So this story is very much based off of the Spiderman Far From Home trailers and what we know so far in a way. It might feel overly familiar in that sense but it's about to dive into it's own story as you'll find towards the end of this chapter and especially in the next. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy it.
To Peter's great surprise getting away from everything on this trip was exactly what he needed. Some of the weight that had been threatening to crush him was released the minute he sent those suits away.
He'd gone on one patrol after fleeing Tony's funeral. Originally he'd been determined to continue his duties as Spiderman outside of the Avengers. That's what he had wanted before, and with his powers he still felt a sense of responsibility.
He'd come across a mugging where two men were corning a much smaller guy in a back alley. One held a switch blade and Peter quickly shot down and dismantled the knife from the man holding it. He'd thought he was going after the bigger threat but his spider senses screamed as he turned to see the second man pull out a gun and aim it at the mugging victim. He screamed for Peter to retreat or he would shoot the man who was now sobbing unabashedly.
Peter just managed to out quicken him and pull the gun in with his webs. He made sure the two thugs were tied up securely as the mugging victim fled the scene. Peter web slung up to the top of a building where he stumbled against a wall and slid down it. His heart was hammering and his breaths were quick with panic.
He'd almost froze back there, and he'd almost put the other man's life in danger by doing so. Memories of the night uncle Ben died flashed through his mind and he buried his head in his hands trying to steady himself.
He wasn't ready for this. He'd fought Thanos and his army and had become complacent. He'd fought alongside the Avengers, alongside Tony, and that's only reason he'd made it. Tony had always been right about him being too young. He still needed Tony's help, he still needed mentoring and training. He suddenly felt the need to get the suit off him so he tore home.
He climbed through his window and shut it gently behind him. His door was closed and it was at least 3 am so Aunt May would be asleep. He tore his suit off and tossed it across the room before sinking back to his knees in his boxers. He felt vulnerable and childlike sitting there in his small bedroom like that.
He wasn't sure how long he had stayed like that before slowly moving to his desk and flicking a small desk lamp on. He grabbed a notebook and flipped to a blank page. With a pen in his hands he began to write.
Dear Pepper,
I hope you and Morgan are doing good. She was such a sweet kid. I'm thankful to have gotten to meet her that day. I only wish it had been under much different circumstances. I also have to apologize for storming out that day. You had enough to deal with and I know I added to your already heavy plate. Aunt May raves about her phone calls with you, but that also means I know you've been worried about me. I'm okay and will soon be going on a class trip to Europe. I think it will be fun. I'm sending this letter to you along with the two suits Tony made for me. I don't think I can wear them anymore, I need a break. Tony told me off handedly that they were multi million pieces of equipment. Therefore I'm sending them to you to remain with Stark Industries where they belong and will be safe. This wasn't an easy choice but I think it's the right choice nonetheless. Wishing you only the best. - Peter Parker
Peter folded the letter and got up and grabbed his original suit off the floor and folded it neatly along with his mask on his desk. He opened his closet doors and dug through to the back where he pulled a much sleeker suit out, his Iron Spider suit.
He'd come home from his fight with the Avenger's and ripped it off his body. He'd tossed it in the closet and buried it deep under anything he could find. Buried it like he tried to bury the emotions and memories attached to it.
He hadn't looked at it in so long, and admired the amount of work Tony must have put into it. He folded it neatly as well and stacked it with the other before placing the letter on top.
He turned the light off and collapsed onto his small twin bed. Sleep evaded him as troublesome thoughts racked his brain. Letting go of the suits was like letting go of apart of himself. Tony had taught him that if he was nothing without the suit, then he shouldn't have them. But now letting go of the suits felt a lot like letting go of a huge part of Tony too.
The following morning Peter had went down to the minute mart and bought a large envelope and a stamp. After packing everything up and jotting down Pepper's address he threw the package into the mailbox before he could stop himself from doing it.
Peter walked through the streets with MJ, Ned, and Ned's new girlfriend, Natalie. Several other of their classmates trailed both behind them and in front of them. It was evening now as they headed back to their hotel.
They'd spent the day exploring the city and Peter's face actually hurt from smiling so much the past few days. It had been so long since he'd felt his age. Embracing his senior year suddenly didn't seem like such a foreign idea at all as he admired MJ laughing at something Natalie had said. Her wild hair whipping in the warm wind.
"You know Peter, I half expected you to take off on this trip like you did the last one." MJ said poking fun at him as Ned and Natalie grabbed each others hands and began talking softly to one another.
"Yeah, then you'd be third wheeling it with Nedalie. I couldn't do that to you." Peter said with equal playfulness coloring his tone. They both cringed and then laughed at the mention of Ned and Natalie's horrendous couple name they insisted upon using.
"Well to that I owe you a great debt indeed." She claimed and Peter smiled at her.
