Chapter 6

They arrived instantly in an ally way somewhere in Manhattan. Battle noises made both him and Strange look up into the sky. Chitauri flew through the air in the distance above. All around them lay debris and destruction. Peter's heart was beating in a fast, nervous rhythm. A sense of nausea was threatening to overtake that warm ball of courage he'd been holding onto. May, begging him to stop. Her face. Her tears. His heart was aching for her. For what he was putting her through. Again.

He exhaled trembling deep breaths and disengaged the Quantum Suit, which retraced back into the bracelet. Now, his hand could rise up to wipe the moisture from his eyes. Strange was cordial enough not to comment or indifferent enough not to bother. With that dude he'd never know.

"What happened?" Peter's voice came out thickly charged with emotion. He gave his head one strong shake to banish May's pleading face from his mind.

"They'd already left the lab when Lang and I got there. But that's not important now."

"Right."

Strange turned back and forth, looking up and down the street. It was empty. "Stark and Lang should be around here somewhere. They have to be."

Peter nodded and took deep breaths in an attempt to control his erratic pulse. Focus. He needed to focus. This was it. There was no room for mistakes. With another deep breath, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his senses. Tony Stark. His mentor. The man that had become a father figure... a... a father to him... He was the epitome of security and comfort. Peter would feel his presence. He would find him.

Strange jerked away from him in surprise as he whirled around. Through the dirty windshield of a battered car, Tony Stark and Scott Lang stared right at them.

Peter straightened his back. Yes, there he was. Mr. Stark, wide-eyed and gaping. Peter bit the insides of his cheeks to suppress a sob. He couldn't screw this whole thing up now. He just couldn't but his body was betraying him. His heart would jump out of his chest at any moment. Strange stepped up beside him but Peter kept his eyes focused on the man that he had thought he'd never see again.

Without even a glance in Strange's direction, his feet moved closer to the car. One foot in front of the other. Deep breaths. That pulse of his sounded like a demolition hammer was trying to lay waste to his eardrums. The mixture of complete elation and petrifying anxiousness made his whole body tremble with adrenaline. How long would he be able to keep himself from breaking down? From losing the last bit of control over all of it? The closer he got the better he could take in Mr. Stark's face.

The ally way was calm. It was just them. The battle noises echoing from a few blocks away were either drowned out by the buildings around them or simply not penetrating Peter's focus on what was important right in front of him. Without the chaos that they had found themselves in on that battlefield in 2023, those 5 years and what they had actually done to his mentor hit him hard. It was Tony Stark alright, just... different. Dark rings under his eyes. Darker than... well, darker even than after Germany. The same lines that were etched on May's face also marked his. The man's eyes were still locked on him until Lang's arm reach over to grab him. The two men looked at each other for a moment before they jumped out of the car.

Mr. Stark's hand hovered closely over his chest. The nano housing unit was just waiting to be engaged. Peter came to a stop, only a couple of car lengths separated him from Mr. Stark. Strange followed and stepped up next to him. The other two men stood shoulder to shoulder at the hood of the car. Lang's chin had dropped. His glance wandered back and forth between Peter and Strange. Peter's focus, however, remained on his mentor. Mr. Stark was staring right at him just the same, his eyes wide, his chest moved with strong deep breaths. Peter focused on his senses and the sound of his mentor's fast-beating heart washed over him, the rhythm just as erratic as his own. Strong and alive.

"Tony. Mr. Lang." Strange's voice was casual and calm. It sent a shiver down Peter's spine. He wasn't alone in this. Who would have thought that Strange's presence would ever bring him relief like that? He took a deep breath, willing it to soothe his nerves. He wasn't alone.

"What... what is this?" Lang's voice was hushed and high pitched.

Peter's eyes were still on Mr. Stark. This situation was delicate. Peter had had time to prepare for this. Granted not a lot of time, but some. Some time to prepare for seeing them. Seeing him. And still, his pulse was all over the place. But for Mr. Stark and Lang there had been no preparation period. No chance to take a deep breath before they'd jump into this craziness. Just a shock to the core. Even though both men were out of their own time themselves and surely acquainted with a certain level of crazy mumbo-jumbo by now, Peter and Strange were supposed to be dust. The very reason the team had traveled to 2012 in the first place. His mentor would just need a little time to accept that he was here. That he was really there. Just a few steps, that was all that lay between them. Just a few steps and he could confirm that Mr. Stark was really there, looking at him. That this could actually work.

