In the moment, it felt like nothing at all had passed. And yet, reflecting back on it, Peter would realize that everything had gone by in a blur.
He could've sworn he was dying, disintegrating, turning to ashes and dust only minutes earlier. Yet the mutant knew it had been five long years in the real world. Five years that had felt like moments, some of which he could vaguely remember and most of which flitted just out of reach from his conscious mind. A time stamp punctuated by his sudden return, the rush of air to his solid lungs, the relief of being whole, and thinking he'd just passed out. The dry feeling on his tongue when the Sorcerer Supreme relayed how much time had passed, and the direness of the war he'd been brought back to fight still settled clearly in his mind. He would later come to terms with the truth; that he hadn't passed out for a few short moments, but had ceased to exist for five years. It still made Peter uneasy in his own skin.
He could've sworn the fight against Thanos in the ruins of the compound had raged on seconds prior, but in reality, Peter knew that two weeks had gone and passed since his return to reality. The energy that radiated from his teammates had been palpable when the wizards had united their forces in a clash against what Peter would later discover was a Thanos from an alternate timeline. The relief he'd felt when he found his mentor during the rage of the battle, and the startled warmth that bloomed in his chest when Mr. Stark had hugged him like a lifeline. The terror of the impromptu Gauntlet keep-away game still played in his mind, from the moment he snatched the precious cargo out of Black Panther's claws to the bullet hell that followed; using Karen's Instant-Kill mode, escaping the onslaught on Mjölnir (when had they gotten the hammer back? He'd seen Thor wield a large axe-hammer and had presumed he'd just made an extra weapon along with the hammer, but such a theory was put to rest when it was later explained the mystic artifact was from the past, seeing as it had been destroyed in their timeline), getting helped by Rescue (Ms. Potts- no, Mrs. Stark now, though she insisted on 'Pepper'), then brought to a flying pegasus manned by a regal woman (that he would later learn was a Valkyrie, and the inner mythological geek in him was still trying to process that the Nordic mythos was part of their rag-tag superhero team), and the ensuing blasts from Thanos's ships that blinded his highly sensitive senses. The daze that followed and the odd sense of safety as Captain Marvel and the rest of a kickass women entourage of heroines formed around him to help the alien (was she an alien or was she human? Peter had been told some details on her past but he was reasonably confused) get the Gauntlet to safety.
Peter could swear Mr. Stark using the Iron Gauntlet after snatching the infinity stones away from Thanos, and disintegrating his army, happened moments before. That he was staring helplessly at his dying mentor, who he saw as a father-figure, only the moment prior. But that had already gone and passed, and, if Peter were being honest, was the thing currently grounding him to reality.
Mr. Stark... no, Tony... was dead. At least, that's what they had initially thought. By some miracle that no one was able to place, the hero was alive; barely clinging onto the strands of life by sheer force of will. He was immediately brought to intensive care, and the ER, having seen news of the fight at the former Avengers Compound, was ready to receive the wounded heroes that fixed the broken world. The scent of antiseptic and the sight of sterile white walls and cloths were burned in his delirious memory, and he could've sworn at some point they'd had to knock him out to fix him up since he was so fixated on his mentor's wellbeing. Once he'd woken up, he'd tried fighting the restraints they'd had on him while sealing his injuries so he didn't hurt anyone while lucid, but was calmed by May's presence. Their reunion was sweet, and filled with tears as Peter rambled on about the absurdity of everything he'd gone through. After he'd finished, May had caught him up to date on some of the important staples that had happened in his absence. He was discharged a day later thanks to his enhanced healing, and the following days had been spent in chaos- moving to an off-the-grid former SHIELD house to recover, meeting everyone he hadn't had the chance to introduce himself to before, and learning (thankfully, Peter might add) that Tony was over the hill and on the road to recovery. The worst of his injuries were the burns using the stones had given him, and it was likely that his right arm would take a long time to gain any semblance of normalcy. His other injuries were minor at best, and his mentor was due to be discharged in a few days with periodic checkups on the burns.
As Peter tapped his fingers against his legs absentmindedly, sitting in the common room of the back-up place for the heroes, he faintly heard a discussion coming up the stairs. At first, the teenager was content to ignore the harried voices, but his attention was quickly captured with the mention of names he was certain he'd never hear again.
