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Chapter Forty-Three
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"Hi, this is MJ! Sing your song at the beep."
"H-Hi, Red. This is Peter. Peter Parker… but I suppose you already knew that. Since I'm saved as a contact in your phone-"
BEEP.
"Hi, this is MJ! Sing your song at the beep."
"Hey, it's me again. Your voicemail box is really short. Which is, like, super weird. If you want, I can have a look at it when you get bac-"
BEEP.
"Hi, this is MJ! SIng your song at the beep."
"Hey. It's me again. I'm really sorry for all of the voicemails. I just heard from Mr. Stark that you had called and-"
BEEP.
"Hi, this is MJ! Sing your song at the beep."
"Call me when you get the chance… and I doubt that you really want to hear me sing a song, Red. Unless you like the sound of croaking frogs then-"
BEEP.
Peter sighed as he lowered the phone from his ear and ended the call from his end. She must be on her flight to Italy right now and couldn't answer… which made it more difficult to bear the fact that when she turned off her 'airplane mode', then she would see that she was bombarded by voicemails from her boyfriend… or maybe not boyfriend? 'Not yet' boyfriend?
He groaned and fell back onto his pillows, throwing an arm over his face to cover his eyes.
If he didn't speak to Mary Jane soon, he was going to lose it.
When Mr. Stark told him that Mary Jane had called, his first thought was to panic. He hadn't been awake to answer her call… what if she changed her mind and was calling to tell him to not come to Paris? That led to Peter freaking out about the fact that he might not even be able to go to Paris now with the Green Goblin on the prowl. He would have to double his patrol time, work later hours, to try and catch the flying lunatic.
When he had lamented this fact to Mr. Stark and Aunt May, also telling them about the trip to Paris to meet up with Mary Jane, his Aunt May had been adamant that he still go.
"Even superheroes need a vacation, Pete!" She had proclaimed. It was clear that she was desperate for him to go, to take this chance with Mary Jane and confess his feelings for her on top of the Eiffel Tower.
"Superheroes can't take a vacation when a villain is running rampant through the streets," Peter had argued back, glum. This wasn't an argument that he wanted to win, but he had a responsibility. The Green Goblin had to be caught.
"Sure they do," Mr. Stark piped in with a sly grin, catching Peter's full attention immediately, "That's when they call in a trustworthy substitute. And I know for a fact that you know a handsome, strong, brilliant, billionaire that would fit the bill."
Peter had blinked at him. "Y-You would do that? Look after New York while I'm gone?"
Of course, Mr. Stark had agreed. Peter knew that he didn't like to be portrayed as such, but Mr. Stark was just selfless like that. Sure, many called him a narcissistic douchebag but Peter knew the truth… Mr. Stark was constantly thinking of other people.
After that, it had taken a while for Peter to work up the nerve to call Mary Jane back. First, he reasoned that he needed to call Ned since he had about fifteen missed calls from him while Peter was unconscious. He must have been worried when he saw the news about Spider-Man's defeat…
"Peter?! Are you okay? I saw the news with Spider-Man and that green guy and-"
"I'm fine, Ned." Peter had interrupted what he knew was going to be a long-winded recap of the events from the other night… which was, quite frankly, really embarrassing for Peter to think about - let alone a play-by-play. "Well… not fine yet but I'm recovering quickly."
Ned breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank God."
The tightening of his heart at the sound of releasing stress from his best friend made Peter glad that he called Ned so soon after he woke up. If the roles were reversed, Peter would've been in a constant mode of panic and anxiety throughout all of the hours of not knowing.
"So you'll still be making it to the field trip on Monday?"
Peter blinked as he heard the question that seemingly came out of the blue.
"That's on Monday?" Gosh, how could he forget?
"Yeah… first you're forgetting about the dance and now the field trip? Are you sure that you don't have amnesia still?"
The caused for Peter to release a small chuckle. "I'm sure… I've just had a lot on my mind…" Peter mused with a sigh, his eyes became distant. There certainly was a lot on his mind - Mary Jane, super-powered criminals, the Big Man… all while trying to maintain his 4.0 GPA in school? It was a lot to take on even with his superpowers. "And yeah… I should be better by school on Monday, so I will be making the field trip. Where are we going again?"
Ned sighed heavily, almost in a way that was asking himself whatever was he going to do with Peter. "The Museum of Modern Art. And it's a good thing you're going because they said that they're going to assign homework based off of the trip."
Peter hummed, not really all that concerned when it came to art. Sure, he appreciated it enough but his heart really belonged to the sciences. For a split second, his mind shifted to Mary Jane, wondering what her opinion was on paintings and sculptures.
"So?" Ned suddenly pressed, almost as though he was reading Peter's mind. "What happened when you left with Mary Jane?"
Mary Jane… it felt like a lifetime has passed since he last saw her when he dropped her off at the airport. She had looked so beautiful under the bright, airport lights. He missed her so desperately, it was almost pathetic.
"I, uh, may or may not have just stood there when she kissed me at the airport…" Peter replied as he covered his eyes shamefully while he admitted this to his best friend.
"Dude… are you serious?"
…
As the rest of the weekend passed by, Peter's accelerated healing ability had done its job and by the time Monday arrived, he was fully healed. But due to the fact that his body had been healing, he had slept like the dead… and realized that he had missed a call from Mary Jane in the middle of the night. He nearly kicked himself he was so aggravated that he slept through something so important! But he eagerly pressed the button to listen to the voicemail that she left him.
"Hey, Peter. It was good to hear your voice, Tiger, so please don't apologize for all the voicemails. So… funny story. My flight was delayed in Newfoundland, so I missed my connecting flight in Portugal. Now, I have to wait fourteen hours for the next available flight. I don't think that I've ever been this exhausted before. But the airline offered me a hotel to wait in until my next flight. Please call me soon. If you don't get this voicemail before my flight, I'll try and call you again once I land in Rome. Arrivederci!"
Fuck, Italian sounded so hot coming from her lips. Peter couldn't help but wonder what other Italian words she knew, and how he could get her to speak them to him. That had been his initial reaction to her voicemail, but then he played her message again and better listened to her words… they were like a soothing balm on a really bad sunburn. She had said that it was good to hear his voice… his heart felt considerably lighter as he got dressed and ready for the day.