"Pete?"

His voice was different. So broken and strained, it raised the hairs on Peter's neck. He nodded quickly, wanted to smile, but his face only trembled with nerves. Instead, he cleared his throat.

"Hi... Hi, Mr. Stark."

The man's eyes were round in wonder, glistening with emotion. His hand dropped from his chest to his side but before he could take a step towards them Lang's arm reached out for him and held him in place.

"Wait... What... Why are you not dead?" Mr. Stark's face whirled over to glance in Lang's direction. The man shrugged and then grimaced at Mr. Stark. "Sorry... I mean. Like... how..." He shook his head, looking back and forth between Strange and Peter. "No, seriously. You're... you're both dead. What... You-"

"We will explain everything in a moment. We should wait for Captain Rogers to show up," Strange interrupted Lang's ramble.

Lang's eyes wandered over to Mr. Stark and then back to Strange. "How do you-"

"That's what you told us had happened. Would happen. Assuming that our arrival has not created a shift yet." Both men just stood, frozen to the ground underneath them, their eyes firmly on Strange. "After the two of you failed and let Loki escape with the Tesseract, you waited for Captain Rogers who had managed to get a hold of the scepter. You met up here, where you had arrived traveling back in time from 2023, and needed a new plan to get your hands on the Tesseract. Tony will come up with that solution."

Lang's chin had dropped. But Peter winced when Mr. Stark's hand shot back up again. But he didn't go for the nano unit on his chest. He clasped it over his mouth, eyes locked on the ground in front of him. His hand, however, couldn't stifle the snort that came out of his mouth.

Lang's eyes widened. Peter's breathing hitched in surprise. He couldn't keep his feet still any longer and had to shift his weight from one foot to the other or he would just burst with nerves. What was happening? He glanced over at Strange. The Doctor had his eyes locked on Mr. Stark. At another snort, Peter turned back. His mentor's shoulders shook, hand still firmly pressed over his mouth. Oh god, he was freaking out!

"Dude... this isn't funny!"

Another snort from Mr. Stark and he whispered a shaky "Sorry" in Lang's direction. His hand's came up to rub at his eyes and he exhaled deeply. "Oh, fuck... oh fucking shit, we fucked it all up, didn't we..."

"Mr. Stark..."

"Not yet, Peter." Strange held out a hand to stop him and Peter bit the inside of his cheeks to stay silent. He kneaded his hands. They had wanted to wait for Rogers, but they needed to do something now! He shot another glance over to Strange and a loud creak made his head turn back. Mr. Stark had leaned back against the hood of the car, face buried in his hand.

"It's a fucking time loop. Oh god, we fucked up!"

Lang met Peter's eyes. Peter shook his head and the man looked over to Strange instead. "I... I don't think that's what's happening here..."

Mr. Stark's hands slapped down onto his thighs, finger clenched the fabric of his pants. His head whirled around to stare daggers at Lang. "Look at them." He was pointing at Peter and Strange but avoided every glance in their direction as he hissed at Lang. "They haven't aged a day! We opened up a fucking gate somewhere!"

Lang just frowned. "I didn't age when I was trapped in the Quantum Realm either."

Mr. Stark dropped his hand. "You didn't?"

"Hey now, come on..."

Mr. Stark still wasn't looking at them, his face fell back into his hand, the fingers of his other hand were clawing at the hood of the car. Peter felt cold panic sweep over him just as he heard Mr. Stark's pulse drumming along and quicken even more. They couldn't wait for Rogers. This was growing out of hand. His eyes shot back to Strange.

The wizard sighed and took a deep breath before announcing: "Tony, we are from the future."

Peter's mouth fell open. That was one way to deliver the news. One blunt way. His nervous panic worked its way out of his body and he actually breathed out a high-pitched laugh. Strange met his eyes and shrugged. "What, we are."