"You could always hangout with Flash and join in on one of his many photo op's" Peter suggested as he gestured to Flash taking another million photographs with his camera held up at awkward angles to make sure his face was included with every one.
"Hard pass. Really though Peter, it's really nice to have you around more. It's been fun slumming it with you losers. But especially you, as you're the biggest nerd of them all." She teased but Peter held eye contact with her, and there was a softness to her eyes to match the genuine nature of her words. He beamed at her despite himself.
"Well I guess that makes you one of us losers now. How will you ever recover when you get back to the states?" Peter asked winding his arm with hers.
"Well I guess I hope I don't." She said seriously and Peter felt butterflies flutter in his chest as she leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked.
"Nah, you're a permanent member now." He confirmed as they stopped outside the hotel and their Teacher slash tour guide ushered them into groups of boys and girls in a stressful manor.
"See ya tomorrow MJ." Peter said regretfully letting her go as he joined Ned in the boy's line. She nodded and flipped him off with a wide grin as she walked backwards into the girls line.
"Mary Jane! Don't be so crude and get to your room." the teacher scolded her and Peter caught her eye and mouthed "Loser club" at her before heading to his room with Ned.
They walked up a flight of stairs as Peter dug for a key in his pocket. He fumbled with the lock but found it hadn't been locked and easily gave way as he turned his hand.
"Weird, I thought we locked this." He noted but Ned didn't seem concerned as they headed in. His friend was clearly still riding the high of spending time with his girlfriend. Peter was happy for him, he deserved to have found someone as kind as Natalie. He suddenly wanted to confess how he was also feeling some butterflies on this trip.
"You know Ned, I think MJ really likes me." Peter commented heading for the small sink where his toothbrush sat. He was beat and ready to lay down. Behind him a thud echoed and he turned slowly to see Nick Fury sitting in a chair in the shadows. A dart gun was resting in his hand, that lazily bent to the side now. On the ground Ned laid in a heap, clearly knocked out.
"What did you just do?" Peter asked in horror hurrying over to his friend to find that he was in a deep sleep. He snorted loudly and began snoring as Peter turned him over.
"Can't have too many people knowing I'm here." He said simply and Peter sighed, the happiness he felt moments ago deflating.
"I know who you are. You're Nick Fury. What are you doing here?" Peter asked sitting down on the other chair across from Nick.
"I need you to come with me. There's trouble and we need your help." He said standing up now and gesturing for Peter to follow him.
"I can't just leave… I'm here on a school trip. I can't just be taking off." Peter protested and Nick let out a loud sigh.
"It's night. Your friend will be out until morning and so will those poor exhausted adults roped into trying to shoffer a bunch of teenagers around Europe. Just come with me for a debriefing and hear us out." Nick said impatiently.
Peter felt he didn't have any choice. Curiosity was also getting the better of him so he grabbed a jacket and pulled it on. He'd hear Nick out but he was determined to get back to his trip in peace.
Outside a running car was waiting as they slipped out of the hotel without another human seeing them. Sliding in the wide backseat of a fancy car with blacked out windows, Peter began to feel nervous.
"How far are we going? How long will this take?" He asked as Nick stared out his window as they sped through the foreign city towards an unknown destination.
"Not long." Nick answered not looking at Peter.
"They weren't kidding when they said you weren't a man of many words huh?" Peter noted and Nick smirked but remained silent.
"This is so weird. I've had my fill of weird, and I used to love weird." Peter muttered turning his head out his own window.
They arrived at a large building that looked to be a lab of some sorts. Peter hurried along behind Nick's long strides and followed him inside the door. Nick flashed a badge as they passed several security clearings along the way. Nobody paid Peter a second glance as though it wasn't weird that a grown man was dragging a young kid through a sketchy facility in the middle of the night.
"I've got him." Nick announced walking through one last door to a room full of a ton of technology. Maria Hill was sitting in a swivel chair and another man was watching a machine at work with his back to them.
"Welcome Peter, it's good to see you." Maria greeted and Peter smiled weakly at her.
"Can we please just get to what's going on? I'm so lost." Peter asked, his tone tired and pleading as he looked to Maria for answers. She was a spy too, but less cold than Nick by far.
"We need your help. There have been attacks on this city as of the past few days. Supernatural ones at that." She stated bluntly, standing up and grabbing a remote to turn on a nearby TV.
Across the screen was footage of a large creature wreaking havoc upon a small city. It appeared to be made of water. Peter's mouth hung open in surprise.
"How come we haven't heard of this? We should have been evacuated by now right?" He demanded thinking of MJ.
"It's been kept quiet, dealt with in private. This is Quentin Beck." She announced gesturing towards the man who's back had been turned towards them.
