And here we go! Contrary to what I said before, this is not the final chapter. I will be posting an epilogue next Monday that will close out the story. :)
A huge thank-you to all of you who have left me reviews, follows, and favorites! I've been so humbled with how well this story has been received, thank you so much!
And a special thank-you to stjohn27, my prereader and sounding board extraordinaire. :)
This isn't real. This can't be happening, Peter thought desperately, his arms wrapped so tightly around the lamppost that he felt the metal starting to bend, barely noticing that the stone-studded gauntlet had disappeared from his left arm. This has to be just a bad dream. Yeah, that's it. My name is Peter Parker Stark and this is all just a really bad dream, so when I open my eyes, I'm gonna be back in my bed at the Tower and everything's gonna be okay, and—
Except, it wasn't. It wasn't a nightmare, it was the opening night of the Stark Expo. Which meant that in only a few days, Uncle Ben and Aunt May were going to be killed during the Hammer Drone attack, leaving Peter an orphan for the second time.
Oh my God! Why is this happening? What am I doing here? How is this real?
But Peter's thoughts were momentarily halted as someone accidentally knocked into him in their haste to cross the street. "Sorry there, son!" the man called over his shoulder, and Peter felt his heart flip in his chest as he recognized the voice, pulling a small, pitiful cry of alarm from Peter's throat.
It was Uncle Ben, trying to catch up with Aunt May and Little Peter. Ben had known they were running late that evening, so he had offered to drop May and Peter off so they could get to the dome a little quicker, catching up with them once he had parked the car.
"I—, it's—, it's okay!" Peter choked out, watching as Ben hurried on towards the glass dome, where Peter could still hear his father addressing the crowd.
Except he's not even my dad yet, Peter thought as his heart gave another painful lurch. He technically hasn't even met me yet.
"I'm not saying that the world is enjoying it's longest period of uninterrupted peace because of me," Dad continued from the dome. "I'm not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a greater Phoenix metaphor been personified in human history!"
"Oh my God," Peter murmured. "That's right! This was only about six months after Dad was taken by those terrorists and tortured!"
It hadn't been all that long ago—less than a year, in fact—that Dad had finally told Peter the full story about his capture in Afghanistan, and the palladium poisoning that almost took his life in the months that followed. Peter remembered being horrified at the amount of pain and suffering that Dad had had to endure during that time, both from his physical impairments stemming from the arc reactor and the poisoning, and from the intense mental struggles that he'd faced. Being the kind of person he is, Dad had tried everything in his power to push away the people he loved most when he thought he was dying, thinking it would then be easier on them all once he did die. Peter's heart had broken at the abject shame in Dad's eyes as he told Peter the story, but for Peter, that hadn't even been the worst part.
No. The worst part had been that Dad still thought he'd been right to do so. That if he had in fact succumbed to the poisoning, he really thought that dying alone would've been better than leaving the people he loved behind to mourn him.
Peter shook his head, his eyes once again stinging with tears as he imagined how lost and helpless his father must be feeling right now with him gone. He couldn't imagine that their close-knit family would allow Dad to push everyone away again, but that doesn't mean that he wouldn't try to do so. Dad was one of the most stubborn people Peter had ever seen.
Inhaling a deep, shaky breath, Peter finally managed to unwind his cramped arms from around the lamppost and get back to his feet. He swiped the tears from his eyes, backing up into the side of a nearby building so he could try and sort through the tangled mess of thoughts and fears all jumbling around in his mind.
Because right about now over in the fancy glass dome, Peter's younger self was coming face to face with his soon-to-be adoptive father for the first time. Almost instinctively, Peter's hand went to his head, remembering how Dad had patted him on the top of his Iron Man helmet as he handed him the signed Iron Man picture that Dad had gotten framed for Peter after the whole incident with Aldrich Killian.
And at the same time, Ben and May were here. They were still alive. And all Peter had to do to keep them that way was to somehow warn them to stay away from the Expo on the night of the drone attack. Ben and May were his uncle and aunt, his blood relatives who had selflessly taken him in without a second thought after his parents were killed. They had deserved far better than to simply become casualties in some twisted criminal's private vengeance against Iron Man.
But almost before that thought had even completely left his mind, Peter felt that squicky feeling of the ice running down his back that he'd come to associate with danger, and he let out a hard shudder.
"What does that mean?" he asked softly through his chattering teeth. Peter had finally gotten accustomed to trusting what he and Dad were calling his Spider Sense, the sixth sense of his that seemed to activate whenever Peter was around something dangerous, and also helped him control his lightning-fast reflexes. But every now and then it seemed to go off at times that made little to no sense to Peter, and this was definitely one of those times. Because why on earth would his Spider Sense consider Ben and May to be dangerous? They were two of the least-scary, non-threatening people Peter had ever known.
Unless…
Oh my God.
Squeezing his eyes closed, Peter tipped his head back against the building and pressed his palms to his chest, trying to calm himself down enough to think clearly. As hard as it was, he needed to think this through logically.
"If I save Ben and May, then I'll never go and live with Tony Stark," Peter murmured. "Which means he won't adopt me, which means…" Peter shivered as the icy sensation raced down his back again, this time even stronger, causing his arms to pebble with goosebumps inside his suit. "Which means… when did Steve first come along? Was it the Battle of New York? That's right, it was, 'cause the SHIELD guys found him in the ice not too long before that, but that's still almost a year away from now, so… oh my God, why's this so hard?"
Once again Peter sank down to his knees, his helmet closing around his head as his arms wrapped around his front, the jaggedy bolts of ice still radiating down his spine as if he'd been plunged into a massive pool of ice water. He needed to get away from here; somewhere quieter where he could think. And food, he could use some food too. Peter was never at his best when he was hungry. How long had it been since he'd last eaten something?
Bracing his palm against the building, Peter slowly got to his feet, his suit automatically transforming into something that more closely resembled regular clothes as he started walking towards one of the 24-hour Mom and Pop breakfast places that Uncle Ben used to sometimes take him to when he was little. He had no money on him; he'd left his wallet in his backpack when he'd fled the school bus during the invasion, and it was unlikely that the credit card he usually used would even work here in the past anyway, but maybe the restaurant people would let him wash dishes or something for a couple of hours to pay for some food.
The diner was fairly busy when Peter arrived, no doubt a result of the crowd from the Stark Expo, and Peter's stomach was growling audibly by the time a seat opened up at the counter.
"Well, hello there, son," said one of the waitresses as Peter sat down, a blonde-haired, middle-aged woman who was carrying a coffee pot in one hand. "You all right? You look like you've seen a ghost, if you don't mind me saying."
You're more right on than you could ever imagine, Peter thought. "Y—, yeah," he stammered. "I'm fine. Just… really, really hungry."
"Well, okay," the waitress replied. "That's a problem that can be solved easily enough. You by yourself?"
"Yeah," answered Peter as he bit his bottom lip. "But… I—, I… um, you see, I don't have any money, so I was hoping—"
The waitress—Becky, her name tag said—raised her hand to cut him off. "It's all right, son, you don't need to worry about that," she said kindly. "What can I get ya?"
Peter's eyes widened in shock. "Um… are you—, are you sure?" he asked. "'Cause I don't want you to get in trouble or anything, and—"
"I'm not gonna be getting me into any trouble, young man," Becky interrupted. "The tips have been extra good tonight with this whole Expo thing going on, so just think of it as me paying it forward a bit, helping out someone who looks like he needs it. Understand? Now, would you like some coffee?"
"No, thank you," Peter whispered, swallowing against the knot in his throat. The people in Queens really did take care of their own. "Um, I'd like some orange juice, please, and—"
"How 'bout I just bring you a bit of everything?" Becky asked. "Sound good?"
"Uh huh," Peter said softly. "Thank you."
Over an hour later, his hunger sated with enough pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausages, and orange juice to feed three people, Peter felt a weariness creeping into his bones so heavy it was as if someone had strapped Thor's hammer onto his back. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept, and right now he wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed and sleep for the next three days.
"You're looking pretty tired there, son. You got somewhere to sleep tonight?" asked Becky as she filled his orange juice glass for the fifth time. "'Cause I know a shelter that's open just a couple blocks away if you need a place to stay. I'm sure they'd take in a sweet boy like you with no questions asked."
Peter shook his head, wiping his mouth with a napkin. He wasn't in any hurry to give anyone his name—not that he had any identification on him anyway—plus he'd noticed an empty storefront on the walk over which he thought should work just fine, especially since it seemed like his suit could keep him well camouflaged. "No, thank you. I… um, I have a place."
"Well, all right," Becky said with a kind smile. "But if you find yourself hungry again tomorrow, I get here at four, okay?"
"Thank you," Peter whispered. He made a mental note to come back here and repay Becky as soon as he made it back home, whenever that was, and assuming she was still working here in his own time. Draining the rest of his orange juice, Peter gave Becky what he hoped was a grateful smile and headed for the door.
"Tony?" Steve said frantically, the words sounding like they were coming from someplace far away instead of right next to him. "Tony, please, don't disengage from us here, not again. This is only a setback, it doesn't mean that we've lost him completely. We just need to rework the problem."
We just need to rework the problem.
Spoken like a true Captain. As if the problem wasn't the fact that Peter had just been pulled through one of the very things that Janet van Dyne had warned Shrinking Scott about, right before he'd entered the Quantum Realm.
A time vortex. Peter had fallen through a time vortex.
And, according to the assembled braintrust in charge of this whole goddamn thing, there was no way to tell where the vortex had taken him. Absolutely no possible way.
Tony squeezed his eyes closed, the rest of his body already so tight and rigid that he felt like he'd been dipped in clay and baked in a ceramics oven. Next to him, Pepper dropped her head against Tony's shoulder, her thin frame shaking as she tried and failed to keep her composure. She'd been just as hopeful as he had been, Tony had seen it. And now… was it even worth it to still hold on to any hope?
As Tony felt his chest growing tighter and tighter with each passing second, a pair of strong hands suddenly gripped his shoulders, giving them a slight shake. "Tony, this is only a setback," Steve said firmly. "You have to remember that. This is not the end!"
"But… but…" Tony stammered, barely able to hear his own voice over the blood rushing past his ears. He dropped his head, burying his nose into the polar bear's neck. The green apple smell was almost completely gone from it now, as if the scent was directly tied to their failed attempt to rescue Peter from his entrapment in the Quantum Realm.