"I... I know. I know..." Peter felt lightheaded. This whole situation was a completely surreal mess.

"Prove it."

Rogers' voice made all four of them turn. He walked past the car, the scepter in hand, and came to a stop right next to Mr. Stark. He stood tall and strong just like his voice had echoed through the ally way. He placed his hand firmly on Mr. Stark's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Peter's eyes were transfixed by the gesture, stuck on the Captain's hand lying on his mentor's shoulder. What was this? Dominance? Control? Mr. Stark's head was still turned away from Peter, eyes fixed on the ground in front of the car. Roger's kept his hand on him and Mr. Stark gave a couple of small nods in the Captain's direction, both of his hands now flatly pressed against the hood of the car. Did... did he actually trust Rogers? Peter drew a sharp breath. Was he going to trust the Rogers he knew over a random version of Peter Parker from the future? Both Rogers' and Lang's eyes widened and Peter was ripped out of his downwards spiraling thoughts and looked over to the wizard.

Strange had simply lifted his hand, the Time Stone glistening on the back of it.

Rogers thrust the scepter into Lang's hands, stepped between them and planted himself slightly in front of both Lang and Mr. Stark. "How does that prove anything? The Stones were destroyed."

At that even Mr. Stark's head shot up to stare at Strange, eyes on the Stone.

"This is the Stone that Bruce Banner is borrowing a few blocks south from here right now."

Rogers bit his lip. His eyes lingered on the stone before he glanced up into Strange's face again.

"I mean... that could be true." Lang shrugged, hands tapped up and down on the scepter's hilt. He looked over to Mr. Stark. "And they seem to know quite a lot of what we're doing." His eyes widened and he took a step towards Strange. "Are... are you here to return it? Does that mean we won?"

Peter felt his heart clench and his hand shot up and rubbed at his eyes. He couldn't start crying already. He looked back over and found Mr. Stark's eyes back on him.

"There'd be no need to stop and see us. And there's no way in hell I'd let Pete in on this mission." Peter's eyes stung. He had to look away to fight his emotions. "They want to use it, but Strange lost his bling on Titan." He paused, gave his head a little shake as he studied Peter closely. "The bracelets are pretty convincing. Only I never designed them to hold a stone. "

With a quick tab on his forearm, Peter engaged the Iron Spider but left his head uncovered. Lang jumped behind the car and shoved the scepter behind his back. Rogers' hands grabbed the shield from his back, legs slightly bend and ready to jump, every muscle in his body flexed.

"Alright, let's stay calm." The doctor's arms were spread out like he was about to reign in some rouge horses. "Peter?"

Peter gaped at them, eyes wide. "Sorry, I didn't... I just wanted..." His glance found Mr. Stark, who blinked rapidly, hands balled into fists, as his eyes wandered up and down the Iron Spider. Peter slowly turned his palm up and called up the projection of the blueprint for the Quantum bracelets in front of him. A quick swipe brought up his own adapted version where he integrated a mount for the stone. Lang had taken a few steps back towards them and Roger's shield sank down to the floor.

"I... I used your plans for the glove." He swallowed and met Mr. Stark's glance.

The man's mouth twitched. "That's pretty impressive, kid."

Peter only shrugged. His arm fell back down to his side. Mr. Stark's eyes were on his suit, then lingered on the bracelet for a moment. "What... what happened? Did we mess it up?"

"You didn't." Strange let his own arms drop back to his sides as well. "There was a... complication on Rhodes and Nebula's end."

Mr. Stark jumped up from the hood of the car. Rogers stepped closer to him. His hand shot out to grab Mr. Stark's arm and he held him in place. Mr. Stark's eyes were bulging, his voice at a breaking point. "Oh... oh god, Rhodey and-"

"Colonel Rhodes is fine. As is Nebula. She did get captured by a 2014 version of Thanos though. He figured out the plan, accessing her database and let his own 2014 version of Nebula time-jumped to 2023 before he followed himself."

Lang almost dropped the scepter when his hand shot up and covered his mouth. Rogers stared at them, "Oh... oh my god..." His hold on Mr. Stark's arm intensified and the man stumbled forward being drawn closer to the Captain.

