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Chapter Text

Peter came to expect random calls from Mr. Stark. He only worked on things Mr. Stark thought he was good at, which Peter honestly didn't mind. Nothing he ever did at the internship felt like busy work. 

"Hey, kid. You free?" Mr. Stark asked.

Peter silently checked his police scanner for activity and then his requests app (he had nothing better to do with his time). Both came up thankfully empty.

"Yeah, what you working on?" Mr. Stark chuckled through the phone, a chuckle reserved for things Peter was not supposed to help with.

"Want to come to Germany?" 

"What!?" 

"Officially, you're working late at the tower. Not a total lie, it's Avengers business. The reality is you're going to help me design a new suit for a fight tonight."

That's definitely a little more than just the next few minutes. Peter can't exactly predict crime ahead of time, as convenient as that would be for him. At best, he can earn himself a few seconds of preparation. Not to mention that he'd have to convince Aunt May. However, one of these concerns he can't tell to Mr. Stark for the sake of his secret identity, and the other he already knows that he'd find a way to brush off, so instead of either, Peter says, "Mr. Stark I don't have a passport-"

"Doesn't matter."

At this point, Peter's brain reruns the conversation so far in his head, and he blurts, "Wait- I'm helping you make an Iron Man suit?"

"Not an Iron Man suit. Ever heard of Spider-Man?" Peter clenched his empty fist. He knew that he was probably screwed, but with just a little bit of luck (which, to be honest, getting any would be a bit of a stretch for him, but it never hurt to hope) he might be able to play this off with his identity still in tact.

"Yeah he's a hero here in Queens, right?"

"Yeah. I need his help with something, but his suit is horrendous. I know you want to help with the hero stuff, so just get over here."

Mr. Stark didn't even wait for Peter to reply and hung up. 

Peter grabbed his suit from the attic and stuffed it into his backpack. His phone vibrated, and Peter turned it over to see a request from none other than Tony Stark on his hastily thrown together app. Not many people had even verified that the thing actually connected to the real Spider-Man, but somehow Mr. Stark had found it without figuring out who the man behind the mask was, somehow.

Peter hit accept and watched as Mr. Stark repeated what Peter already knew.

Stark:

Hope you're not too busy, Spider-Man. 

Spidey:

No, always have time to help people, especially another hero like yourself!

Stark:

Great. So, what do you think about helping out the Avengers in Germany?

Spidey:

Good timing. I'm actually in Germany right now.

Stark:

That makes my work a lot easier. I'll send a location. 

Peter hated lying to Mr. Stark, but he'd be in Germany when he needed him. On the bright side, he was finally getting a costume that wasn't just a hoodie and some of Aunt May's pants.

Peter didn't like the plane. He was fine with swinging over New York with just a small string holding him up, and he was fine with having cars thrown at him weekly (he's so sure there weren't as many car throwing supervillains around before he hit the scene, but unfortunately he wouldn't be able to know for certain), but turbulence was somehow where he drew the line.

"I- is it supposed to be making that noise?" Peter asked. Admittedly, it was the first time he had even been on a plane.

After what felt like an eternity, Peter got the all-clear to stand. Peter needed something to work on, or at least something to keep his hands busy. Peter found himself awkwardly walking closer to Mr. Stark, who was working on something Peter couldn't quite recognise from where he was standing.

"Kid, want to see the prototype?" Peter nodded excitedly.

It was the coolest thing Peter had seen in his life. The eyes, the logo, all of it.

One thing, Peter didn't know how he was going to get his web-shooters into it. He never exactly made it public knowledge that he manufactured them all in a lab. Also, there seemed to be technological versions of all his powers.

"What's all that for?" Peter tried to ask without looking suspicious.

"Well, there's got to be something in the suit to help him climb. It's still a prototype, so I have no idea if I guessed right, but it should get the job done. He probably didn't do it as well as me, anyways."

"If he could get all of that into his suit I feel like it'd be a little higher quality than what he has. I saw the video of him catching a car. That looked like a superpower to me."

Mr. Stark stares down at the suit for a long moment, thinking, then he shrugs. "You're probably right. Also, it's cheaper, so I don't see why not." Peter relaxed as he saw Mr. Stark get rid of all the extra adhesive.

They spent most of the plane ride going back and forth, discussing various variations. Peter was happy that he got input since it seemed he was just giving it to Spider-Man when it was done. One issue, Peter still had no clue how he was supposed to hide web-shooters in it. The shooters were black, so they would stick out over the red and blue. Also, Peter wore them 24/7, so Mr. Stark could catch on.

"Alright, Kid. I'm gonna go before we have to sit down. Don't touch anything." Peter nodded as Mr. Stark walked away and instantly started touching things. Within seconds, Peter had web-shooters hidden in the design. It was a good thing that he had memorized the build months ago because otherwise, he might have been screwed. He still was, in a way, because he only had four extra web cartridges with him. Stupid Fridays. 

"Kid, we're about to head down. Start 'er up!" Peter tapped the build button and watched as the suit began to form. Peter had to sit down after a minute or two, but it was still worth it.

"So, are you going to tell me why I had to come with you or what?"

"Well, the plan was to do all the work after we landed, but there was a slight change of plans." Peter nodded. It wasn't like he needed to know. He was needed here both as Peter Parker and as Spider-Man, so it wasn't going to be an issue. Well, besides sneaking off to be Spider-Man, that was always the annoying part. 

The plane landed on a helicopter landing pad before the pilot left to take it back to a real airport. Of course, Mr. Stark didn't want to stop right at the airport.

Peter got the room next to Happy, and it just kept going. Peter dumped his backpack on a table and quickly grabbed his costume. Happy had asked Peter not to disturb him, so sneaking out wouldn't be an issue. The real one was getting directions. Peter stared at his phone screen for a solid five minutes, just trying to figure out where he needed to swing. It felt odd- swinging through a new city. Nobody here knew him (probably), and in the same way, every wall he swung by and everything he stuck to felt foreign. He did find his way, of course, but it still never felt right. 

Peter found Mr. Stark already in his own suit, and Peter shrunk realising how terrible his suit really was in comparison to most heroes. 

"Hello, uhm..."

"Spidey is fine. Sorry- I uh... know that it's not a good costume, but it's really all I got." Peter then remembered that he had fingerless gloves, so the fact that he had powers was probably hitting Mr. Stark in the face. 

"Right, we made you something, Spider-Man." Was Mr. Stark really giving the other Avengers credit for Peter's work? Rude.

Peter grabbed the case Mr. Stark had stowed the suit in and opened it up. The case was high-tech, and probably one of the coolest things he had ever seen. Act cool. There's probably more Avengers here. 

"Thank you, sir. I'm just gonna go get it on." Peter, without looking, webbed the ceiling and swung behind the elevator. Peter was used to quick changing on walls or in cramped spaces, but nothing felt as awkward as this. Someone was actively waiting for him to finish, which was a new one. It fit like a glove, Peter knew it would. Peter grabbed his watches (which he had discarded on the floor) and grabbed what was left of their current web fluid. Of course, the shooter design was also flawless. 

When Peter came back around, Mr. Stark was already gone. Peter looked down towards where the planes normally stopped and saw most of the Avengers already gathered. But not Peter. Oh, who's that new guy? Peter couldn't stop fantasizing.

"Alright, I've run out of patience. Now!"

Chapter Text

Peter should have woken up in his bed, at Aunt May's where it was safe. Instead, he woke up in the middle of a battlefield, the smell of ash hot in his nose. 

Peter thought he was alone and that he could just swing in bed and say he hit his head, but to his terrible luck, Vision was standing beside him, waiting. Peter's mask wasn't secure. Well, his mouth was showing. Nothing serious. He tucks his mask the rest of the way down before Vision can get a good look, and then finds to his annoyance that he's got a small split lip, which is now rubbing against the fabric.

"Mr. Stark wanted me to wait for you. He said he wasn't convinced you really had advanced healing." Peter pulled himself off of the ground. What a great way to prove you can be an Avenger, Pete. 

"I do. I-I'll be fine. I'm just gonna swing home." Home meant the hotel he was staying at (and probably the one that Vision and the rest of the team were staying at, but he wasn't about to inform Vision that). 

"You're in no condition to swing home."

Peter hated when adults told him what he could and couldn't do. Even now, Vision had witnessed firsthand what he could do and still underestimated him. "I've shrugged off worse. Look, you don't know me, and I don't know you, so I'm gonna head my own way." Mr. Stark is going to kill me. 

"I can take you, if you'd like."

"No! That's so embarrassing. And anyways, I don't need to make it easier for Mr. Stark to track me down, no offence. I can go myself." Peter tried to shoot a web, but he was out of web fluid. Peter groaned. Of course, they had to stop working now. Peter ejected the old canister and inserted another. Then, he swung away successfully. 

Peter was ecstatic. He had fought the Captain America and won! Well, almost. But he came close!

Happy hadn't noticed he left, which was good. Mr. Stark hadn't made contact since Peter got back, but he could only assume that he didn't know. Peter had no clue how the hell he was supposed to hide the suit. Peter knew that Mr. Stark had put a tracker in, but one of the first things Peter had done when he had time to work on it in secret was disable it. Still, Peter had a feeling there was enough tech in it for Peter to be found out. Peter didn't want to use his old suit ever again, but he couldn't take any risks. 

Peter stuffed both suits into his backpack, exhaling in annoyance that his bag definitely looked bigger. No way Happy would notice, right? Peter was a good person- and definitely trustworthy -even with someone like Happy, he seemed innocent enough.

Peter always had trouble with overreacting, among other things. Every little lie he kept just put him under more stress. There were some days where Peter couldn't keep the web of lies straight, and he had a hiccup. He'd say something wrong, he'd give a hint, something inconsequential, but the list of events could fill an entire tissue box. 

Peter grabbed his backpack and exited the hotel, sighing as he realised that it was probably the coolest room he'd ever had, or would ever have, and he never even spent time inside. It's not like Mr. Stark or Happy would understand- they probably did this like once a week. Or maybe it was because Mr. Stark couldn't gain an emotional attachment to save his life. 

Peter followed Happy in strict silence. If he didn't speak, there was less of a chance he could slip up. Peter was great at rambling but not so great at remembering what he said.

Peter got onto the jet in silence too, noting the smell of ash that now scorched it. It smelled like trash, but it would help coat the ash on Peter's own suit. 

"Kid, how was the trip?" Peter tried to keep up some sort of poker face, but he knew he probably looked ridiculous. 

"We didn't do anything." Peter didn't know if Happy wanted to do anything, but Happy made no comment, so he was probably fine. 

About an hour into the trip, Mr. Stark and Happy started whispering to each other. Little did they know that Peter could not only sense them whispering about him and that he could hear it clear as day. Ironically, it was the closest to regular volume Peter had heard since the bite.

"Did we get the suit back?" Mr. Stark asked. Peter sighed, knowing that he should have given it back, but also knowing that he wouldn't ever give it up. 

