Dear Mr. Stark,

Peter thought a moment, holding his pen suspended right above the paper. This was his 769th letter to Tony Stark ever since 2023. Ever since it all went down. Ever since he had to say goodbye for the last time. Life had gone on. The world had moved on from Tony Stark.

That didn't mean Peter had. Or Pepper, for that matter.

Dear Mr. Stark,

Morgan's doing fine. More than fine, actually. She's the best in her second-grade class. She got it from her dad, I guess. She got an A+ on the test today. A math test. She likes math, but likes engineering more. She can do that already, and she likes looking at your old suits. She asks if she'll fit in there someday, too, and when she does can she save the world just like her daddy?

I wasn't sure what to say to her. Because, well, saving the world's awesome and all, but there's always that one price to pay that I don't want her to. I don't want her to die or have to watch someone else die, Mr. Stark.

Luckily Pepper came and got her before I had to answer. Pepper's doing great, but I know she still cries at night when I leave and Morgan's asleep. She doesn't let anyone see, but I know she's still grieving. I know because I do, too. Cry, I mean. Wow, we all miss you.

Peter wiped away a tear he knew was coming and stared at the paper his letter was on. Why was he writing these, anyway? It wasn't like Mr. Stark was ever going to read them. Nobody probably would other than Peter. Was it his way of holding on and pretending that everything was okay? A journal? A diary? Whatever it was, he couldn't tell you if it helped or not.

Aunt May, Ned, MJ, Pepper- they had all encouraged him to talk about it. Therapy, maybe, would help. Getting all those feelings out. After a night of dinner eaten in silence Aunt May had suggested a session with the counselor. Peter had adamantly refused. He didn't want to talk about it with someone else.

Oh, did I tell you about how things are going with the Avengers? Sam and Bucky are still working as their team-like thingy, and right now they're on some top-secret mission. I know that they're fighting some crazy group called the Night People? I dunno but like that's what Karen said- not that I use Karen to hack into secret files or anything, why would I even do that?

OK, maybe they don't tell me some things. Like stuff they know I'll try to help them with. Sometimes. But I don't know. I don't really want to get involved in situations that don't involve me because, well, Morgan. She needs me, I like to think. Well, I sometimes pick her up from school or watch her when Pepper needs a break (which is often though Happy helps her with stuff). Yesterday I took Morgan to get some churros and we hung out on top of a building. Nothing life-threatening or anything, so you don't have to worry. Besides, I'd be able to catch her if she fell.

That friendly-neighborhood Spiderman thing is kind of working out, kind of not because I'm not just limited to the friendly neighborhood anymore. Not after the incident.

The incident. That was what Peter used and everyone else did when they were talking about it, at least to him. Everyone had treated him three ways: 1. Like a fragile flower that would die if the wind blew the wrong way; 2. A tough dude that needed to get back on his feet, and 3. Peter Parker. A friend. That was MJ and Ned, who had both dusted when he snapped his fingers. He because Peter couldn't write, think, or say his name without freezing or shaking uncontrollably. He hadn't since Flash had said the name in the middle of gym and he had frozen. He was told later he'd completely broken down, not responding to his name, just shaking and staring at nothing.

His wasn't even the worst of it. He knew how everyone had suffered worse than he had, especially those who had had to watch them dust away. Those who had lived the post-apocalyptic world for five years and had watched their loved ones dust away. He had it good. But that didn't stop him from breaking down whenever the name was uttered or read.

But anyway. Wanda's visiting Wakanda for the weekend- there's a tongue-twister for you, ha-ha- 'cause she and Okoye and Shuri are going out to test new weapons. I'm jealous. Shuri's weapons are awesome. She's shown me them before and holy wow are they amazing. She didn't let me test them, though. She told me she doesn't trust me with a highly powerful weapon that could blast a hole through five walls in a row and melt every single one just as good as the previous one. Makes sense, though.

We haven't heard from the Guardians lately, though remember that transmission we got from them? Well, Shuri un-garbled it fully so that it says "We found them" "Come see it's amazing" "Coordinates are 4" "Dammit, Rocket, get this thing to work-" and that was it. Captain Carol (wow, it still sounds weird calling her that, you'd think like Captain Marvel or something would fit better or like General or something) went out to look for them. I'm not sure when she'll come back, but she's still rocking the haircut.

Funny thing, when Scott asked her what her love life was like she laughed dryly then said, "How was your Karaoke Date Night with Hope?" that shut him up. I still can't find out what happened at that Karaoke Date Night. But Hope, Hank, and Scott are doing great! So is Cassie. I still can't get over that she's my age but technically if I hadn't y'know what I'd be, like, five years older than her. It's so weird!

Anyway, we all miss you. I promise to take care of Morgan and Pepper, be a friendly neighborhood Spiderman, and remember that the suit's not what makes me.

Bye,

Peter :)

Peter put down the pen and stapled the papers together. Then he got on his stomach, dug under his bed, and grabbed a shoebox labeled Box #3. He pulled it from underneath the bed, opened it, and carefully put down the letter on top of the many others, then closed the box quickly and shoved it under his bed as deep as it would go. Then his phone buzzed with a reminder from Ned to clean their dorm and minutes later a text from Pepper asking if he could help watch Morgan tonight.

He texted Ned that he did already and a funny gif of a cat and to Pepper an ofc, anytime, I love spending time w/ Morgan with a smily face emoji.

Tomorrow, another letter. In the meantime, he had a babysitting job to catch.

I hope you're proud of me, Mr. Stark. I really do.