her cheek.

"Goodnight. I love you 3000."

"Oh wow. 3000, that's a big number. Even bigger than yesterday. What was it? 400? No, 500? I'm moving up in the world."

She giggles but her eyes are getting droopy with fatigue.

"Sleep tight, Morgan." He gives her another kiss and heads out, closing the light on his way.

He goes back to work, motivated by her very existence.

"Simulation failed."

He wants to scream but he doesn't. Pepper and Morgan are both asleep and he won't wake them for this. He tries again, and again, shifting the equation and trying new ideas. He almost cries when she finally says, "3% successful." It's nothing, really, but it's the right direction.

"Take a break, Fri. Let's reconvene in five."

He takes a water break and sneaks a juice pop since no one's around to tell him no. He glances at the stove and it's five in the morning. He sighs around the sugary treat. It's late. He really should get to sleep. But maybe just one final simulation.

He throws his stick next to the first one and washes his dirty cup. It goes into the cupboard as if it had never left at all. He heads upstairs to his bedroom, debating on sleep or more work.

The bed is different from the one he'd been raised in, that one remains at the Tower, but it's cozy and comfortable. It's not quite time for sleep, he tells himself. His room is not as unique as Morgan's, but it has its fair share of memories. His hand trails the top of his dresser, full of clothes fit for that extra inch he got since he was fifteen, and the knick-knacks such as textbooks and his lego millennium falcon.

His bedside table has an unused alarm clock and the book he's reading, a recommendation from his therapist. His notebook, a diary really when he's not lying to himself, sits in the topmost drawer. He favourite sweater is hanging off the back of the only chair in his room. He traces the contours of a few frames sitting atop one of his shelves.

Him and Uncle Ben. Him and Aunt May. He and Ned at their kindergarten graduation.

He picks up the framed picture of him and Tony. He's holding his sort of official internship certificate upside down with a wide smile on his lips. He wishes they could recreate this.

He wipes his fingers over the top to remove the gathering dust.

"I don't know what to do, Mr. Stark."

He stares closely at the image and inspiration strikes. He carefully sets it back down and heads back to his lab. It's late, but not too late for him to be productive.

"Okay, let's try that again, but with a mobius strip that's inverted. Give me the eigenvalue. And some particle factoring and a spectral decomp. I don't know if it'll work but..."

"Processing..." Friday says as she always does.

"I won't be upset if it doesn't work, I promise. It's kind of a stretch, to be honest-"

"Model rendered."

A glowing set of numbers appear - 99.987%.

"What the fudge... Fri, are you serious?"

The chair scrapes loudly against the floor as he shoves it back from the table. He leaps to his feet and spins in circles for a moment, hand clasped over his mouth to keep from shouting and laughing with unbridled joy.

"My calculations are always correct, Peter," she says with the sass Tony built into her.

He doesn't reply. Adrenaline buzzes through him and the lack of sleep and proper food over the past few weeks fades away as it reawakens him. He bounds out of the room and runs upstairs. He's careful to be lightfooted and skips over the squeaky step and comes to a skidding stop in front of Pepper's door. He raps on it multiple times in quick succession while being as quiet as possible to keep from waking Morgan.

"Mom! Mom!" He whispers as he continues to knock.

A low groan reaches his ears and she slips out of the bed in a sleepy daze. She tugs open the door while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "What's wrong-" she yawns, "Peter?"

He throws his arms around her and excitedly whispers, "Mom, mom, mom, I did it! I did it!"

"What?" She asks, still trying to process the fact she isn't asleep anymore.

"I did it! The time travel - I did it!"

Her grip around him tightens. One of her hands' curls into his hair and she presses her cheek to the top of his head.

His heart is racing with excitement and joy, and her's is racing with fear.

Chapter 53: Time Travel Heist; The Preparation

Chapter Text

Peter... lies.

To Pepper's face. He's never felt so guilty in his life - and he's been yelled at by Tony Stark. He's been the focus of May Parker's most disappointed gazes.

There's no other choice; she'd never let him go to the compound if she knew he was going to participate and he isn't the tantrum and running off type of person. He'd never go if she told him to stay, and lying is the only way to get her approval to head out.

"I'm going to deliver the goods, tell them how to use it, and let them do the legwork. I'll keep you posted with what's going on at all times. And who knows... maybe when I come back I won't be alone."

"Don't let them try to guilt you into helping, okay? They're perfectly capable adults who can take care of this on their own. Even if you aren't opening up a black hole and destroying the planet, we both know there's plenty of danger with what's on the other side and I want you coming home. I don't have to worry about you not coming home, because you're not going to be doing anything reckless. Right?"

"Right."

He puts his briefcase in the trunk of his car along with a few extra things he'll need for the journey and then shuts it. He turns to Pepper and gives her a hug, the fifth or sixth in the past... half an hour? She holds him tight and only let's go when he steps back. Her smile is tense and the guilt punches him in the stomach again. This is the right thing to do, like when he'd hidden Spider-man from May. It hurts, but it's to make her life easier. It's necessary.

He's spent a lot of hours trying to convince himself he's doing the right thing, and so far he has himself convinced.

"Morgan, I want a hug before I go! Come on, munchkin!"

"I'm coming!" She calls back from inside her tent by the house. She crawls out and rushes to him with a paper in her hand and a grin on her lips.

"What do you have there?" He asks, pulling her into his arms.

She turns the paper for him to see the drawing on the front with a proud flourish. "It's for you! To take on your adventure."

All he's told her is that he's off on an adventure as Spider-man, and it was enough to get her imagination running.

"Oh wow!" He takes the gift and looks it over. It's a drawing of Spider-man and Ironman in their suits or some semblance of them. She had no gold and went with brown instead and it looks odd, but he's always been a fan of all of her drawings and loves it instantly. "Thank you, Morgan. It's beautiful."

"Daddy will protect you," she says with the wisdom of a four and a half-year-old.

"Always." He presses a kiss to her cheek and sets her down.

"Be safe," Pepper says.

He manages to get out of the hugs and into his car. He tucks Morgan's picture into the visor and heads out to the compound.

The drive takes a few hours and any anxiety is quelled when his eyes shift upward and he sees the art his sister gave him. He's doing this to give her her father. May would love her and spoil her. This is the right thing to do.

He parks in front of the large building and Steve's already outside waiting for him.

"Good to see you, kid," he greets kindly.

"Hey, Steve," he calls back, heading to the trunk.

"Need a hand with anything?" He offers and steps closer to the vehicle.

Peter puts his briefcase with his supplies down by his side and reaches back into the trunk, "I do have something for you." He moves aside some junk and takes out a very familiar shield. It's been fixed from the damage to it all those years ago and has a new coat of paint. He holds it out to him.

Steve's hands raise to grab it but they still and his expression turns hesitant, "I'm not sure, Peter."

"Mr. Stark fixed it for you before he left. He'd want you to have it." He takes a step closer until Steve has no choice but to take it. "We need to all be at our best if we're going to win. Besides, you kind of look weird without it. Not quite Captain America without the shiny shield."

Steve chuckles and accepts the offering, "Thank you." He's missed the weight on his arm.

Peter grabs the briefcase and they head inside. Almost everyone else is there. Natasha, Bruce, Scott, and Rhodey, along with Thor, recently collected from New Asgard, and Clint, collected from who knows where, are all waiting for him around Bruce's device and the platform that will be used to send them through time. He'd messaged Nebula almost right away, insisting she would have to join them as she knows more about the stones than they do, and Rocket is definitely someone they want lending a hand. They're on their way and that's everyone who'll be joining them.

They can't go sending everyone through time, what with the potentiality of never coming back. Valkyrie is still in New Asgard, Okoye in Wakanda, Carol's somewhere out in space, and Wong remains at the sanctorium.

He shows them the device he'd created to work in tandem with Bruce's, one that will act as a sort of time GPS. It can be worn as a bracelet, and all they need to do is set the right date, time, and location in it, and it'll guide them through the Quantum Realm. It earns him a lot of hugs and praise, and he shies away from it. Without Scott and Bruce, there'd be nothing - he doesn't deserve so much credit.

"Alright! Now that we have a map, we need to start testing this out, and we need to figure out where we want to go, and when," Natasha says, calling them to some sort of order, "Let's get to work."

It takes them a few days to work it all out. He texts Pepper constantly and she seems in high enough spirits. For now while things are in the testing phase.

Nebula and Rocket arrive in that time and are the missing pieces. He gives her a tight hug, having missed her in the too long time spent apart.

"Looks like we're back to putting ourselves in danger," he says with a wary smile.

"So it seems." She returns the hug. "You've done good work. I don't know of any being that's successfully mastered time travel."

"It was a group effort."

She pats his head on their way apart, "you've gotten taller."

"Yeah," his grin brightens, "and they all said it couldn't be done."

Bruce, Peter, and Rocket get the platform running and align it to the metal bracelet that will be used as their guide. Nebula and Rhodey work together to build a suit that will sustain the journey - the Quantum Realm isn't suitable for human travel, and they'll need something to protect their bodies from the strain. They have enough Pym Particles for a test run and they send Clint, who returns pale and shaking and Natasha leads him away. It's a success and the mood around the compound improves significantly.

Then they need to figure out the where and when, and between Thor's sort of nonsensical storytelling and the mishmash of information spread out between them, it takes a while. He wonders if it'd be rude to offer Thor his therapist's phone number and ends up spending most of his time glancing at him worriedly.

"Dr. Strange lives on Bleeker Street and he had the Time Stone. He was really good with it, so I think he had it for a few years." Peter offers the little knowledge that he has about the stones.

"... Wait. That means there's a time where there are three stones in New York," Natasha says with a thoughtful frown. She jots that down in her notebook as they sit around on comfy sofas.

Rocket shares, "Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag."

"Is that a person?" Scott asks.

"Quill's a person. Morag's a planet."

Peter interrupts before Scott can say whatever is giving him that slightly nauseated expression, "Do we have coordinates for the planet? If we can get there without a spaceship, that'd be best."

The idea of getting on another spaceship is making him as queasy as the idea seems to be making Scott. His last two experiences of near-death by crashing and then starvation don't make him want to do it again.

"We have the most up to date navigation system in our ship, it will have the coordinates for Morag," Nebula says. "Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir. That one will require a ship to get to."

"What's a Vormir?" Natasha asks.

"A dominion of death at the very center of celestial existence. It's where... Thanos murdered my sister."

The room goes quiet.

"Not it," Scott says.

Three times and locations are decided - New York, 2012 for the Space, Time, and Mind Stones, Asgard 2013 for the Reality Stone, and Morag and Vormir in 2014 for the Power and Soul Stones respectively.

Next is deciding teams. No one is to go anywhere alone at any point and that's unanimously agreed upon by everyone.

Four people are to go to Morag in 2014, and two will take a shrunken Benatar to Vormir. Only two people will be needed to go to Asgard, and the final four will go to New York - that one will require the most planning as there are three stones to collect in the middle of a battlefield.

The easiest is deciding that Natasha and Clint will go to Vormir - they're easy to trust on their own and no one else makes any objections. As brave as all of them are, the idea of Vormir puts them all on edge with how little they know of it or how to actually get the stone.

Thor, of course, will need to go to Asgard.

"I'll go with him," Rocket says.

"I don't know how well you'll fit in at Asgard, you might be better off going to Morag," Natasha counters.

"I'm good at keeping hidden. The big guy will need someone to keep him on his toes. I'm that someone."

There's no denying that and it's agreed.

"Nebula should go to Morag for the same thing; she won't fit in in 2012 New York. Someone might attack her thinking she's one of the enemy," Peter adds next. "She'll know the area best, anyway."

Nebula nods, "That sounds ideal. Peter will come with me."

"I'm not sure that's best; I know New York pretty well. I think I could convince Dr. Strange to give me the stone since we know each other. Or will know each other."

"But I tolerate you the most," she says in an almost petulant way.

It makes him smile and he turns to the others, "Any of you think you can convince Dr. Strange to give up the stone?"

"I believe I can handle him," Bruce says. "I didn't know him long, but I got a sense of him."

"So me, Steve, Scott, and Bruce will go to New York," Rhodey says. "We get the Time Stone from the Wizard, Loki's scepter, and Shield's cube thing, and we're golden."

"Man, you guys did a lot of crazy stuff back in the day, huh?" Scott says.

"I'm pretty sure this tips the scale on crazy," Rhodey replies.

"What do we say to taking the rest of the day to relax and tomorrow morning we get started?" Steve asks.

It's past dinner time and at this point, it wouldn't be ideal to go out adventuring. Everyone agrees and everyone disperses, some to do last-minute exercise and training and others to relax in front of the television. Rhodey pulls Peter aside and his brow is raised questioningly.

"Didn't want to harsh on your mellow, or whatever you kids say now, in front of the others, but I happen to know Pepper thinks you're not taking part in all this and she sort of insinuated I should try to stop you if you tried. I know that's pointless, but I still think we should talk about this."

"I'm not going to ask you to lie to her, but we could also not have to lie? I mean, we don't have to tell her tomorrow's the big day."

Rhodey's lips purse.

"I know it sucks, but she really hates the idea of me doing this and I hate the thought of staying behind and we'll never agree on this. I'm sure Nebula could do it on her own, but what if something happens? I want to be her backup. I'm nowhere near Loki or on some death planet, we'll be okay."

He sighs, "I'm not disagreeing, Pete. I don't know that you should be lying to her, though."

"I don't like it either," he admits, "but it's necessary. She'll forgive me after I bring Tony back to her."

"If you say so, kiddo. I'm not going to tattle even if I should. Get some sleep, okay?" Rhodey pats his shoulder and heads off.

The guilt never wavers, but it also doesn't make him change his mind. He tells her nothing during their nighttime chat and decides the less she knows, the better.

He ends up spending most of his night chatting with Nebula, hearing her stories and feeling warmed by the almost easy smile she musters and the lax shoulders. She's different from when he met her and it's obvious she's trying to get away from everything Thanos did to her. The world's evolved in five years - people have grown and changed and adapted and he really hopes this doesn't all go to waste.

In the morning, Steve does a speech that Scott fawns over in a way Peter once might have. Peter sends a text to Pepper and sets it down on a nearby desk. They're all in their new white suits with a proud 'A' and it hits him this is his first Avengers mission. Officially. Rocket hands them the shrunken Benatar and they're all ready to go.

His hand dips into his pocket to touch the neatly folded picture hidden within it. Morgan's drawing. He's doing this for her, he reminds himself. His baby sister's mere existence is the strength and resolve he needs to do this and to do it right.

Natasha says, "see you in a minute."

His text goes out and he hopes by the time Pepper replies, he'll be back. He's had a lot of final words with a lot of people and if these are his final words to Pepper, he intends to do it right just this once.

'I love you, mom.'

Chapter 54: Time Travel Heist; The Execution

Chapter Text

"Hey, can we hurry it up?" Clint says, foot tapping anxiously.

The Benatar is reverted to its normal size and Nebula steps out after setting in the coordinates for Vormir.

Peter doesn't remember Hawkeye having this many tattoos. Or this haircut. Or that coldness in his eyes but he lost everything and Peter won't ask any questions.

"We're ready," Nebula says and Clint heads straight onboard.

Natasha approaches him and pulls him into a hug. It renders him speechless and he simply returns the kind gesture. She's thrown him over her shoulder and on his ass plenty of times during training, but they've never hugged. She pats his back.

"Good luck, kiddo."

"You too," he mumbles and she's gone before he can register it.

He stares into the dark sky and watches the ship fly further and further out until he can no longer see it. When it's fully out of sight he takes in his surroundings and crosses his arms against the chill. It reminds him a bit of Titan, but most desolate, dirty, dusty places look alike - at least in his mind. There's a cave near them and Nebula points it out to him.

"The stone is in there. Quill will lead us to it."

"Any idea how long it'll be? We can't exactly live off this place..."

He swallows thickly and the anxieties are slowly seeping in. Nebula starts walking and he follows instinctively, keeping his gaze on her back and away from the environment that reminds him too much of trauma.

"It won't be long," she says.

She tucks herself behind a row of rocks near the opening and stands diligently. He takes a seat and brings his knees up to his chin and pats the spot beside him. Nebula huffs and sits. It's been a very long time since they've sat side by side like this. His stomach knots and his lips feel dryer than the relatively humid atmosphere could explain.

"Maybe I should have gone to New York," he says dejectedly.

He's always had a lot of self-doubt about a lot of things - did he deserve to be at Midtown High? Or MIT? Would someone elve have done better with these powers a radioactive spider gave him? Could he have fought harder against Thanos, could he have been good enough to win? Maybe if he'd worked harder, trained longer, been better... If he were more mentally healthy could he be here without all this anxiety flowing through him?

Captain America would not be sitting here on the verge of a panic attack.

Tony Stark would not be sitting here remembering the fear he'd felt when his toes and fingertips started going numb on a drifting Benatar, or that horrifying realization that he was going to die of starvation where no one would ever find him. No - Tony would be thinking about Peter Quill and the Power stone and what he needs to be doing to make things right.

He'd anticipated this being difficult. He hadn't anticipated this being so debilitating.

"We will do this, Peter," Nebula says and pats his shoulder.

He forces himself to nod and says through a dry throat, "You didn't let me die then, you won't let me die now."

"And I didn't even like you back then."

He chokes back a laugh and his hands are still shaking but his breathing comes a little easier. Nebula's by his side. She'll see him safe.

"Thanks," he says.

The sound of an approaching ship makes him tense. He gets to his feet, helps Nebula stand, and glances through a gap between the rocks they're using for cover. Quill's first ship, the Milano, has landed. The older Peter gets off his ship with his headset over his ears and starts making his way towards them and the cave opening. Peter quickly glances at Nebula to gauge her reaction and finds her stare blanker and more unimpressed than usual.

Then Peter Quill starts singing and dancing as he walks right passed their hiding spot without so much as a look around and Peter wonders why he ever thought he was the issue in their fight on Titan.

"Is he always like this?"

"Yes. He's an idiot."

They step out from their hiding spot and simply walk behind him completely undetected.

With his super hearing, he can hear the familiar tune from the music player and it makes a cold shiver run down his spine. He's made a point of never listening to those songs again to keep from remembering long hours stranded in space listening to a looping 12 tracks.

He's good. He's got this.

Quill unlocks some sort of security door and dances up a few stairs leading to a pedestal with a glowing box on ith He takes it from its fancy pedestal and Peter quietly steps up behind him and wacks him over the head with a rock. He drops the weapon and both it, and Quill, drop straight to the ground in an unceremonious heap.

"That was easy. Is it wrong that I don't really feel bad about knocking him out?" Peter asks, crouching beside the man that once was an impromptu partner in a battle for the universe.

While fighting he tries to avoid knocking people unconscious due to the damage that can do, and he'd really guessed at how hard to hit. He doesn't feel guilty though. He does, however, reach down to shut off the music to soothe his own nerves.

"I would have been happy to do it," Nebula says to reassure him. She crouches beside him and takes the glowing box. She transfers the Power Stone into their own protective case tucked in her pocket and he cringes as the metal in her hand burns and fizzles.

"Are you okay?" He asks worriedly, eye on her limb. He knows it's metal and there's no 'pain', necessarily, but that doesn't make the sight of it easier to digest.

"It's fine." She closes their container and puts it away in her pocket. Her hand is already improving.

She stands and he follows after her.