It had been difficult to go to school after that. Peter called her back while on the bus, but knew that he would only catch her voicemail… she was currently on a plane once again. But she was sure to be landing soon.
He met Ned in homeroom and it wasn't long before they were being directed onto a school bus to begin the trek to Manhattan for their school field trip. As soon as he had found a seat on the bus, he leaned his head on the seat in front of him, needing to rest his eyes a bit more from the amount of energy it took his body to heal itself over the weekend. Ned sat in front of him, content that Peter needed time to himself. Harry was in a different homeroom, so he sat on the other schoolbus, which kinda bummed Peter out because he wanted to thank Harry again on what he did to get Mary Jane to the dance. And to also tell him everything that happened after he and Mary Jane left for the airport. He would just have to find the time to talk to him about it while they were at the museum.
All in all, despite the Green Goblin and Peter's own flip-flopping anxiety on the status change of his relationship with Mary Jane, he had to admit that his life was pretty good.
He was a superhero - basically an honorary Avenger. He was a straight-A student that had exciting prospects for a college of his choice - and having Tony Stark write him a letter of recommendation didn't hurt his chances either. He had an aunt who loved him and took care of him in all the ways that counted. He now had two best friends who had both gone out on a limb for him on numerous occasions. And now, he was on the cusp of getting his first real girlfriend.
What could possibly go wrong?
The bus was just starting to pass over the Queensboro Bridge when his spider-sense went off. His arm hair stood straight on end as the sensation rippled through his entire body. Peter jerked his head up to look at it before it swiveled around reflexively to look behind him and out the window.
There - in the sky - was a circular-shaped aircraft that was hovering dauntingly right over the skyscrapers of Manhattan.
The blood drained from Peter's face as he stared at it for a split second. Was that- it couldn't be, but- was that a spaceship?
He couldn't tear his eyes away as he blindly reached for Ned in the other seat, intending on tapping him on the shoulder but he instead ended up patting him on the head.
"Ned, hey. I need you to cause a distraction." Ned turned in his seat to look back at him, and Peter could see the exact moment that Ned saw the danger from the obvious widening of his eyes.
"Holy shit! We're all going to die!" Ned exclaimed as he got up from his seat, standing up in the bus aisle and making his way toward the back window. "There's a spaceship!"
Exclaimations from their classmates broke out around them as they followed Ned's example - turning and gawking out the windows in utter disbelief that this was happening… again.
Peter was certain of what he knew was on all of their minds - would New York survive another alien attack? He wasn't sure… but Peter would do his damn hardest in making sure to fight back whatever came through that ship.
For the first time since she left, Peter found himself glad that Mary Jane was currently out of the country, where he wouldn't have to worry about her safety. Her face popped into his mind, smiling wide and sweet… and her words suddenly came to mind, where she had asked him once on if he would've fought in the battle of New York alongside the other Avengers if he could at the time. His answer then had been yes without hesitation.
Now was the time to prove that.
With everyone distracted - courtesy of Ned Leeds - Peter scrambled for his web shooters in his backpack, attached them to his wrists, and shot a web at the emergany exit window. He prayed that no one noticed his retreat from the bus as he crawled through the tiny opening.
He could hear the nervous chatter from his classmates as he clung to the side of the bus, donning his spider-mask before he reached in to grab his backpack that he had left behind on the seat.
Then, he launched himself off of the bus, over the ledge of the bridge so that he was free-falling toward the dark waters of the river below. He immediately shot a web, not wanting to spare a moment to the thrills of submitting his will to gravity. His web clung to the bottom of the bridge, and Peter launched himself forward into a flip that helped with his momentum.
His full attention was hyper-focused on that spaceship…
…..
Peter had arrived in Central Park just in time. There was a big alien dude who kinda looked like an orc from the 'Lord of the Rings' - only on steroids. The alien was chasing Mr. Stark in his Iron Man suit, and Peter was glad to see him - already on the case. But Peter watched from his distant vantage point in the sky as the alien knocked Mr. Stark out of the air with a swing of his large hammer. Mr. Stark slammed to the ground and bounced off of the grass from the impact. Peter pushed himself harder - needing to get there in time.
Mr. Stark hadn't even turned on the ground yet to face the attack as the alien towering over him swung his hammer back in what looked to be a death-blow and- Peter jumped in front of the hammer, using all his strength to be the barrier between it and Mr. Stark as he stopped the momentum of the swing with his arms.
His efforts were effective. A beam of pride burst out of him and he could hear it in his voice as he spoke. "Hey, man. What's up, Mr. Stark?"
Mr. Stark fully turned onto his back, his voice sounded surprised at seeing him there as Peter still held his own against the increasing pressure that the alien was putting on the hammer pushing against Peter's hold. "Kid, where'd you come from?"
Peter peaked back at Mr. Stark in order to respond - which was a mistake because as he responded, the alien reached around the hammer and picked Peter up with one beefy hand and tossed him as though he were nothing. "Feild trip to MoMA!" He cried as he flung through the air. He landed in a tumble on the concrete ground by the water fountain.
But he at least held to be a useful distraction, as Mr. Stark was back on his feet, shooting blasts from his reactors at the alien. Peter followed his example and jumped to his feet, shooting multiple webs out of his wrists that attached to nearby trees. He used the tethering pull of his webs in order to launch him back into the fight. "What's this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?"
He was nearing the alien again as Mr. Stark did his best to dodge attacks while trying to make purchase with his own. "He's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard…"
From there it was all a blur for Peter, as the next sequence of events happened so quickly that they managed to merge together in his memory.
….
"Kid, that's the wizard! Get on it."
….
"Mr. Stark? I'm being beamed up."
"Hang on, Kid."
….
"Pete, you gotta let go. I'm gonna catch you."
"But you said save the wizard!"
…
Admittedly, a lot of the fuzziness of his memory could be accounted from the lack of oxygen he had while he was attached to the side of a space-ship that was hurtling toward outer space. Somewhere along the way, he had torn off his mask in order to better try and suck in as much air as he could.
…
"I can't breathe!"
"You're too high up. You're running out of air."
…..
