Snapshot


Peter smiled, carefree and relaxed. A very soft blanket of snow fell from the dark sky above as he stood on the Tower. Even from such a distance, cheers and shouts sang from below as every street was filled with people from every home all bundled up in thick coats and blankets large enough to cover the family. With his enhanced hearing he could hear songs being sung, children laughing, and if he focused hard enough, with every ounce of his being he could hear a newborn baby being born as the parents laugh in joy.

The moment made him smile. A moment later, a hand landed on his shoulder and he looked back. "Hey."

Tony smiled back and patted his shoulder through his gloves. "Hey, yourself Mister." He handed him a pair of gloves and Peter happily took them.

"Thanks, where are the others?" He asked, slipping them on and letting out a breath as his hands thawed a bit from the cold air.

"Pepper is getting Morgan ready, your friends and Harley are trying to help Happy and May with the dinner, and the others are lounging around doing nothing." He replied, zipping up his thick coat and pulling up his hood. Peter followed his example, the hood covering his ears.

Peter took out a shuddered breath. "Another year, already?! Just felt like the year began. Senior year, college, going out into the real world away from Queens, it's amazing, because deep down I didn't think I would've made it at all."

Tony shrugged. "You would've made it, somehow, but I prefer it this way, that way I can keep an eye on you and Harley."

"You think so low of us, Tony." He said, nudging the man's shoulder.

"Try lower, kid." He retorted back.

They both laughed softly. Tony wrapped his arm around his boy's shoulder, pulling him closer. The snow seemed to freeze in the air, tiny bundles of ice floating side to side, trying to find the way down below.

Peter took a mental image of this moment, his chest light.

"Thank you, Tony." He whispered into the air.

The man looked at him with a curious gaze, but it clicked a moment later, as he smiled back. "You're welcome, kid."

They've gotten better at communicating without words. They've gotten better at a lot of things, things he's gotten a second chance at and they weren't going to waste a second of it.

Tony looked at the city. "We went through a lot these past few years, haven't we?"

His kid nodded in agreement, stuffing his gloved hands into his pockets. "Yeah, bad, but mostly good. Like remember when me and Harley met?"

Tony cringed. Of course, how could he? "Are you trying to jinx the new year right now?"

"No, or how about the time when we all got our acceptance letters to MIT?"

"Yeah, I remember." Tony grinned at the memory.

Peter smiled too, "I felt like I was ready to throw up. It was the most stressful moment in my life."

Tony laughed. "I thought the most stressful moment was when you and May tried to…"

"Don't. Just don't. You promised you wouldn't say anything." The boy whined.

"Alright, alright, I did promise you, didn't I?" Tony responded back, squeezing Peter's shoulder a little tighter.

Peter glanced at his mentor thinking about everything they went through, Thanos, MIT, and just everyday life with the people he has come to accept and claim as his own family, and everyday his makeshift family grows bigger and fonder.

He thanked his mother and father who gave him life, and his Uncle who saved him, who led him standing on top of the Stark Tower with his mentor and father close by with his friends in the room behind him. He had everything he wanted since he was five.

Everything started to come together when he came home.

oOo

Queens was in ruins, buildings that once stood tall and clean were dull and broken, windows boarded up and cracked.

Families were on sidewalks hugging each other, crying, just them in their own separate moments.

When he decided to come back home with Dr. Strange from Wakanda after everything. Titan. Thanos. Mr. Stark. He expected to find May at the apartment, but found a different family instead. He wanted to slip on his suit to get a better angle on his city, but the suit stayed tucked inside his suitcase Shuri lended him. He tugged his flannel closer as he continued to walk past different neighborhoods.

One thing for sure, the people didn't bother picking up trash in the five years he was gone. And everything was just gray, but the sun was shining and crowds were forming as people screamed different names and shouts of glee. He had trouble finding his way through but he managed. His first task was to find May. All he knew was that she was also 'blipped' as they called it and without knowing a way to get into contact even with the advanced knowledge Wakanda provided he had to search for her the old fashion way. There were many places she could be, and just for good measure he went to her favorite Thai place and when that proved fruitless he went down toward Delmar's.

He was surprised to see how much it changed. Looked like he repainted it and the man himself looked older, but that didn't stop him giving him the biggest smiles Peter has ever seen. He had to cut the visit short, explaining his problem to Mr. Delmar.

The man simply shook his head and Peter left with a small bye. He considered going over to the Sanctum, but decided there was one last place he could look.

F.E.A.S.T.