"No, the guy turned off his GPS somehow. He even got out of the way of Vision." He knows exactly how Spider-Man had done that, considering that it was him, and to be honest it was pretty easy. Vision had relented just fine, and it'd been smooth sailing from there.

"Well great I've just lost one of the best gadgets I've ever designed to a guy that sticks to things."

"You made it for him," Peter reminds his mentor. "And anyways, he's a hero, fighting the same fights that you are in your metal armour, do you really want him working in goggles a shirt and sweats?"

"Not really, but I also don't want a hero stealing my stuff." Peter wanted to own up, give Mr. Stark the suit back, and never have to listen to this again. He didn't. Now that both of his identities were allied with Mr. Stark, he knew that it was only going to get worse. Did it even matter? He was already lying to Aunt May about what he was doing in his room so that she wouldn't check, and he'd been avoiding Ned sometimes just to get a chance to sneak off. 

Peter's head began to spin, warning him about coming turbulence. It wasn't like he could control his Spider-Sense, he just had to deal with the annoying parts of it. 

Peter got off the plane as he entered. Quiet, with his head down. He still didn't know what excuse he had for Aunt May about being gone for the last five hours, and since the fight in Germany was probably on every news outlet, he was as good as busted with his current excuse. Oh yeah, I was just with Mr Stark. He was in Germany? What? That's crazy...

"Kid, what are you telling your Aunt?" 

"You read my mind."

"Yeah, let's not tell her that. Uhm, what about you were in the lab under Pepper's supervision?"

"Pepper is going to hate you for that."

"Yep, she is, it's perfect." Peter sighed, exiting the car. He knew a thing or two about lying to Aunt May. He also knew a thing or two about sneaking into his own room. He does it every night, sometimes every morning, and on the weekends as much as he can. Would Mr. Stark know that? Of course not.

Peter slid through the kitchen, managing not to alert Aunt May who was staring at the television. He knew that she was probably looking at the wreckage of the airport since she always wanted to know when there was danger near. Little did she know.

Peter closed his door as quietly as he could. To his luck, Aunt May didn't notice. Peter unpacked his suits first, shoving the new one in his cupboard and stashing the other under his hamper in case he needed it again. 

He felt guilty- he's Peter after all -but at the same time, he was happy about the decision. People couldn't call him an amateur when he was swinging around in an actual costume. That reminded him, he's out of web-fluid. 

Peter grabbed his new suit and jumped out of the building. Mr. Stark's car was already long gone, so nobody was watching Spider-Man come out of an apartment complex. 

The school lights were still on when Peter arrived, detention was probably still running, so he knew he'd have to sneak around. But he needed more web-fluid. The fight had taken up all of his extras, so he wouldn't be able to swing over the weekend. 

Peter landed silently in the science lab and smiled to himself when he was alone. Peter went over to his desk, finding it open. The web-fluid materials were all there, waiting. 

Nobody could know what he was making, right? He must've just left it open when he left the room, he was in a hurry after all. Peter couldn't see anything missing, so it had to be fine. It has to be fine. Nobody knows. Nobody knows. 

Peter hurriedly filled 8 more bottles with web fluid and ran. Detention would be out any minute, and he didn't want to be here when it happened. He left behind a few webs in his escape, nothing that couldn't be explained away by a spider. 

The real kicker was seeing Ned as he swung home. Ned was one of his biggest fans, and would definitely be staring, maybe even filming. The way home was going to be a long one.

Chapter Text

Peter had always been stealthy. He should have known to check his room before entering, but old habits die hard. 

Peter crawled slowly to his door and shut it. Aunt May insisted every day that she air out his room while he was at school, but with how often Aunt May burned food, Peter thought it was only making the smell worse.

Peter let his feet fall first, just so that he could land safely, and then he relaxed his fingers and fell. Peter landed on his right hand, his legs spread behind him. A bad part about being a spider- he caught himself in the most stupid looking ways.

Peter slid his mask off and began digging through his closet for the clothes he had been wearing that morning. 

And then came the crash.

Most things people described as the crash would be a low point in their life, but Peter's was a different kind. In a way, this was a good kind.

He span around, facing Aunt May's shocked expression.

"You're the Spider-Man."

The talk went... okay, he supposed. What was he kidding? Here he was, fully in costume, about to go into a high school party to gain Peter Parker recognition. This was definitely a new low. 

But then there was an explosion, a distant one, but concerning and strange enough to catch Peter's attention. 

"Mr. Stark had to rescue me." Peter finished, pure disappointment in his voice. May rolled her eyes.

"And what does this story have to do with you lying to me for the last year?"

Peter needed an escape plan, desperately. Aunt May was probably about to call Mr. Stark asking about the legitimacy of the Stark Internship, and in the act, get him busted. Peter didn't exactly have a reason for hiding it from Mr. Stark, but he didn't want the truth to come out. "He doesn't know." Peter finished.

Aunt May squeezed his wrists, something she had done hundreds of times before Peter began to constantly wear his watches. "You should have told me, Peter."

"You'd stop me. I need to help people, it's my job. It's what you raised me to do." It's what Uncle Ben had told him to do. It's what he had to do, because if he wasn't helping people, then he simply wasn't Peter Parker any longer.

"I would, wouldn't I? But that doesn't matter, I've seen what you've done, and I trust you now."

Peter jumped up from his seat and grabbed his web-shooters from where he had discarded them on the table. "I'm going to be late to the internship."

Peter's web-shooters now better resembled a FitBit, but they were still functional as ever. It worked sort of like a slap bracelet- when he hit his wrists together, they would shift into web-shooters. It was a concept Peter had for over 2 months, but never found the resources to make. F.R.I.D.A.Y stored everything Peter ever made, even when Mr. Stark supervised him, so he never had time to make technological advancements. However, thanks to the recent upgrade provided by Mr. Stark, he'd finally gotten the chance to slip it in.

Peter had been swinging to the Internship lately, and since there was no proof to put against him, if there was any crime to stop, he just got delayed. Mr. Stark was many things, a stalker wasn't one of them.

"I'll drive you," Aunt May offered. Peter knew that the reasonable choice was to accept, but he was Peter Parker, a man who could climb walls and sense danger from half a mile away. There was nothing reasonable about him any longer. 

"I'll just swing there," Peter dissmissed.

Aunt May didn't look pleased. She'd seen him on the news plenty of times, she knew he could do it, but she was still Aunt May, of course. "Way to fly under the radar, Spider-Man."

Why didn't he check that he was home alone first? He wouldn't have gotten caught, and Aunt May would be none the wiser. "I do it all the time." Peter shot a web at his backpack and tossed it forward. Peter began shoving his clothes inside until all he was wearing was his suit. It felt wrong, wearing it around the house. And in front of Aunt May. And without his mask.

"How do you even fit in that thing?" Aunt May asked. Peter chuckled but gave no response. It wasn't an open-ended question, but there were some you didn't need to answer.

Peter grabbed his mask off of his mattress where he had left it and swung out the window. Just to satisfy Aunt May, Peter tried his best to make sure the backpack wasn't visible, but since this was New York, it was pretty much impossible. 

Peter had adjusted to the view after maybe a week of using his web-shooters, but he knew in a strange way it was always as striking every time. To Peter's luck, he didn't catch any crime on his way to the tower. He changed quickly, another skill he'd mastered while hiding his identity. By the time he made it inside, any reason to panic was gone. 

Well, there was no reason to panic until he entered to see War Machine and Vision standing right there. There was only one time they had met before, and that was on the battlefield. His voice would be Spider-Man's to them. Everything he remembered from the fight, he had to resist bringing it up. Suddenly, Peter was nearly shutting down with worry.

"Hey, kid." But this was all normal for Mr. Stark, so it would be fine, right? Right?

Chapter Text

Peter knew he was screwed. War Machine was in the army, Vision was a literal freaking robot, and Mr. Stark was... Mr. Stark. One of the most distrusting people in the world.

"Uh... hi. Mr. Stark am I too early?" Peter felt four sets of eyes shift towards him, and he shrunk inside his hood. There was someone else there that he didn't recognise presumably, he was the other new guy on the battlefield. Black Panther, was it?

"No, we could just use the help. Want to help track down Cap'?" Peter did. He really really did. It would be the highlight of his week- working with the Avengers. But he was already one of them in a way. But they didn't know. To them, he was just some random kid. He wasn't Spider-Man. 

"I don't know what I can do," Peter answered honestly. Captain America was a soldier, and Peter was just a kid. If he had flown under the radar of S.H.I.E.L.D, Peter wouldn't be able to do any better. 

Peter saw Vision staring, and he already knew the gig was up. From what he knew Vision was responsible, but that didn't do him much in terms of secret identities. 

Mr. Stark signalled for Peter to come over, and Peter nervously sat beside him. Peter still remembered the feeling of finding out he would be Mr. Stark's intern, but nothing could compare to this. When Peter met Mr. Stark, he was still just Peter Parker. Now he's sitting with half of the Avengers/his allies from Germany. Peter knew he looked like another annoying fanboy and that just made it worse. Peter should've fessed up. He should have looked Mr. Stark in the eyes and told him who he is. 

He didn't.

Vision definitely knew. Every so often Peter would catch Vision giving him a sideways glance or digging through unrelated files. He was a robot, which made him terrible at hiding what he was thinking. Robots never had to hide their emotions before. 

Peter tried his best to fit in. Peter had worked with them before, yes, but without the mask, it felt strange. This didn't feel like work anymore. It didn't feel like protecting people- it just felt weird. A 15-year-old working with superheroes to track down the Captain of their country. Peter was there- he saw Cap before all this. He was a good person, with good motives. Peter almost wanted to join him. 

No. I can't betray Mr. Stark.

Black Panther was alright. He definitely fits in with a group of superheroes, but he didn't seem like the  King of Wakanda!  Well, everything about Wakanda was hard to believe. Peter wanted to see the barrier just to convince himself it was real. Most of the things he'd learned in the last year didn't seem real, and every time it just got harder and harder to adjust. It comes with the territory, Peter supposed. 

In the end, the group came up empty. Without the Hulk (Peter still felt weird calling him Dr. Banner), there was a lot of research missing regarding the electromagnets in Captain America's shield. It felt more like Peter Mr. Stark and Vision working while War Machine watched and Black Panther occasionally gave them Wakandan tech. Peter was amazed every time, and he knew that he was already the laughing stock of the group. Why did Mr. Stark have to drag him into this?

And then Peter left. 

He'd always imagined what it'd be like to meet the Avengers, but so far, he had:

1. Fighting Captain America.
2. Fighting Falcon.
3. Fighting nearly every Avenger.
4. Working with Tony Stark. 
5. Teaming with Tony Stark.
6. Teaming with other Avengers.
7. Trying to track down Captain America. 

Not the best start...

And the cream of the crop? Nobody Peter worked with as Spider-Man had ever seen his face. The only ones who had seen him in his suit without the mask were Ned and Aunt May. It was definitely bad for him to lie to everyone, but his mind told him it was the right move. Spider-Man was an anonymous superhero, and nobody needed to know who he was. Especially Mr. Stark. Mr. Stark would kill him. 

