AN: Hello. If you are reading this - which hopefully you are - I have updated two chapters. If you are reading this chapter first, might I advise going back to read the previous chapter, because this chapter is an omake. What you will read is not official with this story. This is for pure entertainment purposes.
Thank you for reading!
(This setting is based on the distant future of this story.)
Peter is confused.
Even more so than before when he awoke from the cold concrete in one of the alleys of New York city. He had blurrily blinked and became aware of the lack of fabric brushing against his cheek. He wasn't wearing his costume. Because of that he hadn't a clue why he'd end up collapsed in unfamiliar surroundings if not due to a villain tossing him there to leave him to die. He thinks that he could have been mugged with the lack of possessions on his body. All he had was the clothes on his back and the shoes on his feet.
He had decided to set for home. If anything he knew he'd be safer in the comfort of his own home instead of the unrelenting cold of New York's winter air. It takes a while to navigate his way through the streets, looking for familiar signs, or any landmarks he had mentally mapped in his head. When he reached his neighborhood, his eyes had immediately go off to the far corner where his home was located, and he made a beeline towards it. As he approached an unsettling dread began to set when he saw the outward appearance of his home.
That's the thing. He could see the interior and the exterior because the house he had been raised in was burned to the ground. Black ash was everywhere even at his feet where he stood. On the porch. Dumbfounded. He saw what looked like the remains of his room, the kitchen, the living room, and Aunt May's room. Everything was burnt to a crisp. Nothing was left. No valuables, no furniture, no nothing. He hopes that his aunt did not suffer what their house suffered. He hopes, that she had escaped, and that she was not mixed in the ash that was scattered across the ground.
"What happened?" He breathes out. He looks towards the house standing next to his own, strong and sturdy, unlike his own.
Mary Jane. He thought. Maybe he could ask her. With this in mind he walks up to her door, knocks without thinking, and then he suddenly remembers that her dad was usually the one who answered. The buff man who didn't like Peter one bit, always giving him death glares, almost as if Peter would take away his daughter one day and never return. Thinking this, he braces himself when he sees the door knob jiggle, except instead of the sneer of Mary Jane's father he faces Mary Jane.
Or… what he assumes is Mary Jane. She looks like her, with the red fiery hair, and those beautiful blue pearls blinking at him. She's the same except she's older. No longer a teenager - Mary Jane had the look of a full blown adult - one who was gawking at him. He's not sure how he'd warrant such a reaction and for a moment he thinks he's at the wrong place. This isn't Mary Jane. Maybe it's a relative that looks similar.
"Peter?" She gasps, choking on her own words, and her hand tentatively reaches out. She pulls back quickly as if she were stung - eyes growing wide in fear - before glancing both ways down the street. "You, who are you? I don't know who you are. If this is some sort of trick -..." She growls.
"Trick? No… I… no… I'm sorry. I just thought Mary Jane was here. I was wrong, sorry. I'll just be going." Peter ignores the fact that she knows his name and turns on his heels. He's ready to leave. He's not sure where he would head to. That is until her hand clutches his shoulder tightly. It physically stops him from going any further and he turns his head to peer over his shoulder at her. All he could see from his standpoint was the lookalike Mary Jane biting her bottom lip nervously, sucking up his appearance with those pretty blues of hers, before tugging him towards her.
"Why don't you come in?" She asks, but her face is pleading with him. Begging him to accept her invitation. He does so hesitantly. She stands aside for him to step in and watches his every move as he moves towards her couch. He sits himself down and notices that this couch was different than before. He was sure that Mary Jane's parents had bought an ugly floral couch from a garage sale way way back when they were children that they had kept for years. This couch was a plain blue and was as smooth as silk.
It wasn't only the couch that had changed though. He could see that the pictures on the walls were different too. He usually saw family portraits but all he could see now where pictures of Mary Jane with other people. He sees one particular framed picture that catches his eye. What he sees is Mary Jane, with a friendly slung around a man's shoulder, while the other hand was up holding a peace sign. The man looked oddly similar to Harry Osborn but Peter's eyes are on the exact replica of Gwen Stacy. She's off to the side smiling gently with her signature blonde hair tied up in a graceful ponytail. Then he sees someone who strikes a chord with him. Maybe it's because it looks like him but he's not sure. The man with the familiar mane of hair Peter sees in the mirror everyday is grinning. He was packed between the Mary Jane lookalike and Gwen.
He didn't look uncomfortable in the slightest.
Mary Jane enters the living room with two mugs in both hands. She places one down before Peter on the coffee table and places one before where she was going to sit. She sits across from him so that she can look him right in the eye. She does this too long and Peter grows weary at the heavy look she's giving him.
"In second grade. What did we promise?" Mary Jane questions, breaking the silence between them.
"I… uh…" He scratches the back of his neck. Was this really Mary Jane? "We promised to get married. It was childish though. We never had romantic feelings for each other. We just wanted to be together for the rest of our lives."
Mary Jane's face instantly softened and Peter panics when he sees her eyes gloss over with tears.
"Peter." She spoke in a broken whisper. "It's you."
"Of course it's me. Who else would I be?" Peter jokes half-heartedly. "And you are…?"
Mary Jane blinks.
"It's me. Mary Jane." She points at herself. "I mean… I'm not sure why you wouldn't recognize me. You always did say you could spot me a mile away because of my red hair."
"Yeah but… you're…" Peter wasn't sure how to say this without offending her. "Older."
She looked amused.
"And you're younger."
They look at each other in silence.
"Was it one of Tony's experiments again?" She asked.
"What? No." Peter shakes his head. "I just… I don't know. I woke up here in a daze. Wasn't sure where to go. Came here hoping to go home but… then I saw it burnt to the ground."
Mary Jane winces.
"Yeah. That." She speaks slowly. "You don't remember?"
"Of course I don't remember. The last time I saw my house, it was in perfect living conditions!" Peter vented, his frustration becoming evident as it rises through his bones. "And then here you are older - or maybe you're a clone. I don't know. I don't know anything."