"I'm not exactly sure that this is a reworkable problem, Captain," Hank Pym muttered from somewhere behind them. "We've never dealt with—"
"Oh my God, Dad!" Hope van Dyne snapped. "Can you please just stop? This isn't helping anything!"
"Scott," Steve said, his hand still resting on Tony's shoulder, his other arm wrapped around Pepper. "Scott, you said the tracking device was working, right? That you actually saw Peter… before he got sucked down into this time… thing."
"Vortex, Captain," said Janet. "It's called a time vortex."
"That's right, Cap," Scott replied somberly. "I got in sight of him just as he was reaching for the light beam, and I yelled—, Mr. Stark, I swear I yelled his name, trying to get his attention, but it was too late. As soon as his hand breached the light, he was just… gone."
"Then, that's it," Tony said slowly, feeling as though he was drowning in the very air he was trying to breathe. "Hank's right. This isn't—"
"Now, just wait a minute, Anthony," said Hank as he stepped over to Scott, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Hope is right, I shouldn't've said what I said. This problem isn't necessarily unworkable, it just… hasn't been done before."
"It has never been attempted before," piped up Shuri. "But that does not mean it is impossible. We have achieved the impossible many times before, have we not?"
"I'd say we've done that, and I haven't even been around for the past four years," answered Bruce. "I mean, we did manage to destroy an Infinity Stone, so…"
"See, Tony?" said Steve, his nose only inches away from Tony's. "No one else here has given up, so you can't either. You know Peter would never give up if the roles were reversed."
Tony's head snapped up at Steve's words, and he shot Steve a harsh glare, hating the fact that the old man was absolutely right. Peter was always the optimistic one, always thinking the best of people until proven otherwise, while Tony was often the opposite. Having been betrayed by so many people who were supposed to have loved and protected him, at least before the Avengers came along, Tony had grown comfortable with hiding behind his own internal armor. And sometimes it was just a lot easier to fall back into his old habits.
"Like I said, old man," Tony murmured. "Peter was always the better of us."
"Well, if that's the reasoning you need to use to not give up on him, then I'll take it," Steve said firmly as he looked over at Hank. "So. Where do we go from here."
Hank's eyes widened behind his glasses, and he glanced over at Janet, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not exactly sure, Captain. We have officially entered uncharted territory here."
"Okay, so then we need to start charting it," answered Steve. "Janet, you've spent the most time in the Quantum Realm, so how did you manage to avoid these time vortices when you were in there?"
Janet tilted her head, thinking. "I don't remember running into any of them for quite awhile," she said. "And after that, I got so used to the colors and the light balance in there that I just tried to avoid anything that looked too different."
"Yeah, but you at least knew where you were," Tony said, squishing the polar bear even harder against his chest. "Pete probably had no idea. He's damn smart, but I'm not sure he'd even heard of the Quantum Realm before he got transported in there. I know I hadn't."
"Before Scott went in and came back the first time, I didn't think it was even possible to return from the Quantum Realm," said Hank.
"Okay, so we know it is now possible to enter and return from the Quantum Realm at will," said Shuri. "Because we have the communication devices and the tether, and now we have the tracking device for Peter's suit."
"Yes, that's right," said Bruce. "Keep going."
"So what if we simply build another tether?" Shuri asked, looking over at Janet and Hank. "A longer one. That would eliminate the concern about pulling Scott back out if he were to follow Peter down the time vortex, would it not?"
"That's… good…" Bruce replied. "But the problem still remains the fact that we don't know how long we'd have to make it. We have no idea where or when Peter's been pulled to."
"That honestly shouldn't matter," Hank cut in. "The length of the tether isn't the question here, it's the strength. We'd have to make it strong enough to withstand the temporal pull of the vortex. Otherwise it'll just snap when Scott gets too close."
"Then we just make it as strong as possible," insisted Shuri. She turned to Tony, her deep brown eyes so alight with hope and promise that Tony felt his throat tighten. She really did care about Peter, there was absolutely no doubt in Tony's mind about it.
"I'm not certain that any of us are that strong, though," said Janet. "The pull of the time vortices is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I came really close to falling through some myself a few times."
But Shuri only shook her head, the brightly colored beads adorning her braided hair clinking against softly each other, reminding Tony of the wind chimes that used the line the deck of the old Malibu house. Peter used to love the wind chimes… he'd always said their sounds were very soothing.
"Tony," she said. "You visited the mountain range in Wakanda when you were last there, correct?"
"Yeah…" Tony answered, grimacing as a deep stab of pain pierced his heart. The last time they'd been in Wakanda had been for Peter's epic sixteenth birthday party. "Pepper and I both did. What about it?"
"Mountain climbers use special ropes to help them remain on their course and to prevent falls," Shuri said. "And they don't climb alone, they always climb with at least one partner so they can help anchor each other on the more difficult passes."
"Yes, that's true," Pepper said. "There was one climb that Tony and I did where they insisted that we take a guide with us. Said it was too dangerous for just the two of us."
"Yes, yes!" Shuri exclaimed. "That is exactly it! So that means that we just need to do the same here. We simply need to set up a belay system."
Stunned silence greeted her words, with Tony looking over at Bruce just as Bruce's face lit up. "That… could work!" he said excitedly. "How many suits do we got here. Two?"
"Three," said Hank. "If you count my suit."
"Okay, so three," Bruce continued. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he walked over to one of the workstations connected to the Quantum Tunnel, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "Tony, I really think this could work. We would just need to station people at specific anchor points along the route to maintain the strength of the tethers. And make sure that Scott can find the opening to the specific time vortex where Peter went through."
"And we know it's possible?" asked Steve. "To find that specific vortex?"
"As far as I saw, the time vortices didn't move around," said Janet. "They only opened and closed at seemingly random times. Or, at least what appeared to be random times. All concepts of time and space are pretty much irrelevant in the Quantum Realm, so there might be a pattern to them. I just wasn't ever able to decipher it."
"I will bet there is a way to open them," said Shuri as she hurried over to the second workstation. "We just need to find it. I will begin now."
"The tracking device we built should still be able to pick up the nanite frequencies from Peter's suit," said Bruce. "Since time is so wonky in the Quantum Realm, it would be reasonable to guess that mere seconds in there is like days or even longer out here, so the frequency trail should still be active. That should help us find the right vortex too."
Tony's knees were shaking so hard he was shocked he was still able to stand, and he tightened his grip on Pepper. "You think—" his voice cut off as he cleared his throat, turning to Hank. "You think three people is really gonna be enough to anchor? I mean, Pete's as strong as an ox—actually, he's stronger than several oxen—and if he wasn't able to keep himself from falling through, then how are we gonna be able to?"
"I don't honestly know, Anthony," Hank replied with a heavy sigh. "But at least we'll know what the vortex is and where, so there's that advantage. And since we don't really have the time to build another suit, then—"
"But I already have a suit," interrupted Tony. "And if Pete's suit could survive in there, then mine should too, so why can't I go in?"
"Your presence could potentially interfere with the tracking, Tony," said Shuri, barely looking up from her monitor. "You said your suit and Peter's suit were made from the same nanotechnology, and therefore vibrate on the same frequency. It would be too risky to have you in there as well."
A choked noise forced its way out of Tony's throat, and he felt Pepper squeeze his arm as he looked desperately over at Steve. What Shuri said made perfect sense, of course, but Tony just hated the fact that he was essentially being forced to sit on the sidelines while everyone else took the risks to try and get Peter back. Peter was his son. He should be the one taking the risks.
"Okay," Steve said, giving Tony an almost imperceptible nod. "So we have Hank, Hope, and Scott who'll be going inside. Since Scott saw the actual vortex that Peter fell through, it makes the most sense for him to be on the end. That leaves Hank and Hope as the anchors, and—"
"We could also get in touch with Stephen Strange, Steve," Bruce said. "He can enter the Quantum Realm too, and I'm sure he'd be willing to help. Especially if we have enough tethers to keep people from drifting away."
"Absolutely," Steve agreed. "That's a great idea, I know he'd be willing to help. FRIDAY, can you please get ahold of Doctor Stephen Strange? Tell him it's urgent."
"Right away, Captain," replied FRIDAY.
"Okay," Steve continued. He clapped his hand on Tony's shoulder. "Then the rest of us, let's get to work."
The abandoned storefront didn't actually turn out to be all that bad of a hiding place, especially after Peter discovered that it had a still-working toilet and sink in the back room. Actually getting to use the toilet took some doing since he was still wearing his regular Spider-Man suit underneath the nanotech one, a fact he'd conveniently forgotten about during all the interim events, but it was still nice to be able to splash some water on his face and wash his hands after having to sleep on the musty floor on the store. Even if his nanotech suit could alter itself to make it seem like he was sleeping on the most comfortable of mattresses.
Given how exhausted Peter had been, he wasn't all that surprised to discover that it was already mid-afternoon by the time he woke up, his stomach rumbling loudly in protest. How could he possibly be hungry again already?
"'Cause you're an enhanced, still-growing, sixteen-year-old boy with a metabolism faster than a cheetah hopped up on steroids. That's why," Dad's voice said inside his head, and Peter squeezed his eyes closed, pressing his palm to his chest.
Would he ever see his father again?
Right now, he couldn't see how it was possible.
With a heavy sigh, Peter got to his feet and headed for the door, his suit transforming itself into the same sweatsuit-type look he'd worn the previous day at the diner. Becky the waitress had told him she started work at four, and while Peter hated having to rely on the charity of someone he didn't even really know, he knew he didn't have any other choice right now. He did not function well at all without food, that had been proven time and time again, and he needed to be the best he could be if he was going to be able to think this whole thing through.
"Well, hello there, son!" Becky exclaimed as Peter walked into the diner. "You're certainly looking a bit more rested than you were last night. Hungry again?"
"Yeah," Peter said sheepishly as he took the same seat at the counter. "I… um… I still feel bad about—"
"Nonsense," said Becky as she sat a large glass of orange juice in front of Peter. "You seem to be a really nice boy who's just fallen on some hard times. Am I right?"
"Yes," Peter whispered. "I… um…" What the hell can I say that won't cause her to immediately run for the police?
"It's all right, son," Becky said, patting his hand. "You don't need to tell me, your business is your business. I just hope you can figure it out soon, for your own sake."