Mr. Stark was always strangely compassionate towards Peter. He'd deny it at every chance he got, but Mr. Stark definitely cared for him. It was just his luck that Mr. Stark was his boss on two sides. It was also just his luck that Mr. Stark was on the phone with May when he got home. 

"So, guess who worked with the Avengers today?" May giggled. Of course, Mr. Stark had to tell her. The conversation would've played out very differently last week, but now was too late.

"It was... weird." Peter didn't really have an answer for May, it was just another day with the Stark Internship.

"Oh, yeah. What are they even like? All of their memorable members are gone!"

"Thor, Hulk, Mr. Stark, War Machine, Vision, but yeah pretty much." Peter didn't even bother listing himself or Black Panther since they didn't count. Also, he didn't want to start ranting. 

"Sounds like a really nerdy party." Peter let out a small chuckle. 

"Well, more of a lot of moaning and ideas." May looked honestly intrigued. Well, who wouldn't be curious about being with the Avengers? "Since Cap' is a criminal we have to track him down, but it was really hard." May nodded along. "There was super advanced tech in his shield that we needed to track but nobody could figure it out." Peter was running through new ideas as he recited the day's events. If we can't track him now, he must've taken an earlier model of the shield, one with Wakandan tech.

Peter spent about an hour in his room filling in a notebook with ideas, but then he remembered that he had other duties. Peter shoved his notebook into his drawer, just so that May wouldn't think that he was obsessing too much. This was an Avengers mission, and he wasn't about to mess it up.

Peter was out the window before May came to check on him, meaning that he had to be home in an hour. Stupid rules. 

Peter's screen began to light up with a call from none other than Tony Stark. Peter was about to answer but then he realised it was in a section labelled "Work line." Peter didn't know he had a work line, so it probably meant that Mr. Stark had just hacked into his suit. 

Peter couldn't really deny a call from Mr. Stark because he's Mr. Stark, and had access to everything. 

"Well hi, Spider-Man." Peter could tell from his tone alone, he was pissed. Did he know?

"Hello, sir." Peter cringed at the amount of fear that was in his voice as he spoke. 

"So, were you planning on leaving your comm lines off or were you waiting for me to get back in?" Peter didn't know that Ned had turned off his comm lines. It probably happened when they were disabling the tracker, so it wasn't exactly his fault. 

"Sorry, I- uh forgot I did that." Mr. Stark chuckled. 

"What I'm really concerned about is how quickly you got through my training protocols." Yep, here it comes.

"Karen, how do we hang up?" Peter mumbled. 

"He's accessed my protocols, Peter. There's nothing I can do."

"Oh, I see. You hacked some of the most advanced Stark Tech out there for personal benefit, that's pretty serious, wouldn't you say?" 

"I was only trying to turn off the tracker, sir." Peter hated calling Mr. Stark sir. It just felt wrong. "It was my friend who did the rest." As if that made it any better.

"Oh, your friend? Like the a.i. in your suit?"

"Her name is Karen, and no." Peter knew that he was acting like a dumb child and wasn't convincing anybody he can handle the suit. 

"Oh, you named it! Well, say goodbye." 

Chapter Text

"Wait. Mr. Stark no-" Suddenly, systems began shutting off. Peter's side window for choosing different web combos disappeared, along with another few things that Peter had grown accustomed to. And to make it worse, that included Karen. Peter could've dealt with the loss of all his extra systems, but then his web-shooters went off and everything started to hurt. Peter's spider-sense was enough of a sign that this wasn't a survivable fall, or at least not one that he could swing off like normal. "Uhm, I think you turned off a little too much!" Peter kept attempting to shoot out another web, but it was to no prevail.

Peter was going to fall. He was going to land flat on his back and nearly hit a bystander, and then they were going to start recording. It happened once before when his costume was from the thrift store, and he'd made his lenses when he got bored during class. At least in those days, he was lame enough for the video not to pass 10,00 views. Now, a video of Spider-Man falling would pass 2,000,000 views, easy.

Peter continued aiming and not getting anything from it other than a disgusting noise of webs trying to make it through. All he could hear was typing as Mr. Stark desperately tried to get the shooters back online. All Peter could see was code, making it harder than it already was to aim. And then, there was a tug as one of the webs finally broke through and hit a nearby apartment building. 

Peter landed on the top of the building and crouched in silence as his heart beat faster than it should've been. Peter had learned a lot of things as Spider-Man, and swinging while his breath wasn't consistent was a bad idea. The mask already made his air intake terrible, so he didn't need to add hyperventilating to the dangers.

"Why couldn't you wait until I landed?" Mr. Stark, careless Mr. Stark, annoying Mr. Stark, actually apologised. Peter tensed for a moment, wondering if Mr. Stark had found him out. 

"I didn't think  that  would happen." Peter couldn't sum up sympathy for Mr. Stark- he literally took Peter out of the sky, whether or not it was for good intentions. Were his intentions even good? Peter was responsible... ish. Definitely enough to have access to his suit, though. 

Peter opened his mouth to respond, but Mr. Stark hurriedly hung up. It was probably something related to the Avengers and wasn't Peter's business, but as Spider-Man, he felt the need for answers. 

Well, not tonight. He still had a curfew, after all. Actually, Peter had plenty of time, but May would get worried about him, thanks to his sudden exit.

Peter ducked through his window and quickly slid his clothes back on. He didn't need to hide his identity anymore, but now it was more of a habit. Or maybe it was because his Spider-Sense had been going off like hellfire since Mr. Stark's call. Peter couldn't place the sensation, so he opted to be more secretive. 

Peter left the dinner table early. He said he had a bad headache, and May knew what that meant. His Spider-Sense did that sometimes, where it reached out to danger out of Peter's reach. May'd seen the pain first hand, but nothing could quite describe it.

Peter tossed and turned, but his mind kept yelling at him that something was terribly wrong. Peter couldn't ignore it anymore. 

Peter grabbed his web-shooters and quickly got back into his suit. Peter went out the window and swung up and down the streets, but he still couldn't find what his Spider-Sense had been warning him about. And so, Peter found himself swinging with his eyes closed. He'd never done it before, but he knew it was the only way his Spider-Sense would lead him to what it wanted to show him. Avengers tower. 

Mr. Stark would've been inside, he was stuck working there while he helped clear it out. Peter's Spider-Sense seemed to cool as he thought about Mr. Stark, and then surged asPeter went towards the tower. Huge red flag. 

Peter ran towards the elevator, forgetting that he was still suited up and that he was widely known as a vigilante. 

"Sir, we can't let you pass this point." One of the guards said. Peter knew that he could easily push past them, but that wouldn't give him too much proof that he was a hero.

"Listen, I need to speak to Mr. Stark urgently. I get it, nobody trusts me, but this is urgent." The guard sighed and reached for his gun. "Look, Friday, do you trust me?"

"Of course, Spider-Man." Peter pointed up at where he could only assume the speaker was and stepped into the elevator. 

"Uhm... Friday, what level was Mr. Stark on when he made that call?" 

"42nd."

"And where is he now?"

"I'm unsure."

"Take me to the 42nd floor, now." The elevator hummed as it rose. Peter hadn't been to this floor more than a handful of times, but by now it'd be one of the few that was still furnished. 

Peter walked in to find Mr. Stark's laptop discarded on one of the tables, and pieces of the mark 45 on the floor. Something had definitely happened. 

"Friday, do we have footage of what just happened?"

"No, sir. It appears it's been wiped." Peter kicked over one of the other tables. There had to be something.

"Is anyone else here?" 

"Colonel Rhodes and Vision are both on the Avengers level." Peter sighed. He'd never been on the Avengers level, and he wasn't sure he even had clearance. Maybe being Mr. Stark's assistant, but odds are the fight in Germany was a one-time thing. He had to try though.

"Take me there."

Chapter Text

Peter tensed. He was happy that he'd gotten clearance to the Avengers level, but he still expected nothing less than guns pointed straight at him. Peter closed his eyes and let his Spider-Sense draw out the room for him. He was safe.

When the elevator door opened, Peter hesitantly stepped through. Just as Friday had informed him, Vision and Rhodes were surrounding a table, discussing something in an attempt at secretly. Peter could hear every word.

"We have to locate them."

"I feel bad about it, Vision. They're fighting for what they think is right. It's not like we haven't done that in the past." 

"They're in violation of the Sokovia accords, it is our duty. If I had a choice, I'd stop hunting for Wanda immediately, but I have orders from the government." Peter felt so out of place. He didn't know any of the Avengers. Hell, he hadn't even met all of them. 

"Hello?" Peter's voice quivered. He didn't even try to mask his fear like he had when he had met the team the other week. They'd understand, they had millions of fans. 

"What the hell are you doing back here?" Rhodey backed into his own suit and aimed the gun right at Peter. Peter didn't even flinch.

"Uhm..." Peter knew this was stupid. "Mr. Stark, he..." Quit it, Parker! "He called me, but then there was a loud noise and he hung up. I thought something happened. Friday said she lost the footage." Vision was immediately to his feet. Peter had never seen the Avengers work, but they responded nearly as fast as his Spider-Sense!

"Friday, this is urgent." Rhodes said. Suddenly, Peter's Spider-Sense jolted and Peter was on the ceiling before he could stop himself. The elevator zoomed down towards the floor Peter had just been investigating. Peter was both in awe of the tech and was in pain from his Spider-Sense. 

"Maybe a warning before you give someone a headache like that?" Peter said, jumping back down onto the floor. 

"You're just not used to it." Peter had forgotten to mention his Spider-Sense before, so there really was no explanation to his reaction. 

"I'd like to see you deal with Spider-Sense." Peter still said. He didn't realise how dumb he sounded until the words had left his mouth. 

The three observed the room, but there was no sign of a fight. In fact, it looked as though Mr. Stark had just left his stuff in here. That just made Peter's heart pound faster.

"This had to be Hydra. They're the only ones who could pull off a capture this well." Peter still didn't know much about Hydra. He knew that they were the enemy of Shield and that made them his enemy, but that was about it. 

"Do we have any idea where he could be besides that?" 

"No." Vision looked almost angry, and Peter didn't even know what to say.

"You should go, kid." Peter suddenly went full defensive.

"I'd rather help." Vision glanced at Rhodey, and Rhodey gave it right back.

"It's not safe for you." Peter tried to protest, but getting a glare from the Avengers tends to shut someone up. "You can't handle Germany, you can't handle this."

"I handled Germany just fine. A giant hit me in the face! Just please, let me help." I'm tired of everyone treating me like a useless kid, Peter almost added. He refrained, he didn't want to sound desperate. 

"Look, I'm not about to parent you, but it's not safe." Peter nodded and then swung home. 

As soon as his costume was off, Peter felt his Spider-Sense. Peter silently stuck his mask into his pocket before he stepped out. 

He was greeted with three armed agents, from Shield or not Peter had no idea. Well, until the first one reached out and grabbed Peter. The strength was alarming, they were probably superpowered, and before he could test that theory, he was hit with a taser. When Peter stayed awake to some degree, he got hit with two more, and then he fell.