"He brought his henchmen, the ship, the whole army."

Strange's voice sent shivers through his body. Peter drew a deep breath. He needed to calm down. The emotions radiating from the three men in front of him were picked up by his senses and wound up his nerves. Roger's dropped Mr. Stark's arm. He turned away from them, walked a few steps back and forth, his hand ran through his hair, again and again, pulling at the strands. Lang just stood there, hand over his mouth, eyes darting over to Mr. Stark. His mentor's eyebrows were knitted together in thought, before he shook his head and his face fell, making him look even more spent. Peter glanced over to Strange. They hadn't even gotten to the worst part yet...

"But that is impossible!" Lang had dropped his hand and firmly held onto the scepter again. "You need Pym Particles. You need a suit. How would they have gotten that many suits?!" He shook his head again waving off the mere idea of Thanos infiltrating their 2023 timeline. "And the platform or at least the bracelets. He wouldn't be able to control anything in the Quantum Realm without it, let alone jump into it in the first place."

Strange shrugged, his poised stance unchanged. "Well, it seems he found a loophole."

Rogers and Mr. Stark turned to look at each other. Then Peter found his mentor's eyes back on himself, glistering with anxiety and pain. Lang was still mumbling to himself how Thanos traveling and bringing an army didn't make any sense while Rogers had turned his back again. He rested his hands on the roof of the car. His arms were visibly shaking. He bent over, head hanging low, and cursed under his breath.

Next to him, Peter caught the doctor moving at last. A quick glance over to him confirmed that he had turned his eyes on Peter. No... He wasn't ready. Letting Strange explain some of this had calmed his pulse, taken some of the pressure off. Now his ears were ringing. He wasn't ready to tell them. His hand shot up to the collar of the suit. Peter worked his fingers between the nanites and his skin. Everything felt too tight on him. He wasn't getting enough air. The fabric of his clothes was agitating his skin. The buzzing in his ears made it hard to focus.

Then the Captain cleared his throat and Peter's focus was back on the three men in front of him. "So, you've... you've come to warn us? Is that why you're here?"

Mr. Stark shook his head, eyes still on Peter. "No, that's not gonna do anything. You can't change how things work out in our future by changing something in the past. You just create an alternate timeline." He was looking right at Peter, meeting his eyes straight on. His face was drawn and there was a resignation in the man's eyes that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "Pete... Why are you here?"

Peter's body shock. He clasped his own hands to keep himself somewhat steady. This was the bad part. The really bad part and his composure was dwindling with every moment he got closer to saying the words. What if he couldn't? What if his voice just broke and the words would just choke him?

"It's alright, kid." Peter's eyes shot up as Mr. Stark's voice rang through the alleyway. It was calm and so was the look on his face. None of the fear and anger that radiated from Lang and Rogers. "It's alright. Just... just tell us."

A tingling went up and down Peter's spine as he stood with his head bowed, eyes locked on his hands in front of him. His head gave the tiniest nod and he wiped away the first tear that overspilt and fell on his cheek.

"Thanos did come." He cleared his throat and glanced up at them for a second. All eyes were now on him. His heart beat in his throat. "He and... and his sidekicks and his whole army." His voice was shaking. He tried to blink away the tears in his eyes. He had to look at him now. To make him understand. To make him see. He forced his eyes up at his mentor. "You... you did it. Dr. Banner used your glove. He reversed the snap and brought everyone back. But then... then there was Thanos to defeat. All of us were there... fighting together but... he... he went proper mad... like... more than before... he wanted to use the... the Stones again, wipe out everyone." He swallowed hard, holding Mr. Stark gaze. Another tear ran down his face. "But you took them from him. You... you used the Stones. You used them to... to wiped out Thanos. His army. All of them. And then... and then..." A sob was caught in his throat. He tried to say it. He would need to say it-

"And then I died." Mr. Stark's voice was still calm, the tone final.