"Let's go," she says and adjusts the time on her device. Peter follows suit.

"Hey, Nebs, do you really think this is going to work? If we use the stones, what if they come back... wrong? Like zombies or something. How do we know their souls are okay? Or what happened to their bodies, or..." he shifts anxiously from one foot to the other.

He'd been too scared to voice his concerns aloud to the others, but Nebula has never judged him on his words. He was a very mouthy fifteen-year-old (and still is, to be honest) and she managed to like him despite being trapped with him for three weeks. He never has to worry about sounding stupid in front of her.

She reaches out and her hand drops heavily on his shoulder, "Would you like my honest response? Or something to make you feel better?"

He smiles sadly, "Honest, please."

She hesitates for a pause but eventually smiles in kind, "I believe they'll return just as they left."

He lets out a relieved sigh, "Thanks."

"You're welcome. We should get going before this one wakes up." Her hand drops off his shoulder.

"Let's do it. 3... 2... 1..."

His finger hovers over the button, but he doesn't press it down. His head snaps up as a zip travels up his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck and his arms stand to attention. Something's wrong.

Her hand doesn't drop back to her side. It flies up to her forehead as her eyes widen in what Peter can only assume is fear although he's never seen that in her eyes before. The piece of metal making up her forehead pops out of place and she falls to her knees with a pained shout. Peter can see the metal wires behind the metal plate and the whole thing starts to glow blue. The whir of electricity starts to echo in the nearly empty cave.

He drops down by her side and his shaky hands reach out to her.

"Nebs? Nebula? What's - what is this?"

"I don't... I don't know..."

"Okay, okay..." Peter taps his watch tucked in next to the time travel bracelet he's made and the face lights up. "Friday, run a scan."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," he mumbles apologies as he reaches up and puts pressure against the plate. His thumbs press into the sides until it clicks back in place and she's screaming beneath him and his nerves are aflame with guilt and fear. It's fighting against him, but that tingle in his spine is telling him that he needs this to not be happening right now.

"She is exuding a signal, Peter. It is going out to great a distance for me to follow."

"Can you block the signal? Or create a counter-signal to distort it?" He has to talk loud over her attempts to hold back her pained cries and his eyes string with guilty tears.

"Yes. Give me a moment."

He keeps one hand on her forehead and wraps the other arm around her and tugs her into his chest. Her hands are buried in the dirt and tearing at the protective layer over her metal joints. Her eyes are shut and she's breathing heavily but she's forced herself to stop screaming.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he continues to mumble.

It stops suddenly. There's no more pressure on the plate against his hand and he draws back. It stays shut. Her body falls limp against him and the sound of electricity dims.

"It is done; I'm distorting the signal and keeping it from sending out. I have enough power to keep the distortion active for 27 hours, but this watch can only be at a distance of two feet from Nebula or there is a chance her signal starts going out again."

"Thanks, Fri."

He keeps Nebula's heavy breathing form in his arms and reaches around to unclasp the watch and then ties it around her wrist. As a precaution, he also unclasps the bracelet that acts as a time GPS and shoves that in his pocket.

"You hear that, Nebs? You gotta keep this on you."

She nods and slowly draws back. Her shoulders start shaking and he meets her hesitant glance.

"It's Thanos."

"What?"

"There's another version of me in this universe. It seems my data is reacting to her's. I don't believe the signal was out long enough for him to get much information from my memory, but he'll have the tools to trace it back to here."

"Okay, any way to move you to a different signal? So you're not using the same server? Or however it is you work."

"No, it would take too much time and tools we don't have. We can simply hurry and return and this won't be an issue."

"We can't risk you going through the Quantum Realm like this. It's only distorting the signal, you could come out in pieces on the other end. Or you don't make it out at all or get trapped on the moon or something! We need to stop the giant beam in your head before we go back."

"How do you suppose we do that?"

"Like you said. We need tools. Let's check the ship."

He wraps one of her arms around his shoulders and stands, carrying most of her weight. He can tell she's still in pain simply by the fact she's letting him do this. The distortion is keeping the signal trapped in that metal plate in her head and it's fighting to be released. There's a dim glow around the edges of the plate and he can't imagine how that feels for her. If they go through the Quantum Realm, the watch could stop working and she could start launching data in all directions and he's not a betting man willing to hope she'll make it through okay.

They didn't make it all this way for him to lose her. Thanos spent enough of her life trying to tear her down and into pieces and she's finally smiling and sometimes he feels she's actually happy and he won't put that all to waste.

He carries her out to the ship and it's unsurprisingly not well defended. A few button presses and the thing comes to life and he's grateful that he observed Nebula all those years ago and absorbed some know-how. He puts her in the seat next to the Captain's and starts searching around.

What he needs to do is get into her mainframe and shut off the link between her and this other Nebula.

Unfortunately, too much of this ship is alien tech to him and he doesn't trust himself enough to go digging in her head with any of it.

"I can't use any of this," he huffs, throwing aside a random pair of leather gloves.

"Gamora and Ronan will be on their way. This will keep them from accessing my memories now, but there's no telling what they've seen already. I'm willing to take the risk, Peter. We must hurry before they get here."

"I'm not willing to take the risk. You just... sit tight. Doesn't matter if they know we're here, they won't know where we're headed."

"Peter-" she tries but it's clear he isn't listening.

He tears apart what he believes to be a part of the radar system and puts it together into some sort of boombox-like contraption with all the innards out that he connects to the watch on her wrist. It's bulky and she holds it in her lap while she watches him with clear annoyance.

"That'll amplify Friday's counter-signal, we have a few hundred miles now. Even if they get close, they won't be able to pinpoint your location or get into your database."

"And what is the plan from here?"

"We're going home." He buckles her in and ignores the anger in her eyes.

"That's insane," she snaps. The colour in her cheeks is ashen and her hands are shaking around the box in her lap. Her voice comes out taut. "Kill me, Peter. Take my memory bank and go back to the future. Or take my time device and leave me here to fight him. Let me die fighting him. He can't go after you without it; Thanos isn't smart enough to create time travel on his own."

If he hadn't taken the GPS from her, this would be the point where she throws herself back into the Quantum Realm. He's thankful for his own paranoia.

"I'll be back. I'm not leaving Quill behind. God knows what Thanos would do to him."

He ignores her swearing and returns a couple of minutes later with a still unconscious Peter Quill. He shoves him in a bedroom and uses some rope to tie him to one of the beds. He shuts the door behind him and heads back to the front of the ship. He buckles himself in and moves the gear into place. It starts moving.

"You know what I've learned in the last five years, Nebs?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me."

There's a blip on the radar of an incoming ship - it's Gamora and Ronan. Maybe Thanos is with them, intrigued by the signal received from what appears to be a second Nebula in the same universe. While taking apart the radar system, he's removed their own returning signal and they'll be invisible to them. This is a thief's ship and it serves his purpose well. He's got a plan.

"As much as I'd love to fight Thanos, and I would. I would love a second chance to try and kick his ass. I would love to stand by your side and tear him to pieces. He deserves it. But sometimes fighting's not the right choice. Sometimes fighting just means you're going to lose and I'm not ready for either of us to die."

The Milano heads off, but it's not straight out into the cosmos.

"Sometimes you have to run, and I've learned to be okay with that. Doesn't make you any less of a hero; it just means you come back prepared and I have no intention of losing to Thanos a second time."

He flies up to the exosphere and hovers there in the middle between gravity and freedom. He gives the ship power and they're thrust into Morag's regular orbit, moving around the planet rather than from it. The ship carrying Thanos and his children approaches the location where Nebula's signal had rung out in the same handful of minutes where the Milano moves around the planet undetected and slips out of orbit on the other side, unseen by the enemy. They're facing the wrong direction, but he reorients them when they're too far to be seen from Morag's surface.

"We're never going to get vengeance for what happened five years ago, and I don't care. We have the Power Stone. I'm bringing back Tony and my Aunt May and we're doing it right."

"And you're putting that at risk for me!" She protests. "You've never been an idiot, Peter, but you're acting like one right now."

"I love you, Nebula." He drops the controls now that Earth is set as their destination and Thanos' ship is far behind them. He spins the seat to face her, "You're my friend, and I care about you. There's no way in hell that I'm leaving you here for Thanos. We're going to the Tower, I'm going to fix you up, and then we're both going home in one piece. If either one of us is an idiot, it's you for thinking I'd ever leave you behind."

Her head drops back and her eyes close.

"You're infuriating."

"I get that a lot."

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"It's all fairly intuitive. How are you feeling? You're still glowing a bit."

"I'm fine, Peter. More than fine enough to go back to the future."

"Ha. We need to watch that movie when we get back."

She doesn't indulge him any further in conversation.

The ship has a full tank of fuel and they do a space jump, getting closer and closer to home. Nebula's only willing to talk to him enough to give him instruction on how to do it, otherwise she fumes quietly. He's too focused on her well being to feel anxious about their flight. The anxiety he'd been feeling on Morag about space and spaceships and starvation fade into worry about his friend. They're okay, he reminds himself like a mantra. They're okay. They have the Stone. Thanos is in the dust. They're okay.

"Hey, who's out there?!"

Peter and Nebula share a look. She has zero inclination to care to see what he's up to and he sighs and takes the task of dealing with Quill.

He opens the bedroom door and stares at the grown man tugging at the ropes and only making the knot tighter. Quill frowns at him and points at the ropes.

"What the hell?"

"Sorry, dude, but you need to stay here for a bit. We're borrowing your ship and it's not up for debate. We're the good guys though, if that makes you feel better."

"Stealing my ship's not a good guy move!"

Peter shrugs, "Can't help you there. Shout if you gotta use the bathroom."

"Hey, no, kid! Get back-"

He shuts the door and returns to his seat. He took away the guy's weapons and tools that were in his pockets; he's not going to be any trouble.

The first time he'd returned to Earth in a spaceship he'd been nearly starved and very dehydrated and way too exhausted to take it in. Now, he stares out the front window as they get nearer and nearer to the place he calls home.

"Wow..."

He never wants to go back to space or get into another spaceship in his life, but this... this is a feeling he wants to take home with him. This is what he's fighting for; this planet and its people. Somewhere out there is Aunt May and Tony and Pepper. Ned's probably at home doing homework and MJ is doodling around her answers. Harry is following his mother's steps and Gwen is looking up to her father.

It's 2014 - he doesn't have his powers yet. Uncle Ben is still alive. The Avengers are still a unit.

He turns on the stealth mode in the ship and makes sure he's buckled in as they pierce into the atmosphere and gravity takes its toll. He aims for what was at this time the Avengers Tower. The ship has no clock, but as they draw nearer he can see that they're on the dark side of the Earth right now and sends a silent prayer of thanks for the timing.

"Fri, any chance you can hack into the Tower discreetly?" He asks and the watch on Nebula's wrist powers on.

"Processing... Yes, I'm in the servers. My predecessor J.A.R.V.I.S has granted me access. What are your orders?"

"Anyone at the Tower now?"

"Yes, all Avengers are present."

"Hm... does the compound exist at this time?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, sound all the alerts at the compound. Have the other AI tell them someone is breaking into the compound and disengage all the cameras. Make sure the AI won't give us away. Use this override code if you need it." He gives her a series of digits.

He's always been a good observer; he's a very visual learner. He didn't do it on purpose, but after five years he's learned Pepper's codes and passwords for all things Stark and he has no guilt about using it now.

Three minutes later, the Starkjet passes them by as they're preparing to land on the Tower's helipad.

"Thanks, Fri. Did they all go?"

"Yes, sir. They've all left. There's still regular staff in the building, including Mr. Hogan and the boss, Ms. Potts."

"Okay, thanks. Turn off the cameras and sensors as we go along, I want no record of this."

"Yes, sir."

The display on the watch fades out.

He lands the spaceship and carefully helps Nebula out of the ship. He leaves her by the elevator and goes back in. They won't need it anymore and it's better for it to get out of here before the Avengers realize there's no danger at the compound.

"Quill? I'm going to let you go, but you need to stay calm, okay?"

He's sitting on the bed and glares at him when he walks into the bedroom.

"You're a terrible thief."

"We just needed to hitch a ride. I put the coordinates for Morag and the ship will take you there. Don't come back, alright?"

"Like I want to be on this garbage planet," he says petulantly.

Peter rolls his eyes and unties him. He dodges a wayward punch and drags the older man to the co*ckpit. He shoves him into his seat, starts up the ship, and sprints out before Quill has anything else to say or the ship starts off with him still inside.

He's on solid ground when it takes off; Earth's coordinates deleted from the ship's memory and locked into Morag. At least he'll admit that Quill's pretty good with rolling with the punches and won't make a big deal out of this.

He grabs Nebula and stands in front of the elevator. It opens for him and he breathes out a sigh of relief. They get inside and it automatically starts heading down without a word. Whatever Friday's doing, it's working and Peter won't start trying to interact with the new (old?) AI. When the doors open, it's to a very familiar space.

Tony's desk is littered with very old dirty dishes, a few glasses stained brown from old booze, crumpled papers, and unsharpened pencils. The entire space is occupied, no hint of what will eventually become Peter's space. The walls are lined with some of the Iron Legion, but there's not as many as there will be after further battles to defend the Earth. The Ironman suits are almost all there but there's none of the nanotech yet. He knows the machines and the tools, even though it's all less organized than it will be once Peter has need to find things and Tony has to learn to put things in normal places. No schoolbooks, no web fluid formulas on the whiteboard, no Spider-man schematics tucked away, no Midtown sweater over a second chair that isn't there.

Did Tony get a second chair just for him?

He breathes in the familiar smell of metal and oil and Tony's fancy cologne and Dum-E's awful smoothies.

Time to get to work.

"Come on, take a seat here," he guides her to Tony's chair and carefully sets her down. He grabs the box from her hands and sets it on the worktable. "Stay here, I need to take a look around."

It's not so much in the past that he can't find what he's looking for, and in only minutes he's got the necessary tools surrounding Nebula. The AI hasn't spoken at all and he's wandered without any questions. Even Dum-E is sitting quietly in the corner and he wants to say hi but decides it's best not to confuse the robot.

"Okay, do you have some sort of... port, I can plug into?" He asks, holding a connection wire.

Nebula stares at him quietly for a long moment.

Eventually, she grabs the cord in his hand and tears off the cap holding the various wires together. Peter's mouth opens to protest, but her steady gaze keeps him quiet. The metal plate in her forehead lifts and she shoves the unprotected wires in the hole. He doesn't know what she does in there and he's too queasy to look too carefully. After a few seconds her eyes light up, literally, and her hand retracts, the wires safely in place.

He inputs Pepper's code to turn on the computer in the desk and holograms start to appear on the desk of things from her memory bank.

"Are you okay? Does this hurt?"

"It's fine," she says tersely.

"Alright..."

He turns to the table and sets to work.

"You say that word a lot," she says.

"Hm?"

"Love. You say you love people often. With your mother, and Morgan. Your Aunt, and your father. Does it not lose meaning, said so often?"

He smiles and doesn't turn away from the code in front of him.

"No. Love can never lose meaning. The more love, the better."

"I see." A beat passes. "I don't believe the love you feel is the same as Thanos claims to feel."

"Anyone that can do this to their daughter sure as hell isn't the kind of person who can feel love," he says angrily.

"Thank you," she says.

"For what?"

"For saying... that. I... don't want you dead."

He laughs softly and smiles her way, "Thanks! I'm glad you like me alive because I'm very fond of being alive. Now what do you say to me shutting off this giant red 'X' in your head that says 'here's the Nebula'?"

"You found the signal?"

"Yeah."

"Go ahead then, let's get this over with."

It wasn't particularly difficult finding what he was looking for, and it's a simple 'off' command to shut it down. She disconnects herself and he takes back his watch and hands her back her time GPS. He turns off Friday's counter-signal and they stay still for a long minute to see if anything will happen.

It stays quiet and Friday confirms, "I'm finding no traces of the previous signal Nebula was emitting."

Her head is back to normal and Peter pulls her to her feet and gives her a hug with his shoulders sagging in relief.

"I'm so glad that worked. I would have had no idea how to convince Tony or Bruce or something that we're time travelers and they need to help you. Also, not sure I could see Tony in this timeline and not burst into tears, so. Let's not have that happen."

"I agree. I'm ready to leave, and this time you should have no reason to disagree. Are you ready to go?"

He nods, "Give me a quick second to clean up."

He puts everything back where he found it and hopes Tony either won't notice the slight shifting of his things or that he won't think too much about it. Not much real hope of either option happening, but at least the cameras are all disabled.

They stand in front of each other when everything's back in place and they make sure their GPS's are set. They try this a second time and Peter keeps most of his focus on Nebula.

"3... 2... 1..."

His finger hovers over the button and he watches her press the one on her device. She blips out of existence and he lets his hand drop to his side. The blaring signal in her head's gone, Quill has nothing to say if he gets found by Thanos although the timing means they should miss each other, the room is devoid of them ever being here. Nebula took the Power Stone with her. There are no loose ends, but...

"Is everything alright, Peter?" Friday asks and he brings the watch closer to his mouth to talk.

"Yeah, I just wanted to do something really quick. Keep the cameras off. It'll only take me a minute."

He goes back to the desk and takes a seat. He puts in Pepper's code again and it boots up without so much as a comment.

"Fri, create a folder in Tony's 90's music folder. He never goes in there."

There's some fiddling, a message is recorded in the quiet of the lab, and he turns everything off as if he'd never been there at all. Everything is wiped and he has Friday loop in some footage if Tony suddenly develops a random interest in looking at today's surveillance.

No one said they all had to suffer, right? If their actions here are creating alternate timelines, the least he can do is leave a message behind.

He turns in the open space of the lab and takes it in. A full trash can, papers with designs and equations on all available surfaces, a piece of Ironman armour on a workbench, a prototype of some new arrows for Clint near it, some widowbites further down; there are signs of Tony's presence all around and he goes home with thoughts full of finally getting this back again.

They've done it.

Chapter 55: Time Travel Heist; The Finish Line

Chapter Text

Peter pops back into existence on the platform that was used to send them into the Quantum Realm and immediately starts looking around.

Thor and Rocket are back, glowing box in hand. Scott has the scepter, Rhodey has the tesseract, Bruce has the Time Stone, and Steve is by their side. To his left is Nebula and he gives her a smile. Next pops in Natasha and her expression turns the joyous atmosphere dark. There's no Hawkeye beside her.

Her eyes are on the ground and she whispers, "He... the only way to get the stone was a trade. For a soul." Her lips are pursed and she looks up. "He beat me to it."

"I'm sorry," Peter says and gives her a hug.

She pats his back and offers him a sad smile, "Thanks, Peter. You guys got the stone?"

He nods, "Looks like we got them all."

"His sacrifice isn't in vain, then. You think you can make us our own gauntlet, Pete?"

"I can do that."

Everyone offers her some form of condolence and the mood sits heavy. Bruce tells them about his chat with the Ancient One because apparently Dr. Strange wasn't a wizard yet and she'd been in possession of the Time Stone and they'll need to find a way to return the Stones when they're done with them. Steve managed to trick his other self to get the scepter and Rhodey got the tesseract before Shield could get it. There's something in his gaze that's a little sad and Peter's guess is that he'd seen Tony, maybe even spoken to him. There are gaps in his story and nobody presses to fill it in. He's extra glad he didn't go to New York.