The last thing Peter heard was echoing footsteps from the stairs, unmistakenly Mays.

Chapter Text

As Peter tuned back into his senses, he could immediately hear talking. Then there was loud moaning, and then he felt his hands behind his back. What happened?

"-more people. There aren't many Avengers he'll care about and it's not like we can shock War Machine or Vision." Peter already knew what was coming next.

"What about those new guys? Spider-Man and Black Panther, right?" 

"He's Tony Stark, he probably already forgot their names." Peter felt around in his pocket, happy to find the mask was still where he left it. Peter didn't know how he could slip away, but he knew that he could, and that was all he needed. 

"Oh my god, kid." Peter let out a sigh of relief one he heard Mr. Stark's voice, but as he strained his eyes open and saw that Mr. Stark was in handcuffs and couldn't reach his suit, Peter tensed. Around him, there was Happy and Pepper as well. Peter began pulling on the chains, but they wouldn't break. He didn't even care that he was using his full strength and if he got out his secret identity would be sacrificed, he needed to get the arc reactor. 

"It's no use." Happy cut in. "The cuffs were made to hold Cap, we aren't doing anything." Peter sighed. There had to be something. Peter looked up and was happy to see that the pole wasn't connected to the ceiling. Peter slowly realised that the others didn't have such kind treatment, and then realisation struck like a punch. It was only supposed to be Mr. Stark here. Peter could count at least 5 new bruises on Mr. Stark's face alone, and the other's weren't in that great a shape either. Peter supposed he was lucky he'd just woken up. 

Peter began shuffling up the pole, trying his best to make it look like he was actually climbing and not just sticking to the pole. Pepper was watching, but other than that, when Peter hit the floor everyone had to turn to notice he had just gotten semi-free. And then, as if on queue, Spider-Sense. The others couldn't tell that someone was coming, but Peter suddenly shrunk back against the pole.

When the guard entered, nothing seemed wrong. Everyone was accounted for, and Peter still looked asleep. But as soon as he left, Peter was off the wall and running for the Iron Man suit. 

"Friday?" Peter asked. No response, that was unusual. 

"No signal." Mr. Stark replied. Peter nodded and then grabbed the glove. He knew that even with his fast healing, this was going to hurt. Peter triggered the flight stabiliser and let it shock the chains off. That finally caught the guards attention. Peter was backing towards the other end of the cell. He needed space to dodge since he really didn't need another tranq dart to hit him. 

"Kid, what were you thinking?" Peter tuned them out. He put all of his focus on his Spider-Sense, and when the guards entered, Peter was ready. The world cut into slow motion. There were four guards, all armed with what Peter hoped were tranq guns, and each wore a signal disruptor. 

"I'm sorry." The guards began to shoot, and Peter dodged. Even while holding back the much easier flips and climbing, he still manages to move out of the way. Peter slowly moved closer and closer to the danger, ignoring that the others were still in danger. It was his fault, they wouldn't dare. Peter ducked onto the floor and grabbed the first guard's disruptor and smashed it. Peter knew that Friday couldn't fully load until she connected to Mr. Stark's arc reactor, so that was a whole other problem. Peter grabbed the first guy's arm that held the gun and secured it as he ducked down to grab the next disruptor. 

"Friday, I'm not sure how long I can do this!" Peter was lying through his teeth, but the less he needed to fight the better. 

"Low power." A glitchy voice repeated. Peter got up and quickly ran over to the suit. He grabbed the extra stabiliser and got behind Mr. Stark. Peter knew Mr. Stark well and knew that he was probably barely holding on. He'd never aimed something like this before, but to his luck, he didn't hit Mr. Stark. Peter helped Mr. Stark off the ground to the best of his ability, but as soon as Mr. Stark was standing, he pushed him out of the way. Mr. Stark got into his suit as if nothing was wrong, even though he was definitely pretty battered. 

"Thanks, kid. Hang back." Peter wanted to help, he could've helped, but he still told himself he shouldn't use his powers. Now wasn't the time to send someone into shock.  Before Peter could even process what was happening, Mr. Stark had cleared out the rest of the guards. Suddenly, Happy walked off his pole and his handcuffs hit the floor. He held up a bent paperclip, and suddenly the entire aura in the room was angry.

"You had that the whole time!?" Pepper yelled. 

"I couldn't find the lock, alright?" 

"You could have handed it to Peter!" Peter's wrists didn't feel burned, just a little warm. He could have said the wound was not that bad, but instead, he let the argument rage. The wound did look like shit and May would 100% be taking his web-shooters for the rest of the week, but he didn't feel all that bad. 

Mr. Stark sent an alert out to Vision and Rhodey but was yet to receive a response. Or maybe they'd just forgotten. Peter had seen how fast they jumped into action, he wouldn't put it past them. 

Peter lay on one of the walls with his eyes closed, waiting for the high chance more guards were coming. It never came. It was almost eerie, but the fear was inviting. Everyone fought better when they were scared. 

And then Vision entered through the roof in that scary way he'd phased through things during the fight in Germany, Peter couldn't even try to explain it with science. 

"My goodness." Vision looked through the door before signalling it was safe. "Colonel Rhodes is fighting the rest of the guards, it will only be a moment." Peter wanted to help. He could've helped. He could have sucked up his pride and gone to help Vision. But he didn't.

Peter felt embarrassed the entire way home. His Spider-Sense didn't help, which wasn't the first time, and nor did the fact he had just climbed up a pole without his hands. Now that it was all over, he was back to wanting to hide. It was also the next day, so he was probably missing school. That annoyed him the most. 

What hurt the most was a different story. Getting hit with three tranq darts wasn't healthy in the slightest and that place was unsanitary on top of it. Mr. Stark was worse. He had bruises all over his face and probably more that weren't shown. And then he claimed that it was all his fault, which to some degree they all knew, but nobody blamed him for being who he is. And in a bittersweet way, Peter knew that he cared. After all, whoever captured them (nobody was going to tell Peter anything) went for him before Mr. Stark's closer friends. That also meant Peter was a target, which wouldn't help May sleep at night. 

Peter's phone lit up with a text from Ned, which he couldn't bring himself to reply. 

Ned:
Where are you?

Chapter Text

Ned:

Where are you?

It was a simple question, Peter should have answered it. But then around him, he saw the Avengers and knew exactly what Ned would say. He'd start freaking out about Peter going on another Avengers 'mission' and that start spamming May as well. Something told Peter that the Avengers had enough security to check his texts, so he didn't even turn on his phone. 

The first thing Peter did when he got home was sleep. He wasn't tired, but he was in pain and sleep normally helped with that. Oh, and eating. Having a full stomach could help heal wounds, and paired with Peter's above-average metabolism he could boost his healing to a superhuman level. Well, it was superhuman, but he could still improve it further. 

Peter was in a dense fire. There was nothing around him but ash and the occasional rubble. Peter couldn't get the heat off his skin or the smell out of his nose.

Peter tried to rip off his mask only to find it gone. So were his web-shooters. He wasn't even in his suit. 

Peter ran through the fire, yelling out a name, but it was too distant to make out, or his ears had just lost the ability to hear. 

Peter was alone in the flames, completely alone. He couldn't save himself. He failed. 

Peter woke and began gasping for air. His lungs felt clogged and his throat was scratchy. Otherwise, it was probably the best sleep he'd had since he was bitten.

Then he checked his calendar, of course, it had to be Friday. Why would life ever let him have a nice calming swing after everything went down? All Peter wanted was to have a nice swing through the city, stop a robbery to two, and then spend some quality time with Aunt May. Parker luck at its finest.

May informs Peter that she'd called in sick for him, and Peter sighed. He hadn't even noticed how late it was. Already 10:00 pm, it was probably better to wait until Monday. His friends would all be in school, so to his fortune, he got his wish. Peter patrolled until 2:00 pm (not his fault, May forgot to call) and then went home. Part of him wanted to invite Ned over to chill, but another part reminded him about the questioning he was about to get. Was it worth it?

About a few hours later, when school would've definitely ended, Peter's hand was held over the phone app. He wasn't sure who he wanted to call, probably not Ned, but he felt so lonely. And then he felt a vibration as a text from Michelle came in. 

Michelle:

I know you're not sick.

Peter sucked in his breath and clicked his tongue, the most worry he was going to show.

Peter:

wdym

Michelle:

This is your first sick day for your entire time in highschool, you fucking liar. 

Peter:

... so

Michelle:

What are you hiding, Parker?

Peter:

just not feeling 2 gud M, is that a sin or smth

Michelle:

I'm figuring this out. 

Yeah, Peter wasn't giving Michelle the chance to find out anything. Michelle wasn't one to share, but she wanted to always be in the know. Peter almost wanted to tell her, but given that she could change her opinions on people faster than a cheetah, Peter didn't want to tell her anything. 

Of course, there was always Ned. Peter already had five missing texts and going up. 

Ned:

bro

i watch the news

were u there???

hello?

pete?

Peter:

i don't rly wanna  talk bou it if that alr

Ned:

oh confidentiality and crap right

Peter hit the do not disturb button and locked his phone. He didn't need to deal with this shit today 

Chapter Text

Peter hadn't heard from Mr. Stark in days. He was told not to come to the internship, and there was nothing new regarding Spider-Man.

Peter understood what Mr. Stark was going through. He'd seen Mr. Stark having a panic attack before and he could tell how impactful being Iron Man was in his life, not always in a good way like everyone seemed to think. Maybe Peter got it because he was a hero himself, but did that even matter?

It had been a month since he'd defeated the Vulture, and things had returned to some form of normalcy. Having Ned and Aunt May know was incredibly freeing. Before, he'd have to come with all sorts of weird excuses to run off, but now he just could. It still wasn't perfect, of course, there were his school friends that still saw him as some unreliable nerd. Well, in terms of friends he didn't have many, to most he was just Penis Parker the kid that nobody cared about. 

Peter had gotten lucky. The Avengers didn't mention him to the public, just to keep him off the radar. Nobody needed to know that he got kidnapped, kids at school would just bug him about Mr. Stark. And those are the people I save every day. Glad I have a moral compass. 

School was probably the highlight of Peter's day. Swinging helped him calm down, but school was the thing he actually enjoyed. Being with friends, learning new things, showing off how smart he was- all things that could make his day amazing. 

After school Peter spent his time with Ned. First they got their homework done, and then they started playing Minecraft together. It was one of Peter's favorite games since to him every skilled part of the game was just a little bit of quick geometry which he had a knack for. Ned still said Peter was bad at it. 

Afterwords Peter went out as Spider-Man until dinner. Like most days, there wasn't much crime on the police scanners or his app, so he went around doing busy work. Well, busy work in terms of a superhero meant finding missing animals and stopping people doing graffiti. 

Peter told himself that every superhero did things like this, but he still couldn't remember the last time Iron Man had gone out stopping basic crime. The only hero Peter could think of that would help him would be Daredevil, and even he wasn't 24/7 like Peter. But Peter had to look out for the little guy, so he couldn't give up because he wasn't as helpful.