"Yeah," Peter answered, his eyes filling with tears that he quickly brushed away. "Me too."
Peter ended up leaving the diner later that evening with not only a full stomach, but also with a fully stocked to-go bag tucked under his arm, as Becky had told him that she was off for the next two days. So after webbing the bag securely to one of the old light fixtures in the storefront, Peter decided to head over to the Expo to look around. Dad had set up the Expo to showcase technology and inventions from all around the world, so Peter was able to see some pretty fascinating things up close and personal over the next couple of days, created by scientists that he'd only ever read or heard about before. Justin Hammer was even there, wearing his expensive suits and boasting and bragging like he had—or will, actually—on the night of the drone attack. And while Peter couldn't bring himself to actually try and talk to him out of loyalty to his father, he couldn't help but feel almost sorry for him, knowing what was coming. Justin Hammer was obviously a very smart and talented man, who unfortunately allowed his jealousy and impatience get the better of him.
And Hammer certainly hadn't been the first person to ever do that, and likely wouldn't be the last. Pretty much every villain the Avengers had faced over the years could be described in that way.
The Avengers.
His adoptive family.
Peter's heart gave a painful lurch as he arrived back at the storefront, his suit transforming into its camouflaging colors as soon as he snuck between the rotting boards that covered the broken front door. Grabbing a biscuit from his food bag, Peter slumped down against the wall, his mind racing. He would've preferred to do deep thinking like this while perched up in one of the corners—ever since the spider bite that had been where Peter had done his best thinking in his own bedroom—but the abundance of real spiderwebs, and their accompanying spiders, that covered the four corners of the abandoned building were enough motivation to keep him down near the floor.
The Avengers were Peter's family, with Steve being one of the first to join the fold. Peter still remembered how shaken Dad had been when they first got the news of Steve being found in the ice, still alive after having been missing for sixty-five-plus years. And then, after the fierce Battle of New York, Peter had been too young and too freaked out from everything to notice the tension between Dad and Steve at first.
But now, looking back, it all made more sense.
Because he had been the one who'd invited Steve to move into the Tower with them. It hadn't been Dad's idea, although Dad had surprisingly gone along with it, probably because he really was a softie hiding behind his suits of armor and had often found it hard to say no to his kid. Peter had just assumed that it was a good idea at the time because, well, to an eight-year-old kid, it just made sense for all the superheroes to live in the same building, didn't it? And since Bruce was already moving in, then why couldn't Steve too?
But what if he hadn't moved into the Tower?
Once again, almost as soon as the thought left Peter's mind, another freezing-cold bolt of ice raced down his spine, and Peter let out a hard shiver, nearly biting through his bottom lip.
What would've happened if Steve hadn't moved into the Tower?
Peter closed his eyes, his head tipping back against the grimy wall as he wrapped his arms around his front, trying to keep from shivering. "Think, Peter," he muttered under his breath. "Think!"
Steve moved into the Tower because Peter had asked him to, plain and simple. And because of that, he and Dad had forged a friendship over the years that had been absolutely vital to the success of the Avengers' missions on nearly every single front they had fought on. They trusted each other implicitly, and that trust flowed down through the rest of the team as well. The Avengers were a well-oiled machine, one that not even Thanos could break apart in his mad attempt to kill off half of the universe.
The Mandarin? Who knows what Killian could have done to Peter if Steve hadn't been there in Miami to help Dad find him.
Project Insight? According to Dad, Steve probably could have managed to re-target those helicarriers with just Sam and Maria Hill's help, but having Dad there sure made things a lot easier. Not to mention the fact that he and Bruce were able to break into their targeting algorithm, giving them all a head start.
Ultron? Peter saw the look of pure horror and self-loathing in Dad's eyes when he realized how badly his invention had gone wrong. What if Steve hadn't been there to help talk Dad down from his rapidly spiraling self-destructive thoughts? There's no way the team would've been able to take Ultron down as easily as they did, even with Peter's help, if Dad and Steve hadn't been working well together. Ultron's plan had been to destroy the world by dropping an explosive-laden city out of the sky, but his plan was never able to get off the ground, both literally and figuratively, because of the Avengers' teamwork.
And then of course, there was the worst one yet. Or at least the worst one before Thanos and the aliens came.
The Raft.
Shoving the last of his biscuit into his mouth, Peter started kneading his temples with his fingertips, trying to keep from shivering as his entire back radiated with jagged bolts of ice.
What's so important about the Raft?
The Raft was where Peter discovered a lot of his new abilities from the spider bite. It was also when the Avengers met Scott Lang and T'Challa for the first time.
And then, Shuri, Peter thought, his face stretching into a brief smile. God, he missed her too.
Secretary Ross had captured Steve and the other Avengers, and Peter, because his plans to get the Avengers to fall under control of the government were failing. Dad and Steve were both against any government control or oversight, so Ross had orchestrated the assassination of King T'Chaka to force the President's hand, and then uncovered the Winter Soldiers to help Ross capture everyone.
Peter shivered again as he recalled the intense battle that took place in that huge, square room, deep inside the horrible, submersible prison. Steve had ended up saving Dad's life more than once during that battle, from Bucky's attempt to kill him, and by preventing Dad from killing Ross when it was all said and done.
There was no way Dad would've listened to Steve's pleas for mercy for Ross if they hadn't been such close friends. No possible way.
"The Avengers are a team, Peter," Steve had told him following the Battle of New York. "And teammates look out for each other. And I promise that we'll look out for your dad, if that time comes and he needs us to."
Well, Dad had definitely needed him, and Steve had definitely come through on his promise. More than a few times, in fact.
Huffing out a sharp breath, Peter pushed himself back up to his feet, heading for the door to get some air. He was starting to feel more and more claustrophobic as the time for the drone attack drew nearer and nearer, and it was really starting to unnerve him, even more so than he already was.
Not really in the mood to head back to the Expo, Peter instead just wandered around the neighborhood for the next several hours, reminiscing about the time he'd spent growing up in the area. He walked by Aunt May's hospital, resisting the strong urge to slip inside and try and see her. He also walked by their old apartment building, the park where Ben used to take him to feed the pigeons, and even the cemetery where they would eventually be buried before Peter's stomach started growling again and he decided to head back to the storefront. As he passed a newspaper stand on the way back, Peter noticed that the date was listed as the twenty-ninth of May.
It was Dad's birthday. Which meant that right now, Peter's father was busy drinking himself into oblivion inside the Malibu house, thinking he was going to be dead in only a matter of days. Thinking there was no hope for the palladium poisoning that was killing him.
Which also meant, that in only a few hours, James was going to have the huge fight with Dad that destroyed nearly half of the Malibu house and ended with James flying off in the first War Machine suit. Peter could still remember the curtained off areas of the living room and lab of the Malibu house the first time Dad took him there from New York, when it was still being repaired.
But in addition to all of that, it also meant that the drone attack was only two days away.
Time, so to speak, was starting to run out.
"Tony?" Bruce said as he gingerly poked his head inside the lab. Tony was curled up on one corner of the couch with his head cradled in his hands, having needed an escape from all the hubbub going on outside on the landing pad, at least for a little while. He was used to only working alone while he tinkered, or at most with only Peter there with him, and there were just too many people out there right now for his comfort level. In addition to the entire Shrinking Squad—including some guy named Bill who Hank Pym had invited out for a couple of days—Steve had invited Doctor Strange and Ned over as well, thinking that the more smart minds there were working the problem, the faster it would get solved. It made sense to Tony, and served to prove just how important Peter was to so many people. But still… all of them together were just so damn noisy it had just gotten to be too much.
"You doing okay?" asked Bruce. It was a rhetorical question, and both Tony and Bruce knew it.
"Yeah," Tony muttered as he scrubbed his palms over his face. "Just… needed a break from all the noise."
Bruce nodded somberly as he took a seat on the opposite end of the couch. "Yeah, I can understand that. You're holding up okay, though?"
Tony scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. "How am I supposed to be holding up? My kid is out there who-knows-where, in who-knows-what-time, and we're all grasping at straws trying to jury-rig some sorta funky Quantum belay system to try and get him back. Oh, and one that's never been tried before, so essentially we're just turning him in a human guinea pig. Again." Tony slumped back against the couch, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm no better than Pete's birth father who allowed those fucking HYDRA goons to experiment on him."
"Tony," Bruce retorted. "That's not true at all, and you know it."
"It's not?" Tony snapped. "And exactly how is it not?"
Bruce blinked, shaking his head. "Well for one thing, we're not HYDRA goons, as you put it, we're the good guys. And for another—"
"But who's to say that Pete wouldn't be happier where he is?" Tony cut in. "Who's to say he's not better off where he is? What if he's even back with that aunt and uncle of his, blissfully unaware of all the shit he had to go through as my son all these years."
"Tony!" cried Bruce. "Peter loves you! You're his father, of course he'd rather be here with you, it's where he belongs! This is all nonsense talk you're spouting off!"
Tears burned in Tony's eyes as he looked over at his friend. "I don't know, Bruce," he whispered. "I mean, maybe this was all supposed to happen. Maybe I managed to mess Pete up so badly that this is the universe's way of trying to fix things. Maybe… it's just for the best."
"And I absolutely refuse to believe that," Bruce said firmly. "Look, I know I haven't been around all that much for the past few years, but I can clearly remember how much that kid adored you. Tony, you're his hero, and I don't mean that just because you're Iron Man, or an Avenger. I mean because you're his dad. And it's not like you didn't have a choice in the matter. You chose to take Peter in, and you chose to adopt him. You made those choices because you knew—or at least suspected, in your case—that it was the right thing for the both of you. And it was, Tony." He held out his arms, sweeping them around the vast lab. "Look at everything you've built here with Peter's help. From what Steve's told me, you guys have fought nearly everyone under our own sun and even a few from other suns, and you've always come out on top because of the family you've built here. A family that began when you agreed to take in a tiny, orphaned kid."
The tears Tony had been trying desperately to keep at bay finally broke free, trailing down his cheeks, and he hastily brushed them away as Bruce leaned forward, clapping a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I just… God, Bruce, I just miss him so much! And I don't—, I can't take too much more of this, and I don't—, I don't know what I'm gonna do if this doesn't work… I won't be strong enough to ever hope again."