His phone starts vibrating on the counter where he'd left it and he forces himself to pick it up. Rhodey eyes him with a knowing look and the guilt is coming back. But it's over. It's really over.

Pepper's text reads, "Peter Benjamin Parker don't you dare."

He types out a quick response, "Sorry, Mom. You should come to the compound. Bring Morgan."

He shoves it in his pocket without waiting for a response. He takes a minute to get out of the suit, as do the others, and he settles in his regular jeans and t-shirt combo. Once comfortable, he goes to the nearest lab with Nebula, and a Rocket looking for a distraction, so he can quickly design a metal gauntlet and build it using parts from around the compound.

"How are you feeling?" He asks, eyeing her forehead.

"I'm fine. We got lucky, I believe it could have gone much worse."

Neither of them wants to think too hard about what could have happened. What if he'd left before realizing there was something wrong with her? What if Thanos had found them? What if Thanos had discovered they'd traveled back in time to try and undo everything he'd done? Those are the questions that will haunt him later. Right now, he has six magic stones that can bring back half the universe.

"I've gotten better at listening to my Spidey sense. Sometimes it pays off," he shrugs.

He ignores the buzzing in his pocket from his anxious mother. A few more minutes and this'll all be better.

"What's with you and red?" Rocket asks, sitting on the counter and watching him design the gauntlet.

"It's Ironman red," he defends, "It looks good."

"Sure," the raccoon agrees noncommittally.

He finishes the design and sends it off to get built. Tony had a special machine that he'd often use to construct parts for his suit, and it now uses that metal to create a gauntlet. He collects the completed product and sets it down on a desk near a crane that he can use to touch the stones from a distance. He calls everyone in.

The various stones are placed on the table next to his gauntlet. The boxes are turned over and each tumbles out, various glowing colours of intense power Peter can't imagine controlling. They're all careful not to touch them and he realizes now they never really talked about this part.

He uses the metal arms to grab the stones and places them in his gauntlet. When they all sit in the knuckles, he turns to the others with his hands on his hips and a wandering glance.

"Someone has to actually use this thing," he says.

Everyone shifts in place and they all start looking at each other to try and gauge the best choice.

Thor steps up, "I'll do it."

"What? No, you can't-"

"We haven't decided anything-"

"We should at least discuss this-"

They all stumble over each other trying to keep Thor from getting any closer to the magical glove.

"So what? We sit around waiting for the right opportunity?" He protests angrily.

"No, that's not it," Steve reasons. "But we should talk about this some more."

"No, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not going to bring everybody back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."

"It's not about duty-" Peter tries to cut in but Thor speaks over him.

"Stop treating me like a child! Let me do this, just let me do it," his words come out rough and sad and Peter wishes there was a way to make this right. "Just let me do something good. Something right."

He knows this feeling; hours spent wondering about the 'what if's. How inferior he'd felt all those years ago, believing that Steve Rogers could have fought better by Tony's side rather than his young and inexperienced self. How he felt confident that it was his ineptitude that had cost them everything. Thor lost his brother and his home and so many of his people and that's a loss that comes with a huge mental price.

"It's not about how powerful you are," he says and Thor quiets down. "We all know how powerful you are, none of us are doubting that. But right now you're in no condition to be touching this thing."

"It's gotta be me," Bruce cuts in next. "We saw what those stones did to Thanos. None of you would survive that. Even you, Peter."

He stares down at his feet guiltily because, sure, he considered it. But he wasn't actually going to do it! ... Maybe.

"How do we know you will?" Steve asks.

"We don't, but the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like I was made for this."

"But Dr. Banner..." Peter tries to think of a protest but none comes.

There's no one else here that can do this.

"We stick to the plan, though, yeah? We bring everyone back to today, we don't change anything about the last five years," Peter says.

Bruce nods, "I got it."

"As soon as we know if this worked, we need to get on the phones right away to start alerting global officials. This is going to cause a mess and we're the only ones who are going to know what's going on," he continues. "Everyone is going to need to be updated, ASAP."

"We will," Natasha reassures him. "You ready, Bruce?"

"Let's do this."

"First, let me just... Friday, activate Barn Door protocol. To be safe."

Metal bars fall over the windows and doors, keeping them safely tucked inside the compound. Nothing is getting in or out and if this explodes, it'll only take them with it.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

Bruce walks over to the desk and doesn't waste a moment. He puts his hand in the gauntlet and it, the brilliant piece of tech that it is, reforms around his wrist to fit. The power hits instantly, his hand and arm glow a rainbow of colours and his face grimaces from the pain.

"Take it off, take it off!" Thor says stepping forward as if to intervene, face paling with worry.

Steve places a hand on his arm and says, "Wait. Bruce, are you okay?"

"Dr. Banner?" Peter inquires hesitantly when there's no immediate response.

He smells burnt flesh and it makes his stomach turn.

"I'm okay, I'm okay."

Bruce snaps his fingers.

There's no light, no explosion, no noise, no nothing. Just a snap.

Bruce collapses. He hits the floor with a thud and the gauntlet falls off his arm. Natasha kicks it away and Peter will worry about that later.

"Bruce!" Steve kneels by one side and Thor falls to the other.

"Dr. Banner?" Peter hovers over his still figure.

His eyes snap open and he grasps Steve's arm and in a weary voice asks, "Did it work?"

"It was worth a shot. It's over, it's okay," Thor says.

Thor seems mostly happy that Bruce has survived the ordeal; Peter's not sure he could mentally survive another loss.

Through the sizzling sound coming from Bruce's arm that has most of his attention, Peter can hear the faint sounds of... chirping? Frogs? And... crickets? Butterfly wings? It's all much louder than it had been minutes ago and he knows exactly what that means. Scott, closest to the window, appears to be of the same ideal.

"Guys, I think it worked!" Scott shouts.

Steve gently helps Bruce back to his feet. He sways slightly and places his good hand on the tabletop to steady himself.

"Are you sure? Did it really..."

"Fri, deactivate Barn Door protocol," Peter says and the protective barriers around the compound lift. Outside light floods in and everyone's eyes fall on the windows.

They're far from any city and there's no one popping into existence outside, but Thanos took half of nature with him and its return is obvious. The ecological, economic, and sociological repercussions of all this will be astronomical; Peter's mind is whirring just at the thought of how much needs to be done. Over 3.5 billion people back, along with the animals and the plants and all those across the universe.

Peter's watch lights up with alerts.

"It has worked," Friday confirms, voice coming from his watch rather than the compound walls. "There are reports coming in from across the globe."

"I'll start making calls," Natasha says. "I'll also go see Clint's family as soon as possible. There's a lot to tell them."

"I tried... I asked to bring him back, maybe..." Bruce is breathless and Steve keeps a hand on his arm in case he topples over.

"It won't have worked," she says sadly, "but thanks for trying."

Nebula walks over to Peter and speaks low as everyone starts discussing what needs to be done and how to gather their people.

"Your father will have reappeared on Titan. We can use the Benatar to get him."

He meets her gaze with a wide smile. It hasn't registered yet, and it won't until he actually sees them.

"I think Dr. Strange will be able to bring him here. He's got these portal things. I'm fairly certain he can open them to wherever he wants."

"I see. Then we wait."

He nods in agreement and stares around. Everyone is tense and waiting for a fight that isn't going to happen. Steve's brought Bruce to a chair and is working with Rhodey to get his arm bandaged. He'll need to be taken to a hospital. Thor's moved the gauntlet back to the table and that's another problem to deal with - according to Bruce those stones need to be brought back to the past to keep the universe from collapsing, or something like that. Natasha's got her phone to her ear and suddenly she's smiling.

"Okoye says they're all there. In Wakanda. Your tree friend is there," she says while looking at Rocket and then turns to Steve, "So are Sam and Bucky. And T'challa and his sister Shuri. Wanda's there too, but Vision is still... Portals are opening up over there and it looks like one of those sorcerer people is going to send our folks our way. Let's be ready to greet them, there's a lot of catching up to do."

Before she's finished her sentence, one of said portals appears in the room in a glowing circle of orange.

His heart rate immediately picks up and he has to wipe his suddenly sweaty palms on his pants. Through the glow a familiar figure steps through first, red cape billowing behind him and facial hair impeccable. Stephen Strange meets his gaze first and his lips stretch into a small smile. He nods in what feels a lot like pride - this is the fourteenth million future.

"Dr. Strange-" he chokes and has to swallow to wet his dry throat. "Is he - please, is..."

Stephen steps aside to reveal the opening of the portal and out steps...

"Kid? The wizard said you'd be here?"

Tony.

His voice is exactly as he remembers it. He'd last heard it in a recording talking about Spider-man's webs and his eyes instantly fill with tears. There's blood and dirt on his face and a stab wound in his stomach, and he's missing the helmet which is resting in his lab at the Tower. He walks through and his eyes search the room. For him. He skips over Rhodey and Natasha and Thor and he settles on Peter.

Peter's lips part to speak but they're dry and his stomach is in knots. His face grows wet and he doesn't notice.

He takes a step forward, stumbles, and manages to make it in front of Tony. He throws his arms around him and shoves his face into his neck. He's taller than Tony now by a hair and that'll be something to laugh about later.

Tony returns the hug and gently pats him on the back.

"Hey, kiddo, we're okay. We're all okay."

Peter doesn't notice Quill and Mantis and Drax come in through the portal and walk around them. He doesn't notice the portal disappear and a new one take its place. He doesn't notice all the other's who'd been in Wakanda walk through with Wong at the rear.

All he knows is the scent of blood and Tony's cologne and the feel of metal wrapped around him. He's back; he's here. This is real.

Tony's hand moves to his hair and it's the same action that Pepper always does and he sobs. The hand strokes his hair and Tony continues to whisper softly in reassurance.

"It's okay, Peter, it's alright. I'm here, I'm right here."

Once he's cried out, Tony places his hands on his shoulders and carefully moves him back so they can see each other. His smile is tense with worry yet still loving and Peter wishes he'd been able to see that and understand it all those years ago.

He sniffs and tries to smile in return, "It's... five years. It's been five years."

"The wizard sort of mentioned. You got taller."

He nods. His bottom lips tucks in between his teeth as he tries to stop himself from crying more.

"Also, is that facial hair?" Tony teases. One hand reaches up and pinches at his chin and Peter lets out a wet laugh.

"Yeah, a bit. Not as cool as yours." It's just two day old stubble, but it definitely hadn't been there when he was 15.

He wipes the tears away and can't help but pull Tony in for another quick hug. He squeezes him tight enough to cut off his airflow, although Tony doesn't protest, and when he draws back he turns to Stephen.

"Can you... my Aunt? She's in New York, can you get her?" He pleads.

Stephen's response is a nod and a portal.

It shimmers and he squints to see through the glow. His Aunt's figure appears on the other side. She's there in her work clothes with her purse over her shoulder and her eyes wide with fright. Peter reaches through the portal, grabs her hands, and tugs her through. It fades out from behind her.

"Peter, what the hell-"

Her words are instantly cut short. He wraps his arms around her waist and lifts her, spinning in place and laughing from sheer joy and she holds on tight and laughs along with him.

Tony gets a moment to greet the others and give them hugs. He's pulled from one person to another but his gaze never strays far from Peter. Of them all, he's the most changed, he's the proof of five years missed. They're all throwing information around; Thanos is dead, half the universe died and came back five years later, nothing is as it once was.

Half the room is lost and the other half were the survivors and everyone's trying to help each other out. Steve gives him a hug and it's weird, and so do Natasha and Bruce and Rhodey and that's a little less weird but the whole thing is sitting heavy on his shoulders because he hasn't wrapped his head around 5 years yet. He glances back at Peter who's finally put May back on her feet and is crying in her arms now.

Tony returns to their side and Peter puts an arm around each of them and pulls them both into half hugs.

"What the hell is going on, Peter?" May asks when he draws back and gives her a moment to breathe. She glances around the room full of Avengers and falls back on her nephew. "Why do you have... what's this? Stubble?"

He laughs and it comes out a bit garbled from all the crying, "Is that all you both care about? It's a long story, May, but you're here and we're okay."

His eyes fall on his lit up watch; the alerts haven't stopped since earlier. His smile gets somehow brighter.

"Fri, what's Mom's ETA?" He asks.

"Two minutes," she answers.

"Come with me," he says and ignores May and Tony's looks of confusion.

He grabs their hands and tugs them out of the room and down a hall. The sound of chatter fades out as they get further from the group of heroes.

"Peter, what..."

"I'll explain everything, but there's someone you need to meet first," he says as an explanation. "And afterward, we're bringing you to medical to get patched up."

"You still remember my stab wound five years later? I'm touched, Peter," Tony says with a hand on his heart in the flair of dramatics that's normal and Peter's pretty certain even his toes are tingling with joy.

He let's go of Tony's hand to push open the outside door and drags them both a few feet. In the distance, they can spot a blue suit approaching.

"What's that?" Tony asks, squinting against the sun.

"Wait, did you say stab wound?" May's question is lost in the sound of approaching repulsors.

Rescue lands in front of them with a loud thud. The special carrier he'd designed for Morgan is active on her back and it carefully lowers to the ground. It disassembles around the young girl and the suit itself falls away and Pepper steps forward.

Pepper's eyes are only on Tony. She slowly walks forward, her face ashen as if seeing a ghost. When she's in front of him, she throws herself against him and kisses him deeply.

Morgan, released from her little cocoon, lays on the grass and laughs, "That was so much fun! Can we do it again?"

Tony, preoccupied with Pepper's affection, doesn't notice the small child. May stares and smiles though doesn't say anything.

Peter runs up to his sister and lifts her into his arms.

"Morgan! How are you, munchkin?" He asks, words coming out with a bit of laughter from how simply happy he is.

"I wanna do that again! Can we go swinging? Pretty please?"

He can't help but laugh some more. He kisses her cheek and blows a raspberry in its place, earning a loud giggle from the littlest Stark. Her small arms wrap around his neck and he proceeds to give her a few more kisses, just because.

"Stop it!" She says with a giggle.

He walks over to his Aunt's side, angling himself to keep Tony out of her field of vision for now. He and Pepper need a minute.

"Morgan, do you recognize this beautiful lady?"

May rolls her eyes playfully, "Always a charmer."

"Aunt May!" Morgan squeals excitedly and her arms go out towards her.

Peter tightens his grip around her waist to keep her from toppling right out of his arms. He gets closer to May so that Morgan can reach her, and without any shyness, she gives her a hug.

"Aunt May, you're back!" Morgan shouts in her ear and she grimaces from the volume of it. A tentative smile forms on her lips.

"Hello, sweetheart. It's, um, nice to... see you?" May returns the hug while Peter keeps hold of Morgan's waist and she's stretched between the two of them. She locks eyes with her nephew and there's unspoken questions there and he only shrugs. He'll explain later.

"Hey, Momo, there's someone else you need to meet. Can you let go of Aunt May for a second?"

"I don't wanna!"

"Please? She's not going anywhere, I promise, and this'll make you very happy."

She huffs but let's go of May. Peter straightens her back up in his arms and slowly turns to put Pepper and Tony in her line of sight. They've stopped kissing and are now just holding each other and whispering softly to one another. Tony glances their way and smiles.

"Who's the kid?" He asks.

"Morgan, do you recognize-" Peter doesn't even get the question out.

Her eyes immediately go wide and her mouth opens and there's a piercing shout. "Daddy! It's Daddy!"

Tony's jaw drops and he can't find any words to speak. Morgan flails in his arms and he walks to Tony's side and she throws herself at him. He carefully transfers her weight into Tony's arms and Pepper takes a half step back to give him room to hold her.

Morgan places her hands are on his cheeks and touches the goatee with childish awe and curiousity. He's staring wide-eyed and completely silent.

"Daddy, you came back from heaven! And Aunt May, too!"

Tony just nods.

Peter looks at his mom and she's crying.

"Peter Parker," she says wetly and wipes her cheeks. Her eyes are red and there are tear tracks down her cheeks and she still looks composed. "You're grounded until you're 30. Actually, 31. Ten years for disobeying, and an extra for the torture device you put in that suit. Elsa, Peter? Really? You had to do this to me?"

He laughs. It's loud and slightly hysterical and it goes on and on. A hand settles on his aching stomach and he has to wipe tears from his cheeks from laughing so hard. He falls into Pepper's side and they wrap an arm around each other, and then he tugs May into his other side. Their warmth and presence seeps into him and it takes a while before he can bring himself to stop laughing.

"I'm sorry, Mom. But it worked! Look at them, they're here. They're really here."

Pepper grabs his face in her hands and presses a kiss to his cheek, "You silly boy." She lets him go and moves to see May though doesn't leave Peter's side. "It's so nice to see you, May. You have no idea how missed you've been."

"Right... Did I hit my head or something? Because I don't remember you having a baby. Especially not a... a young child," May points at Morgan, and tacks on, "Also, did Peter call you Mom? Because I don't remember that either."

"I'd like a lot of answers, too!" Tony pipes up. His eyes are still on Morgan who's talking about showing him her toys and books and Llama.

"That's your baby, Tony. This is Morgan May Stark."

"Morgan... Like your Uncle. Like I said when we were jogging. And May, obviously, but - you..." Tony stutters and Peter's never seen him so out of sorts.

"I was only a couple of weeks pregnant when everything happened. I had no idea, and... and you didn't make it home, and I never got to tell you."

"She's... she's ours? Our baby?" Tony asks like he can't believe what he's hearing.

Morgan nods with a happy smile, "You're our daddy! Mommy and Peter said so. They have pictures of you in the house."

"I'm lost," May whispers to her nephew.

"I know, I'm sorry. We'll explain everything. But first, I want us to head inside. Tony needs to be looked at and I want to make sure Dr. Banner is okay," he looks over at Pepper, "He's the one that used the stones to bring everyone back. His arm's pretty messed up."

"And what's wrong with this one?" She asks.

"He got, uh," he glances at Morgan and goes with, "Shanked?"

"That's not better," Pepper scolds. "But you're right. Let's get inside."

"Come on, munchkin," Peter reaches for Morgan but her grip is tight around Tony's neck.

"No!" She shouts in protest.

"I'm sorry, Morgan, but Dad's hurt right now and he can't carry you too much. Do you remember when I got hurt by the Rhino? It's just like that - he has to be careful or else he won't be able to play with you later."

"Fine." She pouts and lets herself fall into his arms and he takes her from Tony.

"Thank you, Morgan. I appreciate your cooperation."

She rests against him and keeps her eyes on her father with bright curiousity and a love grown from stories and pictures.

They all head inside, Pepper helping Tony who's getting wearier by the second. Natasha, Stephen, and Rhodey join them near the entrance where they'd been making their way to them.

"Aunt Nat, Uncle Rhodey!" Morgan greets joyfully, already done with moping. "Daddy and Aunt May are back, did you see?"

"Hey, squirt," Rhodey says.

"Hi, Morgan. We saw; it's very exciting," Natasha greets and then turns to the adults, "Shuri offered to take a look at Bruce and we've sent him to Wakanda. Strange said you'd need a medic and Shuri agreed to take you, too. He'll send you there." She gestures to Stephen.

Rhodey goes to Tony's other side and takes his weight off of Pepper, "Just like you to go running off with an injury. Never change, Tones."

"Love you too, honeybear."

Rhodey's smile is soppy and loving. Peter's not sure how he's holding back the tears.

"Do you know if Shuri will be okay with all of us going?" Peter asks, gesturing to their not-quite-small group.