Peter sometimes looked at Flash's page, sighing as he saw just how obsessed Flash was with Spider-Man. There was post after post about him, and he even liked posts of selfies with Spider-Man (probably to see if he could track Peter down for one of his own). It didn't help that he shared the account with everyone at school, so mixed between his nerd posts and announcements that he was live on Youtube was bullying. Peter wanted with all his heart to reply to one of them on his Spider-Man account but knew how terrible it'd be for his secret identity. Also, Flash would probably start bragging via texts to Peter. 

Peter almost wanted to text Michelle. After the last conversation Peter had been trying his best to ghost her, but he felt so guilty. Maybe it was love, maybe it was his inability to hurt people. He just didn't want to ignore her, but after that what the hell was he supposed to say? With someone as persistent as Michelle, there was no way for him to simply brush around it. So, he ignored her.

Peter hadn't realised what the loss of Liz would mean for him mentally. She was the first girl he had ever confessed his love to, and in the same week had sent her father to prison. She didn't know that both were him, but that didn't matter since she wasn't there to talk much anymore. Peter wanted desperately to tell her, or at least talk to her, but thanks to time zones she was always asleep by the time Peter was ready to talk. 

Maybe he should just talk anyways.

Peter:

hey liz

i know its been a little while but i was hoping we could talk

just feeling a little lonely right now

Chapter Text

Peter regretted sending the message almost the second after he did it. Liz was probably having trouble with her new life as it is, and Peter shouldn't've reminded her of what she'd left behind. 

For a moment Peter thought he saw the typing symbol, but it had to have been his eyes since nothing came through. No way Liz was ghosting him. Right?

Peter lay in his bed and stared at his door. There was nothing that he wanted to do, say, and all that was left to do was contemplate. Peter thought of his old enemies, his new ones, people he knew and could trust. Everything. 

If there was one person Peter could rely on to bring out a smile, it was May.

"Peter, you okay?" She asks. She's peering at him through his cracked open bedroom door, and he tries his best to dredge up a smile for her, even though he doesn't completely feel it. 

He lies, "Sorry, boring day."

The expression on her face implies she doesn't completely believe him, but instead of commenting, she instead goes with a non-sequitur."Any word from Stark?"

"What do you think?"

"I think that you haven't had enough Peter time since you stopped going to the lab. You should work on something. I bet you could put your nerdy mind up to making another web variation." Honestly, that was the best idea Peter had heard in a very long time. He just needed a distraction, one that reminded him enough of Mr. Stark. 

Later that night, Peter almost wanted to contact Mr. Stark himself. Just check in. There wasn't any Avengers news or Iron Man appearances since he was taken, and Peter just wanted to know if he was okay. Maybe it would be a mistake.

Oh hey, Mr. Stark. I just wanted to see how you're doing after... all that. I hope you're okay. 

Peter couldn't be the bringer of bad memories, or maybe something even worse. So Peter did the next (probably) best thing.

Peter:

Hey, Happy. I was wondering what's going on at  SI, I haven't heard anything for a while. I understand if Mr. Stark doesn't want to see me right now, but I'm starting to get worried.

Peter really didn't want to send that text. For starters, it felt professional enough for an e-mail. And then you add the fact he hadn't spoken to another SI employee since he was kidnapped. Maybe Peter was just being paranoid, but with his luck, he seemed to always be at the centre of bad news. He was a magnet for bad things, and he didn't want to take it anywhere near Mr. Stark. But at the same time, Peter couldn't bear to stay away. He always liked to work, even if it was just keeping his hands busy. He needed that feeling back.

Peter swung for nearly an hour just to get into a space where nobody could see him. Then, he began going through as many training courses as he could. More than anything now, he wanted Karen back. Karen was the one thing Peter could always talk to, and in return, she would listen. She sounded almost human, like she had emotions. To Peter, Karen was real. And to Peter, she was only in a coma.

In the end, Peter had gone through about 30 web combos and a few simulated fights. Peter wasn't even close to her still. Karen wasn't lying when she said Mr. Stark designed the training protocols to be intense. 

Nothing was good enough. No matter what he did, there was lingering boredom surrounding it all like he couldn't quite place what he wanted to do. Well, he knew what his body was itching to do, but it wasn't like he could.

Happy:

We thought you quit. We were waiting for you to check back in. Mr. Stark is fine, that wasn't the first time.

Peter was both glad Mr. Stark was okay and horrified that this wasn't the first time someone had attempted to kidnap him. Well, Petre had his fair share of villains ready to test on his DNA, but this was the first time someone had succeeded. He expected it to be scarier for Mr. Stark, but given he was Iron Man and a billionaire, it was probably more common than it was for more people.

Is this my life now?

That's just the superhero gig, Peter couldn't remember who had first said those words to him, but now he carried them around like a burden. He had signed up for all of this, including the consequences. Well, a spider bit him by chance and gave him superpowers, but he was the one who chose to use them. He was the one who chose to be Spider-Man. And yeah, there were some days where it felt like a big mistake, but most days it felt like the right choice. Almost like destiny. 

Destiny wasn't real. Destiny doomed him. Destiny had created Spider-Man.

And this is why Peter shouldn't zone out. Even for a moment, stress could surround him like a plague. 

Peter arranged to meet Mr. Stark the next day which gave Peter plenty of time to be bored. So Peter did what he knew, something in his muscle memory that could always clear his head. He swung. Over the city, maybe even past a few things that on a normal day he'd be stopping for. He did it with his eyes closed. `Even without his Spider-Sense, he knew what he was doing, and the feeling would never fail him. Nobody else understood. But at least it was something to keep his hands busy. 

Chapter Text

All around, Peter wasn't that excited for this field trip. MoMa was cool, he supposed, but Peter had never been one for modern art. 

He got lucky when his Spider-Sense went off. Something to his right. Peter hadn't felt a strong hit with his Spider-Sense in years, but still, when he looked he didn't expect to see an honest-to-god spaceship. There was no ignoring this. 

"H- Hey. I need you to cause a distraction." Like that was going to be difficult.

"Holy shit. We're all gonna die!" You can always rely on Ned to get everyone out of their seats. "There's a spaceship!" Peter activated his web-shooters and yanked open the emergency exit. Peter ducked through before anyone could see the web. Peter slid his mask over his face and webbed his backpack out of the bus. Peter jumped off the bus and under the bridge, grimacing as he realised how hard it was going to be to explain where he went now. 

Peter quickly took off his clothes and webbed them to the bridge. Odds are, he wasn't seeing the clothes or his backpack ever again. Not the first time.

Peter followed the destruction into a park. He observed what could only be described as an alien with a giant piece of scrap metal. Mr. Stark was on the ground and was definitely about to get crushed. No time better than the present, huh?

"Hey, man!" That was heavier than expected!

"Where did you come from?" Peter almost answered honestly before catching himself. Mr. Stark still didn't know he was a kid. Before Peter could lie a giant hand grabbed him and chucked him at a nearby water fountain. 

"What's this guy's problem?"

"He's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard." Good enough... probably.

"Whoa! Heyyyyy!" The metal clamped around Peter and he began to spin. Right when he thought he was going to hurl he was launched through the air and right at a tree. Thank goodness for his webs. 

Peter swung around the tree and back at the alien... thing. He managed to get a kick at his face but didn't end up doing too much damage even with his momentum. Then Mr. Stark created some sort of shield out of his suit. Peter had known that he'd switched to nanobots not too long ago but it still took him a moment to realise where the shield came from. Mr. Stark jumped up, shield in hand and got smacked right back down to the ground. Then, suddenly, a flying blur of red soared right past then.

"That's the wizard, get on it."

"On it!" Peter shot out two webs and swung as fast as he could towards the blur, very aware that there was another freaking alien ahead of him. If they weren't evil this would be the coolest day of my life!

Peter thought that he had nearly caught up to the wizard when a billboard came flying at his face. "Not cool," He said to no one in particular. He was already back in the air before he could finish the sentence. 

Peter swung as fast as he could, but it was a challenge since everything he could swing on was bending to catch the wizard. One of the lamp posts snagged the wizard's cape and he went flying out, but Peter caught him with a web before he could hit the ground "Gotchya!" Peter swung around a building before his swing cape to an abrupt stop. Peter looked back to see the wizard stuck in a blue beam. Space magic! The cape (somehow) flew after him right outside of the beam's range. 

Peter jumped onto a lamp post and stuck himself to it as he tried to yank the wizard back towards safety. He almost had him when suddenly the lamp post detached itself from the ground and Peter was flung into the space beam. "Mr. Stark, I'm being beamed up!" He said over his comm. 

"Hang on!" Mr. Stark responded. Peter was nearing the entrance into the spaceship, and he had to give up on the wizard. Right before he was sucked inside, Peter stuck to the edges of the ship and pulled himself out of the beam. He tried to tug the wizard out after but the web had been cut. Peter began to climb towards what he could only hope would be a safe entrance into wherever they were keeping the wizard. "You got to let go. I won't let you fall." 

"But you said save the wizard!" Peter yelled, even though Mr. Stark was too far away to hear him and would just hear him from the comms. Peter was struggling to breathe, so he couldn't process it anywho.

"We're too high up, You're running out of oxygen." Play dumb, Parker.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Another (faster) trail of fire began to climb towards Peter and trusting Mr. Stark's promise to save him he let go to jump into it. Expecting a hard collision, he was positively surprised to feel a small bump before it seemed to vanish. Peter tried to get a grip back on the ship but for some reason, he was no longer sticking. But then he realised he was now in a metallic suit. After a second of struggling, Peter got the grips to work. "Mr. Stark it smells like a new car in here!" 

"Friday, send him home," Mr. Stark said, now above Peter. 

"Yes." Mr. Stark's A.I's booming voice came through the suit before a parachute deployed and Peter was sent flying back towards the ground.

"Oh, come on!" Peter struggled to gain a grip back on the ship. "Karen, why am I not sticking?"

"Try now." And then Peter latched onto the ship and didn't slip.

"Karen, can you move the nanites over my fingertips to somewhere else?" 

"I don't think that's the wisest choice, but given this is your first time in the Iron-Spider suit I'll trust you." Peter began to hurriedly climb into a rapidly closing entrance on the ship. Thank goodness for his observation skills. He slid in right before it closed, and spoke to himself, "I should have stayed on the bus."

Chapter Text

Peter had to sit and watch as the wizard was surrounded by spikes. He didn't understand them, and also, what the hell was he supposed to do against aliens with telekinesis? Wanda was already challenging enough. 

"In all the time I served Thanos, I have never failed him. If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the time stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person there would be... judgement." And that's when Peter spotted him. Mr. Stark, watching just as he was, completely still, and completely silent. Peter slid down a web towards him as the cape came out of nowhere. 

"Wow. You're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear aren't you." What wonderful timing.

"Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty." Mr. Stark glared at him as he jumped down. "I know what you're going to say."

"You should not be here." 

"I was going to go home."

"I don't want to hear it." 