Mary Jane closes her eyes in thought before opening them once more.
"Peter. You've been missing for three years."
Peter blanks.
"What?"
She repeats it again but he's not listening. Three years? What? He was just home yesterday, cooking dinner with Aunt May, with Bucky reading the newspapers calmly at the dining room table. He had just come home from visiting Harry who had expressed his concerns with his father's deteriorating health. Sometimes he swore his old man was turning green but Peter had just dismissed Harry's claim as stress playing tricks on him.
"I don't know how you ended up like this but I always knew you'd come back Peter." Mary Jane wipes away at her cheeks to get rid of the stray tears that escape her eye. "And you look, you look so young, I missed when you were like this. Is this what they call a tender mercy?"
Peter leans forward.
"MJ," he says, "tell me everything."
And she does.
She tells him that he had disappeared one evening after labor day. He had recently become an intern under Harry's father, Mr Osborn, and Mary Jane tells him how jealous Tony was. The Peter she knew had been telling her stories of Tony raging up the tower causing all sorts of problems for the Avengers simply because Peter went to work for his competitor. The man had been most insistent on having Peter work as his intern instead so Tony had gone days dramatizing Peter's 'betrayal.' Then she tells him how Tony had regretted his actions towards Peter the day afterwards when they couldn't find him. They had spent days searching for him, looking for him wherever he may be, with no positive results. Tony had been so heartbroken at their failure that he hadn't spoken for days, regretting that he couldn't have left on good terms with the Peter they knew, and even now he was still locked away in his tower. The only times he came out was when the world was in danger. As the leader of the Avengers he had an obligation to protect the world from threats but often he was reserved in his tower. Silent in both public and in private.
His press conferences had gradually lessened over the decade and now there were few that were ever held. Usually it wasn't even with Tony Stark. He'd call in sick or unwell and then Pepper would have step up to the plate to answer the questions the press may ask. The only sightings of him were usually alongside Captain America.
MJ believed that Tony was on the path of healing and that one day he'd become the older Tony Stark the world knew and loved.
Then she transitions to Captain America who was busy consoling half of the Avengers most of the time. The man had taken the loss better than all of them but he was still mourning. He was spotted at Peter's house by a news reporter with his head hung low whispering unheard words. Steve had visited Mary Jane once to check if she was okay on Peter's behalf. He promised that she'd be protected because she was one of Peter's friends and it was the least he could do to make sure Peter rested peacefully. Wherever he was. Dead or alive.
Bucky was a wreck.
The man, once full of joy and life, had reverted to the dark ages of his life. He was like the Winter Soldier they knew so long ago, gruff, and silent. Once more he had retreated into the shell that Peter had so carefully coaxed him out of years ago and now Bucky wasn't the same. Bucky wouldn't let anyone touch him, not even his closest living friend Steve. Tony had offered the once assassin a place to stay and gave him a room in the Avenger's tower. Even now Bucky was still there and it was rumoured that SHIELD used him for doing their dirty work. They knew Bucky was a hardened veteran warrior and they were using it to their advantage.
Then she moves on to Harry who had moved up the ladder in the business world. He took over his father's company after the man had died due to strange sickness that turned him mad and his skin green. Harry had been forced to grow up by himself, leading Oscorp in memory of his father, and every once and awhile he would call up his friends for a reunion. It was usually during their reunions that they would talk fondly on their memories of Peter, softening them all up like butter, as they remembered how silly they were as teenagers when every little thing bothered them.
Gwen Stacy worked at Stark Industries now. She was assigned to a top secret project she could even relay to her friends. All they knew was that it was classified but they all had an idea what it could be. Mary Jane guessed that it was something to do with Richard Parker's unfinished research. Something Peter had been most invested on before he disappeared.
"And your aunt… she…" Mary Jane's breath hitched. "Died… a couple months ago."
Peter already felt the tears.
"She never stopped looking for you." MJ leaned forward and over the coffee table to clutch Peter's shaking hands in her own. "She loved you, Peter. So. Much."
Peter's heart sunk low into his stomach.
Peter's shoulders shook and he cries.
His Aunt May was gone.
"We did manage to salvage something from your house though. You gave it to me before you left. Wasn't sure why but you said that you trusted me to keep it safe in case you ever needed to come back for it." Mary Jane leads Peter towards her room after his sloppy tear fest. Even now he was still sniffing, eyes stinging with tears, and his heart feeling more heavy than before. He's not sure he can move on from this - he has no idea how he's supposed to - not when his last living relative was gone from this world.
It wasn't fair.
It's not fair.
I didn't even get to say goodbye.
MJ rustles through the boxes underneath her bed before she finally drags one out. She blows the dust off of it, letting it fly loosely all over her room, before cracking the box open slowly. A striking red peeks out and Peter recognizes it immediately. It's his first Spider-Man suit. The one that he had tucked into his closet for safe-keeping after Tony had made him a new one that was infinitely better.
"I don't know what you're intentions for it was. I'm not sure what you were even thinking giving it to me but… I could never bring myself to discard it. It was the only thing I had of yours after all. I never told anyone, you know, about your secret."
Peter gazed at MJ softly.
Even when he was missing she never told on him about his secret life as Spider-Man.
"Harry never knew it was you either who…" Mary Jane trailed off. "You know… helped with his family issues. He always hated you with a passion - I mean Spider-Man that is - but after a while he began to soften up about you. Said you weren't as bad as he thought."
"Really? I don't… remember…" Peter tells her.
"That's okay. You don't have to. I'd rather you not actually." Her lips twitched up into a smile before she grabbed the spandex and pulled it out. "I put it on once." She laughed gently. "Just to see if it would fit. Stretches pretty good, I'd say."
Peter gaped.
"You tried it on?" His eyes are popping out of his sockets.