That was when the darkness had found him as he fell back, letting gravity claim him once again - right at the same moment something had slammed into him, coating his body in an instant while forcefully pumping copious amounts of oxygen into his lungs. He had been alert in an instant. And he had been so shocked by his predicament as he tried to reclaim his bearings while he landed in a pose on the ship, that he may have blurted out something stupid about the new suit smelling like a new car.
But Mr. Stark had been far from amused. Instead, he had simply replied, "Happy trails, Kid. F.R.I.D.A.Y. send him home."
"Yup." Had been F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s simple response before a large parachute had extended from his new suit, forcing Peter to detach from the ship that he had been clinging to as it attempted to send Peter spiraling back to Earth.
But it hadn't been successful… Peter had managed to reach out a hand that stuck to the underside of the ship, the parachute being no match against his super-strength. From there, he had found his way to an airlock that he had crawled inside of before the ship had the chance to leave earth's atmosphere.
As the airlock closed around him, Peter gazed out at planet Earth… so beautiful from his vantage point in space with it's white clouds and complimentary colors of blue and green.
And it was with only just a sliver in the doorway left to the view, was when he caught sight of Italy…
"Oh my God. I should have stayed on the bus."
…..
Peter crawled on the ceiling of the ship - as he watched Mr. Stark warily while the man scoped out the situation with the wizard and the alien below from his high vantage point.
Damn it all to hell… how exactly was he supposed to even begin to explain his presence to him? Peter sucked in a breath. It was best to just get the big reveal out of the way so that they can just skip to the part of Peter helping out rather than them wasting precious and valuable time.
Peter saw his moment when the wizard's red levetating cloak hovered close to Mr. Stark and tapped the older man on the shoulder. Mr. Stark jerked at the movement and turned a threatening palm up in instinct at the magical fabric. He sighed when he realized that there was no threat. "Wow, you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?"
"Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty…" Peter spoke up as he lowered himself on a webline upside down .
"What the-" Tony turned on him, his face a mixture of disbelief and anger as he registered Peter's presence.
Peter dropped from the webline in a flip, landing on his feet as his mask retracted - which was an awesome feature - revealing his face to better try his chance at appeasement. He held up his hands in a placating manner, "I know what you're going to say-"
"You should not be here." Tony hissed.
"I was gonna go home-"
"I don't want to hear it."
"But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way-"
"And now I gotta hear it!" Tony interjected, his voice and expression exasperated. Peter continued as though he hadn't heard him.
"-and I kinda stuck to the side of the ship. And this suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So if anything, it's kinda your fault that I'm here."
Mr. Stark's eyes snapped to his, a fire inflamed in them as he took a threatening step forward, furious, "What did you just say?"
Peter held his hands up, immediately trying to mollify once again. "I take that back. And now I'm here in space."
"Yeah," Mr. Stark said forcefully as he closed the distance between them, his face so ridiculously close to his that Peter had to fight the urge to step back. He swallowed thickly as he listened to Mr. Stark's words. "Right where I don't want you to be. This isn't Coney Island. This isn't a field trip. It's a one-way ticket. You hear me? Don't pretend like you thought this through. You could not have possibly thought this through."
"No. I did think this through!" Peter tried to interject, but Mr. Stark was not hearing it as he repeated himself.
"You could not have possibly thought this through!"
"You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man when there's no neighborhood!" Peter blurted out without thinking. They both paused as Mr. Stark stared at him in dumbfounded disbelief. He suddenly felt very stupid and tried to back-peddle a bit. "Okay. That didn't really make any sense, but you know what I'm trying to say."
Mr. Stark's eyes shifted to stare at nothing over Peter's head as he mulled over his words, weighing them in his mind. Peter could see the exact moment that Mr. Stark accepted his explanation - though Peter knew that he was only doing so because he really had no other choice. Peter was here to stay. There were no take-backs on this decision, which was daunting enough to consider without him thinking too deeply on the subject matter… which he admittedly was avoiding doing.
Finally, Mr. Stark sighed and met Peter's gaze. "Come on. We got a situation. See him down there?" Mr. Stark asked, leading Peter toward the edge of the balcony and pointing down at the wizard that Peter had previously attempted to rescue. The wizard looked to be in some sort of magical acupuncture trap that the alien was using to cause painful lacerations in his cheek. Peter crouched down low to the ground to get a better view of the situation. "He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go."
"Um…" Peter brightened as an idea popped into his head, he stood and turned excitedly toward Mr. Stark. "Okay. Okay… uh… did you ever see that really old movie, 'Aliens'?"
….
Her plane had just landed in Rome. And as soon as the wheels stopped turning and the fasten seatbelts sign turned off, Mary Jane went into her phone and turned off the airplane mode. She stared hard at her screen as she waited for her phone to update…
It took only a moment before her screen lit up as it caught up on notifications.
Missed Call: Peter
A beaming smile graced her lips. She knew now that he was for sure going to be alright. During the flight, she had gotten it in her head that maybe she had imagined that he had called her and that he was actually still unconscious from his fight with that Goblin guy. But this alleviated a lot of her fears…
Immediately, she clicked on the notification to return his call - damn the consequeses of roaming charges - because more than anything, she wanted to hear his voice.
But his phone didn't even ring once. Instead it went straight to his voicemail box.
"Hi, this is Peter. What is the statistical probability that I missed your call, right? Well, I did the math and the answer to that is 86.4%. You can feel free to leave a message but there is a 43.8% favorability rating that I will be more likely to respond if you text me instead. Bye!"
Mary Jane frowned at the message, which she would normally find endearing if she wasn't so worried. The voicemail beeped and she began to leave her message. "Hi Peter, this is MJ. Looks like we're playing phone tag - so, tag, you're it. I just landed in Italy, so call me back any time - day or night. I just…" Mary Jane bit her lip, hesitating, "I just want to talk to you."
She pulled the phone away from her ear and ended the call. Then, to make sure that everything was totally in her favor, she pulled up a text message on her screen.
Mary Jane: Just sending this text so that the statisical probability of you calling me back is 100%.
She pressed send. But immediately the text message was marked with an angry red bubble stating, 'Not Delivered'.