"Yes, she knows to expect a few of you," Natasha answer.

"What about Nebula? Can she come too? I'd like to introduce her to May. And Morgan wants to see her Aunt Nebs, right Morgan?"

"Yes, please!"

"That's fine," Natasha says. "I'll go get her."

She leaves them to get the other woman and Peter turns to Stephen.

"Is this it then? We're in that fourteenth million future where we win?"

"That's correct."

"No tricks or, or-"

"Nothing of the sort. We've won, Peter. You've won."

The relief is staggering. He wants to pick up his Aunt and spin her some more. He wants to hug Tony and never let him go. He wants to watch them and never blink just in case they disappear. His mind is swirling with memories and comparisons of who he remembers them to be, and who is standing in front of him right now. The broken suit, May's slightly frayed purse, the blood on his face and her hair done up in a tight bun. His heart aches with how much love he's feeling right now and that underlying fear that this isn't real.

Natasha returns shortly with Nebula and Stephen opens them a portal before Peter can introduce her. It leads their group right into the medical center in Wakanda and it's beautiful. Stephen and Natasha walk through with them, while the other Avengers and Guardians remain at the compound to continue talking over what's happened.

It's a large open room with a few beds and tech beyond Peter's wildest dreams. On one end of the room is Bruce, arm stretched to the side with some sort of device scanning the tissue. Shuri's by them with a couple other members of the medical staff and once she spots them arriving she leaves their side.

"Hey everyone. I'm Shuri," her finger goes out and hovers over each of them and it stops on Tony who is still being partially supported by Rhodey, "You must be the injured one. Follow me. The rest of you stay... here... ish."

"I'm a Doctor," Stephen says, "I could be of assistance if you'd like."

"Sure, come on."

They hover in the small space while Rhodey helps Tony over to one of the beds and Stephen follows behind them. A curtain is drawn around it to hide him from view and they get to work removing what's left of the suit and taking a look at his wound.

Peter turns to his Aunt and gestures to Nebula, "Aunt May, this is a fellow Avenger and my friend, Nebula."

Nebula extends her hand in a gesture she did not know 5 years ago, "It's nice to meet you, Peter and Morgan's Aunt."

"Likewise," May slowly accepts the handshake and does her best not to stare too obviously at the non-human woman.

"You can just call her May," he explains and he moves on to Natasha, "And this is Natasha."

"It's nice to finally meet you. Peter's told us a lot about you."

"I wish I could say the same, but it feels like I'm missing something."

"Right, why don't we take a seat?"

Peter steers his Aunt over to a nearby sitting area where both injured men will still be visible. They sit down side by side and he hands Morgan off to Pepper. The three women stay nearby to chat and keep the little one occupied. Shuri's hard at word with her medics and Peter pours his heart out to his Aunt, as much as he can in the few minutes they have.

He tells her about the flying donut and space and Thanos and the gauntlet.

"We flew out to this planet called Titan where we met the Guardians. They're good guys, that's where we met Nebula. They helped us fight Thanos, but we lost. Dr. Strange gave him the Time Stone and a few minutes later everyone started disappearing."

"I remember seeing people turn to dust around me," she says softly, eyes on her hands as she reminisces on memories that are still fresh to her.

"He... killed half the universe. Exactly 50 percent gone. Just like that. Tony was gone too. So were a bunch of the Avengers and almost all the Guardians. It was me and Nebula left on Titan. There was a spaceship there and we took it to get home. After that, Thanos used the Stones again to destroy them, so we had no way to fix it. That was five years ago."

"Five - five years? Peter, what... That explains a lot about you, but - what happened to you? Did Pepper...? How'd you fix all this?"

"Pepper adopted me. Since you were gone and we both agreed it's what Tony would have wanted. She was pregnant and she had Rhodey and Happy, but she was still kind of alone, you know? We helped each other out. It was... I missed you so much, May."

She hugs him and kisses his temple. He roughly wipes away the newly resurfacing tears.

"I hope you're not mad."

"Mad about what?" She asks, startled, and she draws back to look at him with a bewildered look.

He drops his voice so Pepper can't hear him, "About calling her mom. I mostly started because of Morgan, you know? Because I'm kind of her big brother and Pepper's her mom, but it's weird to say I'm her brother but Pepper's not my mom and I didn't want to confuse her, and-"

"Shh. It's okay, sweetie. I'm not mad. I'm happy. I'm so happy that you had someone when I was gone and that you weren't alone. God, Peter, you... you could have been all on your own and how do you think that would have made me feel?"

"I... I get that. She's Morgan May Stark, I said that, didn't I? It's an homage to you and it was all her idea. We really supported each other and I'm so grateful that she took me in. I was so young and so scared and... I don't mean to worry you. I just want you to know I still love you. Always. And she was real good to me. I don't know where I'd be without her."

"I promise, Peter, I am one hundred percent okay with your relationship with Pepper. I love you, baby, and I've never doubted for a second that you love me right back. All I've ever wanted is your happiness and she gave that to you, and a home and a family and a place to grow and I will always appreciate what she did for you."

He hesitantly nods, "Okay."

Her loving smile turns a bit tense, "But I can't believe - five years. That's so long, are you - you're 20, right? What day is it now?"

"Um... Fri?" He asks with a guilty smile. He'd needed it when he returned to the present less than an hour ago and now the knowledge has vanished.

"It is July 30th, 2022."

"Thanks."

"My god... 2022. I can't - none of this makes any sense."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"How'd you bring us back? You said he destroyed the stone things."

"We sort of invented time travel? And we went back in time to gather the Stones and then we came back to the present to use them to bring everyone back. That's why Dr. Banner's here. They're crazy powerful and it hurt him pretty bad, but he insisted on doing the hard part."

"You... went back in time."

"You should be very proud of your nephew," Natasha says, cutting in. "He's the one who invented time travel."

"It was a group effort-" Peter tries, but is instantly denied.

"We'd be nowhere without him," Natasha adds pointedly.

"I'm always proud of you, Peter," May says with a smile, "Though I have to say this takes the cake. I'd ask how you did it but we both know I wouldn't understand. I'm just so glad I'm here and that you're okay."

"Me too."

Shuri opens up the curtain around Tony's bed and calls out to them and the conversation is cut short. "Hey, people. Stark's sewn up, all the internal organs are in functioning order so we've got him patched up and he'll be walking around in no time."

Pepper goes up to the young girl to thank her and inquire a bit more about what needs to be done going forward, and the rest of them move to surround the bed where rests a surly Tony Stark. He never does well when it comes to being the patient. He's out of the suit and his shirt's been removed. The wound was sewn closed and his stomach is wrapped in white gauze. They gave him a blue button-down shirt to wear rather than some sort of patient scrub. His face was wiped clean and there are butterfly stitches where his cheek had been cut and he looks much less sickly than he did only minutes ago.

"Daddy! Do you feel better?" Morgan asks, trying to climb on the bed.

Peter bends down and hoists her up so she can sit by his hip and he rests his hands on her shoulders to keep her in place. May goes to his side, Nebula is at the foot of the bed, and Rhodey is on the other side. Natasha and Stephen walk off to check in on Bruce who's still surrounded by medics. Pepper soon joins them and Shuri walks off to the other patient.

"He's still hurt, Morgan, so be careful, okay?" Peter says and his sister nods.

"Okay. We should get you flowers, those always make Mommy feel better."

"We'll do that when we get back home," Peter says and that satisfies her eager willingness to help. "But how are you feeling? For real?"

"I'm fine, kiddo. Could do with some explanations though. I know Strange said it's been five years, but that's not much to work with."

"Right. Mom - um, Pepper, she can explain the basics. I need to take this," he lifts his arm with the watch that's just started vibrating at a frequency different to the normal alert one that means the call is important.

He slips out from between his Mom and Aunt and takes a few steps away. He keeps them in the corner of his eye and listens as Pepper gives him a brief rundown of what's going on and re-explains what he's just told his Aunt. He takes the call and a hologram projects from the face of his watch. He smiles at the person on the other end.

"Hey, Carol."

"Hello, Mr. Parker. Looks like you guys found a way to fix the universe. Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"How'd you do it?"

"Very complicated time travel."

"Fascinating. You're one smart cookie, aren't you?"

"I definitely can't take all the credit. Oh, you should come 'round. Nick Fury will be back. You should also meet the other Avengers."

"I'm already on the way."

"Awesome, see you soon then."

She waves and the hologram fades out. There's a call that Friday is keeping pended and, seeing the ID, he guiltily accepts it. The person on the other end starts talking immediately.

"Mr. Parker, did you do this? What's happened? How did you do this? What-" The voice is frantic and the words are spoken almost too quick for him to understand.

"Mister President, sir?" Peter slowly interrupts, "Yes, the Avengers brought everyone back. We didn't say anything ahead of time in case we failed; we didn't want to give anyone expectations."

"Okay, okay, okay. Is this permanent? Are they staying for good?"

"It's permanent, sir. Feel free to spread the word. I know Ms. Romanoff has already made a couple of calls. I'll send a brief memo off to the UN and our contacts from the Accords to let them know as well. I'm also going to activate the Iron Legion, they'll be awaiting any orders to help. Some people might not have come back in the safest places."

"Thank you, I... I'm going to go. There's... god, there's so much to do. Bye, Mr. Parker, I'll be in touch. Thank you, oh god, thank you, my wife, she's... goodbye." The call cuts abruptly.

"Um. You're welcome, I guess. Friday, did you catch that?"

"I'm already preparing the memo and the Iron Legion is ready."

"Perfect, thanks. Sort alerts through priority; anyone in immediate danger is top of the list. Deploy some drones to assess damage as well. Take note of everything, and give me a rundown in an hour or so. Also, advise the Avengers are prepared to assist if we're needed. Any major catastrophes you feel we should handle?"

"No. There are some accidents on the streets, but nothing emergency services can't take care of themselves."

"Okay, perfect. And can you-"

"And as you can see, Peter still works too hard." He catches the tail-end of Pepper's words. She walks to his side and lays a hand over the watch, "Honey, the rest of the world can wait."

"Right, sorry," he says sheepishly. He lets his hand fall to his side and returns to his family. "How far did you get?"

"We got to the time travel bit. Specifically, the part where you invented time travel. You have to show me your research, kid." Tony says proudly.

"Everyone's giving me way too much credit in all this, but sure." His cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling so much. "I'd love that."

"He has a lot of stuff to show you," Pepper says. "He's been doing amazing work as my new head of Research and Development."

"Has he, now? Are you forcing me into early retirement, Parker?" Tony teases.

"I would never."

"Mhm. Guess all my protocols went live, then? You know all about..." He simply waves his hand as if that'll finish the sentence for him. Peter understands.

"Yeah."

"Cool," Tony says and the air feels a little tense. They do need to talk - about a lot of things. Now isn't the time for that and both of them realize it. Tony continues with, "How'd you get back from Titan? Pep said there was a ship, but we crashed ours."

"The Benatar, the Guardians' ship. It was still intact. Nebula flew that back to Earth."

Nebula frowns and says, "We didn't make it to Earth. Carol Danvers rescued our stranded ship."

"Ah, yeah..." Peter laughs awkwardly in the face of May's fearful expression. He'd purposely omitted that but Nebula's still working on learning when being fully truthful isn't the best option. "But it's fine! We made it home safe and sound."

"When we arrived you were very ill from malnourishment," Nebula says and he groans, "I would not call that safe and sound. Or is that not what the expression means?"

"No it's... fine," he mumbles. Tony and Rhodey are grinning at his discomfort, and unfortunately, his Aunt seems a bit paler than she was a moment ago. He repeats, "It's fine! I'm totally fine."

"Five years later and you're still a pain in the a-" Tony starts, fully ready to tease, but Peter and Pepper both interrupt.

"Ah-ah!" They point to Morgan who hasn't stopped staring at her father.

"Right. Pain in the behind. That's what you are."

"It's a character trait," he smiles and shrugs. "You get used to it."

Tony hums in agreement and his eyes fall back on his daughter. He reaches out to move a loose strand of hair behind her ear and her smile gets wider.

"I can't believe we have a baby," he says.

"M'not a baby! Peter, tell him. I'm a big girl!" Morgan protests with a pout.

"Of course you are, Morgan. A proper young lady," Peter humours.

"See?"

"I'm so sorry, Morgan. I'll never make that terrible mistake again."

"Thank you."

"Okay everyone," Pepper interrupts, "I know there's a lot to talk about, but Shuri said that we can actually take you home if you want. Whatever stuff they use here is pretty effective and she has no concerns about moving you. But you will be on bed rest for at least a week."

"Yes, boss," Tony says. "I should check in on the bots though."

"They're fine," Peter says, "I've been looking after them."

"Taken over my lab already? Kids these days, no respect for their elders."

Peter rolls his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Let's get you home old man."

Rhodey helps Tony out of the bed and he tries very hard not to wince in pain but they all spot it. Pepper picks Morgan up off the bed and their little group wanders over to Bruce's bed to bid him farewell and to ask Stephen for a portal home. Natasha gives Tony a hug but decides to stay with Bruce, as will Stephen, and the rest of them will be heading to the Stark home.

Stephen opens the portal and they all walk through, albeit some a bit hesitantly. May and Pepper both eye the portal with a bit of trepidation but Peter urges them through. Nebula eyes him as if to inquire if she should go through and he gestures for her to follow suit. Before Peter goes to the other side, he glances over at Stephen with a suddenly alarmed expression.

"Oh my god. I forgot about the stones."

Stephen's lips quirk into what's almost a smile, "I've taken care of it."

"But Dr. Banner said we have to bring them back in time, and I think the sooner-"

"It's okay, Peter. I will handle the rest from here. You've done enough."

"But-"

"Go home."

"Alright, alright, I'm going. Thanks, Dr. Strange."

Peter steps through the portal and releases a deep sigh of relief. Home. Finally - they're all home.

Chapter 56: Empty Chairs Filled

Chapter Text

"What's this?" Tony asks, pointing at the cabin.

The portal's left them in their rocky driveway only a few yards from the cabin itself. Their small garden is flourishing in the warm summer weather and the lake is still. Some of Morgan's toys are strewn about the front yard and Pepper's favourite chair is on the porch overlooking her play area. It's very clearly not the Stark Tower in Manhattan.

"Oh, right," Peter says and shares a look with Pepper.

Morgan grabs Tony's hand and tugs him forward, "Come on, daddy! I wanna show you my room."

He stumbles slightly but Rhodey keeps him steady. Peter steps forward and runs his fingers through his sister's hair to get her attention and she stops pulling. "You can give him a full tour later, okay? Right now, Dad needs to sit down and rest."

She doesn't let go of his hand but doesn't resume her tugging. She looks up at her dad and smiles, "We can sit on the couch and I'll show you my toys."

"Sounds awesome," Tony says. "But where are we, exactly?"

"So, we don't live at the Tower anymore. Well, yes, but no," Peter sort of explains.

Tony tries not to look alarmed as he turns to his fiancée for answers, "What?"

"We still have the Tower, but this is where we live full time. It was better for Morgan to get out of the city, and it was closer to school for Peter."

"Where is... here, exactly?" Tony asks.

"Massachusetts," she says.

They've been slowly walking as they talk and she opens the front door for them. Morgan scurries in ahead, followed by Tony who's looking around in wonder with Rhodey guiding him into the cabin. May stays by Peter's side as they head in next and Nebula trails in after them all.

"Why..." he starts, but it's May that makes the connection.

"Massachusetts... Did you get into MIT?!" She asks brightly.

"Yeah!" He says, meeting her smile with his own, "It's been amazing. I've got my Bachelor's in Physics, and I'm thinking of going back to do more. Things have just been hectic lately and I haven't taken classes in a while."

"Oh my god, Peter, congratulations!" She hugs him tightly and he glances at Tony who looks proud.

"Probably couldn't have done it without Tony's way too flattering letter of recommendation."

"You earned it all on your own; I wasn't even around to bribe anybody," Tony says. "Good job, Pete. I knew you'd get in."

"Thanks," he says feeling his cheeks warm.

Morgan leads them to the living room. Rhodey helps Tony sit and instantly Morgan is on one side and Pepper on the other. Peter goes to the dining room to grab some extra chairs and soon they're all sitting in a haphazard circle. His wrist hasn't stopped vibrating from alerts and he glances at a couple of his incoming texts.

From: Happy
Answer your phone, kid!

Peter responds with an invitation to the cabin and tries not to feel too guilty about neglecting to update him earlier.

From: Gwen
Thank you, Spider-man! (Picture)

She sends him a selfie of her and her father and he responds with a thumbs-up emoji. There's not really any time for conversation and it sits there.

From: Harry
I didn't think it was possible but I think my dad somehow hates you more than before. I'm ready to elope whenever you are.

That one makes him laugh and it earns him a few looks. He quickly replies with another thumbs up emoji and turns off his alerts. He's itching to call Ned, and MJ, and see his decathlon team and mostly he wants to sit in this room and stare at his finally full family. He'd offered May the recliner but she sits in a chair right next to him and they're leaning slightly against each other and all he can do is look at her and smile dopily.

"May," Pepper calls her while Morgan is busy rambling to her endeared father, "All your things are at the Tower. We can head over tomorrow to pick up some stuff and you can hunker down with us here until things settle down."

"My... my things? Oh, right, I guess our place is... thank you," May says softly. Her gaze falls to her lap and her shoulders slump.

"I understand this is difficult for both of you to take in," Pepper says, "We're all going to do our best to fill you in on what's been going on."

"I can't wrap my head around five years. I can't. An hour ago I was at home waking Peter up for school and now you're saying we don't even have a home anymore and I probably don't have a job or, or anything, and..." May releases a shaky breath and cuts herself off.

Pepper does her best to reassure her and Peter glances down at his watch. He swipes away the texts since those are least important in the string of things he needs to do. Some Iron Legion has been deployed in a few areas with mass pileups caused by people appearing in the middle of the streets. There are too many people injured for what's left of the emergency services to properly handle. Those that had worked in those fields five years ago can't walk into their place of employment to help as they technically no longer work there, no matter how helpful they may be.

Something blares red and that gets his attention.

"Shoot," he mumbles, accidentally interrupting Pepper. He stands and says, "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"What?" May asks, startled by the abruptness of his comment.

"Looks like Aleksei used the current craziness as an opportunity to bust a wall in the prison and way too many people who hate my guts are free, so..." he trails off because the rest explains itself.

During his explanation, Pepper stands and slips around the coffee table to be by his side. She takes his wrist and he absentmindedly keeps talking without really taking note of what she's doing. She flips it over, unclasps the watch, and lets his arm fall back to his side. When he's done, she dangles it in front of him.

"Friday. Edith," she says, "Turn off all alerts. Peter is not to be interrupted until I say so. That's an order from me; he doesn't get to overturn it."

"But Mom-"

"No, Peter."

"The police can't handle Aleksei, or Dillon. They need my help-"

"Was I not clear? I said no, and that's final. The Avengers can handle it - that's their job."

"But..."

"Do you have any idea how I felt when I got your text basically telling me you did the thing I expressly forbade you from doing?"

"t's not like I wanted to lie to you, but you didn't really give me much choice! And it worked! They're here, everyone's alive again. I had to do it."

Pepper inhales deeply and then slowly exhales to keep herself calm.

"If it helps-" Nebula starts and Peter sidesteps to lay a hand on her shoulder and he shakes his head.