"It's gonna work, Tony," Bruce said. "We have some of the brightest minds on the planet out there right now, and they're all focusing everything they've got on getting Peter back. And they're all out there because they think it's possible, so there's no way it's not gonna work. I just… you just gotta trust us."
Tony sucked in a sharp breath, swiping his eyes again as he sat up. Before Peter came along, Tony could count on one hand the amount of people he could implicitly trust. But over the years that number had grown to the dozens, including some people he never thought it would be possible to even like, much less trust with the life of his son.
Coincidence? He thought not.
"I do," Tony whispered. "I do trust you."
"All right," Bruce replied. "Then come on back out, we could use your help."
Peter sat curled up in one of the back corners of the dim and dusty abandoned store, his knees pressed against his chest and his arms wrapped around them, trying to keep himself from shivering. His Spider Sense had been going off so often in the past few days that he was completely and thoroughly exhausted from it, and not even his super-adaptive suit was able keep him warm when it was at its worst.
Why does it have to be so damn cold?
He would've given just about anything to have someone else to talk to about all of this. If nothing else, at least it would make it seem like he wasn't being as crazy as he felt. But there was no one in this time that he dared to speak to about this stuff—he'd watched too many movies to know that that was always a bad idea—and Karen wasn't working here either. The spaceship ride had probably shorted her out.
So that just left him. Him and his freezing cold, overactive Spider Sense.
Dad and Steve.
Steve and Dad.
Captain America and Iron Man.
The two of them really couldn't be more different if they tried. Their looks, temperaments, fighting styles, even their favorite ways to unwind, Steve and Dad were really nothing alike.
But yet despite all of that, despite their vast differences and even bigger suspicions they'd had for each other when they first met, they still managed to forge a friendship and partnership that quickly became the backbone of the Avengers. No matter how many team members the Avengers gained over the years, Steve and Dad were still considered by many to be the originals.
The leaders.
Two sides of the same coin, so to speak.
Steve and Dad knew each other like the backs of their hands. They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, they could read each other's minds and facial expressions, and they both knew to defer to the other whenever the situation called for it.
Take Thanos, for example. One of the main reasons why Dad had wanted to keep the Time Stone away from Earth was because he'd recognized the importance of that particular stone and didn't want Steve to have to worry about trying to protect it from falling into Thanos' hands while he was busy supervising—and likely fighting his ass off in the process—the removal and destruction of the Mind Stone.
And as far as Peter knew, Steve had been successful. Peter couldn't fathom that Thor would have showed up on Titan just in time to help Peter get the gauntlet off of Thanos and kill him if the Mind Stone hadn't already been destroyed. Since the majority of the team was still on Earth, they would theoretically also draw most of the fighting, so it would've made sense for Thor to go there if he had felt it necessary.
"I trust my team with my life," Dad had told Doctor Strange on the donut ship, before they'd arrived on Titan. "No, even more, I trust them with my son's life."
And he did. Aside from Pepper, James, and Peter, there was no one else that Dad trusted more than Steve.
"Somehow, this all seems to boil down to Dad and Steve," Peter said out loud.
Which meant… what did it mean, exactly?
Was there a reason why Peter was sent here, specifically to this point in time? Or was it just some random doing of the Time Stone?
There was no way to know. But he supposed it really didn't matter. He was here regardless.
And now he had a choice to make.
Did he allow things to occur as they had nine years ago and ignore the chance to save Ben and May? Or did he try to save them, therefore changing the past and who knows what else in the future?
"Gah!" Peter cried, grunting as the nearly unbearable shiver flew down his back, causing all of the hair on his arms and the back of his neck to stand straight up. He dropped his forehead against his knees as tears slipped from his eyes, pooling on the dusty floor. "What is it? Why is this happening?"
"You need to learn to trust your instincts, Peter," Steve's voice suddenly said inside Peter's head, something he'd said at one of Peter's first Avenger training sessions. "Because your instincts will save you, but only if you let them."
Peter needed to trust his instincts. And for him, that meant trusting his Spider Sense. It hadn't ever steered him wrong before, even if he hadn't understood it at the time.
I need to trust my instincts.
But… but… if I do, then that means…
Ben and May surviving the Expo attack would mean no Tony Stark adopting Peter as his son, which would mean no Steve Rogers moving into the Tower, which would mean Steve and Dad would never form the close relationship that they have, which could then lead to all sorts of possibilities and permutations that would eventually lead to Thanos getting his hands on all six Infinity Stones… and killing half of the universe.
Including Peter apparently, if his Spider Sense was any indication.
Oh my God!
With an anguished yelp, Peter raised his head, tears still burning two slippery paths down his cheeks. "Why does it have to be like this?" he cried into the spider-webbed ceiling. "Why? It's not fair to them, it's just not fair!"
And it wasn't. It was absolutely not fair that two of the best and sweetest people in the entire world would have to die in order to save half of the universe. Because that would be the price if Peter decided to save them. Their lives traded for his own, and half of the rest of the living creatures in the entire universe. And while he would gladly trade his own life for his aunt and uncle, there really was no way he could justify half of the rest of the universe, as much as he wanted to.
It absolutely wasn't fair.
But, as painful as it was going to be, it would have to happen.
Dusk was starting to set in, throwing long shadows across the expanse of the landing pad. Tony was leaning against one of the windows that led into the lab, trying and failing to keep up with the conversation between Hank and Stephen Strange.
"You're certain you can survive in there without a suit?" Hank asked. "Pardon me, I realize I don't know all that much about your… magic, but I do find that a bit hard to believe."
"It is no more difficult than surviving out here without a protective suit," answered Strange. "The Quantum Realm is just one of many realms, and I have already visited several of them with no more protective clothing than my cloak. As long as you are well-versed in the appropriate spells, there is no danger from the realm itself."
"Hmm," answered Hank. "Well, all right." He shot a quick glance over at Tony, giving him a slight shrug. "I'm just… gonna go see how Scott and Hope are coming along with the tethers."
Tony smirked as Strange gave Hank a rather formal nod. Going from being a world-renowned neurosurgeon to the Sorcerer Supreme or whatever-the-hell it was that Strange called himself hadn't seemed to shrink the man's ego very much.
"You knew this was gonna happen," Tony said to Strange once Hank had disappeared inside the Tower. "Didn't you? When you were up there on Titan going through all the possible futures? You saw it."
Strange let out a sigh as he stepped closer to Tony, his brow furrowing almost as if he was in pain. "No, not exactly," he said quietly. "I saw the two possible victorious outcomes, and I knew in one of them that Peter would survive, but I couldn't see anything beyond that."
"And was that… unusual for some reason?" asked Tony. "It doesn't seem to make much sense that you wouldn't be able to see how long he would be gone. I mean, if I'd've known it was gonna be this long, or however long, I think it might've helped a bit, you know?"
"I couldn't see any more than I saw because once Peter entered the Quantum Realm, the possibilities for changes to the timeline became infinite," Strange said. "All I knew for sure was that he would survive, and that eventually he would return to this time. But there was no way for me to tell when that would occur."
Hold on, Tony thought, his blood pressure soaring as his hands clenched into fists. I thought he said he didn't know where Pete was!
"So you knew Peter was stuck in the Quantum Realm all this time?" Tony snapped, trying to keep from outright screaming at the arrogant wizard. "You knew, and you didn't say anything? We could've been looking for him in there from the beginning!"
"I knew the Time Stone had taken Peter to another time," said Strange, his calm voice only infuriating Tony even more. "But there was no way I could be sure it was the Quantum Realm. There are many, many realms, Tony, and within each of those realms time works in very mysterious ways. Ways beyond even the abilities of a sorcerer to decipher."
"And I bet that really pissed you off, didn't it?" Tony muttered. His shoulders sagged then, his dropping his head back against the glass as he huffed out a sharp breath. Trying to stay this angry was just too exhausting lately.
"No, Tony," replied Strange in a low voice. "It made me sad. Because while I couldn't see where the Time Stone had taken Peter, I could see the devastation his absence would cost you, and everyone else who loves him."
"There's not a person here who doesn't love him," Tony murmured. "Not a single one. Peter's the best of us, and everyone knows it."
"It was obvious to me how much you loved him almost immediately, Tony," Strange said softly. "And keeping the truth of his fate from both you and him was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. But in order to beat Thanos, it was necessary. We wouldn't have won otherwise."
Tony was quiet for a moment, his fist pressed against his chest. "So in order for us to win, some of us had to lose. Is that how it was?"
"Exactly," replied Strange. "And please understand. If I had been able, I would have gladly traded my life for Peter's."
"You would've?" Tony asked in surprise, quirking an eyebrow. That kind of selflessness didn't exactly seem to fit with Strange's arrogant wizard persona.
"Yes, I would have," Strange said. "But it wasn't the first time the universe has refused my offer of personal sacrifice."
"Hmm. Well, maybe that just means the universe knew we'd need you to help us get Pete back," said Tony.
Strange scoffed, the corner of his mouth quirking into a slight smile. "Perhaps. But now, I must return to the Sanctum, I've been away longer than I intended. I will return in the morning."
"Yeah, okay," Tony answered. "See ya."
With a nod, Strange opened up one of his sparking golden portals and disappeared, leaving Tony alone on the landing pad.
"Who woulda thought?" Tony said to himself as he pushed away from the window, heading for the door. "Not even Dr. Wizard himself could resist that kid of mine."
It was a beautiful, late Spring evening as dusk began to fall across the city, bringing with it the droves of people streaming towards the Expo dome. It was almost time for Justin Hammer's drone presentation to begin, which meant that Dad was already on his way, having left California in such a rush that he hadn't even had time to run tests on his new arc reactor core.
It's a damn good thing the new element Dad created had actually worked. Who knows what could've happened if it hadn't.
Keeping his eyes trained on his feet, Peter walked along with the crowd towards the dome, his eyes flitting about for anyone he might recognize as he attempted to tune out the various excited conversations around him so he could listen for the arrival of Iron Man.
Since he didn't have a ticket to actually get inside the dome, Peter instead took a position near the fountains down from the entrance where there was a perfect view of the stage, only about twenty or so yards away from his aunt, uncle, and younger self.
And in only a few short minutes, Little Peter was going to sneak away, trying to get a closer look at War Machine as he arrived on the stage.