The building has some construction done that was for sure and he walked in. Many people were scrambling around calling for names and struggling to find some sort of order in all the chaos. He asked a lady nearby.

"Ma'am?" She didn't respond. "Ma'am?"

She turned around, brushing away her loose hair. "Hi, how can I help you?"

Peter cleared his throat, glancing at the chaos around him. "Can you help me locate someone. I think she might have come here."

He slumped in relief when the lady gave him a smile. "Of course! Do you have a picture? That would be very helpful. Oh! And a name, too. Silly me."

Peter just smiled. He liked this lady. "Uh, I don't have a photo but her name is May Parker. Heard of her?"

The lady looked down. "May Parker, May Parker… would she happen to have long red-brown hair, glasses…?"

"Yeah, she used to work here before…" He gestured to the chaos behind him. "All of this."

"Oh! Yes! She came in about a few days ago, she volunteered not long after. She should still be in the building unless Martin decided to send her on errands."

He smiled and gave his thanks. "Thank you so much, do you know where I can find him?"

"I can take you to him if that works." She asked.

"Ma'am that works just fine." He said, following behind her. They had to stop a couple of times, aiding the other workers and Peter found himself helping get more beds set up and actually arranging where to put them. The lady was called Claire and she was full of energy and Peter found himself enjoying working with her.

When they did manage to find Mr. Li explained his predicament again to the man and waited with baited breath.

"Oh, well we can't have that. She's in the kitchen making lunch. Get there quick enough and you'll catch her!"

"Thank you sir! I appreciate this!" He yelled as he took off.

"The kitchen is downstairs to the left down the hallway, you can't miss it!" Mr. Li called out.

Good thing he did, because he had no idea where the kitchen was. He ran past people getting a few sharp gasps and yelps but he ignored them for later.

He slid to a stop looking at a woman who's back was turned toward him, but he didn't need her to turn around to know that it was her.

"May!" He called.

The reaction was immediate as she turned around. When she made contact she dropped her plate of sandwiches.

"Peter!"

He ran pulling her close as they embraced each other. "Oh May, I went to the apartment and you weren't there and then I checked the places I thought you went but didn't find you, but you're here."

He pulled away, put still in her arms as they smiled at each other. "You're okay, right? You're okay?"

She carded her hand into his hair. "I'm okay. It was you I was worried about. I was watching the news of that spaceship and heard you went after it and then I opened my eyes and there was a family just staring at me. I looked for you and when I couldn't I decided if we were going to find each other I had to quit moving around." She laughed. "So I came here. And now here you are!"

They hugged each other again.

"Where were you?" His aunt asked.

"Uhhh, maybe later." He winced. "I'll tell you when things settle down a little bit."

So for the next few weeks they became a regular presence in F.E.A.S.T and they made a name for themselves. At night, they had a corner of the building to sleep in and he explained everything he could. About Titan, then the battle at the Compound, and how Mr. Stark saved everyone. He told her about how Shuri and Dr. Strange saved Mr. Stark's life and how he was recovering from surgery. It was a crowded and eventful few weeks, but when the government finally stepped in and helped, things started to calm down enough for the two to decide what to do next.

Apparently, it was already decided when Peter went outside the back to dump water when a familiar black Audi pulled up.

"...Happy?!"

The man got out of the car with a smile. Peter couldn't help as he returned the smile. "What…what are you doing here… out back?"

"Came over to pick you guys up." He explained very, very, vaguely.

"Oookay…just uh, let me go get May." He replied back.

Happy explained properly when he fetched May, talking about how Mr. Stark had a small apartment that isn't being used at the moment that Pepper said that they could use just until they got back on their feet. And from May's slumped shoulder, she was relieved at the news.

When Peter asked about Mr. Stark, the man seemed to brighten even further. "Based on Pepper's last report he's doing well. He still has a long way to go, but it's official he'll make a full recovery."

Peter felt like he could breathe a little easier at the news. But Happy wasn't done. "Which reminds me," He glanced at May. "Would you mind if I borrow Peter for a few days?"

He froze, looking at his Aunt who seemed to be in thought. He glanced at Happy, hoping his eyes were enough to get some answers, but the man wouldn't look at him.

"I… suppose, you could. He doesn't have anything, right now." She responded after a moment.

Happy waved her off. "Got everything covered, Mrs. Parker. He'll be back Sunday." He gave her a slip of paper and a set of keys. One for him and one for May. "Here is the address and the keys to the apartment."