He turned around and smiled at Peter in a friendly matter. He was a brown haired, and brown eyed man who looked to be in his early thirties or maybe even late twenties. He was wearing what looked to be like a suit for a hero. Similar to the ones he'd seen the Avengers wear. Suddenly Peter was wary.
"So this is what you want my help with?" Peter asked looking to Nick who was always the most blunt.
"Quentin isn't from here. He's from a different version of earth. The snap ripped open a hole and he's been helping us with a damage of it." Nick explained and Peter felt another wave of surprise at this news.
"So there's a multiverse?" He asked excitedly.
"That's not the problem as of now. The problem is these monsters come from the hole. We need your help combating them while we figure this out." Maria said sternly, trying to pull him back in.
"Why me though? Out of everyone left? Peter asked in confusion thinking of all the Avenger's back home who were far more qualified.
"They're all on missions. Some off earth. Some retired." Nick said crossing his arms.
"What about Steve Roger's?" Peter asked as Captain America's noble image floated to his mind. With Bucky and Sam back what else could be more important to him.
"The Infinity Stones needed to be returned to their original timelines from which they were pulled. Bruce, Sam, Bucky, and Steve are all focusing their all on that right now. The stones make up time and balance, their task is of the utmost importance." Maria Hill briefed him. Peter didn't miss the searching look she gave him after. So she knew about the fight he'd had with the Avengers.
"I don't even have a suit here. I'm not up to this. I'm just trying to enjoy time with my friends." Peter burst out quickly. He didn't want anything to do with this.
"We know you sent the suits to Pepper Pott's." Nick said tossing something from the desk to him. Peter caught it and held up an an all black suit that didn't resemble his Spiderman suit in the slightest. It looked like it was made for a spy or a ninja he thought, and felt childish as he did so.
"You couldn't wear your suits from back home here anyways. People would make connections. Stark always conveyed the importance of your identity remaining hidden." Maria said and Peter looked up quickly at the casual mention of Tony.
"The world needs an Ironman. They need a new Tony Stark. So are you going to step up or not?" Nick Fury asked bluntly.
Peter just looked at Nick in utter bewilderment as he was rendered silent by the intense question just being tossed at him like that.
"I'm never going to be Tony Stark." was all Peter could manage to say but Nick shook his head in defiance.
"That's clearly not what Tony thought. He brought you in and mentored you because he saw something in you. It wasn't like Tony. You struck a chord with him." Nick insisted and Peter stared down at the black suit in his hands feeling emotional.
"I'll help… but I want to be done with this quick so I can get back to my trip." Peter finally said and Nick clapped his hands together before pointing them to the man named Quentin.
"Quentin will be your partner, he has powers and is skilled as well. Together we need you to man the city while we try to figure how to close the hole the snap made." Maria instructed.
"I can take Peter home? We can talk about the mission at hand before meeting up again tomorrow." Quentin volunteered. He had a soft voice that matched his handsome features.
"Sound good Parker? We've got work to do." Nick asked but he had already turned his back on them while typing into a computer furiously.
"Yeah." Peter muttered and stood up to follow Quinten out of the many doors and back to the car outside.
They both claimed in the back as it was still running with a driver waiting. He rolled up a protective glass screen between himself and the back seat occupants before beginning to drive back towards Peter's hotel.
"So how old are you Peter?" Quentin asked curiously, looking Peter up and down. He knew he looked young, it was question he got a lot.
"I'm 17. I should really be more like 22 but when the snap happened I was one of the people who just disappeared until the Avenger's corrected it." Peter explained looking to Quentin and asking the same question.
"I'm 38" He answered and Peter noted how well he was looking for almost being forty. Peter had thought he could have even been in his late twenties when he first met him.
"Where you come from, do you have a family? Is our world very different?" Peter asked his curious nature breaking through and Quentin smiled, his eyes going far away.
"My world was happier than this one before it was torn open. I had a mother who loved me very much and a team of other enhanced individuals I called family as well. I never married or had children as I was always too wrapped in work. I love working though." Quentin said and Peter nodded slowly. It sounded like Quentin was an Avenger of some sorts where he was from, he wondered if they had a name but Quentin beat him to the punch on the next question.
"Tell me about your family? You are so young, it must be hard bearing this burden they ask of you." He asked a look of empathy in his eyes. Peter was thoughtful for a moment. It was a hard question because before everything happened with Thanos he would have never described his work as a burden, but now that did seem like a fitting word.
"I used to love being Spiderman, and I still do in a way. I just think I'm struggling with things right now and it's hard to want to put on a suit after everything that's happened. I just have my Aunt and a few friends from school. I find myself wanted to hold onto them more than I wish to go out and work right now." Peter explained, he felt safe talking with Quentin. It felt good to verbalize things instead of holding them in.