Not Delivered…
Not Delivered…
Not Delivered…
It swarmed in Mary Jane's mind - those two words - as she tried to make sense of them. Did… Did Peter block her number? No… No, if that were the case, she wouldn't have been able to reach his voicemail box to begin with.
So it must be a connection error on her part? Since she was out of the country and in Italy currently? Maybe once she got onto the hotel wifi network she could try again.
She had her heart set on this idea as she vacated the plane and was met by a chauffeur driver at the gate - who escorted her to one of Rome's ritzier hotels. On the car ride over, she managed to get a hold of her Aunt Anna to tell her that she had landed in Italy safely. Tomorrow, a car would collect her to drive her to Venice where she would spend the remainder of the week on her photoshoot until her flight to Paris on Friday - where Peter would hopefully be joining her.
But when she finally settled into the hotel and connected to the complimentary wifi, she tried her hand at sending the message to Peter once again and-
'Not Delivered'
…..
Saving Doctor Strange was easier than they had originally anticipated. As per usual, he and Mr. Stark worked really well as a team - at least, Peter couldn't help but think so. But he couldn't stop thinking about what was discussed after they had rescued the Strange wizard guy.
"We've gotta turn this ship around," The wizard panted as he stood up painfully from sit seat near the floor, his levetating cloak immediately made itself at home on his shoulders.
Mr. Stark rolled his eyes as he walked past the man. "Yeah. Now he wants to run," He had bit out sarcastically, making Peter wonder exactly what context he was missing. Did Mr. Stark and the wizard meet before? "Great Plan."
The wizard walked after Mr. Stark's brisk pace until Mr. Stark was standing in front of the large window that showed space hurtling past them at the speed of light.
"No, I want to protect the stone," The wizard argued as he stopped a distance away from Mr. Stark.
"And I want you to thank me," Mr. Stark said bitterly, "Go ahead. I'm listening."
"For what? Nearly blasting me into space?"
Mr. Stark stopped his pacing as he turned on the wizard on a dime. "Who just saved your magical ass? Me."
Peter had to bite his tongue as he watched the argument ensue. Mr. Stark wasn't the only one who had saved the wizard. It had been Peter's idea, after all. But he felt that his commentary on the matter wouldn't win him any favors with Mr. Stark who was already seriously upset with him.
"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet," The wizard mused with a shake of his head.
"Admit it. You should have ducked out when I told you to," Mr. Stark bit back as he began to pace in front of the large window once again, "I tried to bench you. You refused."
"Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you." The wizard retorted, a bit of smugness touching the tone of his voice.
Mr. Stark stopped his pacing as he continued as though the wizard hadn't said anything at all. "And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut billions of miles away from Earth with no backup."
Peter raised his hand immediately. "I'm backup," He supplied, stupidly. Mr. Stark's ire shifted over to him.
"No. You're a stowaway." Mr. Stark bit out forcefully as he pointed an accusing finger at Peter. "The adults are talking."
"I'm sorry, I'm confused as to the relationship here," The wizard interjected, "What is he, your ward?"
"No." Peter said slowly before he reached out his hand in a delayed reaction of a handshake toward the wizard. "I'm Peter, by the way."
But the man didn't grasp his hand. He merely glanced back at him and away from Mr. Stark. "Doctor Strange."
"Oh we're using our made-up names," Peter said as he pulled his hand back from the lack of handshake and straightened his stance. "Um…I'm Spider-Man, then."
The wizard gave him a long look before he turned and strode toward where Mr. Stark was standing. They were both ignoring him. And for some reason, this bothered him more than usual.
"This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot." Mr. Stark said to Doctor Strange as the man approached. Peter followed slowly behind him, watching the two powerful and daunting men discuss matters without seemingly needing his input.
"Can we control it?" Doctor Strange asked, "Fly us home?"
Mr. Stark turned away from him, avoiding eye contact.
"Stark?" Doctor Strange pressed, his tone dubious.
"Yeah." Mr. Stark replied, shifty and weird as he avoided both of their gazes.
"Can you get us home?" Doctor Strange asked again.
"Yeah I heard you. I'm thinking…I'm not so sure we should."
Peter blinked, and nearly stumbled back a step.
"Under no circumstance can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here."
"No. It's you who doesn't understand. Thanos has been inside my head for six years… Since he sent an army to New York and now he's back! And I don't know what to do. So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his but you saw what they did, what he can do. At least on his turf, he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him. Doctor. Do you concur?"
There was a pause as the two men stared each other down. The tension in the room so thick that it could be cut with a knife.
"Alright, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand….if it comes to saving you or the kid or the Time Stone… I will not hesitate to let either of you die. I can't, because the fate of the universe depends on it."
Bile rose to Peter's throat as he listened to these words. And he took them to heart. If he messed up, there was a chance that Doctor Strange would betray them or leave them to die. They would have to plan accordingly to that if he could even begin to hope that he and Mr. Stark would survive this and find a way home.
"Good. Nice. Moral compass…We're straight." Then, Mr. Stark turned to Peter and approached him, he put his outstretched arm on either shoulder, emulating a knighting ceremony. "Alright, Kid. You're an Avenger now."
Peter looked on at Mr. Stark in utter disbelief as the man briskly walked past him. Then Peter stared at nothing ahead of him for what felt like the longest moment. Him? An Avenger? It was a dream of his once upon a time - one that he had previously turned down. But before… it had felt unearned. There was so much that he felt that he had to figure out first- to learn. But now? Now the moment felt right. He was doing this for the right reasons. Not for fame. Not for glory. But because it was the right thing to do. It was his responsibility.
He couldn't help but think that Uncle Ben would be proud.
A smile found its way to his lips as he nodded in satisfaction.
These thoughts swirled around in his head as he stood in front of a large window, staring out at the vastness of outerspace as it passed the ship by. Never before had he thought that he would be in space, let alone traveling the universe. On one hand, it was a dream come true. The nerdy side of him marveled at the new perspective of the stars as well as the undiscovered planets as they zipped by. A stray thought couldn't help entering his mind as he wondered how many of those planets were inhabited. But there was another part of him that was incredibly scared. Everything that he was seeing, it made him feel so terribly small and insignificant. There was also an ever-present dull spider-tingle in the back of his mind that told him that they were headed toward looming danger, so it was near impossible for him to relax. He knew that he should be taking this time to sleep before what could be a destructive battle, but Peter didn't think that he could… Doctor Strange didn't seem to have the same issue - as he was currently levitating in a corner with a peaceful expression on his face. Peter couldn't help but envy him.