"I thought Natasha and Vision were permanently gone?" a voice filled with uncertainty quiered. Peter discerned the voice to be Steve's.
He picked up a sigh that he registered as Clint's. The mutant could almost imagine the archer pinching the bridge of his nose with exasperation. "So did I. I even... I was... I was there when Nat..." he seemed to swallow thickly, clearing his throat, before continuing, "I don't know how it happened, but from what that Strange guy was able to explain, the use of alternate stones triggered a response in the atoms of the stones in our world. The details are sketchy; the current guess is that the presence of the same stone from a different time in the same reality released any bindings that the stones once had, which brought Natasha and the green girl- I believe her name was Gamora- from those Guardian guys back."
Peter stared hard at his lap upon hearing this. No one really knew how the infinity stones functioned or worked; only that they were ancient and could change their respective aspects of reality as seen fit. So, if the mutant wanted to guess, it would be theoretically possible for something like this to occur. But what were the odds of such a miracle occurring? Though, if the high schooler were to admit, such a miracle had already occurred with Mr. Stark's- no, he really should start calling him Tony- miraculous recovery. That's where he was now; sitting down the hallway from where his mentor was recovering. Sure, Tony would be released soon, but that didn't stop a growing anxiety in Peter's mind as his overactive imagination fed his worst fears, filling his head with the many 'what ifs' that could happen and would cause the person he saw as a father-figure to take a turn for the worse. After everything he'd been through and everything he'd lost, he was unwilling to take the chances. He wasn't willing to risk losing a third father-figure if he could help it. So, despite the encouragement otherwise, the young mutant had stubbornly perched himself in a seat down the hall from his mentor, and had visited the spot so often he knew every comfortable position on the worn beige couch. While he could sit there and question the probability of such a favorable occurrance happening to Tony and the two who'd been exchanged for the Soul Stone, the teenager wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"What about Vision?" Peter heard Steve ask again, and the teenager realized he'd subconsciously tuned the conversation out. Silently cursing his overactive thoughts, he trained his enhanced hearing back on the two Avengers' discussion.
"His body was destroyed... but while Shuri was working to extract the Mind Stone from his body, she saved his consciousness on their servers as an extra precaution. Then with everything that followed... well, she wasn't exactly there to explain what she'd done or return him. She's working on designing him a new body now." Clint responded, a hint of happiness tinting his words. Most wouldn't be able to pick up on the archer's silent relief, but Peter knew better. The former assassin had a soft spot for Wanda (that's what Tony and Natasha would tell him during the quiet months after his disastrous Homecoming night and the unexpected trip to space), and he was aware Wanda and Vision had been a thing. While Peter wasn't as well-versed with either Avenger, it did bring Peter a twinge of joy to know he'd get the chance to get to know the two of them, now that they all were back.
A laugh rang through the hallway from their direction as they began moving towards the common room, and Peter silently cursed himself for losing track of the conversation again. He didn't want to look like he was eavesdropping. Acting on impulse, he quickly yanked the pair of headphones he kept on his person out, popped them in his ears, plugged them into his phone (the quick flash he caught of the time told him that their discussion had lasted over an hour, and he'd missed most of it; he really needed to get better on focusing himself back to the present), and expertly queued a song to play just before the door swung open to reveal the two Avengers. Peter silently thanked his lucky stars that the pair he had on him were the specialized headphones Tony had designed for him to help with his enhanced hearing (his mentor had come up with the idea after helping Peter through with one of his sensory overloads, then gifted him the headphones, as well as a pair of specialized sunglasses, the next time he'd visited. Peter had always wanted to repay Tony for the favor, but after catching the proud and fond glimpses Tony gave the mutant when he thought he wasn't looking, he decided using them was enough repayment for the time being). It made it a lot easier to pretend he hadn't just listened in on a private conversation, seeing as the headphones made it to where he could barely hear anything within three feet of him.