Peter's face crumbled. It was too much. The pain of that memory tightened his chest, physically made his heart sting with every agonizing beat. Peter bowed his head, tearing his eyes away from him and wiped a shaky hand over his face. Only a flare of his senses made him look back up in time. Mr. Stark was all of a sudden right in front of him. One strong motion pulled Peter into his arms, holding him tightly pressed against himself. With a deep sob, Peter's own arms shot up and clung onto him, held him close as he cried into his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, kid," his voice rough and low and still so familiar.

Peter's hands clutched the fabric of the man's jacket, desperately holding him in place. When they had hugged back on that battlefield, when Mr. Stark had held him, Peter had been so clueless. Surprised and happy over the physical affection that Tony Stark usually abstained from. Just happy and relieved and so clueless of what would transpire only moments later. The loss he had felt that day came crashing down on him right there and he pulled the man even closer.

Strange cleared his throat and made Peter flinch. "Peter. Don't break him. We still need him."

He jerked away from the man, mumbling a low "sorry". Quickly he reached for the heart of his suit and disengaged the Iron Spider.

"Don't be silly..." Mr. Stark put his hands on his shoulders, his eyes wandering over Peter's face.

Feet shuffled closer to them. "What do you mean you still need him?" Rogers' voice was dark and low.

"Give us a minute, Cap." Mr. Stark had turned just enough to look over his shoulder and held out a hand to stop him from approaching any further. "Just give us a minute."

His arms tightened around Peter again, pressing him firmly to his chest.

"God, kid."

Peter closed his eyes and leaned into him. His head came to rest on the man's shoulder again. Without the suit, Peter could actually feel his mentor's heartbeat. The body heat radiating from him. The sheer force of life that was rushing through him. He was right there. All the nights he had cried himself to sleep over not being close enough to help him in the end, when he had blamed himself for all the risks Mr. Stark had taken for him, cursed himself for how he let the man into his heart and become a mentor and father to him just for it to be ripped away again. All of it fell off his conscience at once and left his soul open and bare. The only thing holding him together was the tight grip of Mr. Stark's arms. He had found him.

"I'm so sorry, Pete." His voice was quiet and broken. Peter felt the vibration of his voice more than the sound actually registered.

And there was so much he wanted to say. So much that still needed to be explained. Peter focused on his breathing, on his own voice. "I... I got your message," he whispered. Mr. Stark sighed and ran a hand up from his back and squeezed Peter's shoulder.

"It... it sucked, like..." He was shaking with Mr. Stark as the man chuckled and pressed a firm kiss on Peter's temple. His eyes still closed, he tried to find his voice again. "The editing... was really lazy and... I.. I didn't care much... for the gist of the message either."

"You didn't, huh?"

Peter shook his head, his face was buried in the fabric of Mr. Stark's jacket. He tilted his head so Mr. Stark would hear him clearly. "It didn't sound like you were sorry at all."

His mentor's hand was on the back of his head and softly ran through his hair. "Come on... We found a way to bring back half the Universe. Save billions of people. Did you really expect me not to try?"

Peter's hands loosened their grip. Against every instinct in his body he leaned back from Mr. Stark, the motion as rugged as if he had been stuck there with Velcro tape. He stepped back just enough so he could look up into his mentor's face. "Is that why you did this? Why you're here? The people? The Universe?" He wiped the back of his hand across his face only to have a new set of tears roll down his cheeks.

Mr. Stark pursed his lips, his fingers twitched. "You already know the answer to that."

His voice hardly above a whisper, Peter held his gaze. "What if I didn't want you to do that?"

Mr. Stark gave a half shrug and shoved one of his hands in his pocket. He shifted his stance a little but stayed just as close to him, one hand still firmly on Peter's arm, his voice like Peter's low and thick with emotion. "It wasn't your decision, Pete. I saw a chance to get you back and I took it."

Another set of tears ran down his cheeks and Peter roughly wiped them away. It didn't come as a surprise but he really needed to stop it with the crying. Tears wouldn't sway Mr. Stark. He cleared his throat.

"Alright then." Just say it, Peter. He wiped his hand across his eyes one more time. "Well, you... you wanted to know why I'm here... I'm here to bring you back."

"Pete..." His mentor's face fell.

"What...?" Peter sniffed and lifted his chin. "I saw a chance and I'm taking it!"