"But it was a long way down, and-"

"Now I gotta hear it."

"I got stuck to the side of the ship since this suit is ridiculously intuitive," that's a lie, "by the way. So, in a way, it's kind of your fault in here." It only took a moment for Peter to regret his last few words. "I take that back. Just, now I'm here."

"Yeah, right where I was trying to get you away from. This isn't a guy in a jetpack. This isn't the black market. This is a one-way ticket. Don't tell me you thought this through."

"I did."

"You could not have possibly thought this through-"

"You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood left. Okay- that didn't make that much sense but you get the point." 

"Come here, we've got a situation. See him down there?" Who couldn't? "He's in trouble what's your plan?" 

If those space spikes can be influenced by the area around them (which I have no idea if they can) then we can move them away from the wizard. Then again, some of them are already in his skin, so they might be more challenging to get out. Hopefully not. There's also got to be a way to stop the Alien guy over there from manipulating the terrain. Got it!  "You ever see that really old movie Aliens?" Peter quickly explained his thought process, all the while, the wizard's screams grew louder and louder. 

Mr. Stark got into position with a loud thud, but then again there was no point in being discreet. "And any one of them... could end your friend's life in an instant." 

"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy." Suddenly, the alien summoned two pieces of what Peter hoped were scrap metal. 

"You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine." 

"Yeah, but he's seen more movies." Suddenly, Mr. Stark shot two missiles to the right of the alien and wizard and they both went flying. Just as Peter had hoped, all of the spikes came out of his skin. But not was Peter'd hoped, the cape couldn't catch the wizard in time. Before even his Spider-Sense could fully kick in, Peter had shot a web at the wizard and caught him before he could fly into space. Peter still had nothing to grip, and the first thing he found wasn't stable.

Peter and the wizard went flying towards space and just as Peter thought all hope was lost for the wizard, something stopped him. "Yes!" He exclaimed, turning to see what had caught him. What he didn't expect to see were four metal limbs from his back. "Wait, what are those?" He asked nobody in particular (probably Mr. Stark, actually). He felt the limbs pull him and the wizard back inside the ship, and trusting that he could catch himself, he let go. The two of them went flying inside and before Peter could land Mr. Stark sealed the gap, sending both of them flying towards the ground.

"Hey, we haven't officially met," Peter said before he realised he was talking to the cape. "Cool." That was terrible.

"We have to turn this ship around." The wizard mumbled, probably still low on oxygen. 

"Great, now he wants to run. What a good plan."

"No, I want to protect the stone." 

"And I want you to thank me. Go ahead, I'm listening." 

"For what? Nearly blasting me into space?" 

"Who just saved your magical ass? Me."

"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet."

"Admit it. You should've ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you, you refused."

"Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you." 

"And due to that fact, we are now in a flying doughnut, billions of miles from earth, with no backup." What does he mean no backup?

"I'm backup."

"No, you're a stowaway." 

"Who is this guy? Your ward?"

"No. I'm P- Spider-Man, by the way." Nice save, Peter.

"Doctor strange." 

"The ships on autopilot." Mr. Stark said quieter than normal, as if to stop Peter from hearing him. Has he learned nothing?

"Can we control it? Fly us home?" 

"I'm not thinking we should."

"I don't think you undestand. We can't bring the time stone to Thanos." 

"It's you who doesn't understand. Thanos has been inside my head for six years ever since he sent an army to New York, and now he's back! I don't really know what to do. I'm not so sure if it's a better idea to take the fight on our turf or his. You saw what they can do. On his turf, he's not expecting it. So we should take the fight to him, Doctor." 

"Alright, Stark. We go to him, but you have to understand if it comes to saving you, him, or the time stone, I won't hesitate to let either of you die." 

"Great, moral compass!" 

"I will not hesitate, because the universe depends on it." Mr. Stark began to walk towards Peter and he tensed. 

"Since I don't have any better options," Mr. Stark tapped him on both of his shoulders. "You're an Avenger now." No way. No fucking way. I mean- what!!! Peter smiled to himself.

Finally. 

Chapter Text

"Hey, what's going on?" Peter didn't know how long he'd been on the ship. Maybe an hour? Two? Did it even matter? 

Well, it did. The people on the field trip would have noticed he left. He'd hoped to be back before the awe of the spaceship died down. Now it was too late. 

Ned was great at cover stories, but Peter didn't give him much to work with. With luck (kind of), the bus would have gotten caught up in the attack and they would have set the kids home before taking a headcount. Stan the bus driver was stupid, it was possible! 

"I think we're here." 

"I don't think this rig has a self-park function," Mr. Stark informed, walking towards Peter. "Get your hand inside the steering gimbal. Close those around it." Peter obeyed, wincing momentarily as the pressure overtook his arm. "You understand?"

"Yeah, I got it." 

"This was made for one big guy so we have to move at the same time." Peter kept one sharp eye on Mr. Stark's movements while the other was on his own. This was a lot harder than he'd thought. 

"We might want to uhh... turn? Turn, turn, turn!" With every 'turn' Peter tensed a little more. Mr. Stark's mask went over his face as he concentrated on syncing their movements. To Peter's dismay, they didn't turn. 

Peter's feet began to slip as the entire ship shook, and a magic spell surrounded them. It would have been cool if the situation wasn't the scariest thing Peter had ever experienced. There was a loud thump as another piece of the ship broke off and hit the ground, and then a crash as the piece they were inside landed. Peter pulled his arm out of the steering and jumped onto the ceiling. Blood was rushing to his head so fast he couldn't make out what Strange and Mr. Stark were saying to each other.

Peter slid down a web until he was in view of the others. His Spider-Sense began to tingle, and he instantly thought of the most secretive warning he could. "Let me just say if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something and I eat one of you I'm sorry." 

"I don't want another single pop culture reference out of you for the rest of the trip. Understand?" And then the sense flared. It was already to late for secrecy.

"I'm trying to say that something is coming." And then there was the slight pitter-patter of something rolling on the ground and before Peter could warn anyone the bomb exploded.

"Thanos!" Someone (or something, do aliens count as someones?) yelled. Peter was so buried in debris to watch, but he could hear more explosions and missiles firing. Peter threw the debris off of him to see an alien with two antennas sticking out of her head staring right at him. 

"Please don't put your eggs in me!" Thank you pop culture references for giving me the stupidest panic cry in the world. 

Peter tied the alien up with a web but then another one came and pushed him back into the pile of debris. His mechanical arms began to pick him back up as the man began to shoot his blaster right at him. 

"Stay down, clown!" Peter jumped and quickly ran (well, he just kind of sat while the suit did all the work) across the ceiling. As soon as he had enough strength to regain control he jumped down t fight. It was a mistake, he soon found out, as he was hot with some sort of electric weather and the suit (including his web-shooters) went offline. 

Peter tried to struggle back up. He'd fought without advanced tech plenty of times. But then a blaster was aimed at his head so he opted to stand down. Peter could just barely see another alien underneath Iron man. "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where is Gamora?" Peter struggled against the man's grasp but realising how tightly he was willing to grasp his neck he calmed down a little. Mr. Stark's helmet disappeared. 

"I'll do you one better. Who's Gamora?" 

"I'll do you one better. Why's Gamora?" So that guy isn't the brightest. 

"Tell me where the girl is or I swear to you I will french fry this little freak." And just like that, Peter was struggling again.

"Let's do it. You shoot my guy I blast him, let's go!" The nanobots of the Iron Man suit shifted, forming a gun over Mr. Stark's hand. 

"Do it Quill, I can take it!"

Peter probably could handle the gun. Well, then again, it was a space gun and was probably a lot more powerful than anything he was used to. 

"No, he can't take it!" Peter couldn't see it, but since he couldn't, he had a feeling it was still in a web. 

"She's right, you can't." 

"Oh, yeah. You don't want to tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all three of you." Come on Karen. Get back online already! "I'll beat it out of Thanos myself. Starting with you." The blaster was pressed against Peter's skull, and that's when he gave up. This guy wasn't letting go. Dying in space at the hands of an alien, not a bad way to go. 

"Wait, what, Thanos? All right, let me ask you this one time. What master do you serve?" Thank goodness for Strange. 

"What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say, 'Jesus'?" Wait a minute-

"You're from Earth." 

"I'm not from Earth. I'm from Missouri."

"Yeah, that's on Earth, dipshit. What're you hassling us for?" Peter couldn't even follow at this point. 

"So, you're not with Thanos?" 

"With Thanos? No, I'm here to kill Thanos. He took my girl. Wait- who are you?" 

"We're the Avengers, man." The grip on Peter's neck released and he snapped the other restraints, stumbling quickly away from the other aliens. He glared at them suspiciously from behind his mask, rubbing one now-sore shoulder. 

"You're the one Thor told us about." No way-

"You know Thor?" Mr. Stark asked, sounding a mix of disbelieving, suspicious, and intrigued, and doing them all the favour of letting out the question that was on all their minds.

"Tall guy, not that good-looking, needed saving." That's... certainly a way to describe him. Peter had seen pictures of Thor, and he looked better than this guy at least. And, especially with how non-descript that 'description' actually was, Peter decides that he's definitely allowed to glare at the guy for that one.

"Where is he now?" 

Apparently, some place called 'Nevadalir.' Peter was concerned that they'd been split up but Mr. Stark laughed at the fact Thor was leaving to get a new hammer.

As the 'Guardians' led them out of the ship, Peter looked around in awe. The closest thing to this was probably the wreckage of an old Kaminoan cloning facility in a Star Wars movie. Quill, seemed to have other ideas about it. "The hell happened to this planet? It's eight degrees off its axis, & gravitational pull is all over the place." Peter couldn't even tell if this guy was a geek or an idiot at this point. The hard things he seemed to understand, but the more common stuff he seemed not to even have the lightest grasp on. 

"Yeah, we've got one advantage. He's coming to us." Peter was still taking in the scenery around him, and even though for him gravity felt okay, just a yard away from him Mantis was bouncing like she was on the moon! Parker luck. I want to do that! "We'll use it. Alright, I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need; definitely don't want to dance with this guy, we just want the gauntlet. Wait a second- are you yawning?" Peter looked to see Drax, in fact, yawning. "In the middle of this while I'm breaking it down, huh? Did you hear what I said?"

"I stopped listening after you said 'we need a plan.'" Well, this guy's IQ is pretty clear. 

"Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page."

"See, 'not wining it' isn't exactly what they do." Jesus, this guy better start elaborating.

"What exactly do they do?" 

"Kick names, take ass." No. No. No. No.

"Yeah, that's right." All the humans (that felt really rude) stood in awkward silence for a few moments.

"Alright, just get over here, please. Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?" Weren't they already close enough?

"'Mr. Lord,' Star Lord is fine." 

"We gotta coalesce 'cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude-"

"Dude, don't call us plucky," Star Lord requests, sounding offended. "We don't know what it means. All right, were optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except, it sucks so let me do the plan, and that way it might be really good. " Bold, but for heroes, I feel like that's a bad thing...