As Clint and Steve entered the room, Peter resumed tapping on his leg, this time to the rhythm of the Linkin Park song he was listening to (if there's one thing Peter certainly picked up in his time in the labs with Tony, it was a love for all things rock, alternate rock, and heavy metal). He could feel their gazes land on him, and Peter quieted his uncertainty around the two by trying to focus more on the song. Sure, he was an Avenger now; but due to the mess with the Sokovia Accords, and time, Peter hadn't really had much of a chance to get to know any Avenger outside of Tony, Natasha and Rhodey (he'd called the man "Mr. Rhodes" when they first met, but the man insisted on being called "Rhodey" and joked that he'd call Peter "Spider-Baby" until he got the preferred name right. Peter had immediately called him "Rhodey" afterwards, since he wasn't too sure if he was actually joking or was dead serious about the embarrassing nickname). The others had either been on the run, under house arrest, or elsewhere; just never at the Compound. While the teenager was also aware that in the five years he was gone that they'd all made up, he couldn't help but feel on-edge around the others in the downtime.
Five years. The thought almost made his head ache. Aunt May had been without him for five years. Many of his classmates (though by some fortunately unfortunate coincidence none of his decathalon teammates) had survived and were now adults, getting married and going to college. Tony had a daughter (Peter had only met Morgan a few times during the hectic two weeks since he'd returned, but he was already attached. Who couldn't like the intelligent young girl? Peter had always wanted a sibling, and she'd known him already thanks to Tony. It made Peter's chest fill with warmth when he realized Morgan called him her brother. He'd caught glimpses of her whenever Pepper brought her to visit Tony, and Peter had made an effort to play with her whenever he got the chance), Thor had gained some weight and lost an eye (Along with most of his people and his brother Loki, though his death was up in the air), and most of the world had fallen into disuse, overgrown with creepers and strangling foliage.
Something moved in front of his eyes and he instinctively jumped back, perching expertly on the back of the couch with an arm extended, middle and ring fingers curled instinctively towards his palm, ready to fire a web. It was then that his eyes registered that Clint and Steve had moved over to him, with the former holding a hand out that must've been what startled him. How much time had passed since he zoned out? Cheeks flushing in embarrassment, he quickly stopped the song and took his headphones out, staring inquisitively at the two heroes, quietly noting that he had overreacted again; his spider sense hadn't gone off. It was then he realized that, while he was zoned out, the others (Bucky, Wanda, Bruce, Thor, Scott, Hope (he'd been introduced to the two in the frenzy following the battle), T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye, Drax, Mantis, Groot, Rocket, Nebula, Quill (he learned his first name was also Peter in an embarrassing mix-up of assigned lunches), Dr. Strange and one of his companions (Wong if his memory served correctly), Sam, and Rhodey) had also entered the room and were settled casually around the common room. However, they looked slightly alarmed; likely due to his on-edge reaction.
Clint quirked a brow. "Easy, kid, it's just us. No need to web us up or something." he placated, and Peter let out a terse nod, lowering his arm and sliding back onto the couch, taking a seat next to where Wanda had settled. The redhead sent him an empathic look, and Peter could feel himself relax marginally at the sincerity he saw there. He was safe; he just needed to remember that.
Now that they had everyone's attention, Steve cleared his throat, almost as if he were seeing where to start. Peter had a sneaking suspicion he knew what three of the topics would be about. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later when Steve declared, "Natasha, Vision, and Gamora are alive."
The tension in the air was palpable. Quill (he had decided to call him by last name to avoid confusion, and the half-alien had begun calling him 'Parker' in return) stepped forward, a shadowed look in his eyes as he folded his arms. "You better not be pulling our legs, because if I find out you're joking, I'm gonna shove a gun up your a-"
He was quickly cut off by a quick jab from Sam, who motioned over to Peter. "There's an innocent kid here, watch your tongue!"
Peter rolled his eyes. "I'm a seventeen year old Gen Z kid, Sam. I'm not a swear virgin." he retorted playfully, which earned him a few chuckles and a dramatic faux gasp from the former paratrooper.