"Hey it was just sitting there and growing dust. No use letting it go to waste." She teased before handing him the suit. His fingers trail over the fabric and his body remembers. Remembers how it feels against his skin and remembers how he had carefully crafted the suit by his own hands. It's just as he thought it would look like if not a bit older in age. Some of the red was a bit faded but the blue was just the same as he recalled.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Peter murmurs. It's a genuine question because he has nowhere to go and it would be like walking with a target on his back if he carried the spandex around with him. Even if it was under his clothes.
"I was thinking maybe you could stay here a bit?" MJ answered with a question, more for herself than for Peter. Almost like she was uncertain about the whole thing. "Please?"
Peter looks at her and nods.
"Alright."
Three years. That was too long to be missing. He wonders what might have happened to him and how he had come to be where he was now. He felt like he had missed on so much but that was just half of it. There were so many things in his head, running around on a marathon, until each thought explodes and his mind is left blank.
What was he going to do now?
The suit calls to him as it lays down on the guest bed MJ had prepared for him.
Peter can't help himself as he finds one of his arms already halfway into the suit. He slips it on (after removing his own clothes of course) and he feels invigorated. Brand new, like the day he had first put it on, full of hope. How long had it been since he had put this suit on? It felt like forever.
He looks at the mask in his hands. His thumb runs over the seams.
Spider-Man.
That's his name. The man who helped citizens. The man who helped the weak, those who could not help himself.
"Thank you Spider-Man!"
"I know what you want to do."
The voice startles him and he turns quickly to face MJ who is leaning against the doorframe of the guest bedroom. She's caught him red-handed in his suit and what's more is that he didn't even hear her open the door. Did she watch him get dressed?
He flushes.
MJ smiles, easing his fears, and sighs softly.
"Well, don't let me keep you." She closes her eyes in content. "The people need their Spider-Man."
That's all that he needs.
One moment the window is open and he's gone.
MJ, for once, feels hope.
"Spider-Man is back." A tear rolls down her cheek as he says those words. She can barely believe what's coming out of her mouth. If this was all some dream… it was the best dream she had ever had. She just hoped it wouldn't end so soon.
Andreas gasps for breath. He never learned how to swim and the two boys on the bridge are smiling at him with the most horrible of smirks. The two bullies watched him suffer, watched him struggle to keep above a water, and for a moment he fears he'll drown. The water grabs at him, makes him feel way heavier than he felt on the ground, and it the depths of the river calls to him to join the sand and rocks below. His head goes underwater and he holds his breath as long as he can.
No. I can't. Not like this.
Mama.
He feels a hand wrap around his waist and pull him from the water in a flash. As soon as he had nearly drowned, he was on the ground, gasping for breath. His lungs breathe in greedily, sucking in all the air possible, before releasing it in a quick shaky action. He coughs. Water escapes his mouth and lands on the ground beneath him.
He looks up.
"Are you okay?"
His eyes widen.
"I guess that's a yes?"
"I…" The boy says, he's at a loss for words. Even the bullies on the bridge are leaning over the railing in shock, staring at the man who had saved him with a strange sort of awe.
"Thought you could use a hand." The man clad red had humor laced in his voice. Andreas couldn't even speak as Spider-Man offered him a hand. He stayed this way even as he's brought back to his feet by the living legend in front of him. The man who had saved many in New York, who had sacrificed his own life for the people, and for the man who had gone missing three years ago. New York still had heroes to protect their people but it wasn't the same without Spider-Man. He was a beacon of hope and he showed that even though he wasn't as strong as some heroes - he was still capable of sticking up for the little guy.
"Spider-Man." Andreas's voice was shaking. "Gracias."
Andreas could not see the way Peter's eyes twinkled underneath the mask nor how the word of thanks made him feel much better.
"You can't just let them toss you over a bridge like that." He scolds the boy. "What'll happen if I'm not here?"
"I'm… I can't… fight…" Andreas flinched, squeezing his eyes shut in shame.
He feels Spider-Man's hand fluff up his hair.
"I think you underestimate yourself." Spider-Man said. "Unfortunately I can't stay but… do you need someone to walk you home?"
Andreas shook his head. He could do that on his own. He didn't need anyone to help him.
"Alright. If you say so. Do I need to take care of those bullies for you to make sure they don't follow you home?"
Andreas shook his head again.
"Alright. Stay safe kid." Spider-Man spoke before shooting out a web towards the nearest tree. He propels himself forward, disappearing in the crowded grove of trees, and Andreas can only watch in awe.
"Wow."
MJ places a plate of bacon in front of herself on the small round dining table. She ate hungrily and didn't bat an eyelash as she heard the front door she had left unlocked swing open. It was the morning and Peter had been out all night. She had already gotten her sleep but she could bet her right hand that Peter Parker was exhausted. She knew he was an night owl but she also knew everyone needed their eight hours. She recalled fondly of all the times Peter Parker would fall asleep during their classes when she went to high school. At the time she didn't know it was because of his nightly activities but now she had that knowledge.
"Had fun?" She asked, her eyes on the newspaper in front of her. She hadn't read the newspaper in ages. She was never a newspaper kind of girl, but she had been inspired to grab one on her way to grab a cup of coffee from Starbucks. It must have been because of Peter. Usually she'd just read the news on her phone but - here she was - paper opened and laid across the table in a mess. She remembered with vivid memory that Peter would always stop by her house with the newspaper in his hand, reading it page by page, word for word. It was that memory that had driven her to grab a newspaper.
"I don't remember being this tired last time I went patrolling." Peter admits as he collapses in a chair across from her. He tears the mask from his head and raises a brow at the steaming hot chocolate in front of him. He glances at the coffee in front of her and suddenly he feels less mature.
"You loved hot chocolate." Was all MJ said as her eyes scan the paper.
"Did I?" He said, not sure if she was right or not.
"It developed over time. You said Steve's hot chocolate was the best."
"Huh." Peter replies as he cools the cup of hot cocoa by blowing on it softly. He tries to drink a sip but it's far too hot for him. He sticks his tongue out to cool his poor burning taste buds.
MJ barks in laughter.
"Now that's a face I haven't seen in a while! You've always been so serious." She grins while saying this, resting her cheek on the palm of her hand. "I missed when you were goofy."