The scrape of footsteps behind him alerted him to Mr. Stark's approach. Peter kept his eyes on the window, his gaze still searching the endless stars as though they held all of the answers to his endless barrage of questions. He didn't think that he could look Mr. Stark in the eye yet… unsure if the man was still upset with him.
He heard Mr. Stark sigh deeply as he stopped right beside Peter, turning his own gaze outward to space. "You alright, Kid?"
His tone was soft. Careful. Almost apologetic. Peter nodded slowly, still not looking at him.
"Yeah… I just- we're really in outer space, aren't we?"
From his peripheral vision, Peter could see Mr. Stark nod. "On a space ship, too."
The ridiculousness of their current predicament suddenly hit him and Peter couldn't help but sputter. "On a space ship." He threw his arms up in utter disbelief as he finally turned to face Mr. Stark. "How did this even happen?"
Mr. Stark had dark circles under his eyes as he turned them to look warily back at Peter. "I did try to send you back…" He said in a quiet voice, which held both a warning and regret.
Peter rolled his eyes and scoffed. "And you were the one that asked if you could call me in because you felt like something was going to happen."
Mr Stark turned his whole body toward Peter now. He could tell that his words had bothered the man - enough to cause a spark of fire in his gaze. "I didn't think that meant that we would be hurtling through space toward a distant planet! Maybe… maybe I should have turned the ship around."
There was a part of Peter that was tempted to agree with him. The part that was selfish and wanted to be home with his family and friends. But he knew that was wrong… this was his responsibility. This was why he donned the mask.
"No. you were right," Peter sighed as he hung his head, "We need the element of surprise."
"At what cost? At the expense of you?" Mr. Stark closed his eyes and ran his thumb and forefinger over his closed lids. "Seems like too steep a price to pay…"
Peter's throat tightened as he tried to swallow. It took him a beat in order to work through the emotion in order to respond. "You said yourself that this Thanos guy mentally stalked you for six years, Mr. Stark. Giving you visions? Something tells me that he won't stop unless we force him."
Mr. Stark let his hand fall from his eyes as they snapped open to level Peter with a stare. "But what about May? Your friends?" He paused. "What about Mary Jane Watson?"
Peter winced. His eyes pricked as he turned to look back out to the vastness of outer space. It was easier to face that than the expression on Mr. Stark's face right then. "...I won't deny that there is a lot of regret there. With May and Ned and Harry… and especially Mary Jane." Peter let out a shaky release of breath as his head fell forward so that his chin was nearly resting on his torso. The boots of his new suit suddenly looked really interesting. "Now I wish that I had listened to you before and told her sooner how I felt."
He could feel Mr. Stark hesitate next to him, the air between them weighted with his unspoken words - which Peter was sure to be another scolding.
"I had a conversation on the phone with her," Mr. Stark admitted out of seemingly nowhere.
It took a split-second for the words to register in his mind before Peter's head turned sharply in Mr. Stark's direction. "What? When?"
Tony scratched the back of his head awkwardly, now seeming to be the one that had difficulty keeping eye contact with him. "When you were unconscious. After the fight with that Goblin guy. She said more than just asked for you to call her back. It was actually a pretty lengthy conversation."
Peter waited but when Tony didn't elaborate further, he pressed the issue.
"Well?" He asked, a bubbling sensation of excitement burst forth in his chest. "What'd you talk about?"
Mr. Stark seemed to be mulling over how he wanted to phrase his words and Peter tried to force himself to remain patient. But he was soon to be disappointed.
"...No." Mr. Stark mused. "I changed my mind. I think I'll keep a sunny disposition on our circumstances here and not tell you a single thing."
Peter nearly staggered a step back at the whiplash this statement caused him. "But-"
"I'm choosing to remain hopeful that you'll get to have this conversation with her yourself. Don't ruin that for me, Kid."
Peter could only stare at Mr. Stark for a whole minute as the conversation caught up in his mind, and when it did, he threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. "But- that's just not fair! You told me this much and then decide to leave me hanging?"
Mr. Stark finally met his gaze fully and it was with a distinct twinkle of mischief in his eyes as he laughed at him. "What can I say? I'm a douchebag. At least according to the rags that call themselves the media. Oh yeah, and General Ross. You can call me that too, but it still won't loosen my lips."
Peter rolled his eyes and pushed at his shoulder so that the older man had to stumble back a step. "You're not a douchebag… just- completely unfair!"
Mr. Stark merely chuckled in response as he took the onslaught from Peter with grace. They both settled down a bit after that and turned to look back out to space. Both fell deep in their thoughts as the distraction of their conversation abandoned swirled through his mind - Mary Jane waiting for him in Paris, only for him to not show up. Aunt May waiting for him to come home from school, only for him to not walk through their apartment door. Harry and Ned texting him, only to never get any response… All of it made it feel like he had swallowed a large rock and it had settled uncomfortably deep in his stomach.
Nearly fifteen minutes had passed without either of them saying a word. Until, finally, Peter parted his lips to speak. "…Do you really think something bad could happen, Mr. Stark?"
Mr. Stark swallowed, and he didn't answer for a long time as he continued looking out toward space. Peter was almost convinced that Mr. Stark hadn't heard him when he finally responded. "I think that we would be stupid if we didn't mentally prepare ourselves for the worst."
It was sound advice. Prepare for the worst so that they could potentially have a more favorable outcome. But Peter was unsure of how to even begin to prepare himself for something on such a grand scale as this. This was the entire universe he was aiming to protect, for fucks sake! But still… Peter nodded gravely. There were no more words to say from either of them for a long time after that.
…..
Time blurred again… Peter lost entirely in his own thoughts, thinking of Aunt May, Ned, Harry… Mary Jane. Until it finally struck him how selish he was not to ask Mr. Stark about Pepper and the potential that he would never see her again, let alone get married - not to mention Happy, Rhodey, or the other Avengers. Would Tony ever be able to make amends with Captain America? More importantly, would they ever set foot on the planet Earth again?