Steve cleared his throat, then directed his cool blue gaze to Quill's. "I would never joke about something this important," he assured, expression serious. "Their signatures were detected on Vormir shortly after Tony used the Iron Gauntlet. Captain Danvers noticed it first a few days ago and went to retrieve them. They're coming home today. Before you ask, no, I wasn't made aware of this until earlier today, and have no idea why they're back. Frankly, I'm not going to question it if it means we've recovered our lost teammates." Steve admitted. Murmurs filled the room at his remarks, all of which were positive. Peter could see Quill visibly deflate, and the Guardians all exchanged happy looks. Bruce (did he go by Professor Hulk now that he'd reconciled his two selves? Peter would have to ask later) looked relieved. A memory sparked in the back of his mind of Natasha saying she'd gotten close to Bruce, and a subsequent thought followed as he recalled Tony saying they were a thing.
A quiet voice beside him remarked, "What about Vision? I saw him..." the voice trailed off uncertainly, becoming strained towards the end. Peter fixed his gaze on Wanda, who stared intently at Steve. Peter remembered distantly being told of the Wakanda side of the battle during the two weeks after everything had returned, and a twinge of empathy had struck him when he heard that Wanda was with Vision when he died. Memories that he'd tried hard to repress of watching Uncle Ben bleed out began to surface, but Peter quickly shut those down. This wasn't the time nor place to think such things.
This time, however, Clint responded, eyes crinkled and a smile tugging at his lips. "Shuri saved a back-up of his consciousness while trying to remove the Mind Stone."
Wanda fixed her stare on the Wakandan princess, who smiled widely in response. "It amazes me that you colonizers would think I wouldn't keep a copy of him on stand-by in case it didn't work." she remarked, folding her arms. "He asked and I made it so. It's only the sensible thing to do." Although her words normally would've sounded derogatory, there was a playfulness in her tone that reached her lips and eyes that told she wasn't meaning any harm. Wanda relaxed next to him, giving the princess a look of sheer gratitude, which Shuri returned with a quick nod.
"So with Tony recovering, every pressing thing gets wrapped up in a neat little bow?" Scott questioned from his spot beside Hope, his head quirked to the side. He'd remembered seeing the two working together and quickly realized they were crazy for each other and just had a hard time showing it around others. When he'd met Cassie, Scott's daughter (who was now one year younger than his physical age, and that made Peter feel weird when he remembered that not everyone had gotten turned to dust), she'd explained their run-around romance after a few relaxed hours and more than a few shenanigans with his spider powers and her large pet ant, Antony. Seeing them now, brushing shoulders rigidly, clearly wanting to hold hands but afraid of the attention it might warrant, Peter knew the other insect-themed heroes just needed to see that there were plenty of superhero couples in their small group to start being comfortable showing their affection in their midst.
Stephen spoke up from the side of the room, startling everyone. "...Not quite." His voice was smooth as he delivered the line, eyes fixed on his shaking hands. He'd said it without hesitation, filled with an assured and cool confidence Peter could only dream of having (and sort of failed projecting when he was under the mask).
Everyone's eyes moved over to the Sorcerer Supreme's, fixing him with confused looks. "I don't understand. It sounds like the most we'd have to deal with is resettling everyone who vanished, and maybe the odd villain here and there. What about that doesn't sound like it's wrapped up?" Rhodey asked, voicing their thoughts. Peter couldn't help but agree; the world didn't seem like it was in any immediate danger, though he did know settling back the half of the dusted population was going to be a trial in and of itself, seeing as he himself was adapting to the sudden changes.
Stephen let his gaze match the ones staring his way, and Peter felt an odd chill creep down his spine when the wizard's eyes settled on his. His spider sense wasn't acting up, but he couldn't help but feel uneasy by that piercing, knowing glance. Finally, the doctor voiced, "Have any of you noticed odd things while you've been out and about? Something that wasn't there before that suddenly appeared, or something you had that you thought got misplaced? A face that felt odd in the crowd, a weirdly unusual incident, maybe a few confused people?"
Peter had a sinking feeling he knew where this discussion was going to go, but before anyone could remark, a shuffling was heard from down the hallway. Turning, the teenager stared, appalled, as Tony ambled his way warily down the hallway, Pepper and Happy helping the superhero make his way into the room. His hair was dishevelled, his face was strained, and the arm he'd had the Gauntlet on was in a sling, but a smile reached his lips and eyes as Tony fixed his gaze on the superhero family gathered in the common room, finally landing on Peter. The mutant felt a swell of happiness bubble in his chest at his mentor's sudden entrance, and before he knew it, he found himself gently hugging Tony's side. Startled, it took Tony a few moments to register what had happened, and once he did, he returned a one-armed hug. "Hey, Pete," he whispered, before patting him on the back and pulling away.