"I'm not goofy." Peter answers grumpily, puffing his cheeks out, but it was all in good fun.
"Uhuh." MJ has that knowing look in her eyes. She could see straight through him and it didn't help that she was several years older than him. She now had more experience with all that she's been through. "I'm thinking maybe after you finish that cup that you should hit the hay. Wouldn't want you sleeping on me in the middle of a conversation."
Peter nods silently as he pulled the cup up to his lips once more.
MJ returned her eyes to the paper, scanning the newslines, and stopping at the oddest of bolded words.
The Return of Carnage?
She turned her eyes upwards towards the unaware Peter and watched as he attempted to drink his hot cocoa with a childish determination. She would have smiled once more if she were not concerned. Carnage returning around the time Peter Parker was found again? She wasn't sure if this was a coincidence or not. Carnage had been an old foe of Spider-Man's. A symbiote, much like Venom, who had caused a lot of trouble in the city until Peter had captured him for good. He had hid him in his father's old lab in a small glass tube with surety that the symbiote would never escape lest someone release him willingly.
She remembered him telling her all of this. There wasn't much he didn't tell her unless it was some sort of life-threatening secret. That had come to trust one another with all the information they were given, classified or not because they always wanted a person to relay the information if either one of them died. It was a Plan B. Always. And it was supposed to never come to pass. Peter was supposed to be here, an adult, and not a teenager. She wasn't even sure how he shrunk several sizes. Who could have done this? Was magic at play here?
MJ stops her thinking when she hears low gentle snoring.
Peter sat upright in his chair, head hung low, asleep.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"I knew you'd fall asleep you weirdo."
She stood up to help Peter go to bed. Slinging one his arms around her shoulder, she felt him stir enough to help her out with his weight, until she settled him on the guest bed.
He was asleep once more. Oblivious to the world.
Her hand, on habit, reaches out to thread her fingers through his hair.
"I missed you Peter." She sighed.
The next evening Peter was patrolling as Spider-Man once more. Mary Jane had let him go without no protest, simply bidding him goodbye as he exited out of the house, and swung himself across the neighborhood. He aided any person he could find. Stopping a mugging, a woman beating her husband with a wine bottle angrily in an alleyway, and a little girl from being snatched up by a strange man. He had helped find the little girl's home, dropping her off at her home, and watched as the little girl's mother cried in surprised after swinging the door open. She fell to her knees and gathered the poor child into her arms, hugging her tight to her chest, and her eyes look down the street over her daughter's shoulder as if to find the person responsible returning her daughter home.
Peter could hear a small, Thank you, before he hopped out of his hiding spot in a tree.
He continues helping as much as he can. Spotting criminal activity here and there.
He doesn't think, he just does, because that's who he is.
And it's like this nearly the entire night. When it's 2:00 AM, Peter is rubbing at his eyes tiredly, blinking away the drowsy sleep that wants to envelop him.
He's on a rooftop when it happens.
There's a low and feral growl.
His spidey sense goes off and he quickly steps a couple of steps to the left. He turns quickly to see what had happened and saw that a knife had been thrown where his head was previously. He can hear the heavy breathing of the man responsible and his appearance makes him question who exactly he is facing.
The man has a hood over his head - only one arm - and once again he is growling like a rabid dog.
"You think -..." The man rasps. Peter has sworn he's heard this voice before. "You can go around, parading, pretending to be Spider-Man?"
Peter blinks.
"I am Spider-Man." He assures.
"Spider-Man is dead. You descreating his memory like this is the most disrespectful thing I've ever seen in my entire life."
Peter watches as the man clenches the only fist he has. He distantly wonders how he could have lost his other arm but he doesn't think about it too much. The man in front of him had caused his spidey sense to go off and had thrown a knife at his head. He was intent on killing him.
"Who are you?" Peter asks.
"Me?" The man laughs bitterly. "Someone who knew him. You aren't him."
"How can you be so sure?" Peter spoke.
The man seemed confused but Peter could see his lips tighten into a thin line.
"I've heard the rumors. You got my hopes up, thinking he'd be alive. But you're not even his size. You think you could trick people into think you were him? I know his shape. I know him."
The man darts forward, a knife in hand that he had grabbed from his boot, and Peter finds the action vaguely familiar. It doesn't matter though as his spidey sense rings against his skull. He takes another few steps back but his attacker is quick and more experienced. He quickly adjusts himself to swing at Spider-Man again, aiming to kill, except this time Peter swings out his webs. He catches the knife by the end of his web, pulling it out of the man's hand quickly, swinging it across the roof so that the man couldn't grab it again.
"So you've got his webs. So what? Anyone could get their hands on it if they infiltrated Oscorp." The man snarled animalistically, charging forward. Peter runs forward too. He doesn't give the man much time to attack as he shoots web at his face, blinding him temporarily, and then he uses his head as leverage. He jumps over him, hands both on the stranger's head, until he's on the other side of the roof.
"You-..." The man roared in anger as he tore the web off of his face, surprising Peter. His web was strong and for the man to just tear it off his face that easily - super strength. It must be.
The man brings out a gun from who knows where, Peter hadn't been paying attention, and he aims.
Peter's spidey sense rings but Peter is too slow. The bullet hits him in the side, embedding itself in his skin, and he chokes on air. He didn't think he'd be as stupid as to get hit by a bullet. Sure he hadn't gone patrolling in a while but - but usually he'd dodge it. Then again he usually was facing less experienced men when he was getting shot at. This man seemed to know what he was doing. At least Peter had moved enough so that the shot wouldn't be a fatal blow.
"I don't kill. Not unless someone pisses me off." The man barks roughly, his voice is toxic, and it bleeds through Peter's skin and shakes his bones.
"I…" Peter breathes. The shock is dulling the pain but he knows it won't last for long. He needed to get out of here. Quick.
Peter wobbles to the roof edge. His attacker is already there, grabbing Peter's head, ready to pull him backward to stop himself from swinging off.