"I think we're here. I don't think this rig has a self-park function," Tony had said as he rushed over to the front of the ship, all while barking orders at Peter that he tried his best to diligently follow. "Get your hand into this steering gimbal. Close those around it. You understand?"
After that, they crash-landed onto the barren planet below, the only thing saving them was the force-feild that Doctor Strange had cast around the ship.
"Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something…And I end up eating you, I'm sorry."
"I don't wanna hear another single pop culture out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?"
"I'm trying to say that something is coming."
From there, everything went crazy. A grenade had rolled into their informal triangle and all three of them jumped back. Panic clenched at his chest as he saw aliens appear in the doorway of the broken ship.
"Thanos!" One yelled with knifes in its hands, but was quickly subdued by Doctor Strange's cloak.
A female alien was in front of Peter, with antennae coming out of her head, wearing a green and black jumpsuit. Peter was nearly hypervenalating with desperation as he crawled backward on the floor away from her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Please don't put your eggs in me!"
Peter shot webs at the female alien's arms, locking them to her body, but then an unseen force kicked him down from the side. "Stay down, clown."
Peter didn't stay down. The fight continued to ensue, and Peter could honestly say that it was the most peculiar fight he has ever been in… with aliens and magic.
"Die, blanket of death!"
The fight was so strange, that it didn't surprise him that it didn't take long to come to an impasse… with him ending up in a headlock by the alien that Peter perceived to be the leader. And Mr. Stark standing over the big alien with the knifes, pointing his arm thruster at him threateningly.
"Everybody stay where you are. Chill the F out." The voice spoke from behind him. "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where's Gamora?"
"Yeah, I'll do you one better," Mr., Stark bit back, "Who's Gamora?"
"I'll do you one better!" The big alien yelled from the ground, "Why is Gamora?"
"Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you," The leader said from above Peter as a blasting gun was put to his head. "I'm gonna french fry this little freak.
"Let's do it!" Mr. Stark snarled fiercely as he extended his nanotech gun, "You shoot my guy, I blast him. Let's go!"
"Do it, Quill!" The big alien said in a calm tone, "I can take it."
"No, he can't take it!" The female alien cried with an edge of panic in her voice.
"She's right. You can't." Doctor Strange said pointedly.
"Oh yeah?" The leader hissed from behind Peter, "You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all three of you and beat it out of Thanos myself." The name struck a cord in Peter. Thanos? He was speaking of beating Thanos? But Peter didn't have time to voice this question aloud as the hold on his neck tightened as the alien hissed close to his ear, "Starting with you."
From there, they came to find that everything was a complete misunderstanding. The man that held Peter was actually from earth, and was also named Peter - Peter Quill. And with him were aliens, but they were good aliens that have apparently saved the universe multiple times. But most importantly, they seemed to have a vendetta against Thanos as well… which meant that their numbers in this crusade of theirs had just doubled.
….
"I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict."
"How many did you see?"
"14,000,605."
"How many did we win?"
"...One."
….
One.
According to Doctor Strange, they only had one chance to get all of this right. To beat Thanos. To survive. To go home. See loved ones. They only had one shot… and Peter wasn't about to waste it. He was going to fight with everything that he had. He was going to follow every instruction he was given of what to do and when to do it. Because Doctor Strange had the advantage of knowing the future here… they would be foolish not to follow his guidance and direction.
So, when Doctor Strange told them to hide, stating that Thanos was on his way, they hid. And when he told them not to act until he gave the signal, they obeyed. As a result, Peter was subjected to listen to the morbidly fascinating conversation that took place between Doctor Strange and Thanos when the Titan had arrived through a portal.
In a sadistic sort of way, Peter could understand Thanos' motivations. But he couldn't help but think that the Mad Titan miscalculated on the replenishment of resources without the aid of the workers bringing those resources to fruition. What would happen if he snapped away nearly all of the farmers? The fishermen? Would getting rid of half of life in the universe include earth's animals - arguably a large part of earth's 'resources'?
And what if people were snapped away while doing something crucial? Like flying a plane - which would then crash and kill the survivors of the snap?
Also, Peter knew for a fact that majority of the universe did not know that the potential for the snap even existed… Due to that, what would happen if the snap were to occur? There was bound to be panic - which generally leads to riots, looting, burning…
Finally, the global economy wouldn't just crash… it would be catastrophically bad for whoever was left behind. Production on everything would basically shut down at least for the first year. The supply chain would sever - not being able to deliver any of the precious resources that Thanos was trying to protect… his plan wouldn't just kill half of the universe's population. It would kill far more than that.
But he hadn't been able to point any of this out to the genocidal maniac - not when he had been too busy trying to kill them.
The fight that had ensued was a whirlwind. Peter fought through magical portals. Drax was doing his best to slice through Thanos' skin with his knives. Iron Man was shooting missles. Doctor Strange's cloak was enclosed around Thanos' gauntlet - trying to keep his fist pried open so that he couldn't utilize any of the stones. That had only lasted a few minutes before Thanos had torn the cloak off and batted it away as though it were nothing but a fly. But then Star Lord had managed to get a bomb attached to Thanos' back before he escaped through a magical portal, the ensuing explosion hadn't even made a scratch as Thanos used his gauntlet to absorb the fire from the explosion - redirecting it to shoot out at Mr. Stark in a blast.
Peter's throat seemed to have dropped to his stomach as Iron Man was blasted into the sky. He craned his neck to try and see if Mr. Stark was alright… but everything so going so fast. It was disorienting to his senses
Then, a new ship arrived, crash-landing on the atmosphere. And a new, blue alien appeared with what looked to have a body that was half mechanical. An alien cyborg? Thanos seemed to know her as she said to him, "You should have kiled me!"
To which, he had screamed in return, "It would've been a waste of parts!"
She ended up being another one that was looking for this 'Gamora' person. But Thanos had immediately cast the cyborg aside by using one of the stones.