The sound of disco music coming from inside the dome drew Peter's attention, and he fought the urge to roll his eyes as Justin Hammer danced out onto the stage, immediately poking fun at Dad's opening night routine with the dancing girls.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Hammer began. "For far too long, this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm's way. Then the Iron Man arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. But sadly, that technology was kept out of reach. And that's not really fair, now, is it?"
"Good grief, this guy should be wearing green instead of grey tonight," Peter muttered under his breath. "You couldn't mask that much envy if you tried."
"Well tonight, my friends," Hammer continued. "The press is going to be faced with a different problem. They are going to run out of ink!" He paused for a moment, as if he was expecting applause, becoming flustered when only a handful of audience members complied. "Because, ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you, the new face of the United States Military! The Hammer Drone!"
Peter's heart started to thud against his ribcage as the drones began rising up from their storage areas underneath the stage, with each group painted in the colors of their respective branches of the military and accompanied by their official music themes. "C'mon, Dad," Peter whispered, once again looking up at the clear, star-studded night sky. "Where are you?"
"Yeah!" Hammer shouted from the stage. "That's a helluva lot better than some cheerleaders, let me tell ya! Unfortunately, as revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theater of war. Ladies and gentlemen, today I am proud to present the very first prototype of the Variable Threat Response battle suit, and its pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!"
"Oh wow!" Peter exclaimed, immediately slapping his hand over his mouth as James rose up from the floor of the stage, his suit decked out in a massive rifle attached to his back. "What did Hammer do to his suit?"
"Peter, where are you?" a frantic voice suddenly said from off to the side, causing a massive shiver to run down Peter's spine just as his ears picked up the sound of Iron Man's repulsors. Dad was on his way.
"Ben!" cried Aunt May. "He was just here, and now he's not! Where'd he go? Peter! Peter, where are you?"
"He's not gonna be hard to find with that helmet on," replied Ben, and Peter's heart clenched in his chest at how worried he sounded, even as he tried to hide it. "We can split up and look for him, he can't have gotten too far."
"Oh, God!" Peter whispered, his hands clamped down over his ears, trying to drown out the sounds of his aunt and uncle frantically calling his name. "Please! I didn't think it was gonna be this hard!"
"Peter!" Ben called from the other side of the fountains just as Dad landed inside the dome to a massive roar of applause. "Peter, where are you?"
"What're you doing here, man?" cried Justin Hammer from the stage. "This is pretty low, Anthony, even for you!"
"Peter!" screamed Aunt May, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Peter, please, where are you? Honey, I'm not mad, I just wanna find you!"
"May!" Peter whimpered, curling himself into a tight ball on the sidewalk as more freezing currents shot down his back. They were coming in nearly continuous waves now, almost as if he was being electrocuted with dry ice. "May, please, stop! I can't—, I can't take it!"
"Peter!" came Uncle Ben's voice from somewhere behind Peter just as Dad took off from the dome, followed almost immediately by the sounds of shattering glass as the drones opened fire on him, causing complete chaos to erupt both inside and outside the building. Peter's helmet closed over his head as hordes of people began streaming outside, screaming as James and some of the drones took off from the stage to chase after Dad while the rest started marching through the crowd, down the concrete steps by the fountains with their rifles pointed at the sky, waiting to take their shots.
"Please, I can't take it anymore!" Peter cried as Uncle Ben yelled for Little Peter again, his entire body shivering so violently he felt like his bones were rattling. It was even worse than he'd remembered it. The horrible sounds of panicked people screaming as they ran by him, the rifle shots of the drones that sounded like they were being amplified by a million megaphones, and somehow piercing through all of that, as if to torment Peter even more, were the frantic calls of his aunt and uncle as they desperately searched for his younger self.
Summoning all of his available strength, Peter finally managed to peel his hands from his ears and get to his feet, looking up just in time to see Dad approaching the area, followed by James and an entire squadron of drones.
"Ben," Peter whispered, following the sound of Uncle Ben's voice to the street as fiery hot tears sprang to his eyes. "Uncle Ben, I'm so sorry!"
It happened as if in slow motion, almost like Peter had been dropped into one of his beloved action or sci-fi movies. Ben was standing there in the street, still shouting for Little Peter about a half a block away from one of the parking garages when the drones began their approach, the shots they were firing pinging off of the concrete and metal structure like deadly ping pong balls, showering the crowd with sparks of fire and chunks of road.
"No!" screamed Peter as three of the drone shots tore through Ben's upper body as easily as if he were made out of tissue paper, their violent force knocking him backwards onto the pavement with a sickening thud. "Oh, God, Uncle Ben!"
Since he had managed to sneak away nine years ago before the drone attack even started, Peter hadn't witnessed the deaths of Ben or May as they happened. He had only discovered their bodies after the fact, and then had immediately gone into hiding, terrified over what would happen to him with Ben and May gone.
But now, as traumatic as it was to have to relive the terror of the Expo all over again, at least this time Peter would have the chance to say goodbye.
His eyes so blurred with tears and over-stimulation that he could barely see, Peter stumbled through the still-shrieking crowd, colliding head-on into at least three people as he fought his way over to where Ben was lying on the ground, still gasping for breath.
"My wife!" Ben gasped as Peter slid to his knees next to him, reaching immediately for his hand as burning hot tears streamed down his cheeks. Ben's chest was already rattling, his lungs filling with blood and fluid from the gunshots as he struggled to breathe. "My wife and I, we can't find my little nephew, please! Can you help us find him?"
"Yes," Peter choked out, swiping at his eyes with his free hand. "I—, I will s—, sir. It—, it's gonna be okay, I'll make sure he's okay, I promise."
"His name—" Ben continued, his already pale and drawn face draining of all remaining color as blood pooled on the ground beneath him. His eyes were already starting to flutter closed. "Is Peter. Peter… Parker, and he's wearing a… helmet… like the Iron Man… please… make sure he's okay…"
"I will," cried Peter. He brought Ben's hand up to his cheek, leaning his head against it as he closed his eyes. All around them the battle waged on, with Iron Man and War Machine swooping back and forth across the sky, trying to draw the drones away from the frantic crowds. "Don't worry, Peter's gonna be just fine… sir, I promise. You don't need to worry about him."
"Thank you, son," murmured Ben, his fingers going slack in Peter's grasp. "Thank you…"
And then, he was gone.
Again.
"Uncle Ben, I'm so sorry!" Peter sobbed, crying in earnest now, with tears dropping from his eyes and landing in splotches on Ben's blood-stained shirt. "I love you so much, and I'm so sorry! But you don't have to worry about me, I'm gonna be just fine. I have a big family who loves me, and we're gonna make sure that the rest of the world stays safe, so you don't have to worry about me, I promise. But I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry it had to be like this, it's just not fair!"
It's just not fair.
None of this was fair. Absolutely none of it.
Shaking with sobs, Peter pressed a kiss to Uncle Ben's hand and laid it gently across his chest. He could already hear the sirens of the first responders on their way, so he knew it wouldn't be too much longer before someone found him.
In fact, Little Peter was probably already looking for him. Peter remembered being frightened away from Uncle Ben's body by the approaching fire trucks and ambulances.
Which meant that Aunt May was already dead as well—Peter had found her body first—and Iron Man had already saved Little Peter's life.
Slowly, Peter got to his feet, forcing himself across the street and down a half a block or so until he found Aunt May, lying on the sidewalk with her favorite green sweater draped gently across her face and chest, placed there by Little Peter. Fresh tears rolled down Peter's cheeks as he crouched down next to her, lifting the sweater just enough for him to see her face.
"I'm so sorry, Auntie," he whispered as he kissed her forehead. "I love you so much, and you were so good to me! You deserved so much better than this!"
His chest heaving with sobs, Peter stayed with May for a few more seconds until he heard the voice of a frantic child screaming Uncle Ben's name through the intermittent sounds of the approaching sirens. As gently as he was able, he replaced the sweater over Aunt May's face and got to his feet, saying another, silent goodbye as he hurried back towards Uncle Ben.
As shocking as experiencing the horror of the drone attack for the second time, and watching his beloved uncle die, nothing could have prepared Peter for coming face to face with his younger self. Little Peter was on his knees next to Ben's body, his Iron Man helmet on the ground next to him and his small hands gripping Ben's shirt, yanking frantically as if he were trying to force Ben to get up.
"Please!" he cried, and Peter's lungs immediately seized in his chest, stealing his breath. "Uncle Ben, please, wake up! We gotta go!"
Slowly, Peter knelt down next to Little Peter, gently placing his hand on the boy's back. Little Peter's head immediately jerked towards him, his eyes widening in shock.
"Who're you?" he squeaked, his little body shaking.
"It's okay, little guy," Peter murmured, his throat so tight he was surprised he could speak at all. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise. Is—, is your name, Peter?"
Little Peter's brown eyes widened even more, and he glanced quickly down at Uncle Ben. "Y—, yeah. Who're you?"
"I'm… a friend," Peter choked out as two fire trucks and an ambulance pulled to a stop at the end of the block. "Of Uncle Ben's. He asked me to help find you."
"Uncle Ben's dead!" Little Peter cried as fat tears rolled down his chubby cheeks. "And Auntie May's dead too, and it's all my fault!"
"No, no, it's not, little guy," Peter said, blinking back his own tears. "It's not, I promise. That guy who was up there on the stage tonight? Justin Hammer?"
"He built the drones!" yelped Little Peter.
"Yes, yes, he did," answered Peter. "But he had help, and the man who helped him was a criminal. It's the criminal's fault that your aunt and uncle are dead, Peter. Not yours."
The sound of approaching firemen caused both Peters to look up, with Little Peter's face draining of color. "They're gonna come and take me away! I don't wanna go!"
"Come with me," Peter said, tugging gently on the little boy's shoulder. "I'll help you."
With only a second's hesitation, Little Peter nodded and picked up his helmet, sliding it onto his curly head as he scrambled to his feet. Grabbing his hand, Peter led him over to a line of destroyed and abandoned food trucks, sliding behind one that sold nachos and hot pretzels. "We can hide here for awhile," Peter said. "They won't find us 'cause they'll be too busy looking for the people who are hurt. Okay?"
"Uh huh," Little Peter answered, his voice muffled by the helmet. "But they're gonna take Uncle Ben and Auntie May away, aren't they?"