Instead, he grabs him by the fabric of his mask and pulls it right off.
Peter stops. The air hitting his face and he feels naked.
He doesn't want to turn his head. Doesn't want this person to know because although he 'claims' to know him, he's not sure. What would Mary Jane think of this? She would surely lecture him. He wasn't as smart as the Peter Parker she knew, surely.
For a moment he's given an uncomfortable silence. His head turns as he wonders why he hasn't been finished off yet.
The moment his eyes meet the eyes hidden underneath the hood of his attacker, the man visibly shakes, jaw open in surprise. Peter doesn't understand why but he can't really care. Not when he's bleeding out his side and the woozy feeling is dragging him under. He grows visibly weaker, slumping down next to the ledge, and his attacker immediately kneels by his side.
"P-Peter?" His attacker stutters.
Peter didn't know why he was stuttering. He wasn't stuttering earlier. Didn't sound like this at all. He wanted to kill him. Why was it different now.
The man quickly pulls of his hood.
Peter knows.
"Bucky." He says quietly. He coughs, feeling the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
Sorry Mary Jane. You were so happy. I'm sorry that I'm going to have to go away again.
Bucky looked so different now. For one, he was missing his famous metal arm, but he also looked better. Healthier. Like he actually got sleep and… gosh… Bucky looks so much older at the same time. Must have been Steve who made Bucky get sleep. That's the only explanation Peter can think of.
"Pete." Bucky cries out, the pain visible in his voice, and he hunches over in disbelief. "I… you… you don't look a day over 17."
"Well I am… 17… if that helps." Peter coughs again. He's fading. Maybe he could still keep talking though. Give Bucky some comfort before he slipped away to meet Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
"No I…" Bucky's eyes widen as he finally notices the blood seeping past Peter's fingers. Peter had tried to keep pressure on his wound with his weak hand but it seemed like it wouldn't help at all. "Peter. Peter." He calls his name frantically. "Stay awake for me. Please." He begs. Peter wonders when Bucky had lost his accent - his voice was so different - no wonder he couldn't recognize him.
"Sorry. Bucky." Peter laughed dazedly. "Couldn't… couldn't… say goodbye. I guess now… I can… and…"
Peter coughs and sleep is threatening him now.
"Peter. Don't go to sleep." Bucky hisses, his hand moving Peter's away from his wound gently, eyeing it like a hawk.
"I think… this is good night."
"Peter." Bucky threatens. "Stop. Talking."
Peter laughs.
Then he knows no more.
"By all means it shouldn't be possible for him to be this young - one of my theories is -..."
"He's here isn't he? I mean -"
"His heart monitor says he's waking up-"
"Peter?"
Peter wakes and the first thing he feels is the aching pain in his side. His hand instantly flies to his abdomen but touching it caused the ache to grow stronger. He tries to sit up but he yelps in pain. A hand is trying to push him back down and Peter finally relents when he realizes nothing good will come from sitting up.
"Peter." The voice repeats. Peter sees Bucky sitting next to him, a hand clutched in Bucky's, and the hold on his hand tightens. When had that happened? It must have been while he was trying to sit up. Honestly he was so out of it. Peter sees the tears leaking from Bucky's eyes and he wants to stretch a hand out to wipe them away even if he wasn't in the state to do so. He hated seeing Bucky cry, it wasn't a sight he saw often, but on the rare occasions it happened he'd pull him into a giant hug him and make sure to tell him everything was okay.
That was apparently a long time ago though.
"His blood results are identical. He's Peter."
Bucky lets out a sigh of relief he didn't realize he had kept in.
"What?" Peter wheezes as he looks up at the other occupant of the room.
Bruce Banner. One of the Avengers.
"You worried us Pete." Bruce said, his face strangely serious, like he was looking at a phenomenon.
"I didn't mean to."
"I know. If someone could just, keep their guns to themselves, this would haven't happened."
Bucky narrowed his eyes at the scientist.
"I thought he was an imposter."
"Well maybe you shouldn't just assume."
"YOU thought he was an imposter." Bucky growled.
"Well, everyone did." Bruce admitted. "No one was out to kill him though. Tony thought it would just pass. Speaking of, maybe I can tell him he can finally stop searching."
Bucky turned and looked at Peter once more. Sucking up his appearance, keeping his hand tightly in his, making sure that he wouldn't be able to run away. Peter wouldn't dream of it though. Bucky looked like he needed him.
"Friday. Please tell Tony that we have something he'll want to see."
"Would you like me to explain the current situation?" Friday asked. Now that was something. Peter had never heard that voice before but he could tell it was an AI. What happened to Jarvis?
"No. It's a surprise." Bruce gave the AI a crooked smile.
"Of course Mr. Banner." Friday answered before falling silent.
Bucky tightened his grip into a death grip. Peter wonders if his hand was turning blue by now. He wasn't sure.
"Peter." Bucky looks at him straight in the eye. Bucky's expression showed that he was serious but there was something weary in his posture. Something different. Peter doesn't even remember Bucky being this talkative, actually, it was strange. "What happened to you? We've been looking for you. Everywhere. We never gave up."
Peter opened his mouth and closed. How was he supposed to answer this.
"I… I don't know but… from what I've heard… I'm supposed to be older and…"
Peter breathes in.
"I don't think I'm your Peter." He finishes. It had been a conclusion he had come to a while ago at MJ's. This was all just too strange. If he was their Peter, he lost all of his memories, but he didn't have any holes anywhere. He wasn't an adult. He was a teen. And everything around him was different. Different people and - and Bruce Banner - he didn't even remember being acquainted with him.
Bucky shakes his head.
"No. You're him. You have to be. You look and sound like him. Your blood is the same… and…"
"And I'm not him." Peter finishes once more. "I mean. I've heard of dimensional travel because of the Avengers but - but maybe - I thought that could have happened to me."
Everyone falls silent in contemplation.
Bucky still wouldn't let go even after Peter claimed not to be his Peter.