After everything was discussed and finalized he found himself back in the Audi with so many burning questions but he got the same answer every time. "You'll see when we get there."

'There' happened to be a cabin in the outbrooks of the city far from any city or town. A small pink tent in the front yard. He felt his mind turning at the place and gave Happy one last glance who just gave him a small smile. Which in honesty, comforted him a bit.

He trailed behind Happy when the front door opened and a little girl came running.

"Uncle Happy! You're back!" she squealed. Happy was quick to catch the girl as he stood frozen.

Another voice joined her. "Morgan, I said you weren't supposed to…oh nevermind."

A boy who looked his age followed the girl but he froze when he spotted him. The boy's eyes narrowed and Peter felt his do the same. He had so many questions and not enough answers.

At the same time they asked, "Who are you?"

Happy put the girl who he guessed was named Morgan on his hip. "Harley, this is Peter. Peter, this is Harley and Morgan."

The boy walked closer. "Wait. Like Peter Parker?"

"You know me?" Peter wondered out loud.

Morgan jumped out of Happy's arms.

"Yeah! You're Spider-Man, and my brother! Now I have two brothers!"

Seemed like this was new to both him and Harley as they both spitted out a shocked, "What?!"

"Morgan, that was supposed to be a secret." Happy said.

"Oops."

Harley just groaned. "And here I thought I was just the babysitter."

Peter was still stuck on the Daddy part and the brother section as well. "Uh, and just who is your daddy?"

Harley gave him a look like he was stupid. "I give you one guess to guess who the mystery man is."

"Harley." Happy warned, but the boy just shrugged it off.

Peter glanced at Happy. "So you're saying that Mr. Stark is a dad now? But…?"

Of course. Five years, five years were gone, but the world still turned. Mr. Stark was a father now.

Harley took this moment to smirk. He raised his hands like a preacher. "Welcome to the Stark Cabin."

Over the next few days he realized two things. One, he would literally die for Morgan, even if that meant dying for Juice pops, and two that Harley was the most annoying and funniest person on the planet. He had a hard time figuring out if he enjoyed or hated the boy's company, but soon he realized Harley never meant to be mean it was just how he was, and after the boys' took the moment to sit down and talk they realized they had a lot in common, but also things that could be used against each other.

Just like Harley knew he would do anything for Morgan, which is why he and Harley were currently grounded from the kitchen as Happy glared at them while stirring a pot of Mac-and-Cheese. Red flowers were all over the kitchen and counters and rocks placed in a pathway for Morgan who was dressed in a soft blue dress with a little tiara on her small head.

After the visit, he and May continued to work at the shelter, and he also continued making trips out to the Cabin.

Weeks went by and soon enough things were finally coming together. Mr. Stark was finally home and he wouldn't admit it but he cried. A lot.

He introduced Harley to Ned and Mj.

May decided to keep the apartment after asking the Starks and they were happy to oblige. School was back in session. Harley, deciding to stay in New York, added another student to Midtown Tech.

He finally had the guts to ask Mj out, which turned out to be a disastrous first date. Thank you, Harley, for that. He finally had the chance to talk to Mr. Stark about everything and so did he. They spoke about everything they could think of, late at nights when they both couldn't sleep, always there for each other no matter the time of day or night.

He got to celebrate his seventeenth birthday with his family. And soon enough as the months passed by he found himself and his friends sitting at the table in the Stark's living room, each with an envelope in their hands. Everyone was there, even Harley's mom and sister. And with baited breath they each opened their letters.

"We are proud to say…"

"We are proud to say…"

"You've been accepted…"

"We await your arrival at…"

Everyone cheered as he hugged his friends closely. His friends made it, they were all heading to MIT together.

So much has happened and here he stood at the top of the Tower with his mentor and father close to him.

oOo

Voices and laughter joined them as the family came out with thick coats and hats laying on their heads snugly.

Harley jumped on Peter. "I was looking for you."

Mj came up beside him, grabbing his hand. "He refused to ask Friday for help."

Ned stood beside Mj. "He went everywhere but the roof. Saying it was too obvious."

"It's called the thrill of the hunt, Ned." Harley responded as Peter pushed his stupid brother off.

"It's not a hunt if you didn't find me, dummy." Peter laughed.

"Oh, shut up, twinkle toes."

"10!"

The crowd below them yelled out.

Peter looked at the New Year's Ball as the countdown began. They all screamed together.

"9"

"8"

"7"

"6"

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!"

Peter screamed the loudest.


A/N: Happy New Year!!!

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