"Yeah," Peter sighed, just as a series of explosions went off all around them, the remnants of the drones rigged to blow once Vanko realized he had lost. Little Peter jumped at the deafening sounds, curling into a ball against Peter's side as Peter wrapped an arm around him. "It's okay, buddy. It's okay, I've got you."
God, I sound just like my dad!
"It's so loud!" Little Peter cried, his hands pressing against the helmet over his ears. "Why's it have to be so loud? I don't like loud!"
"It'll be quiet soon, little guy, I promise," answered Peter, his own ears ringing from the cacophony of noise still lingering in the area. I don't like loud either. "It'll be quiet soon."
"Uh huh," Little Peter muttered, burrowing even closer into Peter's side. "If you say so."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, with Peter poking his head around the side of the food truck when he heard the paramedics arrive at Uncle Ben's body. "They're coming to get Uncle Ben now," he whispered. "And once they're done they should leave for awhile."
"Uh huh," answered Little Peter. He was still trembling from head to toe, his hands gripping Peter's arm as tightly as they could. "But… but… what's gonna happen to me now? I don't—, I don't have a mommy or a daddy, I live with my auntie and uncle, and if they're gone now, then… what's gonna happen to me?"
Peter sucked in a sharp breath. Was it really so bad to give him a hint of what was coming, since it was going to happen anyway?
"Tell you what," Peter said, as soothingly as he was able. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself. Does that sound okay?"
"Um… okay, I guess," Little Peter replied. He slid the helmet from his head, setting it down next to him. "Um… my name is Peter, but you already knew that. I'm seven, my best friend's name is Ned, and I go to school over in Midtown."
"Okay," Peter said. "That's all pretty cool. So… what do you like to do for fun?"
"Well… I like Legos, me and Ned like to build all the Star Wars sets since he's got most of 'em. And… I like to pretend that I'm Iron Man." He tapped the helmet next to him. "I made my helmet myself."
"Is Iron Man your favorite superhero?" Peter asked, surprised when Little Peter jerked his head back, looking up at him in shock.
"Yeah!" Little Peter exclaimed. "He's the only superhero!"
Oops. Of course the kid would think that. No one else has been discovered yet.
"Oh, yeah," Peter said with a chuckle. "That's true." But not for too much longer. "He's my favorite too."
"I built a Lego Iron Man too," Little Peter continued. "He's sitting on my dresser in my bedroom, so he can watch me when I'm asleep."
Peter's heart gave a lurch. He remembered all too well building that Lego Iron Man, thinking that since he was a superhero that maybe he could help chase away the loud men that often haunted Peter in his dreams.
"Like your own superhero guard?" asked Peter as he patted Little Peter's head. "Iron Man's good at that."
"Uh huh," whispered Little Peter, hanging his head. "He even saved my life tonight. One of the drones came right up to me, and—, and—, it stopped, and it lowered its gun, and it was gonna shoot me, and then Iron Man landed right behind me and blasted it away with his hand. He saved me, even if he tried to make it sound like I did it myself."
Squeezing his eyes closed, Peter tipped his head back against the food truck. "I know you're really scared right now, Peter," he whispered. "And you think you're all alone, but you're not. You're gonna be okay. Because once the firemen and the police have picked up all the people out there who're hurt, they're gonna come looking for you. And it's gonna be scary at first, and it's okay to be scared. But I promise, you're gonna be okay. All right?"
Little Peter tilted his head, his huge brown eyes pooling with tears as he studied Peter's face. "You—, you promise?"
"Yes, I do," Peter murmured. "There are so many people out there who love you, little guy. So, so many. They just don't know it yet."
A single tear slid down Little Peter's cheek, and he quickly brushed it away. "Okay."
A single beam of light from the rising sun slid across Tony's eyes, abruptly pulling him from his light, dream-filled sleep. The space next to him on the bed was empty but still warm, so Pepper must have just woken up herself. She'd been off from work for the last several days, trying to provide as much support as possible to the brigade of scientists parading around in Tony's lab and the outside landing pad, making sure everyone took breaks to rest and recharge and eat something every now and then. She had even taken it upon herself to organize Peter's bedroom, washing his sheets and blankets, dusting the bookshelves, and purchasing several new Lego sets that she'd piled up in a stack next to his building mat.
To Pepper—and to Steve as well—there was no question of whether or not they were going to find Peter. It was now just a matter of when. The team had spent the better part of the last three days building and reinforcing the tethers and running simulations, and now the time had come to attempt the jump.
If it were anyone else, Tony would willingly share in the team's optimism.
But it wasn't anyone else, it was Peter. And Tony just wasn't strong enough to be that confident.
Flopping onto his back, Tony tightened his arms around Peter's polar bear, burying his nose into the bear's neck and inhaling deeply, causing his heart to skip a beat or three.
The green apple scent was gone.
A light rap on the doorway startled him, and he turned to see Pepper, holding a large mug of coffee in her hand that she held out towards him. "Good morning," she said softly.
"Morning," Tony replied as he took the mug, his throat tightening when he saw it was the mug Peter had given him for his first Father's Day, the one he'd had custom-made to read World's Best [Fe] Dad in red block letters.
"Thanks," he whispered, taking a sip of the hot, pungent liquid.
"Hank said they could use a hand out there by the tunnel," Pepper murmured. "When you're ready."
"Yeah, okay," answered Tony. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and took another gulp of his coffee, wincing as the burning hot liquid slid down his throat. He felt icky, like he hadn't showered in days, which probably wasn't too far from the truth. How could Pepper even stomach sleeping next to him when he was like this? "Let me just take a quick shower."
"That's fine, Tony," said Pepper as she leaned down to kiss his cheek. "I'll tell them you'll just be a few minutes." Then she gave his shoulder a quick squeeze and left the room.
With a heavy sigh, Tony set his coffee cup down on the bedside table and padded over to the dresser for some clean clothes, settling on a ratty old AC/DC shirt that was probably twice as old as Peter. As he ran his fingers along the thin fabric, Tony's lips stretched into a small smile, remembering when a tiny Peter had told him he liked this particular shirt. He'd said it was because he could see the glow of Tony's arc reactor through it, so when Tony would cuddle him to sleep at night, he knew exactly where to place his head.
Now of course the blue glow was long gone, replaced by his detachable unit, and Tony couldn't remember the last time he had cuddled Peter to sleep, or at least when Peter was able to lay his head on his chest. Thanks to Adrian Toomes and his Chitauri wingsuit, Tony's busted-up chest hadn't been very cuddle-worthy for quite awhile prior to the alien invasion and Peter's disappearance.
"Good morning, Anthony," Hank said once Tony stepped out onto the landing pad, coffee cup and polar bear both in hand. "I think we're almost ready here, there's just a few more calculations that Shuri and I wanted you to double-check, if you don't mind."
"No, no, that's fine," Tony replied, setting his coffee and the bear down next to the monitor. He slipped on his glasses as he peered at the equations covering Shuri's screen. "You get any sleep last night?" he asked Shuri.
"Possibly," she answered with a heavy sigh. "But I'm not positive. I sent Ned home around three in the morning when he started to nod off at the station. He said he'd be back as soon as he could, but he also said that he doubted his parents would allow him to stay home from school today, so it might not be until the afternoon."
"Yeah, okay," Tony mumbled as he ran the complicated quantum equations through his head, triple-checking for any possible errors. "Math looks good to me, but you probably should have Bruce check it too, just in case."
"Bruce already did," answered Steve from his perch over in the corner next to Scott, who was still dozing on one of the plushy lawn chairs Pepper had set up a couple nights ago. "He just went down to change his clothes."
"'Kay," Tony said. He curled his right hand into a fist, punching it into his left palm. "So… what time are we thinking about gettin' this show on the road?"
"Hope and Janet are just out getting some tea, Anthony," Hank said. "Captain Rogers said he'll call the wizard once they get back and we'll have our final debriefing then. So… probably within the hour."
"Copy that," Tony replied.
"Clint called first thing this morning, Tony," Steve said. "Asking if he should come up with the twins. I told him I'd ask you."
"Yeah, sure," Tony said with a shrug. There were already far too many people meandering in and out of his home and lab, and with Rhodey, Sam, and Natasha expected to be already on their way down from the Compound, he supposed three more wouldn't make all that much of a difference.
"Okay, I'll call him back," said Steve just as Bruce walked out onto the landing pad, his hair damp and still tucking his shirttails into his waistband.
"Morning," Bruce said. "How're we looking?"
"Tony just double-checked the equations for the tether strength," Shuri said. "He said they looked good, so we're just waiting on the rest of the team now."
The words were barely out of her mouth when she was startled by a sudden popping noise, followed by the appearance of a golden, sparking circle only a foot or so away from the workstation. Strange was already on his way.
"I am ready," said Strange as he stepped through the portal. He nodded once at Tony, turning to look at Shuri's monitor. "Are the rest of you prepared?"
Before Tony could answer, Hope and Janet van Dyne stepped out onto the landing pad, both shoving the final bites of croissants into their mouths as Hope tossed a small bag onto Scott's chest, startling him awake.
"We ran every possible simulation on the tethers that we could think of last night," said Hope once she'd finished chewing. "There were even some that Ned suggested that we hadn't thought of, which Dad in particular thought was quite impressive."
"That kid definitely has potential," Hank said, peeking over the top of his pile of papers. He had refused all of Tony's offers for a tablet, saying he preferred to work with old-fashioned paper and pencils. "I was very impressed, in fact."
"Dad already offered him an internship after he graduates," Hope added under her breath. "I thought the kid was gonna pass out when Dad told him."
"Wouldn't've surprised me," Tony muttered. "Ned does have a tendency to get a bit star-struck."
"So, we are ready, then?" asked Strange as he looked over at Tony, the high collar of his maroon cloak framing his stern face. He looked impatient, and more than a little worried.
"If everyone's here, then we may as well get started," said Hank. He set down his pile of papers, placing his glasses down on top of them as he drew in a deep breath.
"Scott, Hope, Stephen, and myself will all enter the Quantum Realm sequentially, with Scott going in first. We will then all follow the nanite frequency trail left from Peter's suit until we reach our designated belay stations. Once those stations are reached, we'll anchor ourselves with the tethers while Scott continues on until he finds the time vortex."
"And once he finds the vortex?" Steve asked.