He whispers, "It probably won't help."

"Ah." She doesn't finish whatever she was going to say, and that's probably for the better.

Rhodey stands and immediately draws the room's attention to himself, "I'll go to New York and get all that sorted. They'll need help, and I'm perfectly capable of lending a hand."

"You don't have to-" Peter says.

"Glad that's settled." Rhodey gives a round of hugs to their group and there's no room to protest. "I'll be back once I'm done. Don't be too hard on the kid, Pep. I didn't really try to stop him, either."

"Don't think I forgot that, but we can discuss that later." Her smile is tense.

"Still got the jet here somewhere?" Rhodey asks.

"Yeah, a few yards North-East," Peter replies.

"Alright, I'll send it back after I land. See you guys. Be good."

"Bye Uncle Rhodey!" Morgan calls out with an enthusiastic wave goodbye and at least the sullen mood in the room hasn't reached her.

While Rhodey heads out, Peter turns to Nebula, "Do you think you can take Morgan outside? I think this is all a bit much for her to be listening to."

"I think that's best," Pepper agrees. "Would you mind?"

"Not at all," Nebula stands and walks over to Morgan. "Would you like to play outside with me?"

Morgan looks between her father and Nebula repeatedly, trying to decide where she wants to be most. Pepper gently guides her in the right direction.

"Go on, Morgan. You can go get some new flowers to put on the table while you're there, and maybe you can make Dad a drawing."

That gets her to her feet and she's racing out of the room.

"I think if you can keep her out there for an hour that would help a lot," Pepper says.

Nebula nods and leaves the room to follow after the littlest Stark. Peter sits back in his chair with a guilty gaze and leans back against his Aunt. Pepper returns to her seat by Tony's side and he takes her hand and kisses her cheek. The watch is tightly clasped in her other hand and Peter knows better than to ask for it back.

"What did you do?" May asks, voice low.

"She didn't want me going back in time and I told her I wouldn't, but I did," he replies and looks over at Pepper, "Which I know was a dick move, but we were never going to come to an agreement."

"We could have had an adult conversation about it, instead you lied."

"You said we weren't allowed to discuss it!" He protests and the way she can't quite meet his gaze is tell that she knows his words are true.

"Look, we can talk about that later," she says with finality.

"Putting that aside, I'd love to know just about anything, really," Tony says, the only one who's still mostly in the dark.

"Thanos got all the stones, killed 50 percent of the universe and you and Aunt May were a part of that."

"I got that much," he says dryly.

"Scott Lang was trapped in the Quantum Realm and somehow made it back out. He told us how time works differently in there and we made a way to use that to go back in time to collect the stones, bring them here, and use their power to bring everyone back."

"Not that I'm not impressed with you making some sort of time machine, but I'm more looking to get information about the middle bits. You know, that big ol' five years we lost."

"Um. Pepper was pregnant? So there's Morgan. She was born March 4th, 2018. Today's July 30th, 2022, so you know. Which makes her four and a half, and the half is very important. We moved here after I graduated, and... Yeah. Plenty of baddies to go around, but that never really changes, I guess."

Tony hardly tries to suppress the grin that spreads across his lips, "Still not exactly what I meant, Pete. I'm still trying to process the fact I have a daughter, and I'm going to have questions about that soon, but right now I'd like you to start telling me about you. What have you been up to? Other than kicking ass at MIT and inventing time travel."

"Not too much, really. Oh, well I did go public with the whole Spider-man thing. Didn't have much of a choice; they reintroduced the Accords and I wasn't going to hang up the suit."

"That isn't nothing, Peter, that's a huge deal!" May says. "Have you been safe?"

"Turns out I wasn't really safe out of the suit anyway, so it hasn't made any difference."

He instantly regrets it and is unsurprised by May pressing the subject, "And what does that mean? Did someone figure it out before you went public?"

"No - well, yes. Toomes knew, but that was ages ago and he didn't say anything. That wasn't the issue. There are some people who don't like my association to Pepper and Stark Industries, but that can't be helped and it hasn't caused too much trouble. Honestly, the biggest pain is Screwball livestreaming me going around the city trying to stop her from blowing up buildings."

"I'm going to need you to back up," Tony cuts in. "Why are people giving you trouble because of your association to SI? I know it's not just because you took over R&D. And you haven't exactly explained what your association is to Pepper other than her being your boss. Don't think I haven't noticed you call her 'Mom', and how you're trying to avoid talking about it."

"I'm not avoiding-"

Pepper stands, completely cutting them off, "May, how would you feel about a change of clothes? I can lend you something a bit more comfortable. I was also thinking I could show you the house a bit."

May nods and agrees, "That sounds lovely, thank you."

She reaches out to run her fingers through Peter's hair and gives him a loving smile that he returns; if it's ever left his face in the past hour.

It's an obvious out to give him and Tony some time to talk through whatever tension seems to be sitting between them. He's not sure he wants this alone time - he's not sure what's causing this odd feeling in his chest.

She follows Pepper out of the room and his hand instantly reaches out to take her's before she's out of reach. She pauses and throws a smile over her shoulder and he hesitantly lets her go. The moment she's out of view his stomach clenches with worry but he forces himself to turn to Tony because his Aunt is safe. She's alive and safe and home and this isn't a dream.

He won't open his eyes to find she's never been there at all. He won't close them and see dust behind his eyelids and feel the phantom of it in his palms.

Tony gestures to the spot beside him with a nod of his head and says, "C'mere, kiddo."

Peter slips out of his chair and settles in by his side. He curls his knees up to his chest and angles himself slightly toward Tony but makes sure they aren't touching. He feels the heat radiating off of him and the pressure in his chest eases at the knowledge of alive. He eyes the slight bump caused by bandages on his stomach.

"How are you feeling?" He asks.

"As far as getting stabbed goes, I'm actually doing fine," Tony shrugs, "No idea what they did but I don't need painkillers and I'm good with that."

"That's good."

It gets quiet and a bit awkward. Peter stares at his knees and Tony stares around the room. Eventually, the slightly more adult between them speaks up.

"You didn't answer my question."

"You died right in front of me," Peter says darkly and Tony closes his eyes against the sharpness of it. "I spent three weeks on a spaceship with a stranger trying to make it home and we got saved less than an hour away from running out of oxygen and I came home to find out May was dead too. I came home to find out I was an orphan - again - and I'd lost my friends and I had nothing left. Pepper adopted me so that we could both have some sort of family again. She said it wasn't because of you, but we both know it was. And eventually she became my Mom, and that was mostly due to Morgan and time and it was nice not being alone.

"And people started thinking it's weird that I'm living with the living legend Pepper Potts but they get over it. Sort of. But then one of my MIT teachers tried to murder me, or drug me, I'm still not sure what the end result was meant to be, and he wanted information about Edith from me, which I didn't give, before you ask. Then Pepper tells me that apparently the information that I'm Edith's primary admin is somewhere out on the black market and there are hitmen after me and I'm just trying to get my degree."

Peter's on a roll and Tony just stares with his lips slightly parted in shock as he goes on and on.

"And then there's all the bullsh*t with the Accords and I basically have no choice other than to reveal my secret identity and I'm hoping no one goes after Morgan or Pepper because of it. Oh, and let's not forget Operation Spider-Boss. You know, it turns out we only really knew each other for a bit over a year? My therapist worried about me getting so attached after so little time but I think we just got on and I don't see the harm in that. And I mean, I always thought you were the best thing since humans invented ice cream and I admired you for years and years and then we actually started hanging out and I loved you. I love you. I did all of this to bring you back. So that Morgan could have her dad and Pepper could finally marry you.

"You died and you never even told me you love me and Pepper gives me Edith and a home and I'm taking care of your bots and I'm wearing the IronSpider and I spend months trying to make sense of any of it because you never said anything! Then - then people are trying to kill me and Pepper comes clean about you wanting me to take over your job in R&D. You never said you loved me and then you die in my arms and you leave me your f*cking company and I don't understand..."

Peter takes in a deep breath and meets Tony's gaze with a sad smile and teary eyes and softly says, "I didn't realize I was so mad about that."

Tony's arm slips to the back of the sofa around Peter's shoulder and his hand moves to the back of his neck. It's a gentle, grounding pressure and it soothes the sudden fire in his stomach from old anger.

"I'm sorry-"

"No, I'm sorry," Peter says and Tony shakes his head.

"If it makes you feel any better, I intended to be around to ease you into all that."

"I know," he mumbles, "it's not your fault."

"Kid," his hand on the back of his neck squeezes gently to get his focus, "My turn to share something with you. When we were on that planet and everyone started turning to dust, and you called out to me... I was so f*cking scared, Peter. I thought I was going to watch you die and if I'd had to come back to Earth without you, I don't know what I would have done with myself. I've always been sh*t at saying it, but I love you, Peter. Of course I do. I wish I could have been around to introduce you to the business and the work and all of it. I wanted to surprise you and make it something worth celebrating; I had plans. I never wanted to do to you what my father did to me when he died."

Peter tips forward and rests his forehead on Tony's shoulder, tears slipping free. The hand on his neck falls away and his arm wraps around him, tugging him closer to his side.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I'm so sorry."

He shakes his head against the soft cotton shirt pressed to his skin, "I missed you so much. Everyone was wondering who was going to be the next Ironman and people were looking at me to fill that role for some reason and I... I didn't want to replace you. I just wanted you back."

"Trust me, no one actually wants another Ironman. Spider-man's cooler anyway." His hand tucks into his hair comfortingly. Peter's tears have seeped through his shirt and he can feel the wetness against his shoulder.

Peter laughs wetly and draws back. His lips are stretched into a smile that brightens his eyes, "Wanna tell Jamieson that? He thinks I'm a menace."

"Well..."

"Hey!"

"But seriously, Pete, you learning to take over the business was supposed to be a fun thing. Honestly, I was looking forward to it."

"Mom's done a good job of it, but it would have been cool to do it with you."

"It's going to take me a bit to get used to the 'Mom' thing."

"Took me a while, too."

"I bet."

"There's still a lot for me to learn though."

"You going to hire me as your new PA?"

Peter laughs again, this time loud and joyful. The tears have faded.

"God, I missed you." He wraps his arms around his neck and hugs him tightly.

Tony finds himself stuck between rage and grief at the knowledge that Peter had suffered so much in the past five years, between the voyage home and the pressure of Stark expectations, and the selfish gratefulness that Peter had been the one to survive. That he hadn't been forced to watch this boy die in his arms. That he hadn't been made to bury the boy that's now his fiancée's son and isn't that something.

Peter's stepped into the role he'd unexpectedly left behind, leading his Iron Legion and working with the Avengers and commanding his AIs like he'd been born into this life. He'd trusted him and loved him enough to not have a single doubt about his choices. He only wishes he'd been around to see it. To guide him. Tony knows Pepper's the best equipped to truly teach him, but he'd wanted so much and yet so much has been stripped from him.

He'd wanted to bring Peter into his first board meeting and Stark Industries party and watch him give orders and develop a project to the end. He'd wanted to experience that pride of seeing him succeed because he can hear in the newly confident tone and see in his wise eyes and powerful posture that Peter took to it all life a fish to water.

Maybe he'd missed the start - but there are still many years ahead of them.

Tony hadn't even raised the kid and he feels like this. As Peter had said, they've known each other hardly over a year. He can't begin to imagine how May must be feeling.

"Any other huge life events you're not sharing? Married with children? Nobel peace prize? Grammy?"

"Oh yeah, I started this new Ska band and we're going on a world tour next month," Peter says with a cheeky smile and slowly draws out of the hug but remains close.

"I know you don't know what Ska is."

"I really don't. But I am sort of friends with Harry Osborn. Don't disown me, please and thank you."

"Can we go back to the Ska band thing?"

"If it helps, he doesn't get along with his dad and is very supportive of the fact Norman hates me. He has an Avengers poster hanging in his room just to piss him off."

"That's an attitude I can get behind," Tony says with a nod of appreciation. "So long as you don't tell me your new favourite Avenger is Captain Popsicle."

"I would never disrespect you like that, Mr. Stark."

"You were definitely calling me Tony earlier. Stick to that, kid. You own my company, you can call me by my name."

"Technically Pepper still owns it."

"Don't be a brat."

"I'm more of a diva, actually."

Tony smiles affectionately and pats his shoulder, "Always knew Pepper was the spoiling mom type. What do you think are the chances she'll let me go sit outside? I have this daughter I want to see. Because I have a daughter. Like a baby. That's mine."

Peter chuckles at his enthusiasm, "If you don't ask, then she can't say no."

"And that's how you get grounded," Tony says and pokes his forehead. "Help me up."

Peter helps Tony out to the porch and sets him in Pepper's chair. Morgan and Nebula are sitting in the grass and drawing. Morgan looks up and squeals happily at their presence. She takes her paper and runs up to them. Peter lifts her into Tony's lap but is careful of the wound in his stomach. She shows him her drawing and the two men share a look of affection.

There's Ironman, of course, with Spider-man at his side and both are drawn in red and brown. On Tony's other side is a short little girl with brown hair and a t-shirt with a butterfly on it. One of her hands is in Tony's and the other is in Pepper's, drawn tall with blonde hair loose and wearing her favourite blue plaid pajamas. Surrounding them are May, in what looks like her uniform and her brown hair up in a ponytail, Nebula drawn in blues and purples, Rhodey made up in dark brown and leg brace in silver with pink flowers just because, and lastly Happy in a black suit and sunglasses. Their house is in the background and the sun is a lovely yellow circle.

"It's beautiful, Morgan," Tony says.

Almost shyly, he leans down and kisses his daughter's hair.

Chapter 57: The Day After Tomorrow

Chapter Text

The Universe is...

Confused. Cautiously optimistic. Frightened. Excited. Concerned.

Loved ones reappear where they had vanished five years ago. As knowledge of Thanos and his wish has spread as far as possible, knowledge of the Avengers and their victory must go out.

Carol Danvers comes to Earth to visit her longtime friend Nick Fury, but her visit is short. She returns to the skies and the people across the galaxies to give word of the new developments and to give them reassurances. Not far behind her is the Benatar, filled with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

They know Gamora has died and is lost to them, but they gain a new crew member in Thor. He leaves New Asgard to Valkyrie and sets out to find himself again. Rocket is content with Groot back by his side, Drax and Mantis hardly seem to have any understanding of what's happened and they leave it that way, and Quill mourns. Nebula, for now, chooses to stay behind on Earth.

Her sister and father are dead; what little family she'd once had is gone and that isn't new, but there is a sense of finality now that wasn't there before. Nebula's content to stay on Earth and be 'Aunty Nebs' and an honorary member of the Stark family. She's occasionally in Wakanda and they trade off knowledge. They help restore some of her parts when she needs it. They even do a few upgrades to ease up some pain she's simply forced herself to be accustomed to for the better part of her life.

"Thank you for bringing home my nephew," May whispers in the darkness outside the Stark's cabin where both women are sitting in a borrowed home.

Half the universe means little to May Parker when faced with the possibility of living a life without the last member of her family. Or the family she'd had five years ago which has suddenly expanded in the blink of an eye.

"I would say that he's the one who brought me home."

May pats her thigh and gives her a smile, "You're a good person, Nebula. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

"I've done many things that wouldn't make me a good person."

"I think there's always been at least a little bit of good in you."

"Thank you," she whispers softly. It's clear to her, since meeting the infamous Aunt, that she's why Peter is the way he is.

The wind carries her words.

Several thousand miles away in a small city in Norway, Brunnhilde is back to leading what's left of the Asgardians in the same way she's done for the past five years. Only now she's a king. The respect from the people remains unchanged; she's only ever had their best interest at heart.

A few thousand miles south in Wakanda, Bruce steps out of the hospital bed with a functioning arm. The scars won't ever fully heal, but their technology has given him full use of his limb and that's what truly matters. A portal is opened to send him to the Stark's for a brief visit. He chats with his resurrected friend; there's reminiscing and tears and stories.

Stephen opens a second portal to send Natasha to Missouri, where she's the bearer of bad news for the Barton family. She stays there for several weeks to support them in their grief. Once she feels she's overstayed her welcome, she returns to her position at the Black Widow Orphanage. Somehow, there's more work to be done than there's ever been before.

The sorcerer supreme himself stays in touch with the Avengers for those first few days. He keeps them focused long enough to send the Stones back in time.

Once the task complete, anything to do with time travel is destroyed. The technology used is torn apart and thrown into an incinerator, to be safe. All the data is deleted from every server it ever touched, even including the music playlist Peter put together for his research time. No one will ever recreate what they've done, at least not with the tools they used.

Afterward, everyone goes their own way.

Bruce returns to California, back to his home and work and the life he's built for himself there. He remains the Avengers' primary medic but stays apart from the superhero life as much as he can. Steve comes back in one piece and heads out with Sam and Bucky. As Sam had once been his guide to a foreign future, Steve gets to return the favour. The Avengers gain two members; Steve lends his shield to Sam and Bucky and takes up some art classes and hosts more support groups for the people brought back.

T'challa and Shuri are home with their people, a king and a princess back on their rightful thrones. Wanda is in mourning, much like Thor and Quill. She wanders in search of meaning and none of the other Avengers intervene; she needs this time to herself. Scott is back with his daughter and the Van Dyne's and only partially steps out of the hero business.

Rhodey does what he does best. He fights for justice. He stays with the Air Force with the intent to retire once the world feels righted - or as righted as it can be. He only gets a handful of days with his lifelong best friend before duty calls, but there are promises of calls and texts and of future visits.

There's a proper funeral held at the Stark's cabin for Vision, Clint, and Gamora - known only by the Guardians and Nebula, but she's still a sacrifice in this war. Thanos took half the universe, but only three of them haven't been returned. It's a quiet service, and since hosted a couple of weeks after the Snap it's a good reason for everyone to meet up and share drinks in their honour.

"To the ones who gave their lives to see us here."

"To Vision - the most human of us all."

"To Clint - the father, the hero, the friend."

"To Gamora - a sister to the end."

Now for the sorcerer supreme himself. Stephen returns to the sanctorium in New York City to reunite with a Wong full of questions.

"You must tell me, Stephen - the boy kept mentioning millions of failed timelines, what was the beating wings of our victory? What made the difference, how did we win and they didn't?"

"The boy, of course."

"You'll have to give me more than that."

"In almost every timeline, the boy died and Thanos let Stark live. It would take five years for Lang to return from the Quantum Realm, which happened approximately eighty percent of the time. Stark would be the remaining brainpower needed to figure out time travel. They would all go back in time and get the Stones."

"None of this is much different to how it's happened this time."

"Ah, but here is the true butterfly effect. Nebula."

"One of Thanos' daughters?"

"Yes. She, and Col. Rhodes, go to Morag in 2014 and every single time Nebula will connect with the past version of herself. This alerts the past version of Thanos and is our undoing."

"How so?"

"He captures her and uses her, and Stark's technology, to come to the present. The ensuing battle never goes well."

"I see. And you decided Stark needed to change places with the boy. Why?"

"At that point, I knew the solution lay in using the Quantum Realm, however, I couldn't find a timeline where it worked. Then I wondered... The two seemed close on the ship. I asked if the boy was his ward and Stark didn't deny it. I got to thinking that maybe the boy could solve the time travel conundrum in Stark's stead. Then the pieces fell together in a way even I couldn't have expected. The boy has this... sense, so to speak. When he went back in time with Nebula, he could sense there was something wrong and fixed it, preventing Thanos from ever coming to the present."