"Petey!" a voice declared, and Peter turned his head down to see that Morgan had been trailing her parents, with May following suit. With a small smile, he stooped down to pick Morgan up, settling her on his shoulders piggy-back style. The girl giggled as he twirled lightly on his feet, taking her for a slight spin. He then reached an arm over to wrap his aunt in a hug, to which May responded with a soft kiss to his forehead. Grinning, he turned his attention back to the girl perched on his shoulders.
"Hey, Morgs," he remarked, eyes sparkling. The girl was always happy to see him, and he'd soon discovered the reason why; Tony had told her countless stories about him. Peter was sure he'd never forget the first time he showed Morgan his powers. He'd snuck into Tony's room with Morgan in his grasp, attempting to scare Pepper with their little ploy, which went marvelously. Tony had laughed so hard he lost his breath- Peter frowned, turning to pout at Tony accusingly, a hand snaking down from securing Morgan to his shoulders and jabbing the index finger in his mentor's direction. "I thought you were supposed to be in bed for a few more days!"
Pepper let out a good-natured laugh at that, though Peter didn't miss the weariness that shadowed her eyes. He could tell then that she had done her best to keep him rooted to his bed, and the stubborn hero had ignored her protests. "He insisted on being part of the conversation once FRIDAY told us what was going on."
Happy nodded, his face drawn and weary yet masking his eagerness at Tony's well-being. Peter regarded the bodyguard with some apprehension; when he'd reunited with May, his loving aunt had gone on to explain that she'd begun dating him. He'd caught them kissing once or twice when they thought he wasn't in the room. It was an image the high schooler wasn't getting out of his head anytime soon, and he couldn't help but notice as May moved over to his side to give him a quick peck on the cheek and moved her nimble fingers into his larger hand. Peter vaguely wondered if this is what he had to look forward to when he finally got around to admitting his crush on MJ, and in the hopeful instance she accepted those feelings and began to date him. That thought alone filled his stomach with butterflies, and he had to ground himself to reality with Happy's jibe. "You know Tony; once he's set his mind to it, he'll stick to it through Hell and back."
Peter felt a laugh bubbling up in his chest, but it was quickly silenced by a stern clearing of the throat. The six of them quickly returned their attention to an impatient Stephen, which had also reminded the small, mismatched family that they had an audience. He tried to hide the flush snaking across his cheeks. "As I was saying, before the touching reunion," he remarked seriously, though no one missed the slight smile the doctor had before he quickly repressed it, "Notice anything different?"
A slight frown seemed to crease everyone's features as they contemplated the question. After a few moments, Hope popped up, "A few shrinking discs went missing while Scott and I were catching up." Well, from what Peter knew of those discs, that wasn't a good thing. Those allowed the two other insect-themed heroes to turn into a smaller counterpart, and when used properly, even access to the Quantum Realm.
"The other day I had a finished sandwich suddenly appear on an empty plate that was made of tuna. I hate tuna," Bucky remarked, cringing slightly at the mention of the fish. At that, Peter had to hide a laugh behind a cough. He never in his wildest dreams would've imagined the Winter Soldier had an aversion to the canned treat. He'd have to tell Ned when he got the chance, since Bucky had always interested his guy in the chair and his best friend would likely be able to help him think of a way to use that as a prank against Bucky when they started living like a normal team again (he was looking forward to the prank wars Tony had so eagerly told him about).
After that, the floodgate opened; everyone piped up with something they lost or suddenly had appear out of nowhere (the funniest and most unfortunate being a sudden loss of undergarment on Rhodey's part, which had caused a collective round of laughing at the Colonel's misfortune). And as they shared their accounts of lost items, sudden appearances of an object, or run-ins with some odd people, Peter began to connect the dots. After everyone was finished, he brought his thoughts to light, setting Morgan down as he remarked, "That's too frequent to be coincidental. Do you think there's a pocket dimension or something of that sort that items and people are disappearing and reappearing from?" The mutant asked, and felt nervousness creep up his skin as everyone fixed their gazes on him. He felt Tony rest a reaffirming hand on his shoulder, and Peter unconsciously leaned into the touch. He would never admit it, but the high schooler was terribly affection starved.