Hank raised his bushy eyebrows. "That's when it's gonna get interesting. Since the chances are slim that Peter is going to be in the exact same place he was when he fell through, Scott's probably going to have to partially enter the vortex in order to look for him… which will be when the tethers will be put to their ultimate test. Hope, Stephen, and I will have to keep Scott from falling through completely."
"But if Scott can't completely enter the vortex, then how's he going to be able to get Peter out?" Pepper asked.
"Well, the boy's probably gonna have to jump, or find some other way to climb up inside," Hank answered. "Scott will be able to get his hand down there, and even maybe his upper body. But Hope won't lower him down any more than that, the risk is too great."
"Pete can use his webs to get up," Tony said. "That shouldn't be a problem."
"And that's going to work?" Pepper asked, wrapping her hand around Tony's arm. "We're sure this is going to work?"
"We're assuming so, Pepper," said Hope. "When we ran the simulations using the tethers, we tested them with a force up to nine g's, which is usually the maximum allowed for fighter pilots—"
"I know I've pulled that much in the suit a couple of times," Tony cut in. "So has Rhodey."
"But since no one's ever fallen through a time vortex and returned to talk about it," continued Hope, shooting Tony a sympathetic look. "We can only estimate it's temporal pull."
"It is unlikely that it would be stronger than that," added Janet. "But like Hope said, we have no way to know for sure."
"But you're sure these tethers can hold onto Scott long enough for him to find Peter?" Steve asked.
"Well—" Hank started.
"Yes," Hope interrupted. "Yes, we are."
"Very well," Strange said. "Then we should get started."
Tony watched as Hope looked over at Hank, who gave her a brief nod. "All right," she said. "Then let's get suited up."
As the three members of the Shrinking Squad headed inside to change, Steve walked over to Tony and Pepper, clapping his hand on Tony's shoulder. "You guys holding up okay?"
"I think so," Pepper answered, the slight wobble in her voice the only indication of any nervousness she might be feeling. It never failed to amaze Tony how graceful she could be under pressure. While his knees were already shaking so hard he was afraid they were going to buckle completely before the team even entered the Quantum Tunnel, Pepper remained the epitome of serene elegance.
"All right," Hank said as he, Hope, and Scott assembled at the mouth of the tunnel. He turned to Strange, giving him a single nod as he slid on his helmet. "Doctor, we're ready."
"So are we," answered Bruce as he took his position at the second tunnel workstation, with Shuri already at the first. "I'm powering up the tunnel."
As the Quantum Tunnel flared to life with a great whooshing noise, Tony's breath hitched as the four team members crowded around the entrance, waiting for Shuri to start the countdown.
"Everyone is ready?" Shuri asked, nodding when all four gave her the thumbs up. "Going subatomic in five… four… three… two… one…"
Pepper's fingers were squeezing Tony's arm so tightly that it was starting to go numb, and he patted her hand as Scott Lang disappeared inside the tunnel, followed less than a second later by Hope, Hank, and Strange.
"Check, check," Bruce said into his headset, shooting Tony what he probably thought was a hopeful glance. "You guys all doing okay?"
"I'm good!" called Scott.
"Copy that," answered Hope.
"I'm in position," said Hank. "Stephen and I have already attached our tethers."
"Copy that," replied Bruce, puffing out his cheeks. "You got anything yet, Scott?"
"I'm picking up the frequency trail," said Scott. "It's faint, but it's still here."
"Gotcha, Scott," Bruce replied, and Tony felt Steve's hand squeeze his shoulder. "That's good, that's real good."
"I've reached my anchor point," said Hope. "Scott's continuing on."
"Oh God," Tony breathed out as he stumbled backwards, nearly knocking into Steve. "I can't—, honey, I'm not sure I can do this."
"You're not going anywhere, Tony," Pepper hissed back. "You're gonna stay right here so you can be the first person Peter sees when he comes out of that tunnel. Understand? You can do this for him."
Tony drew in a deep, painful breath, reaching for the ratty polar bear and squashing him against his chest. Peter was always the stronger of us.
"Yeah, okay," he mumbled. "I can do it for him."
Peter awoke with a start, wincing at the crick in his neck from leaning against the back of the food truck. Little Peter was curled up asleep next to him, with his head resting on Peter's leg and his Iron Man helmet tucked against his chest, his chin resting on the top.
It had been a long and exhausting last couple of days. Once the battle had officially stopped and the first responders had finished their work, the forensic scientists and SHIELD agents had poured in the next morning, canvassing the area and collecting the remains of the drones, presumably for study back at their headquarters. Peter hadn't paid any attention to any of this nine years ago, too scared of being seen to risk trying to watch what anyone was doing outside. But his presence here seemed to be keeping Little Peter's fear enough in check to keep him from wanting to bolt everytime someone new appeared, so they'd pretty much stayed where they were the entire time, only moving if someone got too close for Peter's comfort, and occasionally to get something to eat and drink.
But as sundown was approaching the previous night, once the forensic scientists and SHIELD agents had finished their work and packed up their equipment, an almost eerie silence descended upon the area. Peter knew that Ms Wilson from the DSS office would be arriving sometime in the morning, and so made sure to explain to Little Peter that Ms Wilson was a nice lady who was trying to help him find his new family, and that everything regarding Uncle Ben and Aunt May would be taken care of once that happened.
Rubbing at his neck, Peter shifted slightly, trying to wake Little Peter up without startling him so he could get him to eat something before Ms Wilson arrived. He remembered being so hungry by the time he got to the DSS office that he could barely walk, but at the same time not wanting to take his helmet off, too frightened to show just how scared he really was. He was hoping to avoid that here with Little Peter.
"Hey, little guy," Peter said once Little Peter blinked open his eyes. He handed him half of a soft pretzel, stale after having sat for three days but still reasonably edible. "How're you feeling?"
Little Peter took the pretzel with a shrug, wrinkling his nose as he bit into it. "Doesn't taste so good," he muttered through a mouthful. "Not soft anymore."
"I know," answered Peter, trying to ignore his own ravenous hunger. "But do you remember what I said about this morning?"
"About the lady who's gonna come looking for me?" Little Peter asked as he reached for a water bottle.
"Yes, that's right," Peter said. "And she's gonna take you to her office, and ask you some questions, and then a few hours later, you're gonna meet some of your new family."
"Uh huh," Little Peter said, his voice quivering. "But what if I don't like them?"
Peter sucked in a sharp breath. He'd been going back and forth in his mind over whether or not to tell Little Peter the whole truth and had decided against it, but it was getting harder and harder to stick with that resolution.
"Look," he said. "No one is ever going to be able to replace Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Absolutely no one. But I promise you, you're going to grow to love your new family. It won't be easy, and there's gonna be days that are really hard, and when you'll feel sad and miss your aunt and uncle. But your new family is gonna love you so much, and eventually you won't be so sad. And you know it would make Ben and May happy to know that you're with a new family who loves you. Right?"
Little Peter paused, looking up at Peter with his wide brown eyes. "How do you know all of this?"
A lump the size of a marble formed in Peter's throat, and he swallowed hard. "Well… sometimes you just know. And this is one of those times."
The sound of a car door closing made them both jump, and Peter carefully poked his head around the side of the food truck. Ms Wilson was here, accompanied by a plainclothes police detective.
"Peter?" she called, a clipboard in one hand and juice box in the other. "Peter Parker? Are you here? My name is Rita, honey. I'm not gonna hurt you, we want to help you."
"Maybe he's not here," said the detective. "The aunt was found further down, so—"
"No, no, there's food around here," Ms Wilson said. "He would stay close to where there's food. Peter! Peter, it's okay honey, we're not gonna hurt you, I promise!"
His small body trembling, Little Peter looked up at Peter, biting his bottom lip. "You promise?" he asked.
"I promise," Peter said with a nod, ruffling Little Peter's hair. "You go now, little guy. It's gonna be okay, you'll see."
"Peter Parker!" Ms Wilson called again. "Please, if you're here, please come on out!"
"I—, I'm here!" Little Peter answered. Grabbing his helmet, he slid out from behind the food truck, turning back to give Peter a quick wave before disappearing around to the front. Peter immediately felt his helmet close over his head, his suit transforming back into its camouflaged form as Little Peter took the juice box and got into the backseat of Ms Wilson's car. Peter watched them drive away with trepidation. He was happy for Little Peter, of course, since he knew what was coming. In only a few short hours, none other than Tony Stark himself would be arriving at the Queens DSS office to pick Little Peter up, thus beginning their often fantastical lives together.
But what did that mean for him? What was Peter supposed to do now? He had no one in this time. No aunt, no uncle, no parents, no friends, and now no adoptive Avengers family.
He couldn't even use his name.
He was no one.
A choked sob forced its way from Peter's throat as he tipped his head back, tears sliding from his eyes and landing down in the bottom of his helmet. He was exhausted, having stayed awake for most of the last couple of days to keep an eye on Little Peter, and his stomach was rumbling so loud he was surprised Ms Wilson and her policeman friend hadn't heard it. He would have to go and find something to eat besides stale chips and hard-as-rocks pretzels soon, but for now he just wanted to rest for a moment. He was so tired…
"Peter! Peter Stark, are you there?"
Peter jerked awake, the sound of someone calling his name reverberating inside his head, his heart in his throat as he tilted his head, listening.
"Peter Stark!" the voice called again. It was a man, and it sounded vaguely familiar but it definitely wasn't his dad, or Steve, or Thor or any of the others. Who the hell was it?
"Peter Stark! If you're out there, please give me a sign, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold on here!"
"I'm here!" Peter cried, practically leaping from his spot behind the food truck and searching for the source of the sound. His eyes widened at the sight of what appeared to be a large, flat, circular beam of light, hanging in midair about ten or so feet off the ground, right about the same place he remembered falling into the street a few days ago. And to make things even weirder, as Peter stared at the light, trying to decipher what the hell it could possibly be, a black-gloved hand suddenly appeared, as if it was reaching for him.
"What the—?"
"Peter Stark!" shouted the voice, who Peter still couldn't quite place. "Are you there? It's Scott Lang, do you remember me? From the Raft?"
Scott Lang? What the hell is he doing here?
"I'm here!" Peter yelped. "Scott? I'm here!"
"You gotta jump up, Peter!" Scott yelled. He shook the hand dangling through the circle of light. "I can't get any lower, so you gotta jump up and grab my hand!"