"Well if that's the case why would you come here now? Tony had a lead on Peter, right around the time your appearances as Spider-Man started up again. We thought it was some sort of false lead but... it doesn't sound too far-fetched. What you're claiming, that is." Bruce sounded like he would continue until the door was flown open. Tony stood in the doorway, dark bags underneath his eyes, and his hair awfully unkept. He even had stubble on his chin as if he had forgotten to shave. Tony never forgot to keep up with his appearance so this was just strange to Peter. He looked the same, yet different at the same time, like some other Tony.
"Or maybe Time Travel." Tony added in the conversation. His eyes were glued to Peter's.
"Could be." Bruce shrugged. "We're not sure. I mean if we found our Peter - time travel would be crossed out - although it would make sense that his disappearance could have been caused by this time travel incident."
"That could be it." Peter agreed. "But MJ told me that last thing I was doing was interning for Oscorp and I don't even remember doing such a thing. I was still going to high school - not to mention preparing for the science fair." He added that last part spitefully. He had been forced to partner up with Flash, his bully, and they didn't exactly work well together. Not when he was busy dumping Peter's head in the bathroom sink.
Tony took a few steps forward and he takes in Peter's form.
"You look so young, kid." He blurts out. "I can't believe you were so scrawny once."
Tony approaches Peter and gives him a fond ruffle of his hair. Peter let him, wondering if the action comforted Tony moreso than himself.
"But young enough to make mistakes. Almost got killed I see." His eyes go towards Peter's bandaged bullet wound.
"It was my fault. I was angry." Bucky admitted shamefully, his grip lightening over Peter's hand.
"We gotta work on that anger Bucky." Tony hums before withdrawing his hand from Peter's head. He folds his arm across his chest.
"I know." Bucky answered simply but there was much more to it than that. Something was being shared between Tony and Bucky as they looked at each other. Though it was unspoken they seemed to understand whatever it was they were silently communicating. Tony finally breaks their hidden conversation and looks towards Bruce saying, "I trust you'll take care of him?"
Bruce nodded.
"Of course."
"Right. Well. I'm getting Vision." Tony tells them all.
"Vision?" Peter repeats. He's never heard that name before, and he assumes they're talking about a compainon.
"Yes. Vision. You probably haven't met him yet." Tony sounded amuse at the thought. "Since we have Peter here, he may be able to trace our Peter, if that is what it is."
"With that stupid rock in his head?" Bucky scowls.
"Yes. With the 'stupid rock' in his head." Tony replies, rolling his eyes. "I'll come back in the morning with him. Heard he was in Moscow so it'd probably take him a while to return. I know he'd be willing to help us out though. He and Peter were close."
"Everyone and Peter were close." Bucky growls.
"Don't gotta be jealous Bucky." Tony teased, turning around to head out the door, but not before giving Peter one last look of longing.
"Stay healthy kid. You've got a lot of burdens that'll come your way."
Peter didn't know what he was talking about but he nodded.
Tony smiles weakly.
Bucky had been in a deep sleep when he wakes with a start. He looks up, eyes scanning for Peter, and he's relieved to see him still in bed. Asleep. Innocent. So different. It was amazing to see Peter this young. It reminded Bucky of times long ago when it was just him and Peter. They were always alone, sticking it to the world, and Bucky had never left his side. May had always said they were inseparable. Glued together, companions for life. At the time Bucky had thought like a predator - as if Peter were someone to protect - when in reality Peter was much stronger than he anticipated.
Bucky tenses when he feels a presence.
He leaves Peter's side to stand up, observing the room, and then his eyes lift up towards the ceiling.
A red mass was staring back at him.
Carnage.
How in the hell -
He doesn't have much time to finish his thought as the thing shrieks like the alien it is. It pounces on him, determined to consume him, but Bucky does not think today will be the day he will die. Not when Peter's in the bed, defenseless, in a medically induced slumber.
"YOU WILL GIVE ME THE PARKER BOY." It screeches. Clawing at him and the only thing that's keeping it from his face is the only arm Bucky has. He uses all the strength he has. It's his arm against this entire creature which never seemed to grow tired. Never. From his position on the floor, Carnage was struggling on top of him trying to scratch at his throat, and Bucky quickly flipped Carnage over so that he would no longer be on the receiving end. The hand he had used to protect himself was now clutching the symbiote's throat. He had no idea who was in there, but whoever it was - they were threatening his home - his territory - and he would not allow the recent peace to be disrupted.
"You'll have to go through me first." He growls venomously.
"SO BE IT."
They wrestle on the floor for a bit until tendrils break out of Carnage's back. They zoom towards Bucky and Bucky is quick to jump off Carnage. The creature gets up, crouching low to the ground, ready to charge at him on all fours. The tendrils turn into spikes, aiming for Bucky, and Bucky pulls out a knife to cut at them. They fall, wriggling on the floor with the red ooze that was left, slowly returning to it's master like worms. That was thing about Carnage - he was difficult to defeat - unless Bucky had his weakness at hand. Only Peter knew what it was though. Bucky had never fought against Carnage himself. He had only heard tales about it.
Bucky thinks over his options but another mass swoops into the room.
How are they getting in here? Bucky growls and continues to dodge Carnage's advances. Whatever was here must have been a threat, he thinks, until the black mass charges forward at Carnage violently.
Bucky can barely believe his eyes -
"V-Venom?" He sputters. He hadn't seen Venom for a year. It was odd to suddenly see him pop up, in Peter's room too.
"WE. ARE. VENOM." The symbiote agrees with Bucky's callout, with a tiny nod of it's head. The black ooze of Venom's skin physically disables Carnage's ability to attack. Carnage shrieks again in anger, kicking his legs, and arms hoping that sheer strength will cause the creature to get off of him. Venom grabs Carnage and pulls him up off the ground, carrying him, while restraining him simultaneously.
Bucky doesn't even notice Peter stir and attempt to open his eyes.
"What - What's going on?" Bucky demanded. He wanted nothing but an explanation.