"I came on this trip with my friends to try and get my head right. I sent the suits Mr. Stark had made for me back to his wife because they were painful in a way. I planned on making a new one when I returned home. I think with the powers that I have, that I'm owed a duty to my city and those who are vulnerable. I'm just not ready, and someone else could get hurt in the process."
"Who is Tony Stark?" Quentin asked suddenly, watching Peter's face closely as Peter looked down at this shoes.
"I'm sorry if it's personal, I just noticed the tension in the room back there when the name was mentioned. If we're going to work together… I just want to understand you better. It's okay if you don't want to talk about it though, I would understand." Quentin explained quickly.
"No… you're right about working together. It's okay." Peter said promptly as he once again found himself incredibly drawn to the man sitting next to him. In times of darkness he'd jokingly thought about how he needed a therapist. He really did need one, but the joke was that it would be impossible to talk with an outside party without risking his identity.
"Tony Stark was my worlds greatest defender. He was genius who built a suit with flight capability and fighting power. Well he built tons of them in the end over the years. He was just a really brilliant man who saved millions of people. In the end he's the one who made the ultimate sacrifice and took out Thanos." Peter explained as he watched the cities lights blaze by as they drove.
"He sounds like a really incredible person. I haven't been working with S.H.I.E.L.D long but I've heard of the Avengers. Usually it's Steve Roger's I hear about though, or Captain America I suppose." Quentin said and Peter actually rolled his eyes in annoyance at Captain America continuously being overly praised while people forgot about Tony.
"That's because Tony is human. He's made mistakes, and he could be rough around the edges. Well honestly he could be a real asshole sometimes, but that was just his sense of humor. He had a lot on his plate for a long time." Peter said defensively and Quentin raised an eyebrow. Peter shrugged and softened his features while taking a deep breath.
"So how did you know Tony then?" Quentin asked.
"I met him when I was young. I'd just developed my powers shortly before he met me. I was running around New York in a cheap suit I'd built and ended up on Youtube. Tony saw me and he recruited me for a mission when the Avenger's first fell apart. He built me a legit suit and tested me out." Peter explained and Quentin frowned.
"How old were you?"
"I was only fifteen." Peter admitted hesitantly as he didn't want Quentin to get the wrong impression of Tony. He clearly was however because he looked disapproving.
"Look I know it doesn't seem right. Tony was fighting for people like me, and you even though. Things were coming to a head with the Sokovia accords and he didn't trust half his team anymore." Peter explained thinking back to that day.
"So that's why the Avenger's fell apart? I have a team, and like I said I consider them family. It's hard to imagine it coming to such a thing." Quentin asked and Peter nodded.
"It was a hard time, everyone was torn but Tony and Steve went head to head the hardest. It was more than the Sokovia accords, a lot went down between the scenes. It doesn't matter though. They all reunited in the end." Peter explained further. He hadn't talked this much about these things to anyone before.
"So then why do you still sound bitter?" Quentin asked his eyes searching and Peter sighed sitting crossed legged in his seat now.
"Because I wanted them to use the stones one more time to save Tony. It didn't seem so out of reach in my eyes. I got close with Tony even though he was hesitant to at first. When I went to his funeral I found a picture of us in his kitchen. His wife told me that I was essentially the reason he agreed to help. The reason he ended up dying." Peter confessed as their car pulled up to the hotel where Peter was staying.
"That's a heavy burden you're bearing Peter." Quentin said quietly and Peter only nodded. He didn't know what to say past that, but it felt good to confess how he'd been feeling.
"I understand your frustrations though, Peter. Since working with S.H.I.E.L.D I've seen first hand the many mistakes and slip ups they've made." Quentin admitted looking ashamed to speak it out loud.
"Then why are you working with them?" Peter asked curiously.
"Because they're the only ones qualified and knowledgeable. I don't think they're bad people, just misguided. I'm also working with you from here Peter. I trust you. You've got a good heart." He said reaching his hand out and Peter took it with a firm shake.
"I'll meet you tomorrow night with an update. Possibly sooner if there is another attack. We will be discreet as to protect your identity and friends. I'll try and leave out as much as possible, I understand this isn't what you signed up for."
"Thanks… I'll talk with you soon. It was nice to get to know you." Peter said unbuckling his seat belt and scrambling out of the car.
"Likewise" Quentin said and Peter shut the door before creeping back into his hotel room.
He unlocked the door to find Ned still out cold on the floor. With a loud sigh he dragged his friend to his bed and threw a blanket over him. He then kicked his shoes off and collapsed on his own bed.
He was exhausted from the day followed by such an influx of information. He laid there for a long time as he processed everything. Quentin Beck seemed like a decent person, which gave him a small comfort about working with S.H.I.E.L.D again. There was so much uncertainty though and Peter knew things were about to get weird again. He could feel something coming, he just didn't know what.
There was one things he was absolutely positive of though, and that was that his vacation away from everything had been hijacked.