"Tell him 'bout the dance-off to save the universe." Peter wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the comment, especially with the deadpan way it had been delivered, but just barely managed to hold it in. Though, he still smiled behind his mask, and just had to hope that it didn't reflect in the eyes of his mask.

"What dance-off?"

"It's not a- not a- it's nothing." 

"Like in Footloose, the movie?" Wait... dude lives in space. Does he know what Footloose is?

"Exactly like Footloose. Is it still the greatest movie in history?" Half credit. 

"It never was." Mr. Stark looked at Peter with a disappointed look before turning back to Star Lord. 

"Don't encourage this alright?" Mr. Stark was probably speaking to Star Lord even while turning to face Peter. "We're not getting help from Flash Gordon over here."

"Flash Gordon, by the way, that's a compliment. Don't forget, I'm half-human, so that 50% of me that's stupid, that's 100% you." Wait... half-human? That's cool!

Chapter Text

Strange was far below Peter, and even with his advanced hearing, his words were faint. He shouldn't try to listen anywho. It's better to stay hidden. 

And then, suddenly, a giant piece of metal came flying towards Thanos. Then Quill was airborne. Peter desperately wanted to get in on the action but refrained until his cue. 

His cue was supposed to be Mr. Stark disappearing through a portal, but getting chased by a flock of birds did just as well. Peter swung in, landing a web on Thanos's face. Before Thanos could get it off, Peter kicked him. Usually, his kicks (especially in the face) would knock someone over, but Thanos hardly fumbled. Then Drax came in and slashed Thanos on the leg. And then there was Strange again. Peter was just waiting for his next turn.

What he wasn't expecting, was for Quill to come flying towards him sticking out his middle finger. Better he didn't ask. Peter jumped through another portal, luckily before Thanos spotted it. "Magic!" He exclaimed, punching Thanos before jumping into another portal. Then he jumped through another, this time slamming Thanos's head against the ground. "More Magic!" Peter was practically soaring from portal to portal. "Magic with a kick!" Peter kicked Thanos in the head this time. "Magic with a-" Peter tried to pin Thanos to the ground but he was caught in mid-air and was shoved to the ground instead. 

"Insect." Peter was thrown into the air and before even his metal arms could get a grip he collided with Strange and sent them both toppling to the ground. And then Thanos caught the fire from Mr. Stark's missiles (still kind of epic) and used it to create a flame thrower. Everything was beginning to go wrong. 

Peter swung in and attempted to web up the stones since the cape was gone. He got the hit but foolishly tried to pull them out of the gauntlet and upon Thanos ripping off the web Peter was sent flying. 

He missed the next few seconds but when he looked back everything was going according to plan. Peter swung down and rapped Thanos in a web, but when he landed and struggled to grip the floor, he panicked for a moment. And then the metal limbs clutched the floor and he remembered what was wrong. 

"Spider, help! Get over here." Hopefully, the webs would hold with just the ground to hold them up. He walked over and helped Mr. Stark attempt to slide the stones off the gauntlet. He knew that this shouldn't be tough, so why was it? Space logic. 

Peter focused all his energy on the stones, even though distantly there was still screaming. Angry screams. Mr. Stark ran towards Quill, and right as Peter got the gauntlet off letting out a satisfied cry, Thanos came to and knocked him over. This is where it all goes wrong. And then there was rubble... everywhere. He was swinging around in it trying to get the three husks of his friends that were flying with no inhabitant. 

Peter caught Nebula and Drax easily, even though their names vanished from his head for a moment. Quill was... harder to catch. Meaning Peter accidentally hit him on multiple rocks while he swung.

He brought them all down to Mantis who cupped her hands over Drax's eyes and closed her own. "It's not working." 

"No. You can do this." He repeated over and over. 

"I can't."

"They're dying. You have to." Mantis returned over Drax's body and Peter couldn't help but mouth the word 'please.' Mantis began to mumble words too quiet for Peter to hear, or maybe he just didn't want to. Drax's eyes began to flash as he woke. Then Mantis grabbed both Nebula and Quill and yelled,

"Wake!" They both stirred. She'd done it. All three began to gasp for air as they rose. Quill moaned in pain as his helmet went off. Whoops.

"Yeah. You might've hit a few things on your way down. That's not actually my fault, you're just super heavy." All three of them rose on shaky feet, already preparing to get back in the fight. Quill was the first to leave.

Peter stayed to take care of Mantis. He was probably the only one here with strength (as in muscles) comparable to Thanos, but he stayed for her anyways. And then everything was silent. Eerily silent. Mantis was still out of breath and hardly moving, so Peter scooped her into his arms before swinging towards where he thought Mr. Stark, Quill, and Strange would be. Mr. Stark was staring at strange, angrily. Quill and Strange were both collapsed on the ground. 

Peter dropped Mantis in standing position while he tried to locate Drax and Nebula. And then came the thunder. Mantis was the first of all of them to feel it. "Something's happening," She'd said. Peter had gone to help Mr. Stark off of the ground. And then the pain hit Peter like a drum. Run. Jump. Duck. To your left. To your right. Move! All of it at once. Spider-Sense, even more intense than when the ship first arrived, and it was thrumming everywhere. And then Peter watched as Mantis turned to dust in Quill's arm. And then without even a word, Drax began to dust as well. Quill began to hyperventilate as his teammates vanished, but he didn't even protest when he began to dust, he acted as if it was just some bad luck. 

And then turning, Peter saw Strange turning to dust as well. And that's when all of the screamings centred on his very soul. 

"Mr. Stark?" Peter's leg was already starting to dust. It was too late. "I don't feel so good." Peter stumbled into Mr. Stark's arms. "I don't- I don't know what's happening to me." He was doomed. And so, Spider-Man did something he'd always tried his hardest not to. The nanites covering his face dissipated. "I don't want to go. Sir, please!" Mr. Stark hadn't even noticed his face. He cared more than Spider-Man had ever known. "Please, I don't want to go. I don't want to-" Even as his legs faded to ash Mr. Stark followed him to the ground. Peter knew that he took longer than the others, and he let in every last second. 

Tony pinned Spider-Man to the ground. And that's when he realised the mask was gone, and he could clear as day see Peter's face staring at him, teary-eyed. And when Peter looked back at him, Tony only saw regret. "I'm sorry." And then his face began to crumble. Tony hated watching death, but he could bring himself to look away. Tony tried to go in for one last hug, but Peter was already gone by the time his fist hit the stone. 

For the first time since he'd made the Iron Man suit, his brain shut down. He'd lost his- the- Peter. He'd lost Peter. He'd taken him to Titan to die in his arms, and he couldn't stay to mourn the ashes he'd left behind. He was supposed to heal. He should have come back- he. He-

"He did it." 

Chapter Text

Liz had gotten lucky. She hadn't lost her mother to the dusting, and from what she knew (she hadn't even bothered checking) her dad was still alive. Some of her school friends were gone, but Liz didn't care all that much. She hadn't made many and most of the ones she had weren't loyal. 

And then two weeks after it all, when crime rates skyrocketed and millions of houses got new owners, the Avengers finally made their statement. War Machine (who the fuck actually called him Iron Patriot) was the one who did most of the talking, surprisingly. 

"Everyone lost someone this month. Unlike you all seem to think, we're not bundled up in our tower pretending nothing happened. Everyone on the team lost someone as well. We don't know what to do now, but we're tracking down Tha- the man that did this to try and save everyone. This is by far our worst loss, and we acknowledge it, but nothing will stop us from undoing it. Keep your hope, no matter who they were, were not letting them stay gone." 

As far as speeches go, it was shit. But it showed how down to earth the Avengers were, and that's all Liz wanted. Someone needed to see them as humans. And then the weird thing, their Twitter page announced that Spider-Man had been declared an Avenger, and yet it was common knowledge he dusted. The Avengers were hiding something... and Liz wanted to know why. She'd always been curious, after all.

But first, Liz began to look for her old phone. She didn't get texts anymore so she got a new number, but now she wanted to talk to Peter. Just to check to see if he... yeah. 

Peter:

hey liz

i know its been a little while but i was hoping we could talk

just feeling a little lonely right now

Liz:

I'm so sorry!

I'm here now.

Are you?

Peter?

Even after two weeks, all Tony could think about was Peter. All the little inconsistencies made sense now, and they all looked at Tony and reminded him that he'd sent a 17-year-old to die. His ashes were still there on an empty planet. 

He'd been an absolute idiot.

If Tony'd paid attention Peter might've lived. It was random. I couldn't've- but I'm Iron Man if I can't then who could've? 

Even when he'd first landed, all he could think was I lost the kid. 

A day after Tony had made it back to the compound, the questioning finally began. What happened up there? Did Spider-Man live? They had a list of hundreds of heroes, and they were all gone. Explaining it to 'Rocket' (the talking raccoon) was the hardest. His entire team had all disappeared, and one of them had died for real. 

All the sorcerers couldn't care less that Strange had dusted. Well, they could see the future so they probably accepted it long before it happened. Tony wanted to see the future right about now. He wanted to know if Strange had really put him on the timeline that would lead to victory. 

One month later, and that hope had dwelled. Rocket Nebula and Captain Marvel were back in space, and the mess that was made thanks to important people dusting was basically cleared up. Wong still refused to tell Tony or any of the other Avengers what their future entailed, but at this point, it was clear it was irreversible without the stones. 

Tony'd been right about the dream. In the end, it gave him the one bright spot that he'd be forever thankful he got. Pepper and Morgan. Every night, he'd have the same nightmare about the fight on Titan. All he could hear was Peter. And then Pepper would wake him and he'd play with Morgan and then everything was right again. 

The one thing he did to honour Peter was forcing himself to not watch anything from Star Wars until he was back. He wanted to see it for the first time with Peter, and he'd wait for him if he had to. 

And then came Ant-Man. He claimed that he could fix everything, but Tony didn't believe him. Time travel isn't real, society can't even be close! But then, that night, he looked at his old photo with him and Peter when he'd first gotten the internship, and remembered that if a kid could keep up with Tony, he could go further than he thought. And so, he stayed up later than he had in a long time, and he did it. He took Ant-Man's theory of travelling the Quantum Realm, and he made it real. But there was one problem, he was probably the only one smart enough to do it. They were definitely about to fuck this up. 

He was right. He was so so right. 

When Hulk snapped Tony was both worried and hopeful. Worried that Hulk was hurt, yes. Worried it didn't work, yes. Hopeful that it worked, more than anything. 

And then the call to Hawkeye's phone rang throughout the room, and they all knew it'd worked. 

Peter would be waking up. 

Without him.

Boom.

Chapter Text

Peter could still see Mr. Stark's petrified face as he vanished. But then with the blink of an eye, Mr. Stark was gone.

He rose on shaky legs and glanced around to see all of the Guardians looking right back at him. "We made it! We actually made it, oh my god." After a minute of staring, Peter realised that his mask was still off and they could all see his face. At least they were respectful about it. 

"You mean to tell me that one of Earth's mightiest heroes is a kid!?"

... Or not. 