Venom is silent as Carnage screams, twitching every which way, and Bucky doesn't miss the way Venom glances at him. He had never known Venom to be so calm.
In an instant the door flies open and Tony is in there, only an Iron Man gauntlet on, but it's enough. He snarls. Not even thinking why Venom might be there with a struggling Carnage he shoots at Venom. The creature grunts as the blast hits him but quickly regenerates where he had been hit.
"Get. Out." Tony threatened.
Venom simply nodded, wanting the same, as he headed straight through the window.
The creature didn't seem to think twice as it propelled itself forward, carnage in it's hold.
Bucky watches dumbfounded.
"What, was that?" Peter straightened with pain laced in his voice.
Bucky wasn't sure how to answer.
Peter finds his healing factor a blessing as Bruce unwraps the bandages around his bullet wound. It looked to already be healing, quicker than the process it took to heal normally, and he was relieved it wouldn't be there long. It might leave a scar but at least he would no longer be in pain. He could only take so many pain killers.
"There you are Pete. Looks to be good at the moment. No infections. That's good."
Bruce examines Peter's wound and seems satisfied when he draws back.
Peter listens to Bruce give him a full on medical explanation, half of it flying over his head, because of his mind drifting to last night. The 'symbiotes' they called them were in his room, attacking each other, and the one called Carnage (he remembers MJ talking about it) had been the one after him. For some reason Venom had been the one to subdue Carnage, and from the sound of Bucky's voice he could tell Venom wasn't exactly a good guy either.
Tony enters the room with a man floating next to him. He did so like it was normal.
"Peter." Vision's voice vibrates through the room and then he inclines his head slightly in greeting.
"Uh, Vision, right?"
"Yes." Vision answered.
They look at each other.
"So uh... I heard you were close to... well... the other Peter?"
Vision nodded.
"Yes. We have shared many adventures together."
"I see."
And that was that.
Peter watches as Tony whispers something to Vision and Vision nods his hand in understanding. He approaches Peter - not before glancing at the overly-protective Bucky at his side - and then he kneels down by his bedside.
"May I have permission to touch your forehead?"
Peter raises a brow but nods regardless. The others in the room seemed to trust him so he might as well give him a chance.
Vision reaches out his hand and places it on Peter's forehead. Peter notices how cool it is but not for long as he feels the strangest of energies course through his skin. It starts at his forehead, running through his body, and making him still.
It was like something was invading his body -
He twitches.
Bucky notices and once more clutches Peter's hand.
Vision pulls back and it's over as quickly as it started.
"I sense his energy. He's in New York." Vision relays the information he obtained. Tony's eyes light up, hope Peter registers.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tony was so eager, already telling Friday to get his suit ready, but Vision stops him by grabbing his wrist.
"Might I advise... caution? I sensed... something strange with his energy."
Tony narrows his eyes.
"I'm guessing it's not a good kind of strange."
Vision nods.
"Well, whatever, we'll get him back. He belongs here. Not... wherever he is." Tony affirmed for everyone in the room. Peter watches as he leaves and then darts to the hand holding his own.
"Do you think..." Peter began. "That after we find him, I'll be able to go home?"
"Naturally." Bucky answers smoothly. "I'm sure your Bucky is panicking right now. I wouldn't keep him waiting long."
"Yeah." Peter smiles gently, thinking of how Bucky would be frantically looking around for him in his silent nature, probably giving Aunt May quite the scare. "Yeah he probably is."
Peter goes with them when they head out. He's in his Spider-Man suit, fixed by Tony's own hands, after he had refused the upgrade that was offered to him. It wasn't his, after all, it belonged to the Peter they knew. He was mostly going out of curiosity, to see what happened to him, and to return the Peter that had changed so many people's lives in this world.
Tony had been keeping an eye on Peter the entire time they were heading towards the energy signal. Vision was leading and Tony was close behind. Both of them were flying through the air as Peter swung across the city, and Bucky was on the ground on a motorcycle. Looked like it was Steve's now that Peter got a closer look at it. He wondered how it ended up in Bucky's hands.
"We're getting closer." Vision informed. Peter notices they're arriving towards the slums of New York. Everything looks old. Buildings slumped forward in old age, an ugly sort of grey, with windows broken through or boarded up. He had no clue why Peter would be here - not really. What was here that kept someone missing for three years? He wasn't sure.
When Peter heard the sounds of a fight he knew they were already there. He peers over the building he was on, into an alleyway, and sees Venom being slammed into the wall.
"Uh. Guys. I found Venom and Carnage." Peter relays.
"That's strange." Vision says. "Why would they come here? Unless-..."
"We'll intervene." Bucky interrupted. He pulled his bike to a stop as he hopped off of it, throwing his helmet off, not caring as it rolled down the concrete. "You guys look for Peter."
"But the problem is -..." Vision can't answer once more as Tony speaks up.
"Of course you do that."
Vision sighs.
Bucky charges in, gun in hand, shooting them with knowledge that it wouldn't harm them. It was just a distraction because Spider-Man is quick to land into the fray, shooting webs at both of them, that sticks them to the ground.
"DON'T. UNDERSTAND." Venom growled angrily at Peter as it pulled with all of his strength to lift himself up again. Carnage is already shedding it's ooze to be released, the ooze struggling to return, but stayed glued to the ground. Peter could see the remnants of the pants of whoever was in Carnage and -
And -
He could recognize those colors anywhere.
Bucky charges with his gun towards Carnage who screams inhumanely, shooting the entire way. It grabs his wrist, preventing him from going any further, and subdues him to his spot. It sends its tendrils, turning into sharp spikes, and Bucky yelps in pain as one of the spikes hits him square in the shoulder.
Bucky wasn't usually so reckless, Peter thinks.
Bucky grunts as he tears himself from carnage, continuing to shoot what ammo he had left, until he hears the empty clicks of his pistol.
He pulls out his knife from his boot.
"Bucky!" Peter runs towards him. "Stop!"