Peter hesitated. He was so tired, and things had been so incredibly weird for the past few days that he wasn't sure if he could even trust his own ears and eyes. Am I still dreaming? "Um… why? What's gonna happen?"
"'Cause it's the only way you're gonna get home, kid," answered Scott. "Your entire family's back there right now waiting for ya, but you gotta jump up and grab my hand if we're gonna get there, and you gotta do it like, right now!"
"Uhh," Peter stammered.
"I'm not kidding, kid!" cried Scott. "This feels really weird, and I don't know how long Hope can hold me back, so… now would be good!"
Um… who's Hope?
"Uh, okay!" Peter finally said. "I'm gonna—"
"Just do it, Peter!" Scott screamed. "Now!"
Raising his right hand, Peter shot out his web, latching it onto Scott's glove. He immediately jumped up, climbing up the web rope until he could grasp onto Scott's hand, with Scott letting out a loud guttural grunt as he began pulling Peter up towards the light. As soon as his hand crossed the plane of the light beam, he felt that same hard pull behind his belly that he'd felt when he first dropped into this time, and then, everything around him disappeared.
"Scott?" Bruce called into his headset. "Scott, what's your status?"
"Scott's still down in the vortex!" Hope called, and Tony's belly gave a violent swoop. "His mic isn't working!"
"He'd better hurry," said Hank. "The tethers won't hold for too much longer!"
"Oh, God!" Tony croaked, tightening his hold on Pepper. His stomach was churning so violently he was surprised he hadn't yet barfed up the small amount of coffee he'd managed to drink earlier. Happy was standing next to Pepper, shifting from foot to foot as if he was standing on lava, and all around him stood their Avengers team: Steve, Rhodey, Sam, Natasha, Vision, Clint, Pietro, and Wanda. Thor had even traveled back from the new Asgardian colony—hidden deep in the snowy mountains of Norway—to be here for Peter's return.
Shuri and Bruce were still at their workstations, with Janet standing next to Bruce and Shuri twirling one of her braids around her fingers, her eyes flitting back and forth between her monitor and the tunnel.
"It's gonna be all right, Tony," Steve said quietly. "It's gonna be all right."
"Scott?" Bruce repeated. "Scott, any update?"
But there was only static in reply.
"Scott?" Hope said from inside the tunnel. "Scott, if you can hear me, the tether's not gonna hold for too much longer! You need to hurry!"
Tony was squashing Peter's polar bear so hard against his chest that it no longer resembled anything close to a bear, with his other hand clinging to Pepper's shoulder. His lower lip was shaking, and he drew it between his teeth as he let out a slow, shaky breath.
"Scott, what's your status?" asked Bruce, trying to keep his voice steady. "We're cutting it a bit close for comfort here. Scott, do you read?"
There was a huge burst of static, so loud that Bruce pulled the headset from his head as Scott's elated voice filled the air. "I got him! I got him and we're heading back now!"
"Oh my God," Tony sputtered, pitching forward just as Steve's hand caught hold of his shoulder. "Oh my God, did he just say—?"
"I can see them!" Hope cried. "They're coming closer! Tony, they're coming closer!"
"Is—, is he okay?" Shuri asked. "Is Peter all right?"
"Scott says he's tired and hungry," answered Hope. "And a bit confused."
"Yeah, I'll bet," said Bruce. "Tell me when—"
But Bruce was cut off by the appearance of Doctor Strange, wobbling on his feet as he emerged from the tunnel, his eyes as wild and unnerved as they'd been back on Titan after he'd visited their fourteen million-plus possible futures.
"Okay, Stephen?" Bruce asked, barely glancing his way as Hank reappeared on the landing pad, removing his helmet.
"I now understand why you prefer to use your protective suits," said Strange with a hard shudder. "I don't think I'll be wanting to visit the Quantum Realm again anytime in the near future."
"I'll second that," said Hank, handing his helmet to Janet. "I've just about had enough of it for one lifetime."
"We're almost there!" Scott said. "Hope should be coming out right about—"
"Now," Hope said as she suddenly reappeared in front of the tunnel, unlocking her helmet. "They're right behind me, Tony."
Tony lurched forward, the polar bear falling from his arms and bouncing onto the ground as he raised his arms, his heart leaping into his throat, nearly choking him.
And then, there he was.
It was almost as if no time had passed, as if the last six months had never even happened. Peter, while obviously hungry, tired, and scared, looked almost exactly the same. His hair was still the same mass of curls that it had always been, and his eyes were still the same baby browns that could melt even the iciest of hearts, including Tony's over nine years ago.
He was here. They had brought him back.
A strangled noise rattled its way up from Tony's lungs, only to get caught in his throat as he reached for his beloved son, his boy, his reason for everything that was good in his life.
His Peter.
"Pete?" Tony whispered, gingerly touching his hair first, then trailing his fingertips down Peter's cheekbone, catching the tear that rolled down his cheek with the pad of his thumb. "Peter? Is it—, is it really—?"
"Uh huh," Peter croaked, nodding as he pressed his palm into Tony's hand. "It—, it's me, Daddy. It's me. Are—, are you real? Is—, is any of this real?"
"Oh God, Pete, if you're real then I'm real," murmured Tony as he slid his arm around Peter's shoulders and pulled him into a bear hug, his fingers threading into Peter's hair. Peter's arms wrapped around Tony's waist as he broke down completely, his skinny body shaking with sobs, his tears plastering Tony's thin t-shirt to his chest. "Buddy, we didn't know if we were ever gonna see you again!"
"I was—, I was—" Peter sniffled. "It was—, oh God, it was so hard, Dad. I saw—, I saw—, Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and they were—, oh God, it was so we all could live, and they didn't even know it, and then—, I saw me, but it wasn't me, it was the little me that you first met, and—"
"Shh," Tony said soothingly, pressing the pads of his fingers into Peter's scalp, trying to calm him. "It's okay now, buddy. You don't have to tell me everything right now, let's get you taken care of first. Okay?"
"Uh huh," whispered Peter. He raised his head, smiling as Tony released him and he practically fell into Pepper's arms. The rest of the team quickly gathered around, with Thor taking the lead and hugging both Pepper and Peter to his chest, raising them both off the ground. Steve was next, and once he'd released Peter into Shuri's embrace, clapped his hand on Tony's shoulder.
"We did it, Tony," he said happily, his voice thick with emotion. "We brought him home."
"Yeah," Tony murmured past the knot in his throat as he watched Rhodey and Happy bickering over who got to hug Peter first and finally just reaching for him at the same time, nearly cracking their heads together in the process. "Yeah, we sure did, old man."
Tony knew this wasn't the end; that Peter's experience in the Quantum Realm and wherever else he had visited during these last six months would be yet another traumatic event in his short life that they'd have to patiently work through. There would be nightmares, and regressions, and everything else that usually happened after things like this. Hell, it was probably about time that Tony bought Peter a new polar bear too, since he'd just about squashed the old one into a washcloth over the last few days.
But this time, Tony also knew something that he hadn't known way back when Peter first came along. Something that made everything seem just a little less daunting, a little less frightening.
He knew he wouldn't have to do it alone. Because there were no fewer than twenty people who would be willing to help both Tony and Peter every step of the way. Their family, forged over the years with a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but even more importantly, with patience, understanding, and love.
Because there wasn't a single person here—many of whom who'd been working around the clock for the last two weeks to bring Peter home—who didn't love him. Peter was the glue that held their family together. He was the key that made all of their scattered pieces fall perfectly into place.
The Avengers wouldn't exist as they were today without Peter Parker Stark, that much was clear.
And as he finished the rounds of hugs and kisses and hair ruffles from the rest of the team, Peter looked back over at Tony, holding out his hand. Tony was by his side not three seconds later, curling his arm around Peter's shoulders so he could guide him inside to the lab, setting him down on the couch so Pepper could put the huge tray of sandwiches and fruit in front of him that Sam had hastily prepared almost as soon as Peter had emerged from the tunnel. The Shrinking Squad—including Doctor Strange—remained outside, allowing the family time to enjoy and celebrate Peter's return before peppering him with the inevitable questions they no doubt had for him about his time in the Quantum Realm. Peter started digging into his food almost before Pepper even had a chance to set down the tray, but stayed curled up right next to Tony while he ate, his head resting against Tony's shoulder.
"I missed you, Daddy," Peter whispered after he'd downed an entire glass of orange juice in about three seconds. Tony, too choked up to reply, simply turned his head, burying his nose into Peter's hair. It didn't smell like green apples, but Tony knew that was only a matter of time.
Because Peter was home. The team had brought him home.
"Peter," Steve said gently once Peter was done eating, his eyelids already starting to droop. "I know you're probably exhausted, but Stephen has offered to give you a quick once-over, just to make sure there aren't any injuries we should be aware of." He glanced quickly at Tony, who nodded his approval. "Is that okay with you?"
"Uh huh," Peter answered. He wrapped his hands around Tony's left arm, careful not to squeeze too hard. "That's fine. 'M really tired though, so can I sleep for a bit afterwards?"
"Absolutely," Tony said, pressing a quick kiss to Peter's forehead. "We'll have plenty of time for all the questions and stories later, bud, don't you worry about that."
"'Kay," Peter whispered. He looked up through his long eyelashes at Tony, his brown eyes shiny with tears and exhaustion. "Dad, are you gonna stay with me? I don't—, I don't really wanna be alone."
"You're not gonna be alone, Pete," Tony assured him. "I'm not going anywhere. Not ever again."
"Uh huh. Thank you."
And so, after the quick cursory examination from Doctor Strange and a not-quite-as-quick hot shower, Tony and Peter curled up on Peter's freshly washed bed with Peter's head resting on Tony's chest, his ear pressed over Tony's heart and his hands gripping Tony's shirt, just like he used to when he was little. And before Tony could even say the words 'I love you', Peter was sound asleep.
Shifting slightly, Tony curled his fingers into Peter's freshly-washed, green-apple-scented hair and tipped his head back against the headboard, his own eyes fluttering closed as he felt the tight muscles of his body start to relax for the first time in almost six months.
Peter was finally home, and all was well again.
I can't wait to see what you guys think! Please don't hesitate to leave me a review! :)
Come find me on tumblr too, I'm geekymoviemom and geeky-writes there. :)