Tony remarked, "It wouldn't be too out there. We did enter alternate timelines to get infinity stones, after all." At the mention of what they'd done, Peter felt Tony's hand fix tighter to his shoulder, probably as a means to ground himself to the then and now. The teenager knew Tony had been devastated when he'd vanished, and had nearly died fixing everything. Peter raised a hand to Tony's calloused fingers and gave them a squeeze, catching the glint of gratitude shining in his mentor's eyes at his silent support.
Stephen had a ghost of a smile grace his lips. "When I was training to be a proprietor of the Mystic Arts, my predecessor, the Ancient One, mentioned the existence of a multiverse to me. From what I've been able to gather, the veil between our world and other realities has always been thin at best. It wouldn't be remiss to think that three uses of infinity stones, especially two in close succesion, would cause a tear in the fabric of our realities."
A stunned silence fell over the room at this revelation as everyone digested that knowledge, and Peter was no exception. The infinity stones were cosmic energy, ancient things that could manipulate the fabric of their existence without much problem. He'd been torn from existence by these very power sources, after all. Three uses of them within a five year time frame, especially two within a few hours of each other, was bound to have an effect, if the teenager were honest. Finally, T'Challa voiced what was on the gathered heroes' minds. "What does that mean for us and our reality?"
Stephen opened his mouth to reply, when suddenly, a lithe, thin figure and a bulky, monstrous figure crashed in through the wall from a disappearing tear, seemingly coming from a hole in the wall. Chaos abruptly ensued afterwards as everyone readied themselves to face whatever threat had arisen, Peter moving instinctively forward to guard Happy, May, Pepper, and Morgan beside Tony. But what he saw caused alarm bells to ring in his head.
The creature was massive and reptilian, resembling an alligator. Muscles moved sleekly under the rough scales, and beady, slitted, yellow eyes burned daggers at his opponent. The beast's fangs were bared in an uncontained snarl as his tail lashed back and forth. He seemed unaware of his surroundings.
Facing off against the monster was the lithe figure he'd caught a glimpse of earlier, but what he saw both confused and terrified him. A shiver went down his spine. The figure stood, and Peter heard a shaking breath escape through a concealed mask. A green patterned hoodie hid the wearer's face, and all he caught a glimpse of were crimson goggles shaped like eyes. Four large, bronze-colored spidery limbs sat on the person's back, and were currently helping keep the opponent's movements in check. Then, Peter caught a glimpse of something that stole his breath as the figure flipped nimbly through the air. A crest was on the back of the jacket and the front of an underneath suit, and the mutant found a hand clutching limply at his chest where his emblem would be were he wearing the suit. A spider marking stared back at him in a bright neon color. And during that moment, Peter felt his gaze lock onto the intruder's. His breath left his throat as an odd sensation crawled through his veins like the very arachnid he'd gained powers from.
Peter didn't know who this was, or where he came from. He wasn't even sure what was going on. But in that moment, a familiar clarity washed over his senses that he could see reflected in the other intruder's slim form. This person was just like him. This was another Spider-person.
Hello! Despite the new account, I'm not new to the site or the world of storytelling. I haven't actually written for this particular fandom before, though, so I hope I'm doing it justice! I've had this idea for a bit, and with the mention of a canon multiverse, the story came to fruition! Despite the OC tag, I'm going to do my best to stick to canon characters as much as possible. I'll generally only use OCs if it serves a narrative purpose, or if a reviewer would want one in as a cameo. I unfortunately can't explain much of the specifics until the next chapter, but I'll leave some info there when I release it! I'll be crossposting this on AO3, and it probably won't have a cover until I either draw one or find one with permission to use. I'm not sure what the updating schedule will look like, seeing as I'm doing this on mobile, but I'll do my best to post when I find the time to. Hope you enjoyed this!