"Well, technically I was made a member, like, 5 hours ago, so do I get a free pass?" 

"Peter, Mantis, Drax. Over here." The four of them all began to approach strange. 

"Kid, I don't know if you got basic smarts but this is a uh- Guardians meeting so skedaddle." Peter chuckled.

"He said my name!" 

"No."

"You're both named Peter! Jesus, it was faster, alright? Get over here." Peter almost wanted to ask how Strange knew his name, but then again, he's a wizard, he probably figured it out before he'd even been introduced. "We've been gone for the last five years. Back on Earth the Avengers just came back from a time-travelling mission to gather the stones, and Hulk has snapped us back. I can't tell you what's about to happen, or it won't happen. If I tell you to do something, you do it." Peter nodded more than he should've, the shock that he'd been dead for five years dawning on him. Also, the shock that Hulk was the one to bring everybody back.

"Wait- what happened to the rest of my team?" 

"Rocket is at the Avengers Compound and Groot is in Wakanda." None of them missed how he hesitated before closing his mouth. He almost mentioned Gamora. Peter had heard just like the rest of them; she died. 

"Aw shit. Follow me." By the time Peter had finally blinked away the confusion the others were already standing beside Strange. Peter swung to find a portal leading to a war zone, that seemed to be blown to pieces. 

Peter began to run towards the frontlines, more to get a better view than anything. Or maybe it was because that's where he expected Tony to be. There was so much shouting, and then a crash as Ant-Man busted through a broken building. And when Peter looked, he realised the battlefield was the ruins of the Avengers Compound.

"Avengers!" As Peter ducked towards the ground he began to hear a loud hum and he watched as Thor's hammer flew towards them. "Assemble." Tony, Cap, everyone. The entire team. All in the same place. And all at once, they ran towards Thanos's army. Peter webbed Rhodey to get himself into the air and then launched to the left, trying to get close enough to the rubble to swing. 

And then he was caught in a pile of blows. It was like facing a hoard of zombies, and as cool as it may be in hindsight, Peter really didn't want to die fighting space dog zombies. But as he fought, he saw a beam of light that could only come from an Iron Man suit. Peter ran towards it. 

He found a big alien, the same one (probably) that had attacked them when it all started. This time, peter had the upper hand. He webbed the thing's back and slammed it to the ground. Suddenly, Ant-Man squashed it under his boot before running off. Then Peter finally made it to Tony. "Hey! Holy cow. You will not believe what's been going on." What the hell was he supposed to say? "Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must've passed out because I woke up and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? And he was like 'It's been five years, follow me' and he did the yellow sparkly thing he does with his fingers and he took us here. What are you doing?" Tony hugged him. Peter welcomed the feeling, even though they both were wearing armour at the moment. "This is nice." Even now, he had to make everything into a joke. 

"I need to get back into the field. Catch up later?" 

"Yeah, I think we should." Peter began swinging on debris that flew through the air, or maybe just other people that were airborne. He felt guilty but as long as he didn't hang on too long nothing bad happened. He found himself fighting with two sorcerers he didn't recognise, faintly aware that he should definitely be doing more. 

And so when he found out that whoever had the stones was getting chased, Peter took it upon himself to get them. 

Chapter Text

Peter found Black Panther caught inside a pile of rubble, gauntlet in hands. He'd seen this before, he knew who was doing it, but how the hell was he still alive? It probably didn't matter at this point. "I got it!" Black Panther tossed the gauntlet up and Peter caught it with a web before anyone else could try to get it. 

Suddenly, hundreds of monsters all had their sights set on him. He was getting buried again. "Karen, activate instant kill!" He didn't feel bad for these things anymore. They're mindless zombies, nothing he had sympathy for. And then, still suddenly, thousands of spells were cast and before he could ask what they were, he was under them. Missiles rained upon the already destroyed battlefield as Peter did nothing but watch, gauntlet still in hand. He had the weapon that could stop all of this. He should have done it. 

He didn't. 

And the zombies were under the shelter as well. Thank goodness Instant Kill was still activated. I never want to think that again. "Help! Somebody help!" He yelled into his comm. 

"Hey Queens, heads up." Thor's hammer went flying towards him and he webbed it, getting launched into the air. 

He held on for as long as possible, but then a missile landed right on his web (Parker luck at its finest) and he was falling right back into a sea of enemies that wanted his head (and the gauntlet. That too). And then the fall ended abruptly, and even though he didn't know what saved him, he found himself sticking to it. "Hang on, I got you." Pepper's voice hummed through a metal suit before Peter was launched back into the air. So she has a suit now?

He found himself on some sort of flying animal (probably one of Thor's friends). Is this just a game of catch the spider now? "Hey, nice to meet you- Oh my god!" Peter fell and after just barely gripping the gauntlet hit the found before the metal legs were already helping him up. And to his absolutely amazing luck, a missile landed right in front of him. Peter didn't have space to get up, so he did the only other option. He curled himself into a ball and prayed another missile didn't hit him. 

But then it all went silent.

Peter was too sore to get up, but he also wanted to know what had happened. There was distant comm chatter, he couldn't focus on it thanks to the ringing in his ears. The next thing he heard were several loud crashes, but he still couldn't tell what was happening not bothering to look up. But he had to. Something had just landed beside him, in his experience, they were an enemy. Or maybe he was dead wrong. "Hi, I'm Spider-Man." 

"Hey, Spider-Man. You got something for me?" Peter struggled to his feet, gauntlet still in hand, well, before he passed it off to whoever this was. There were still enemies coming towards them, fast.

"I don't know how you're going to get through all that." Wanda suddenly landed beside him.

"Don't worry."

"She's got help." Heroes that Peter didn't really know began to crowd around him, and as they went to attack, he heard Wanda mumble "For Widdow." Peter was back in the field, briefly fighting with Hulk but lost him in the fray. 

Suddenly, there was a huge energy blast and everyone was tossed into the air. Peter used it to swing closer to where he could only guess Mr. Stark was. Even now, he wanted to help him. And then there was dust, everywhere. The enemies were gone. Somebody did it. And that's when Peter spotted him. He was leaning on rubble and sinking towards the floor, and Peter knew that he was dying. But he couldn't let that happen. Not now. 

"Mr. Stark? Hey!" Rhodey let Peter get closer, maybe out of respect, or maybe because he couldn't stand looking at the horrors on Tony's face. Spider-Man didn't want to either but for Tony, he wouldn't look away. "Mr. Stark? Can you hear me?" Peter's breath was shaky and shallow, but he breathed anyways. "It's Peter." The words left his mouth before he could stop himself, but did anyone care at this point? His identity wasn't the most important thing. Tony was. "We won, Mr. Stark." He repeated, over and over as if it could somehow make Tony's heart beat faster. "You did it, Sir. You did it." Peter mask went down his face showing in his suit for the second time since he'd met Tony. Why did it always have to happen under the worst circumstances? His face was red, and dirty from all the ash that was around, he couldn't bring himself to care. Pepper began to pull him backwards, and he didn't struggle. Pepper deserved to be here more than Peter. Peter, the liar. Peter, the one that could have stopped this before Tony had even gotten his hands on the gauntlet. 

They spoke together so quietly, and as much as Peter didn't want to intrude, he wanted to hear Mr. Stark's final words. "Life functions critical." Thanks for the reminder, Fri. He already knew he was dying, but there wasn't anything that could help him now. Tony's arc reactor shut down.

Everyone was silent, and Spider-Man focused on the burning around him. There was always a strange comfort to the crackling of a fire, and even though now it wasn't a reminder of Ned's house, it calmed him all the same. Pepper began to sob. It was a sickening noise, and one Peter never wanted to hear. Focus on the fire, Peter. He was dead. Dead and was never coming back. Dead for real. Dead. Dead. Dead. 

Karen put his mask on for him. He'd forgotten it was off and didn't even care anymore. Dead. Dead. Dead. 

Slowly, the team gathered around him. The only casualty on their side, and the only death they cared about from the entire fight. It almost felt like a loss. 

They did lose. They'd lost their leader, which was the worst type of loss.

Chapter Text

A long time ago, Peter had brushed the words 'that's the superhero gig' as a light motivator in the back of his mind, but hearing Tony repeat them, they sunk into his skin. Every letter was a knife, every syllable a punch, every word a bullet. There was a word for this type of pain. Grief. 

The funeral just increased it tenfold.

It was the one thing Peter would never be able to explain. Funerals reminded you that the person was gone, and at the same time, it feels comforting in a way that could only be explained when you still had the open mind of a child. If Tony were still beside him, Peter knew he'd have the same thoughts. Tony had never been one to pay attention. 

On the way back from the battle, there was an eerie feeling cascading upon all of them. The wizards went back to Kamar-Taj, and the Wankandans returned back to their country. 

Rhodey to some miracle had managed to save the Guardian's ship. Most of them wanted to get the hell out of here, but they stayed anyway.

The original Avengers (also with Pepper and Peter, refusing to leave Tony) took a jet over to Clint's house. They needed a place to stay, and they all wanted to protect Morgan. 

Nobody spoke to him. That was nice. He liked the silence of it all, even if it left him to think. He was a scientist. That's what scientists did best. 

They'd all seen his face now, even if only Rhodey would be able to place it. That was the fact he focused on. May would tell him that it was a good thing, but he'd just deny it and say that it's better to remain anonymous. May would give him a sarcastic glance and everything would be right with the world again. 

Peter had taken off the nanite suit as soon as they landed, refusing to hear Friday's voice comforting him. Thanks to Tony, Friday was more powerful than Karen, so she'd been shut down. 

When he was just in his old spandex suit nothing changed. It was still sad, Peter was still sobbing uncontrollably. He'd had the gauntlet for nearly two minutes, he could have stopped this! He was enhanced, he could have survived it. He could have saved Tony. Tony could have lived. "I can hear you thinking." 

"Excuse me?"

"I've done that before. Blaming myself. You're terrible at hiding it." Peter tried his hardest to block out the words, but she knew what she was talking about.

"Leave me be, Pepper." She grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it. The action reminded him of May.

"You're acting like Tony. We'd be terrible at honouring his memory if I let you become him."

"He'd come back from heaven just to shit on us for it." They both exchanged a small chuckle. "I'm so-"

"Don't apologise. You did fine, Peter." Peter tensed for a moment before remembering that she knew. 

"I don't feel that way." 

"When Clint came back- from the time travel I mean -he blamed himself for Natasha's death. I could hear him ranting about how he was supposed to be the one to die. When we found out that even with the stones she was never coming back, everyone felt sad. And then on the field, she was the motivation for us to save you as a team."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Peter already knew the answer, but he still wanted to hear the words to know it wasn't the thoughts of a mind that knew nothing but logic.

"Tony didn't die, he saved the universe at his expense. That's two different things. It hurts me as well, I'm not going to deny it, but I'm not letting it turn me bitter. That's not what Tony would want."

"Then I'll keep fighting, for Tony."

"You're a lot easier to convince then Morgan."

"Hey!"

For Tony, he had promised. 

And for Tony, he'd keep it.