Doctor Strange then cast a spell of magical tethers that latched onto the gauntlet. Thanos tried to use his other hand to pry the magical ropes away but Star Lord shot an electrical magnet onto the ground beside him, securing his other hand to the ground with its energy. Peter swung in then, wrapping a healthy dose of webbing around the Mad Titan just before Doctor Strange opened a magical portal above Thanos - which Mantis dropped out of, landing on Thanos' shoulders. She started to use her gift on him, by putting her hands on his temples and putting Thanos to sleep. It had worked! Their plan had worked!
"Is he under?" Mr. Stark asked as he tugged at the gauntlet wrapped tightly around Thanos' hand. "Don't let up."
"Be quick…" Mantis gasped, tears in her eyes. It was clear that she was in a great deal of pain. "He is very strong!"
"Parker, help! Get over here." Peter tethered his webline to the ground, securing it, before he let go and went to join Mr. Stark in trying to extract the gauntlet from the Titan's large fist. "She can't hold him much longer. Let's go. We gotta open his fingers to get it off!"
They both started to desperately tug at the gauntlet with all of their might.
And they had been successful… for only about half a second.
Star Lord had lost his cool and hit Thanos across the face after the Mad Titan admitted to killing Gamora - the action had jostled Mantis and Thanos had regained his full consciousness.
After that, everything fell apart. Their perfectly meticulous plan laid to ruin. Thanos had gotten his gauntlet back. And it boiled down to the point where Mr. Stark nearly lost his life to the Mad Titan after getting stabbed by the giant.
But in an unforeseen turn of events, Doctor Strange had decided to trade the Time Stone for Mr. Stark's life… and before Peter even knew what was happening, Thanos had disappeared.
…
"Mr. Stark! Oh God, Mr. Stark!" Peter cried as he ran up to the man that was sitting on his knees, almost broken if not for the nano technology that he had used to seal the wound to patch himself up. Peter had tears in his eyes as he fell to his knees next to his mentor… his friend. His hands hovered uselessly over Mr. Stark's body, not sure what it was that he could do to help the man's injuries. But Mr. Stark merely shook his head at Peter and gave him a wane smile.
"I'm alright, Kid… It would take a lot more than a stab wound to get rid of me. You really think that I would go out in a way that was that anticlimatic?"
Peter released a short bark of a laugh through his tears, relieved beyond measure as he launched forward to latch his arms around Mr. Stark's shoulders, trying his best to avoid touching the area of his injury. "You call that anticlimatic? Getting stabbed by an alien Mad Titan?"
Mr. Stark was quiet for a long moment, but Peter couldn't fathom the idea of letting him go for a second in order to see his expression. "Well… when you put it that way."
…..
Mary Jane had been picked up from her hotel in Rome by a sleek black car. The driver was a middle-aged Italian man that had introduced himself as Marcus. His English was immaculate as he told her in a thick accent that they were already behind schedule in a brisk tone of voice. Mary Jane scrambled to follow the unspoken command that she hurry her pace as he helped her to put her suitcases into the trunk of the car. And it wasn't long before they were on the road to Venice.
While in the car, she tried Peter's phone once again… the niggling of worry that she had only grew when she got his voicemail once again. She bit her lip and debated on what to do. She couldn't help but think that something was seriously wrong here. She could feel it like it was a blaring warning sign placed directly in the forefront of her mind.
Hours passed while in the car. Marcus was on the phone, speaking in rushed Italian that she didn't understand for nearly the entire trip. Mary Jane could only sit there and fidget as she tried to focus her attention on the passing scenery of Italy through her car window. It was beautiful. But she found that she wasn't in the right frame of mind to appreciate it.
Did she make a mistake coming here? If she were home right now, then she only had to go next door in order to check on Peter. But now? All that she could do was sit and wonder…
Four hours had passed when an idea struck her. She pulled out her phone and texted her Aunt Anna, asking for May Parker's cell number. If Peter couldn't answer his phone now, then surely she could call May out of concern?
She put her phone away and waited for the text response to come.
Another hour passed with no , finally, Marcus hung up the phone and looked at Mary Jane through the rearview mirror. "We are nearly there."
Mary Jane nodded, nerves shot through her as the rough way that he said this set her on edge. She bit her lip and bounced her right knee incessantly while her hands closed into fists by her sides, the whites of her knuckles showing through the strain.
…
Peter wasn't sure how much time had passed… there was really no way for him to count the minutes or the seconds… but it felt like hours as he sat by Mr. Stark's side, trying to make sure he was recovered enough to be able to stand on his own.
Everyone was so quiet is the face of their defeat. It was clear that Star Lord took it particularly hard. Not only was he grieving the loss of his girlfirend, Gamora, but Peter could tell that he felt responsible for how their fight with Thanos turned out.
Peter wasn't really one to throw out blame, but he wouldn't deny… he and Mr. Stark had nearly gotten the gauntlet off of the Mad Titan. Their victory had been so close that he could taste it.
But then… it had been snatched away. And they were left scrambling, trying to pick up the pieces.
Peter's tears had long since dried as he helped Mr. Stark up to his feet, letting the older man use his body as a crutch for support. He took the time to make sure that Mr. Stark was steady enough on his own.
"Something… is… happening." Mantis said slowly as she looked out vacantly out into the distance, Star Lord by her side. Mr. Stark staggered toward her and away from Peter, watching her with an imploring look on his face.
Then, to Peter's horror, Mantis' body turned to dust, blowing away in the breeze to join the dirt of the barren planet.
He had been too busy staring in utter shock and disbelief at the spot that Mantis had been standing, that he nearly missed Drax when he let out a confused, "Quill…?"
Peter turned his head just in time to see that Drax, too, turned to dust.
There was a quick rasping noise that he could hear echoing in his ears, and his vision tunneled as his eyes shifted to those remaining - finally landing on Mr. Stark as he watched desperately to make sure that he wouldn't just disappear from his sight. It was only a moment later when he realized that the rasping noise was coming from his own lungs. Mr. Stark was staring straight at Star Lord, his gaze shifting with emotion as he said, "Steady, Quill."
Out of the corner of Peter's eye, he could see the exact moment Peter Quill's arms started to turn to ash. He seemed to realize it at the same time too as he looked back at Mr. Stark with an expression akin to wide-eyed fear as he said, "Aw, man…"
Mr. Stark was shaking as he slowly turned his head to look at Doctor Strange, whose gaze was soft and calm in contrast to Mr. Stark's almost manic expression. How Peter currently felt matched Mr. Stark's face perfectly as he watched the exchange between the two men who had been his travel companions from the beginning of their trek through space.