"How did you guarantee that Thanos would let Peter live?"

"There was no guarantee, per se. It was a gamble. I only ever saw him survive in the one timeline. It rested solely on my intonation, the weight behind my words. It rested on Thanos seeing Tony as a threat. If he killed Tony, the boy would live as a balance. Or so I hoped - I only had one timeline to compare with."

Wong lets out a deep breath, "That was a very risky gamble, my friend."

"Yet here we are."

"Yes, here we are."

...

Oh. That's not everyone, is it? Let's see.

May Parker, one of Morgan's several honorary Aunt's, lives with the Starks for a few weeks following the Snap. She has no job, no bank account, no credit, no home, no anything. Much like hundreds of millions of people across the globe. She accepts their charity only long enough to get back on her own two feet. She moves back to the city with her possessions collected from the Tower and a secured position at F.E.A.S.T.

She believes her time and energy would be better served helping all those displaced rather than in a nursing position. She's one of very few who received answers instantly - she didn't need word of mouth or some announcement to be up to date. She came back to people ready to receive her and she's in the best position to help others. It's also a great way to get her mind off five lost years and a world she doesn't recognize.

Happy remains employed under Pepper, while (mostly) joking that he plans to retire the day before Peter is to become his boss. He tugs a handkerchief from his pocket when he finally makes it to the cabin and sees Tony for the first time.

Turns out Tony's kind of into the forced retirement lifestyle and doesn't take the business back. He doesn't sign the Accords; Ironman's out of the picture. He's a dad now, and that becomes priority number one. Along with charity work and planning a wedding and lending a hand where it'll help that doesn't include needing a metal suit. Let all these Captain America's fight the bad guys; Tony Stark has a daughter. And Peter - whatever that relationship is now.

Peter calls him Dad when speaking to Morgan, and Pepper tells him that's what lead to her being 'mom' permanently. Tony has zero complaints if that's where they're headed. May's had no complaints either, and if she's okay with it then so is he.

Tony is loving the stay at home dad thing.

The only one who appreciates this new change more than Tony is Pepper. Having the love of her life back has significantly improved her overall morale and the fact she gets to keep him close by means everything. Those first few days of seeing him hold their daughter, she'd wondered fearfully when he'd leave to go save the world again. He didn't - he doesn't. She continues her balancing act between CEO and mom in the same way she's done for the past few years only now she's refreshed.

There are no more late-night tears. She doesn't look at her daughter and wonder which parts of her came from Tony (the nose, the soft brown hair, the mischievous eyes that promise trouble). She doesn't, while drowning in her darkest thoughts, think how happier Peter would be if his Aunt or Tony were alive instead.

And of course, there's Morgan, probably the happiest person in the entire universe (and that's saying a lot). Her life in itself is mainly unchanged. There's simply a lot more people in it than there had been a few days ago. To her it's magic - before, her daddy was in heaven, and now he's here. Poof. Like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. She can't fully understand the look he gives her, but it makes her stomach tingle happily and she smiles brightly in response.

One left to go, right?

Chapter 58: A Day in the Life

Chapter Text

The little coffee shop has a bell over its door. Peter winces behind his heart-shaped sunglasses at the sharpness of it. He's late because he's perpetually late for everything without ever meaning to be. The sound of several chatty occupants and employees and the lovely scent of fresh coffee hit him instantly. He debates going to the counter for a cup but he's late enough as it is.

He looks around and finds his group in the far left spread across three tables pushed together for the dozen of them.

They chose the place and he hadn't bothered asking for somewhere more private. Between his work at SI and being openly Spider-Man, people recognize him everywhere. Only the cabin gives him, and his family, true privacy.

Nearly four weeks after the return of half the universe, his old decathlon team has made the decision to meet up before the new school year starts in September. Around the table are mostly teenagers, those gone and returned the same as they were five years ago. There's an empty seat at the end of the row and he slides in with a wave and a greeting. He tucks away his sunglasses and tries not to feel horribly out of place.

Ned's to his left and they fistbump in greeting and share a smile. They've seen each other a couple of times since his return - Peter had called him the following day and they'd talked for hours. He'd cried. Ned had cried. It had been a very tearful reunion.

To his left is MJ, and she smiles softly but doesn't actually say hello. The only person his age there is Cindy and she sits to his right, probably the last (aside from himself) to arrive having come down from New Jersey. It's a table full of familiar faces; Sally, Abe, Seymour, Chris, Flash. They're all as he remembers them.

He and Cindy are the outcasts here and her smile is understanding and she squeezes his hand in reassurance.

"Lookin' good Parker. Someone sure knows how to dress you," Cindy teases.

"Haha," he responds dryly but there's no hiding the smile.

Aside from Ned who's gotten all sorts of in-depth details about what he's been up to in the past five years, Cindy knows the most about the sudden common knowledge that's become his life. He's uncertain how much everyone else has come to know and he won't give them reason to question anything.

Before anyone can really say much more than that, one of the baristas comes around the counter and sets a mug of coffee in front of him. It's black, his favourite. He looks up, startled, at the older gentleman bestowing upon him this amazing gift.

He's in dire need of caffeine - he got in late from patrol and he's getting ready to return to MIT in a week and helping May move into her new place. He hadn't cried when hanging up her wedding picture with a young and overjoyed Ben and that had felt like an achievement.

"What - um, I didn't order anything?" Not that he doesn't desperately want it.

"Consider it a thank you, Mr. Parker. Please enjoy." He bows his head and wanders back to his position before Peter can even repay the thank you.

He meets Ned's inquisitive glance and only shrugs. Strange kindnesses are more common now than they've ever been before, although not as common as the less-than-kind things. The generosity will always mean more to him than the anger, however, and this has made his day. He happily sips at the drink.

Abe glances between him and the barista and his lips part to ask the question sitting there, but Cindy is faster.

"I can't believe you're all back again," she says. "It's incredible. This was such a great idea. I've missed you all so much."

"This is all so surreal..." Sally mumbles. "My sister is older than me now, like, how is that... a thing that's allowed to happen?"

"I know, right?" Chris agrees.

"I can't believe it took the Avengers five years to fix this and they won't even say what really happened. I was reading this blog-"

Sally cuts off Seymour, "If you go on about that doppelganger conspiracy theory again, I'm going to drown you in my iced latté."

"The one about the aliens was more spot on anyways," Peter jokes.

Only Ned truly gets it.

There's mostly chatter about the sudden changes to their lives and families and the unfairness of being made to start the school year all over again when they'd been only weeks away from the end of their last semester. Peter listens in quietly. He watches them and settles in the sense of wonder. Here they are - MJ's false indifference, Flash's need for validation, Sally's unbridled enthusiasm, Seymour and his conspiracy theories. His best friend Ned by his side once more.

Only... Cindy is there, hair longer, nails manicured with money from her new job that may very well become her career, and wisdom in her eyes that almost everyone who'd survived the initial Snap had grown into without much choice. They're both twenty-one. Proper adults now. He listens to their worries of tests and who they'll have to deal with, who will be their new classmates, and their new teachers. No one wants to talk about the horrors they're dealing with, it's not the time for that, but this all seems so trivial and Peter is realizing the gap between them all is maybe too large even for him to cross.

It's Cindy's sudden burst of laughter that tugs him out of his thoughts.

"Come on, Eugene, you can't possibly still be on that? Haven't you looked at the news at all since you came back?" She can't keep the laughter out of her tone and the boy flushes though his frown is still in place.

Peter doesn't know what his comment had been, but he has a few guesses. He'd forgotten the pettiness of teenagers amidst the whole saving the universe thing.

"Of course I have!"

"Not looking at the right places then. Put his name in Google and you won't be asking about that internship again."

"You're full of bullsh*t..." Flash mumbles though is obediently tugging out his phone.

Peter shares a look with Ned.

"It's really not that important," he tries but Flash has no intention of listening to him. He looks over at Cindy, "How are things at the shelter?"

"Great! We got that sweet pittie adopted last week. We still have that black lab, if you're still thinking about it."

"I'm not thinking about it, Cindy, you know I don't have time for a dog and Mom won't be swayed. I've tried. A lot."

She laughs, "I know, I know. But if she ever changes her mind... or you know, if your Aunt wants some company we have the sweetest little pug. We called him Eskimo."

"Fine, send me pictures, but no promises. How's the database working for you guys, by the way?"

"It's amazing! I can't thank you enough, honestly."

The Black Widow orphanage has a new database he'd created for children they've found lost in the last few weeks, left alone mostly by accident as their previous families have moved on from their old homes. It's an international tool used to bring families back together and it's been working well. Peter extended the server and resources to include pets; any dogs or cats found with nametags or microchips will be added to this database for their owners to find.

"What the f*ck?" Flash exclaims from his end of the table and Peter internally sighs.

He shares another look with Ned.

Peter adores Gwen and Harry, truly, but he and Ned have known each other since they were eating chalk and that's a history that can't be replicated. Between a look and mild facial expressions, they can share thoughts and Peter's glad that five years hasn't taken this from him.

Flash leans over to show Seymour and he wonders unamused which of many unflattering articles he's found.

"You have a Wiki page?" Seymour asks.

Ah. That.

"Yeah. For some reason it tries to make him look cool, but we all know the truth," she teases and he rolls his eyes fondly.

"You been stalking my Wiki page?"

"Someone needs to make sure it's accurate and we all know you aren't 5'10."

"You're the one who keeps changing that! I've been banned like five times for, um, nevermind."

She laughs. He chugs down the rest of his free coffee.

"There is no way in hell that you're Spider-Man," Flash says. Seymour takes his phone out of his lax hands and starts skimming his page, leaning to his other side so Chris can see as well.

The rest of the table goes quiet at what appears to be a revelation, but the coffee shop itself remains unchanged. A simple comment that once might have given him full-body sweats and anxiety now means nothing. Not to him and not to those probably eavesdropping.

"Sorry about your dad's car," is all he says in response.

"You're joking. This is..." Flash can't seem to form words. "You can't really think we'd believe..."

"You got adopted by Pepper Potts?" Chris asks, probably at the 'Post-Blip' section of his Wiki page.

He sighs aloud this time, "I'm not here to talk about all that-" he tries.

"I'd heard you were the new heir to Stark Industries," Abe cuts in, "But I thought that was just a rumour."

He grits his teeth and pushes on, "Listen, five years is a lot of time for things to change, as you all know. I'm really not interested in getting into all of that, I came here to see how you were all doing."

"Our lives aren't as exciting," Cindy says to defend their old classmates. He gets it, realistically. "But he's right. MJ, how's your sister?"

"Old," she says dryly and tacks on, "With a baby now."

Flash stares at him but doesn't say anything else. Peter remembers his odd hero worship of Spider-Man and it must be a startling revelation. He tells himself to be patient.

When he looks around the table it's hard to see anything other than children. Teenagers. He can no longer see classmates in these people. When he looks at Cindy he can see a friend, but she still seems younger than him even if that's not the case. He's survived a lot and it's difficult to see camaraderie in people who haven't experienced the same things. It's unfair, but he can't help it.

The conversation manages to be redirected, thanks mostly to Cindy and Ned who chimes in with silly anecdotes that clear the air.

Most of them keep glancing at him with questions waiting to be asked but they choose to keep it to themselves - there's hardly anything the internet can't answer for them anyway.

He didn't have much time to give them today or any day. He's constantly busy between every strange aspect of his life that he's not interested in discussing with his old classmates. He listens in and doesn't respond to the parts of the discussion that revolve around gossiping about him. Who is right here, by the way. Seriously. His hour is nearly up when an older woman hesitantly walks over to his side.

It's not unusual for strangers to come up to him and he smiles at her to soothe her nerves, ignoring that her sudden presence has made the table quiet.

"Hi," he greets kindly.

Her ears turn red and she doesn't meet his gaze, "I'm very sorry for interrupting your lunch, Mr. Stark."

"That's not... It's fine. Is everything alright?" A few too many inaccurate articles later, and the name mix-up has spread too far for him to try and correct it. It seems too difficult to grasp for some people that someone who isn't a Stark would take over Stark Industries one day.

"Yes, yes, of course, I was just... you came to the hospital a couple of weeks ago to spend time with the kids dressed as Spider-Man. My daughter was one of them and she wanted me to give you something as a thank you. I didn't think I'd ever see you again, but I promised her to try and here you are and I really didn't want to disturb you, but..."

"Oh, that's alright," he says gently. "What's her name?"

"Eliza. We were at the Eastern Hospital. I'm sure you see hundreds of kids all the time, so it's okay if you don't remember."

"No, I do. Little redhead, right? With the cute headband with the cat ears?" He asks, fingers going up to the top of his head to indicate cat ears and hopes that's not a picture going on the internet later.

"Yes! That's her." The mother finally meets his gaze with a shy smile. She reaches into her pocket and holds out a bracelet made from interwoven threads of blue and red yarn. "She made this for you after you left."

"Wow, thank you! Will you...?" He pulls back his left sleeve and holds his wrist out to her. She carefully ties it in place. "It's beautiful. Is she still there?"

"Yes, for a while still. Thank you for humouring me."

Her hands fall back to her sides and he moves the now free left hand to double-tap the watch on his right wrist. "Fri? Clear my Sunday afternoon, I'm going to the Eastern Hospital for another visit. I should thank Eliza in person for the gift."

"Yes, sir."

The mother startles, "You don't have to do that, you've already done so much!"

"I always take advantage of any excuse to go down there," he says. "I love seeing the kids."

"You're too sweet. She'll be so happy to see you, thank you!"

She hastily makes her retreat with another thank you and an apologetic smile towards his group. They had returned to talking amongst themselves to give her a bit of privacy, clearly sensing her unease, but most of them quiet and stare after she's stepped away.

"Never a dull minute for you, huh, Peter?" Cindy asks, cutting into the tension.

"Nope," he agrees. "Speaking of, I gotta go. Fri, what's Nebula's ETA?"

"1 minute."

"How is she always so great at being exactly on time?" He grumbles to himself, glancing at the time on his watch. One minute to two. "It was great seeing you all, but my sister awaits and she doesn't do waiting very well."

"I'll get you those pics of Eskimo by tomorrow. And Winnie, in case you change your mind," Cindy says.

He shakes his head and doesn't respond to her pushiness.

Peter holds his fist out to Ned who bumps it as expected. They share a sad smile because this can't be anything better than sad.

Everyone's reactions had been no less or more than he'd anticipated. He's lead a rather insane life and for people who'd only ever known him as the nerdy Peter Parker, it's a lot to take in. His best friend, however, hasn't looked at him any differently than he did five years ago and that's humbling. But it doesn't make this any better.

He'll be in the decathlon group chat and keep in touch for a while. Eventually, he'll stop interacting, and then he'll stop reading it, and in however long it'll be out of mind completely. He might text MJ a bit more; maybe talk about the Accords, or ask about her drawings, or see how school is going, but that won't last.

For Ned, of course, he'll try harder, but five years is a lot, at the end of the day. A sixteen and twenty-one year old hanging out is... odd, there's no other way to put it. They can't be what they once were, at least not now. Maybe when they grow older and the difference doesn't feel as significant they'll find their way back to each other. This isn't a goodbye, but deep inside Peter knows this is the start of the decline.

He feels that Ned understands this too.

It hurts and it f*cking sucks.

He tucks the chair back into place and the bell chimes again. He glances over his shoulder and there's Nebula and Morgan in all their adventuring glory.

Morgan's in purple sneakers, a pink tutu, and blue leggings along with her favourite butterfly t-shirt. Her hair is slightly tugged out of the braid he'd put it in that morning and that'll be fun to brush out later. Nebula's in combat boots, jeans, a plain t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. Her hands are covered in leather gloves and she has an Ironman baseball cap on her head; her intent is to keep out of sight as well as she can when babysitting the littlest Stark. Luckily the modifications to her body make her resistant to heat and there's no worry of heatstroke in the late August sunshine.

Although she's allowed on Earth, not everyone would react to her well. They're both wearing heart-shaped sunglasses to match Peter's, this fully Morgan's choice when they'd gone out clothes shopping for Nebula. Her entire ensemble is mostly all Morgan's decision, with some hints of Peter's suggestions because she's accomodating to anything so long as it's comfortable. She doesn't have a favourite colour or clothing style, and it's been fun playing dress up.

Nebula puts away the sunglasses to see better but Morgan doesn't bother. She catches sight of her big brother and runs up to him completely ignoring the rest of the room and the reminders about her inside voice.

"Peter!" She jumps into his arms and he lifts her.

With Tony and Pepper both in meetings today, the first day back in the city a busy one, babysitting duties have fallen on Peter (and by extension Nebula). He'd sent them off to see a movie and wander a bit before meeting back up with him after his hour with his old classmates. Tony had tried desperately to get out of the meetings, but even if he's pulling away from everything relating to the business there are still some things he needs to handle first.

"Hey, munchkin." He grabs his empty mug off the table and throws a final farewell over his shoulder to the quiet table. He wanders over to Nebula hovering close to the door. She's surveying the room.

Peter knows Pepper and Tony would let him go out with Morgan alone but it would occur with a lot of hemming and hawing because apparently he doesn't have any sense of self-preservation and would likely put himself at risk to protect Morgan. There's no question about it when Nebula tags along because she's a 'responsible adult' who can make 'smart decisions'. (He's a little offended even if he knows it's all true).

"Peter, Aunt Nebs got me this!" She puffs out her chest and points to a pin in her shirt that he'd overlooked. "It's you!"

He's got merch. Well, Spider-Man does. He doesn't want his face on things like some sort of British monarch anyway.

"It is," he says and then looks at Nebula to ask, "How were things?"

"Good," is her simple response.

He heads over next to the counter to drop off his dirty mug and hesitates in front of the doughnut case. Nebula steps in beside him, seeming content with the room's safety, and she stares at the with mild curiousity.

"Oooh, can I have one, please, Peter? Pretty please? With a blueberry on top?"

"Hmm..." he hums in thought. He pats his pockets and sighs in resignation. "I would, munchkin, but I forgot my wallet."

Thank all the gods for that barista's generosity because he'd have maybe cried a bit if he'd gone up to the counter to fetch a coffee only to be turned away because he didn't have his wallet.

Nebula reaches into her pocket and holds out some bills and coins, "Here. Your father gave me money before we left. Your mother said not to spend any of it on sugar."

"How much was there to begin with?" There looks to be about twenty-three dollars and fifty-five cents left, which is absolutely not what she would have started with.

"It was a paper with a 'Fifty' written on it. Those are... dollars, correct?"

"Yeah. So... aside from that pin, did the rest go to sugar?"

"... Yes." She doesn't quite manage to sound or look guilty, but Peter feels like it's hiding in the background somewhere.

Peter shrugs, "May as well go all out then. Which one do you want, Momo? That one's banana and caramel. That sounds delicious."

He'd get one for himself, but... They have a fundraiser this weekend for F.E.A.S.T and if he needs to get his suit tailored because it doesn't fit right he might actually scream. Or decide this is a Spider-Man event and Peter Parker is off the clock.

She goes for the banana and caramel doughnut and he grabs some cash from Nebula before she slips from his side. She's apparently decided not to partake in this particular sugary treat. The nice barista is still there and Peter shoves the money in the tip jar when he refuses to charge him for the snack. Morgan takes a giant bite right away and he sighs as caramel sauce drips down her chin. He gets to it with the napkin before it hits her shirt. Or his.