Venom does Peter a favor when it uses it's body to charge into Bucky, preventing him from harming Carnage, and Venom looks almost to be irritated in it's gross oozy form.
"DO. NOT. HARM."
"What do you mean don't harm. We have a chance to stop him!" Bucky was infuriated that Venom had stopped him. His anger was evident on his face as his skin turned a visible red.
"YOU'RE IN THE WAY." Venom shoves Bucky towards the wall before charging towards Carnage once more. It shrieks, screams, hisses, makes all these weird noises while throwing spikes at Venom. Venom's ooze consumes everything that's thrown at him, and Peter wonders how he does that without being harmed. He's basically eating away at Carnage each time Carnage throws a spiky tendril at him.
Carnage notices though, not as stupid as Peter thought it to be, and it takes a few steps back.
"NO!" It shouts in fear. It turns, ready to run, but Vision is standing there. So is Iron Man, who has his arms crossed against his chest. That's the pose of a man who knows something.
Venom surges forward, it's ooze escaping it's person, and flying towards Carnage. Carnage screams in terror as Venom consumes it, leaving it's host for a new one, and Peter is quick to check on the person who had previously been inside the suit.
He could recognize that hair anywhere -
"Harry?" He says the name in disbelief. What in the world was he doing inside of Venom?
Venom lets out a shout of fury as it fights against the red until no red can be seen at all.
Peter lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Everyone is silent.
"You must release Peter now." Vision spoke up.
Everyone turned to him.
Peter had already suspected it when he saw Carnage's revealed leg but Bucky - Bucky looked to be lacking understanding, and Tony expression wasn't discernible underneath his helmet.
Venom stood still, it's long red tongue lolling out of it's mouth, and it's sharp teeth in everyone's vision.
Venom doesn't look like he wants to leave so Vision takes a step forward. The black creature takes a step back and glances once more towards Harry, who laid unconscious on the concrete behind him.
Venom relents as he slips from his host, returning back to Harry, and everyone sees the flash of brown hair as the body it leaves falls to the ground.
Bucky races.
He quickly gathers the person in his arms, shaking him vigorously, and shouting Peter's name over and over again.
Peter, younger Peter that is, stares in awe. He looked... so much older... and even a bit buffer. The Peter he saw was definitely different from him but... was that what he would look like in the future?
Bucky clutches Peter for his dear life. There's one hand on the back of his head, keeping him up and in an embrace. Bucky is rocking them both back and forth as if to soothe Peter. But the man is unconscious so everyone doesn't think it does anything. However no one can bring up the courage to stop this reunion.
Peter looks at the spot Venom was at but sees the creature far gone. Harry was gone too and Peter couldn't help but think that he might in danger. Venom had used him as a host after all. He wasn't even in control of himself.
Peter feels Tony's presence besides him.
"C'mon kid. Let's head back."
Peter simply nods.
Peter stares at... well... himself.
Tony hasn't left the room his older self had been placed in. He swore to everyone he'd be there when the older Peter woke up, as did Bucky, and they all waited in anticipation. When Peter had the urge to touch his older self, just brush his fingers against the skin of his cheek to see if he was real, but Vision had warned him that he didn't know what would happen to him if he touched him. Their energies were the same and Vision had never encountered anything like that. He wasn't sure what would happen and that was exactly was what made it dangerous.
A groan stirs them all.
Everyone is leaning forward on their chairs, except for Bucky who was leaning against a wall.
"Ughh... Was I hit by a train?"
Tony's barking laughter surprises everyone in the room.
"Pete!" He yells out in joy. Tony can't contain himself. He pulls the man in the bed up into a tight embrace. The older Peter has no idea what would cause this and he looks around the room curiously.
"I uh...?"
"You were gone. For a long time." Bruce pipped in unhelpfully.
"How long?" Peter's face was grave.
"Three years." Bucky answered. His voice broken.
Peter takes it in slowly. Examining all the occupants in the room, before his eyes landing on his younger self.
"Ah. I remember." He says suddenly.
Tony pulls back, one of his hands laying gently on older Peter's arm. Older Peter doesn't notice. He's still looking at his younger self with a weird intesnsity.
"You remember?"
"Yeah. I do." Older Peter spoke as he reaches out to touch the younger one.
The room was enveloped in light.
Peter sees the empty seat and everyone around him ready to battle.
He laughs gently.
"What?" Tony spoke. "I mean - what did you do to him? Don't tell me he..."
"No he's not dead." Peter assured them. "He's just back where he belongs."
Tony is obviously relieved when he relaxes his posture.
"He was so young. Reminded me of when you were just a tyke."
Peter grins devilishly.
"Yes well, I had a gamble on bringing him here, and it seems to have worked."
"Wait... you... brought him here?" Tony's face was blank.
"Yes. I had the help of The Enchantress but -..."
"The Enchantress?" Bruce's brows disappeared into his hairline at the statement. "The villain?"
"Why yes. I made a deal with her, while I was still in Carnage. She owed me a favor and-..."
"Only you could make a villain owe you a favor."
Peter looks up at Bucky who had approached the left side of his bed.
"Well hello to you too Bucky."
The man makes no expression, his arms leaving their folded position, as the man kneels at Peter's side. He grabs Peter's hand and brought it up to his forehead in sorrow.
"I thought you were gone."
Peter's face turned solemn.
"I'm sorry. It must have been painful for you. For everyone."
Bruce nodded but Tony was the one who spoke next, "We never gave up though. Kept searching for you. Imagine our surprise when we hear someone calling themself Spider-Man had been patrolling New York. Turned out to be the younger version of you. He was... just... he brought back so many memories."
"I can imagine..." Peter stopped before continuing, "Just looking at him gave me some memories too."
"Well regardless," Bruce said, "We're glad to have you back. You're never leaving our sight again."
Peter's shoulders slumped.
"Not even to use the bathroom?"
Bruce rolled his eyes as Tony and Bucky laughed - tears forming in their eyes - but they both wouldn't admit it was out of sheer joy that Peter had returned.
He was back.
They weren't going to let him go ever again.