"Tony, there was no other way."
Gone. They were all gone. Peter was hyperventilating as the horror of the situation caught up to him. He felt sick. He felt like throwing up… why was his spider-sense going off? Where was the danger? Peter whipped his head back and forth, looking to the horizon, trying to pinpoint with his eyes if there was any incoming attack.
But there was nothing…
And yet, the distinct tingle at the back of his spine told him that he was in danger. But his spider-sense had never felt like this before. Normally, his spider-sense would pinpoint in his brain exactly where the danger was coming from. But not this time… No. The danger was coming from within his own body. The result left a sensation of needing to protect himself, but not able to do so. The nausea of this foregin feeling twisted his stomach painfully as he instinctively clutched tightly around his abdomen. Tears welled in his eyes as he felt a pain that he had never felt before - not even his transformation from the spider-bite had been this excrusiating.
"M-Mr. Stark?" Peter called out desperately as he staggered closer to the man. Mr. Stark turned toward him, he watched Peter with wide eyes, his entire form shaking. "I don't feel so good…"
Peter looked down at his arms, feeling an almost crawling sensation of fire creep down his limbs. Then he stumbled slightly before he caught himself on his feet. He looked up, searching Mr. Stark's eyes, hoping that he had the answers for what could help him.
Mr. Stark blinked once at him, he held up a trembling arm, forcing out in a calm voice, "You're alright."
No. Peter could tell… he was in denial. Mr. Stark was saying the words out loud in order to try and make them real.
Peter took another step and stumbled again. "I don't know what's – I don't know what's happening. I don't–" Peter fell forward the couple of steps into Mr. Starks arms. He clutched onto his body tight, with nearly all of the strength that he possessed left. Wracking sobs heaved out of his chest as he clawed desperately at Mr. Stark's back."Save me, save me! I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, Mr. Stark, please. Please."
Through the thick tears in his eyes, he could see the dust starting the float away from his arms. Panic welled up in him, his spider-sense tingling painfully like a ringing bell incessantly through his every nerve ending. "I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go…"
Mr. Stark fell forward, so that Peter landed in a thud on his back on the hard ground. Mr. Stark's eyes roamed his face painfully, his quizzical mind - even now - trying to find a way to stop this.
He would blame himself… Peter knew it. Mr. Stark wouldn't be able to live in peace with what happened today.
With what was about to happen to Peter…
But Peter didn't want Mr. Stark to dwell. It wasn't his fault. They had done all that they could, but in the end, Peter would always be drawing the short stick when it came to luck. Of course the stones would choose him. It was so clear to Peter that it was really was nothing that Mr. Stark could have done.
Peter swallowed, thick, as the pain in his body started to dull into a mellow hum. He looked Mr. Stark in the eye, his gaze imploring. He knew that whatever it was that he had to say to his mentor - his friend - none of it would do any good. Mr. Stark would still shoulder Peter's death for the rest of his life.
So, Peter said the only thing that would count…
"I'm sorry…"
The pain finally ended as the darkness encompassed him in its cold embrace.
…
Mary Jane was screaming, though it was muffled by the fingers that covered her mouth. She was clawing and kicking at the pawing hands that were reaching for her, trying her best to escape.
Marcus had just announced their arrival only moment before as he had pulled the car into what looked like an abandoned garage. Mary Jane had looked out of the window in confusion as Marcus put the car into park. "Where are we-"
But she hadn't really been able to finish her question. Because in the next moment, both car doors on either side of her was forced open from the outside. Men in black, ski masks had strong-armed her out of the car as she shrieked in distress and fear.
They had managed to tie a rope around her arms that had been forcibly jerked behind her back, but they had yet to tie down her legs. She kicked at anything that dared to come close to her. This wasn't how Mary Jane Watson's tale was going to end… not by a longshot. A shot of adrenaline went through her when she managed to make purchase on one of the men's shins with a hard kick that had him staggering back - when a blindfold from behind suddenly covered her vision.
"NO! Get off me!" She cried as she flailed desperately. "Get off me!"
"Get her in the trunk!" Came an order from a voice that Mary Jane recognized to belong to Marcus.
Strong hands had managed to grasp both of her ankles and started the work of tying a thick rope around them. It chaffed painfully against her skin as he tied the knot too tight. A gag was shoved into her mouth before another piece of cloth was tied over it. But still, she continued to squim and fight with everything that she had - when a sudden exclamation was heard from one of the men who had been tying the gag behind her. "Wha-What's going on?"
His hold on her disappeared, and Mary Jane was left wondering what was happening. She shifted and tilted her head to the side so that the cloth covering her eyes rubbed against her left shoulder, working at moving the fabric… she managed to lower it a sliver so that her left eye was freed.
"Vinnie!" Another thug cried from her left, then out of the corner of her eye now exposed eye, she watched as the most peculiar thing happened… Enough for her to become distracted enough to stop fighting. And she wasn't the only one. As everyone in the room stopped with the struggle to watch with wide eyes as the man started to disintegrate into dust.
"Marcus, what the hell is going on, man? Vinnie and Paulo-" The voice abruptly cut off as he also turned to dust.
What was happening? Mary Jane couldn't help but wonder as she watched the remaining dust of the man settle onto the concrete floor of the garage. She shifted her eye to some of the other men in the room. There were three remaining.
Was this some sort of divine intervention? Was she being saved?
Hope started to flutter in her chest as she waited for the same fate to happen to the men that dared to lay a hand on her…
That was when a weird sensation took over Mary Jane. It started as a tug at the center of her belly button that was creeping slowly upward toward her chest.
…Something was wrong.
"Knock her out!" The man, Marcus, exclaimed the order. His voice was desperate as he flailed his arms about in the air. "So we don't have to worry about her while we figure out what the fuck is going o-"
His voice cut off as something hard hit the back of Mary Jane's head - and her world instantly went black.
.
.
.
A/N: Wrench - Thrown.
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Thanks so much for reading!
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