"Hey!" A woman shouts and he glances in that direction.

He huffs and smiles apologetically to his new favourite barista.

"Sorry," he mumbles before heading over to the disturbance. Morgan continues eating her food without a care in the world.

He stops next to Nebula and can only huff again.

"Did you really have to stab the table? The guy who works here is really nice."

Nebula stares at him like he's an idiot, "I didn't."

Her knife, some sort of alien metal that's a strange shade of black, is wedged deep into this woman's phone set atop the table. The woman is staring horrified at her device and looks about on the verge of tears. He's certain she deserves it, but he does feel a bit bad about it. Nebula grabs her knife and lifts it; the tip is just barely visible on the other side of the phone, not a single scratch on the table.

She tugs her blade from the now useless metal block and puts it away in her pocket. The phone is set back on the table and the woman's shaky hands reach for it.

"How are you always amazing at everything?" He groans. "Fine, but..."

With the hand not holding Morgan in his arms he gestures vaguely to the phone.

"She was taking pictures. You said that's not allowed."

"Yes, I did, but..." That doesn't necessarily mean stab people's phones, but he knows it's his fault for not being specific.

"He'll pay for that," Nebula says to the woman and looks at him, "I need more of your card things. I've run out."

"My business cards?" He'd given her a few in case she ever came across a situation she didn't know how to handle, like reporters and such. Give them a card, tell them to call that for details, and walk away. That's what he'd said. He only had the stupid things because Pepper had insisted it was part of the business package. "Nebula. How many phones did you stab today?"

"How many cards did you give me?"

The assistant that actually answers the number on the cards is going to hate him.

He silently reaches into his breast pocket for a business card and sets it on the table next to the ruined phone.

"Sorry. I'll pay for that."

He gets a grip of her coat and tugs his friend out of the coffee shop. Morgan continues to eat her doughnut with a content smile on her face. Nebula glares at the woman until they're outside.

Once on the street, he lets her go and she reorients herself. They make the walk back to the Tower in near silence until Morgan finishes her food and goes on about the movie she saw with Nebula. It's relaxing when so little about life feels that way.

By the time he'd managed to find some semblance of tranquility between college and Spider-Man and spending time at home with his Mom and Morgan, it was time to fight for half the universe and there hasn't been a dull moment since. There's a discussion about going away to some sort of ski resort during his winter holidays between semesters and he thinks he's going to take Tony and Pepper up on it.

Tony had offered to finance him to go on a gap year, to travel and relax and have some time to himself, but the last thing he wants is to be away from his family right now. He's fine being busy; he loves it - he thrives in a chaotic lifestyle. This is finally the right kind of busy; he can whine to May if he wants to, Tony's there to guide his thoughts when he starts to get lost in them. His support circle isn't really much bigger than it had been, but there's so much more life to it now that it's finally complete.

The last five years of life was like staring at a puzzle with one missing piece. Most of the image is there, it's so very nearly complete that it would be possible to ignore the little bit of tabletop peaking through the array of flowers, but he can't. His eyes had always wandered back to that hole wondering what he could do to fill it.

His therapist likes it when he uses metaphors.

The adults are done a chunk of their meetings and have fourty minutes to give them before having to go to another bout of them. Peter sets Morgan down and she rushes to give her parents hugs and he trails after her to wait his turn.

Nebula drops the change on the counter and Pepper doesn't ask where it was spent. It's better left unsaid.

Pepper pats his shoulder and kisses his cheek and returns to her efforts of making them a quick late lunch comprised of sandwiches and yogurt. Tony got away with skipping one meal before Pepper turned on him with more grief than anger and a reminder that she'd lost her husband once and she won't stand to lose him again prematurely. Guiltily, he eats his meals and has set away all the alcohol.

Peter sneaks a bite of cheese and then moves to give Tony a hug once he's let go of Morgan.

He's found Tony in the middle of the night sitting in his homemade lab at the cabin, theirs now, staring at Friday's assortment of Morgan-related files on more than one occasion. He gets this look in his eyes of pure amazement, the same one Peter had worn when he'd seen Ironman on T.V for the first time. He can't quite believe she exists. His last memory is a conversation with his fiancé about wanting a child so desperately and waking up to find he has a four and a half-year-old daughter.

He's also caught him looking at some of his files.

When Tony had first seen the video of him revealing his identity to the world, he'd cried.

Peter remembers finding him at the desk, face in his hands, and the projecting video paused. He'd been completely baffled by the reaction. Had gently asked, "are you okay?", and Tony had signaled him over and he'd held him for quite some time in silence. Later, he'd learned it was grief. Disappointment. Frustration. Anger. Pride. A lot of love. And a culmination of emotions after too long looking at videos and pictures and wishing he'd had a part in all of it.

Tony hugs him and gives him a quick squeeze. He takes the lunch Pepper's made and eats it diligently.

Peter's told him, and May, repeatedly that he's only twenty-one. Five years is a lot, but he's got a lot of life left to give. So do Morgan and Pepper. They've hardly missed out on anything.

Often, he wonders about the Peter in that other timeline. The Stone was returned, hardly anything's amiss. Except... his little secret, of course. This is one of thousands of losing timelines, and the one in millions where they win amidst their loss. There are mornings where he still hasn't made it to bed due to anxiety, or nights of nightmares about space, and checking in on his aunt and Tony to make sure it hadn't all been one of Scorpion's crazily vivid hallucination.

He smiles at Tony, alive and well and finally family.

Hopefully that other Peter's doing well, but he looks around and doesn't think too much more about it.

Yeah, they lost. Pretty terribly. Up to seeing Tony and May alive again, he'd considered everything to do with Thanos and Infinity Stones an utter failure. But they got back up and won. If he could go back and win from the start? Of course he would. No one wants to live five years of grief.

But all in all? It's not so bad.

This is exactly where he would want to end up, one way or another.

Chapter 59: The True Final Message

Chapter Text

"... Good job," Tony tells an enthusiastic 14-year-old Peter Parker, kneeling atop a boarding bridge with Captain America's shiny shield in his grip.

"You've been busy," Steve says from the other side of the airport runway.

"And you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave. A safe place. I'm trying to keep... I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

"You did that when you signed."

Tony always keeps the faceplate off when talking to people. Rhodey and Pepper have both told him they dislike talking to a metal cover and he extends the courtesy here. He hopes a face to face conversation will sway Rogers, but stubborn knows stubborn and there's no way for this to go well.

Without a prompt from himself, the plate slips over his face.

Steve mistakes it as aggression and visibly tenses. Clint notches an arrow and Wanda's hands glow red.

"Friday, what's going on?" He asks.

"I'm sorry, sir, there's-"

The display turns completely black. Friday is cut off. There's a brief alert in the top right corner indicating that the projector in his helmet is activating.

"Friday, turn this off. What are you doing?"

The AI is quiet and that never bodes well for him. He reaches up and tugs the helmet off his head. Everyone's staring at him with trepidation.

"Did they do something to your suit?" Natasha asks, stepping in beside him.

"I don't think so." None of them could. "But..."

The projector turns on and a bright light flares out from the helmet's forehead. He aims it away from everyone's eyes and it stops about 20 feet away. It projects a rectangular blue screen about 10 by 8 feet in size, perfectly clear as expected of the high quality tech in his suit.

"Friday, reboot. Turn this off." He tries but feels she probably can't hear him.

There's still no response.

"What's going on, Tony?" Steve asks cautiously.

"Do I look like I know?" He snaps back.

The blue clicks off and is replaced by a video. The backdrop is his lab, he can tell that easily enough with Dum-E's telltale arm poking into the frame, and in the center of the screen is a young man. Brown hair, a white suit with an 'A' sewn into the pocket, a little scar through one of his eyebrows and a sad smile. He waves to the camera.

"Hey," he says. "Sorry to interrupt. This is a recording so don't try talking to me. I mean, you can, if you want to, but it won't do anything. Anyway - I'm Peter Parker. Hi. I'm sort of the same Peter Parker as the one that's around here somewhere, but also not. I'll get into that."

Tony glances over at the Spider-boy who's gone completely tense. He hadn't spent a lot of time with the kid, but he's got a good memory for faces and... the brown eyes, the nose, the scar, the floppy hair. He looks older, of course, more muscular and less baby fat, a bit of scruff around his mouth. Though, of course, that makes no sense whatsoever.

"First things first, I know there's this whole fight thing going on, something to do with super soldiers. And the Accords. Whatever. I need you guys to focus, so I'm going to give you some spoilers. There are no super soldiers. No baddies, no threats. That person... I don't think I ever got his name, but he's f*cking with you all. If you go to... Serbia? No, Slovakia? That's not right... if you go to that place you're going to find a big bag of nothing. So. Let's take a deep breath and chill for a minute. I have a lot to say and there's nowhere any of you need to be right now."

The young man on the screen pauses as if to give them time to digest the words.

"Tony, what-" Steve starts to ask but the video presses on with the volume loud enough to overshadow his concern.

"Now that that's settled, let's start from the top. My name is Peter Benjamin Parker. I'm recording this video on July 30th, 2014. Hopefully, you're seeing this on... May... something, 2015. I don't know. I've got this video set to come up after my exchange with Mr. Stark at the airport. Also, sorry about hijacking your stuff. I came here to borrow some tools and decided to do this message while I was here. I used Pepper's codes to get in here - how I got them isn't really important. You might remember getting sent off to the compound and there was nothing there? That was me. Sorry about that. I couldn't have you guys seeing me or asking questions. So."

There's a loud sigh.

"For the hard part. I know you guys are going to have a hard time believing me, but I can't help that. I can tell you the truth and you can decide what to do with it. I'm the Peter Parker from July 30th, 2022. I'm from the future - wooh." He does a sort of jazz hand movement. "I know, sounds like the worst movie plot ever. But the science is there. We got information about the Quantum Realm from Scott Lang, and Dr. Banner and I figured out the rest. Anyway, let me get right into it.

"Something worse than super soldiers and Accords is coming and if you're not prepared for it, you lose. Big time. We lost. In my timeline, we got our asses handed to us and me being here is our sh*t attempt at fixing the damage. We can't win, we can't fix anything, but you can do better. Mr. Stark, you said something on our way to Titan, that's some planet somewhere, I don't know - we were crashing the spaceship before I could look at the map. You said something about Thanos being in your head for years, so I'm hoping that the name means something to you right now."

It does. Tony tenses and his grip on the helmet tightens. No one speaks since they don't want to miss a word of what he's saying.

"Cap, what's going on?" Sam asks through the comm.

"Come on out here," Steve whispers in response.

"Well, Thanos is coming. Not now, and not really soon, but you have a lot to do to get ready for him. And this isn't a joke, and I'm not overestimating him. Thanos beat the sh*t out of Thor, like, the God Thor. And the Hulk. And he... he killed Loki. This is serious; this is more important than some domestic, okay? Thanos is looking to collect the six Infinity Stones. Fri - image please."

He holds up his right arm where sits some high tech watch that looks similar to the ones Tony likes to wear. What is definitely the AI he created after July 30th, 2014 speaks out, "Yes, sir."

A hologram appears and presents six shiny rocks in a row, each of them with a word over them.

"This is the one in Vision, and this is the one Wanda got her powers from, and this is the one Carol - oh you don't know her yet. Thanos wants to collect them all because he has this psychotic plan to use them to destroy half the universe."

"Stark, I'm done with this bullsh*t," Clint calls over the message.

"Pause, Friday." Finally, she obeys. The air quiets completely as the word 'pause' appears over the frozen image.

"I don't know what game you're playing-"

"I'm not playing any games, Clint. I didn't do this. And... and he's right. I do know that name. I..." Tony looks up at the boy holding Captain America's shield in a death grip. "Kid, come down here."

It takes Peter a moment to obey. He quietly jumps down to land next to his idol, gaze staying fixed on the video.

"Is this who we're meant to believe is the Peter from the video?" Steve asks.

Tony nods, "Kid, can we take off the mask?"

Peter doesn't answer.

Tony places a hand on his shoulder and gently shakes him, "Kid? You in there?"

"Huh?" Peter startles and turns to him, "Yeah, yeah, sorry. Um. What?"

"Mask. Off." He tacks on, "Please."

Peter does as he's told, too distracted to properly think it over. He sets down the shield by his feet and removes the mask and wrings it between his hands. His eyes go back to the video and he mumbles, "That's me, Mr. Stark. That's really me."

They all quiet as they look over the boy. The similarities are clearly there, however the concept itself is too outlandish for it to be the default choice. A sibling, or family member, or even a clone is easier to believe than time travel.

"What makes you so sure?" Tony asks into the silence, loud enough for everyone to hear.

He's pale and obviously uneasy. Tony's not sure how he'd feel if he was faced with what he thought was a future version of himself.

"My left hand," Peter says and points to the lower right of the video.

"... Okay," Tony prompts.

"I'm giving myself a message in morse code," he explains. "Me and my friend Ned taught ourselves morse code last year after we saw Interstellar."

"What's the message?"

"Oh, it's not profound or anything. He's - I'm?- just naming off people that I know. My parents, and Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and the name of the fish I had when I was six. Even Ned doesn't know my parents' names since they died before I met him."

"Huh. You're positive this is you," Tony says thoughtfully.

"Yeah. One hundred percent."

"Come on, man, this is insane," Clint says.

"I agree," T'challa says. "We came here to fight."

"I remember that day," Natasha interrupts. "All alerts went off at the compound and we were there in minutes, but when we got there, there was nothing. When we got back-"

"Jarvis had no knowledge of sending us out there in the first place," Tony finishes. "Vision, can you confirm if this guy was using Pepper's access codes? Do you still have that in that brain of yours?"

"Yes, that's true. Ms. Potts's codes were used several times that evening. The camera feeds were deactivated and then doctored with old footage. Now knowing your new AI Friday, I can confirm that she accessed the servers at the time."

"Except she didn't exist back then," Tony says. "Other than in that watch the guy's using."

"He said my name and I know I've never seen him in my life," Scott tacks on. "And Quantum Realm stuff is what Dr. Pym does, who I sort of work with. Time travel doesn't seem so farfetched."

Wanda points at Peter and says, "I'm more concerned with the matter of the child on the field."

"We should keep watching the video," Natasha says, changing the subject. "It seems important. And I'm inclined to believe when he says there are no super soldiers to worry about. I'm fairly accurate at reading people, and he's not lying."

No one wants to offer any doubts about her assessment.

"Unpause, Friday."

The video resumes.

"In my timeline, Thanos has collected all six stones and... and destroyed half the universe. Poof. Gone is half the universe. If you continue as you are now, you'll only end up following in our steps. I'm here to collect one of the stones and take it back to the future in some crazy hope that we'll be able to bring those people back, but that doesn't fix the damage or the five years lost in the middle. Let me give you a little glimpse of the future, maybe that will inspire you to do better than we did.

"Thanos' plan was to halve the universe because of overpopulation, or something like that. I don't try to empathize with psychos, but that's how Nebula put it. Since the Avengers broke up like One Direction because of the stupid dispute about the Accords, we had no defense. Thor and Hulk lost first, and Loki was killed which really messed up Thor, and then Mr. Stark and I got our asses beat, and then it was everyone else's turn. I didn't ask for details so I don't really know the chain of events after that. He got the stones, snapped his fingers, and there go trillions of people in an instant.

"Do you want to know who dies? Too many, that's who. Mr. Stark died in front of me when we lost on some planet millions of miles out in space. I was the only one there since the rest of you had pissed off to who the f*ck knows. My Aunt was dead when I came back, making me an orphan. Again."

The Peter next to Tony tears up and stiffens. He places a hand on his shoulder, feeling awkward about it but knowing the support is needed.

He keeps an eye on the young man's left hand and Tony probably wouldn't have noticed the odd pattern of tapping until at least the second viewing. It's not surprising that the person who claims to have invented time travel can talk and code a second message at the same time.

"Where to next? Nat lived and started up an orphanage. That's some horror stories no one should ever hear about. Babies found starved to death in their cribs because the parent or parents were gone and there were no neighbors to hear the crying, that sort of horrible thing. Dr. Banner made it out, but Hulk was terrified after his encounter with Thanos and has yet to resurface. Steve lived, but Sam and Bucky didn't. Wanda didn't either. Vision died when Thanos took the stone from his head and even if this all works and we bring everyone back, we won't be able to save him. Scott was trapped in the Quantum Realm and didn't get to see his daughter grow up, but hey, it gave us a solution, so there's a positive.

"T'challa and his sister Shuri died, leaving Wakanda with no ruler. Their mom took the throne but Okoye says it's all pretty tense over there. Hmm... who else. Clint. Right. He... lost everything. The wife and kids. Went off the deep end. Even Nat couldn't get through to him. Do you get it now? You're all fighting about some stupid piece of paper when there are thousands of planets out there, millions of lives not tied to our own and one day they're going to depend on whether or not we can fight together. Do you get it?"

Silence falls over the field as the Peter in the video collects himself.

He's gotten everyone's attention by naming them off one by one and no one has any desire to interrupt. Sam and Bucky have joined the line up on the other side of the battlefield but a look from Steve keeps them quiet and they've been around long enough to hear mention of their own deaths. They say nothing.

"Listen, half of you probably think this is some sort of trick. If that's how you feel, then this message isn't for you. If you want to fight - go ahead. But I'm going to tell you what you need to do to beat Thanos. Take notes. If not... you'll just end up right here. And it's not the ideal place to be. We lose. We don't find a way to come out on top in the end, there's no deus ex machina. We lose and half the universe is gone in seconds and it takes us five years to find a way to bring them back - and that's a maybe. These people will come back to a world that's not theirs anymore; there's no way to make my timeline a victory. You guys... you can win. You can beat him.

"I'm throwing all my hope on you, Mr. Stark, so I hope you're listening. If Steve insists on going to... Slovenia? sh*t, I should know this. Well, whatever. If he insists on going, let him. We don't need him." The onscreen Peter laughs softly, "Sorry to the past me. Other me? I know you like Captain America at this point, but you know we've always been an Ironman kid. Anyway, we need some allies and I have a few people in mind. First, talk to Nick Fury and ask him to contact Carol Danvers. They're friends, apparently, and she's crazy powerful and has been all across the universe - you'll want her on your team.

"And there's Doctor Strange. Dr. Stephen Strange. Super awesome neurosurgeon and now a wizard - yeah, I know how that sounds. He lives at the sanctorium on Bleeker Street in New York. He has the Time Stone and this flying cloak and he can see the future and... He's a lot like you, Mr. Stark, so just tough it out. You're going to need his help.

"There are the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' too. If you meet them you'll think I'm messing with you, but they actually have their merits. Ask Carol to find them and bring them to you. To be fair, you'll mostly want Nebula and Gamora, the rest are their tag-a-longs, but they're all great! I swear! But Nebs and Gamora are Thanos' daughters - if you count murdering half your race and then kidnapping you being someone's daughter - and they'll definitely be of help. If anyone deserves to kill Thanos, it's those two. And I don't condemn murder.

"I suppose the main way to beat him would be to destroy the stones. Wanda or Carol can do that. Since their powers come from the stones they can destroy them. To get the stone out of Vision, you can ask Shuri, T'challa's sister. She's like, a super genius. I wish I'd gotten to meet her. From what I heard that was the plan, but then Thanos showed up and that plan died. You have nearly two years to figure your sh*t out. Get the stones, destroy them, and voilà. No issue. Well. You'll still have to fight Thanos, but if you get a proper team then you can do it. I know you can."

The onscreen Peter takes in a deep breath. His eyes are glistening with unshed tears. The Peter beside him is openly crying quietly. Everyone is struck silent.

"Listen. I don't even know if this worked - I could be talking to myself for all I know. But I'm trying to give you a chance. My timeline... no matter what happens, even if we get these stones, we aren't the winners. We will always have lost - we will go down in history as the people who lost to Thanos. If we bring you back, it'll be bittersweet. There will be new families, new babies, new lives, and new loves. Five years is a lot of time for things to change until you can't recognize the world anymore. You can be the outliers - you can win. I'm begging you... you don't know what's it like to lose. The Avengers win. That's what you do. The good guys always win. But when they don't? That doesn't go away.

"I don't know how to prove myself to you all. But you have to believe me... The Accords are not so big as to overshadow the universe. I've signed them as Spider-Man. They suck, but you only need to revise them until they work. You're not more important than anyone else. If people have decided they want accountability, then so be it. The things I do are to protect the people and if they don't want me, then that's their choice. You're the heroes, right? I hope you decide to do the right thing."

The young man glances around the lab and his sad smile returns, "Guess I gotta go. I need to figure out with Friday how to get all this to work and you're going to be coming back soon. I'll... I hope I see you soon. And to this other timeline version of myself, tell Aunt May you love her a lot more than you do now. You'll thank me later. Bye, everyone. Peace."

His index and middle finger go up in the sign of peace and the video cuts off. The light retracts into the suit and the display returns to normal. Tony moves it under his arm rather than put it back on his head.

The runway is dead silent.

It's broken when Tony chuckles and glances down at Peter, "So, kid. You Team Stark, or no?"

His face goes bright red and he hides behind his hands. He mumbles through his palms, "You weren't supposed to see that."

A-L-W-A-Y-S G-O T-E-A-M S-T-A-R-K

"You're the one who pointed out the morse code."

"I did do that, didn't I?" Peter's hands drawn back and his expression is softer and the tears are wiped away. The teasing helped as Tony had hoped. His own expression mirrors Peter's after he smiles and shrugs, "And of course I'm Team Stark."

"Good to know." Tony's hand, still on his shoulder, squeezes once. He looks over the people spread out on two separate sides. His gaze settles on Steve, "Kid and I are going back to New York. You can join us, or stay. It's your call, Cap."

He returns his attention to Peter, "You want to go visit Nick Fury and try to find a wizard?"

His smile turns tentative, "You really believe me?... Him. Us. This is confusing."

"You said you were a hundred percent sure, right?"

Peter nods.

"Then that's you. And Nat's right - you're a sh*t liar."

"... That's fair." His entire face brightens, "The Nick Fury part sounds a bit terrifying, but I'd love to go find a wizard. Can... is it okay if I pop in to see Aunt May? All that kind of got into my head and I know it'd be out of the way-"

"Sure, kid." His hand drops from his shoulder but they stay close, "Anyone who wants a lift back to the US can come with me. The rest of you, have fun."

T'challa, maybe a bit chastised by the video and calmer than earlier, turns to Vision, "I can take you back to Wakanda. My sister can look into that stone in your head as the boy said."

"I believe that would be for the best," Vision agrees. "Thank you."

There are still some glances of doubt bouncing around, but no one wants to outright say it. The things that were said, supposedly prophetic, were enough to give them all pause. None of them wants to believe it's true, but there's that nagging thought at the back of their minds... what if it is true? Scott can't imagine not seeing his daughter grow up, and the mere thought of losing his entire family makes Clint slightly queasy.

Tony starts walking and Peter's right by his side with an unwavering admiring gaze staring up at him. T'challa and Vision follow suit to find their own transport to Wakanda; the King spares a glance back at James Barnes but maybe that's a fight for later. Natasha gives her best friend a smile and a shrug and falls in behind them. Rhodey takes Tony's other side and nudges his shoulder with his own.

"You sure this is the right thing to do? Ross is going to be pissed."

"We say we failed. Not much more to it."

"You going to show him the video?"

"Hell no."

Scott steps forward and looks at Steve with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, Cap, but..."

"You have a daughter. I understand. Clint, you should go too."

"What about you? And Wanda?"

"I..." she doesn't know what to say.

"You should be with Vision. That's what you want, isn't it?" Steve says.

"But how long until I get locked up again?" She asks.

"I don't think you will be," he says honestly.

There's no fight left. They were prepared for it, expecting it, but there's nothing and it all feels... anti-climactic, somehow. The weight of a potential future weighs on all of them, but Steve knows that his place is no longer by Tony's side. His shield lays forgotten on the ground and he goes to grab it.

Wanda and Clint leave them with a final farewell and catch up with the departing group.

"I'm still going to see what's going on in Siberia," he tells the remaining two. "You can go with them if you want."

"To the end of the line, Steve," Bucky reminds him. "Let's get going."

Steve, with Bucky and Sam, go one way.

In one jet, T'challa, Vision, and Wanda head off to Wakanda.

In the other, much fuller going back to New York than it had been on its way to Germany, Tony looks over at the boy with the potential to invent time travel and steal Pepper's codes, and win over his AI Friday and wonders about this new future they're creating. Only trauma could turn this shy yet energetic and awkward boy into the sad young man in that video with eyes wise beyond his years and a penchant for telling off the Avengers.

"What was the name of your fish?" He asks curiously.

Peter laughs and flushes red, "Oh god. Um. May got me two goldfish after she said we couldn't have a puppy as a way to make it up to me. They were 'May the Fish be with you' and..."

"And...?"

"...and..." he mumbles almost too low for Tony to hear, "Tuna Stark."

Tony joins in the laughter, "Never change, kid."

"I was six!"

He decides then and there that he won't let this boy become that man. He doesn't know why seeing him morse code to himself 'S-A-V-E T-O-N-Y' or the way his voice had hitched when talking about his death had made his heart melt into some sort of sad putty, but he knows he can't let that future come to be.

There's a lot of work to be done to make sure that future never happens, and he's ready to face it head on.

Chapter 60: Bonus Chapter ** 2012, New York

Chapter Text

The plan is more or less simple.

Rhodey is pretty content with having Bruce with him but would have forgone the addition of Steve Rogers and Scott Lang. He would have been happier with probably literally anyone else. Even the raccoon - and he's kind of a dick.

They split up for efficiencies sake. And for his sanity.

Bruce goes off to find the wizard and Rhodey's grateful not to have that job.

He uses his own suit to circulate the building to reorient himself to where they are in time. Rhodey wasn't in this fight, but retellings from Tony, and dramatizations from Clint, have him fairly confident about the string of events. As the team secures Loki and Shield (Hydra, really, and how Tony didn't catch that the first time around he'll never understand) takes the scepter, he sends Scott and Steve after them.

His attention is fixed on the briefcase in Tony's hands.

It takes a few quick blinks to clear the mist from his eyes.

2012. He's so young here (42 years old isn't quite young, and not nearly as young as when Rhodey had first met him, but that fight with Steve aged him in ways alcohol never did.) His hair is all fluffy and brown, with no hint of grey that starts sprouting in only a handful of years. There's a healthy glow around him that Rhodey never appreciated before. The bags under his eyes have diminished, he's at a normal weight, he eats a vegetable here and there. They'd made so much progress in such a short amount of time only for it to fall apart.

When it was finally coming back together, with Pepper back in the picture and Peter the best possible protégé out there for one Tony Stark, he dies.

Because, as he's learned over decades fighting for justice, life isn't always fair. It's quite often a pile of bullsh*t.

He slips in through one of the windows in an office on the floor the Avengers are occupying. He puts aside the fancy white suit that is definitely way too obvious and settles in the clothes he'd been wearing beneath it, a t-shirt and sweatpants. Luckily the leg braces are hidden beneath it and over a pair of leggings. That would be hard to explain.

With the confidence that comes with the familiarity of the building, its AIs, its occupants, and employees, he saunters out of the room.

The Shield/Hydra agents are gone, and the Avengers are starting to smush themselves into an elevator of their own. He lifts a hand and calls out, "Tones!"

The name burns in his throat, in his mouth. There's a hint of waver but he chokes it back. He's got this - he has to do this right. One shot. They get one shot.

The man turns with a bright smile, "Sugarplum! What are you doing here? You're a little late for kicking some Godly ass." On instinct, he's already walking toward his best friend, briefcase in hand.

"Need to talk to you real quick. Have a minute?"

"Sure," Tony shrugs. He looks over his shoulder, "You guys go on ahead."

No one questions his presence. They don't know his comings and goings, Rhodey himself hardly knows where he'll be sent next. It's not odd for him to appear randomly and suddenly with no warning. None of them try to take the briefcase, they leave it to Ironman. They cram into the elevator, doors closing in front of a frustrated Hulk.

The two men only watch as he stalks passed them. They both take a step to the side to avoid getting knocked over.

Neither says anything until the big green man opens the stairwell door and shoves himself through it, denting the frame.

"Now I have to pay for that," Tony huffs. "I have a hell of a lot to pay for." He adds with a glance out the window. New York is in shambles. Rhodey remembers the relief efforts grimly.

"Yeah..." he mumbles to say something into the sudden silence, but he just can't stop staring.

"What?" Tony asks with a teasing grin, in a mostly good mood after surviving all this chaos. "I know I've got the whole dashing hero vibes going on, b-"

Rhodey takes two long strides and pulls him into a hug. Tony fits in snuggly against him, face pressed right into his shoulder. His best friend tentatively pats his back with his free hand. Rhodey holds him tight for as long as it takes for the sting in his eyes to fade and for him to catch his breath.

"You good, honeybuns?" Tony asks. There's a worried lilt to it that makes his heart sting.

Rhodey draws away and nods. He steps back to put some distance between them and crosses his arms. Tony is eyeing him carefully.

"Okay," he says to regain his thoughts. "We need to talk about something."

"I got that far on context clues. What's going on?"

He breathes out a heavy sigh and gets right into it. He's got a plan.

"My mom's name is Roberta. My dad is Terrence."

"... Yeah. I get the family Christmas card every year. Did I forget an anniversary or something? It's your job to remind me."

"I know. My sister's name is Jeannette, my niece is Lila. I'm her Godfather, though you were a close second choice for some reason."

"Rude."

"When we met at MIT, I called you a punk-ass kid and you laughed at me. You puked in my sock drawer twice. And that's two times more than it should be. You also started with the weird nicknames because it took you weeks to remember my name. The first time I ever saw you cry was after you lost Jarvis. And after your parents... after they died you slept in my bed for nearly a month because of nightmares."

"Not that I'm not enjoying this trip down traumatic memory lane, what is this about? You're weirding me out here."

Rhodey points over his shoulder at the elevator, and the God that's left in handcuffs, "He can pretend to look like someone, but he's not in their head, right? He doesn't know their memories."

"... I don't think so. Rhodey?" Tony shuffles in place as if debating if he should step back, or closer.

"The second time I ever saw you cry was after the first time I told you I loved you and told you you were my best friend. You pretended you didn't, but you did. I never told anyone about that. You know I wouldn't."

"No, I... I know that. You've always been too good to me. I would have teased you relentlessly."

"You would have," Rhodey agrees and they share a smile.

Tony's drops quickly enough.

"What's going on?"

"This is going to be hard for you to believe, but you gotta trust me here. It's not a prank, and you know I'm not Loki."

"...'kay..."

"Do you remember where I'm supposed to be right now?"

"Um. God. Afghanistan? Iraq? Somewhere out East."

"If you check with Fri - I mean, Jarvis, if you check with him, he'll confirm that I'm out there."

The AI, intelligent enough to know when to speak up, does so now.

"I can confirm this, Sir. Col. Rhodes is currently deployed in Damascus, Syria."

Tony closes his eyes and inhales deeply, muttering, "Tell me this isn't a clone thing, I'm begging you don't tell me this is a clone thing."

It startles him; the tone of exasperation from a long day and the familiarity of his lost best friend, and he laughs, "No, not a clone thing," he reassures him.

"Then what is it then? How are you in two places at once? Did I hit my head?"

"None of the above. I'm..." he takes in a deep breath and meets Tony's gaze to admit, "I'm from the future - 2022, to be exact."

Tony stills completely as it registers. He moves the briefcase to the other hand out of fatigue, it's not exactly light, and his thumb taps against the handle. His foot joins it. His eyes roam over his best friend, but he says nothing for a long while and Rhodey lets him absorb the information.

He takes a cautious step forward, eyes squinting and staring intently at his face. Rhodey isn't as humble as others and knows he's aged rather gracefully. Nearly a decade isn't fully obvious on his face. Tony gets close enough that Rhodey rolls his eyes and puts a hand over his face to push him gently back out of his personal bubble.

"Get your eyes checked, you stubborn ass," he teases lovingly.

"Not my fault you're as beautiful as the day I met you," Tony says, dramatic hand over his heart. "You'll always be the belle of my ball."

He rolls his eyes again.

"Do you believe me?"

"Not one bit."

"You slept with a rainbow shaped nightlight until you were a teenager."

"Shh!" Tony glances around nervously.

"We both got mono one year because you made out with some sick girl and still insisted on drinking out of my water bottles and I nearly missed one of my tests for the Air Force. I didn't talk to you for two days, I was so pissed."

"Yeah, well..."

"You're dead."

That stops any further protests.

"What?"

"You're dead. There was a fight. Nasty one. I lived and you died. Do you remember how sometimes when you'd get drunk, you would go on these rants about how you were going to outlive me because I was throwing my life into wars I shouldn't even be in, and you hated it? Turns out you were wrong. You died first and it's been years and I'm still not over it." Rhodey gives his best friend a sad smile. "You have a hell of a lot of life left to live, and I'm here to bring you back. You and a lot of other unlucky people, but really it's just for you."

"I..." Tony looks away, shaken and uncertain, "Was it this?" He points out the window.

"Nah," Rhodey shakes his head, "A couple of years from now. Real heroic."

"Obviously," he says. This is harder for him to hear mostly due to the near death experience from an hour ago.

"Forget the future stuff. Do you believe that I'm me?"

Tony releases a shaky breath and nods, "Yeah. Yeah, I do. No one knows all that crap. Not even Loki... But you're also in Syria."

"Right. I've put a lot of trust in you, Tones. From MIT to all the Ironman sh*t and you don't even know what's down the line. I'm calling in all my favours and I need you to trust me right now. Can you do that?"

Tony looks down at the ground, gathering his thoughts. When he looks up again, his expression is hard.

"One last thing. I only told you this once, and we were completely sh*t-faced, so you might not remember, I'm not even sure how I remember, but let's see. You said I had nightmares after my parents died."

"Mhm."

"What were my nightmares about?" Tony asks.

Rhodey releases a slow breath. He blinks a few times, real quick, to drown back those tears. He can count on one hand the number of times he's cried in his life. Most of them surround Tony Stark, and most of them were from empathy.

"You... you kept dreaming... that I was in the car too."

Tony's lips purse and he nods once.

"Okay. What do you need?"

Rhodey points to the briefcase, "I need that."

"The shiny rock?"

"The shiny rock," he repeats. "Takes a few years, but we figure out what they actually are. And it's the only way to fix what got broken."

"Alright." Tony lifts his arm and holds it out for him.

Rhodey carefully takes it, inquisitive eyes on Tony, "Alright? That's it?"

"I trust you," he says and shrugs, "And let's be real, I owe you a lot of favours."

Their smiles match.

"What happens here?" Tony asks, "I assume the future you're coming from is some sort of alternate dimension, so this won't... I don't know, create a black hole or something?"

Rhodey laughs at the sudden reminder of another child genius slash pain in the ass.

"No, you should be fine. Our engineer knows what he's doing. But that does remind me. There's a kid in Queens. Peter Parker. You should look into him."

"Peter Parker? Who's he?"

"He's a real good f*cking kid. Also worries about black holes."

"Sounds smart."

"The smartest. You'll like him."

"Seeing as he comes so highly recommended, I'm sure that's true."

"I gotta go before someone comes looking for this," he holds up the briefcase, "I'm going in for another hug. I know, twice in one day, but I promise you won't spontaneously combust."

Tony laughs softly and is the one to cross the distance.

The hard part, Rhodey finds, is forcing himself to let go.

There's a final smile and a small wave goodbye, and then he's returning to the room where he'd stashed his suit. He presses a few buttons on the machine the kid built, and with a final glance out at the destroyed New York City blocks and thoughts of his own Tony ten years older, he sends himself home.

-----

Tony, still standing alone and silent in the middle of the hallway, is not too surprised to see Steve Rogers come out of the exact room Rhodey had left only seconds ago. And carrying his briefcase.

"Tony, good to see you," Steve says warmly.

"Rogers. I'm guessing you're not the same Steve Rogers that just went down the elevator?" He says, pointing over his own shoulder to the aforementioned elevator.

"Afraid not. Got something for you." Steve approaches and hands him the briefcase.

"Thanks. Glowing rock included?"

"Promise," he says, "How'd I do? Time-wise, I mean. How long ago did Rhodes leave?"

"Maybe a minute? Pretty decent," Tony says with a thoughtful nod. "Should I ask what this was all about?"

Steve makes a face and shakes his head, "I don't think you actually want to know."

"Fair. You headed back to the future? Or wherever you weird clones are coming from."

Steve laughs, "Never change, Tony."

"Wouldn't dream of changing perfection."

"I missed you, Tony. It's really good to have you back."

"So it worked."

"It did," he says, "There's a good kid out there that never gave up on you."

"Let me guess," he says with a grin, "Queens?"

"Rhodes already told you then."

"Kid's got some rave reviews."

It falls into a silence that's awkward for a reason Tony doesn't understand. Steve is looking at him too softly, and if he's truly been brought back from the dead that expression makes a lot more sense.

"I..." Steve sighs, "I shouldn't even be talking to you. We're not supposed to interfere at all."

"But Rhodey did it."

"And I don't need more permission than that," Steve says. "When this is done and things calm down, go to your Steve and ask him about your parents."

"My... parents?"

"There's something he knows that he should have told you a long time ago."

"I've only known the guy a few days, but I suppose I'll take your word for it."

"I didn't tell you because I was a coward. And then things all went to sh*t and I never got to fix things before you died. Things between us, where I'm from I mean, will never be what they once were. But maybe this Steve will make better choices. Give him a chance. He cares. He's just... scared. Think about how far you'd go for Rhodes," he glances down at the briefcase, the one Tony had given up without a second thought because his best friend had asked it of him, "and maybe my... his... our secrecy will make more sense."

"I feel like this is all very emotional, but... like I said. I've known you for a couple of days. But I promise to be very emotionally compromised later." Tony shrugs and smiles.

Steve places a hand on his shoulder in a show of affection and squeezes a little too tightly for a normal human's comfort, "I've got to keep going, but it's been really good seeing you, Tony."

"I'd say you too, but I saw you a few minutes ago and will be seeing you in a couple of minutes."

"Bye, Tony."

"Later, Rogers."

The man goes back to that one random office and after a brief pause, Tony follows. When he opens the door, the room is empty.

A part of him isn't one hundred percent convinced. But he's a scientist; he's read the Sherlock Holmes books because he's also kind of a nerd.

When you eliminate the impossible, what remains, however improbable, must be the truth.