Loosely based on "Forever Winter" by Milstrim on Archive of Our Own. This is an idea that I had for an Anti-Iron Dad fanfic. This one-shot takes at least a year after the events of No Way Home and it's not going to be Iron Dad friendly.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Spider-Man. They belong to Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige.

Cypress Hills Cemetery

It was a chilly afternoon in New York City. Snow had been showering the city's view and it was moving with the wind blowing. New York was going through another winter storm this week, as the snow had been covering the city during the last few weeks and it was quiet than usual. Most people had remained in their homes and the traffic was not as crowded as it usually has been.

A young man wearing a beanie on his head was holding white flowers in his right hand and was walking slowly toward a graveyard. The young man kneeled on her grave and placed the flowers on the tombstone. The grave's epitaph was engraved with the words:

Maybelle Reilly-Parker

When you help someone, you help everyone

1967-2024

That young man was May's nephew, Peter Parker, known as Spider-Man. A year ago, Peter received visitors from other dimensions who knew who Peter Parker was after Dr. Strange's spell to make everyone forget about his identity was bouched. During the whole ordeal, Norman Osborn, a well-renowned scientist from another dimension known as the Green Goblin, attacked Peter and mortally wounded May. Before her death, May left Peter one last word of advice, "With great power, there must also come great responsibility".

Peter had not heard these words since the death of his Uncle Ben years ago. He originally lived up to these words, looking out to the city that held him close, but his desire to become an Avenger and his idolization of Tony Stark got over his head, making him forget these lessons. Peter had always looked up Stark growing up and recalled being rescued by him when Hammer Drones were attacking Stark Expo years ago. However, at some point after Mysterio's attack in London, he soon accepted the fact the man he once idolized was nothing more than a flawed, self-centered individual who manipulated him to do his dirty work.

Perhaps it only took until her final moments to remind Peter about Ben's words, to encourage him to carry on as the hero the city needed, to leave his past with Stark behind. May had always been aware that Stark was a terrible influence on her young nephew, though she didn't tell him to spare him from the truth.

After May's death, Peter's rage fueled him. Up until that moment, Peter never experienced any personal loss since the death of Uncle Ben, and her death was the turning point for him. He wanted to kill Osborn, to make him suffer, to make him pay for her death. It wasn't until the arrival of the two other Spider-Man counterparts that Peter was able to let go of his hatred and aided them in curing Osborn of his condition. Soon afterwards, Parker demanded Strange to cast a spell to make the world forget about him in order to protect the Multiverse.

Peter made sure that he would live by Aunt May and Uncle Ben's words: "With great power, there must also come great responsibility". He had distanced himself from Stark's technology and began looking out for himself. He had moved to a small apartment and completed his lost secondary academics, all while resuming his duties undisturbed as Spider-Man. He also made sure to visit Aunt May's grave every Saturday to pay respects for her, as he missed her presence dearly, and place white flowers, May's favorite, on her tombstone.

Just as Peter kept looking at the grave, a middle-aged man slowly walked towards the grave and stood in front of him. He donned a black expensive suit with a tie and had transparent aviator shades on his eyes. He had a beard and grey shades on both sides of his hair.

"I'm sorry for your loss, kid."

With these words reaching his ears, Peter turned around and saw the man standing in front of him. Peter couldn't believe his eyes. He had seen this man die in front of him. he had appeared at his funeral. He had seen him buried. He couldn't find a way to react to this situation.

There was no way that this man could be Mr. Stark. Stark had died almost two years ago. Peter thought this might have been an illusion set by Mysterio, but Mysterio was dead. Or perhaps this was an imposter disguised as him, because Peter never believed that people could come back to life.

"Who are you?" Peter asked, unable to believe what he saw with his eyes.

"What do you mean..." Tony swallowed before he opened his mouth again. "It's me, Mr. Stark."

"No, no, no, Mr. Stark died almost two years ago. I don't believe you." Peter muttered.

"Look, I know that you're confused right now, but you gotta hear me..." Tony tried to reason with Peter.

"Confused? You're dead! I watched you die!" Peter spat.

Tony understood Peter's reaction. Peter wasn't sure if this was the real Tony or not. Peter watched Tony die in Pepper Potts' arms after defeating Thanos and he had always known that people don't come back to life.

"I know. I know, but..." Tony nodded before he squeezed his right arm and glanced at Peter. "This might sound a bit crazy, but I just came back to life. I remember who you are, what we experienced together."

"What are you talking about?" Peter demanded.

"When Thanos snapped his fingers, I saw you disappear in front of my eyes. You hugged me. You told me that you didn't want to go. You apologized to me before you disintegrated into dust. I felt that a part of me died when you disappeared. Though I did start a family with Pepper and found peace, I still never forgave myself for your loss." Tony explained.

It was then that Peter realized what Tony meant. He recalled being dusted from existence almost seven years ago and hugging Stark before his disappearance. Ever since his return to existence by Bruce Banner's snap, that event haunted him, though he never liked to admit it. Peter couldn't know how to react, as he was surprised to hear that Mr. Stark remembered those events.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter whispered.

"Yeah, it's me." Tony assured. "I'm really sorry about what happened to your aunt. If you can come with me, we can talk this out together. Just like father and son."

Tony attempted to pull Peter into an embrace, but Peter backed away, clearly feeling uncomfortable.

"What's wrong, Peter?" Tony asked, concerned about Peter's behavior.

"Look, just because you came back to life doesn't mean that I'm gonna go back to being your little pet." Peter trailed off.

Tony sighed. "I know that you're mad, son, but if we could..."

"Don't call me son! I was never your son. You just used me to clean up your mess and manipulated me to join your side." Peter snapped in anger.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked, surprised by Peter's behavior towards him.

"Don't pretend you don't know. You blackmailed me to join your side when you had a fallout with Captain America. You lied to my aunt and almost put me and my family in danger." Peter reminded.

"The Avengers needed to be put in check after what happened in Sokovia and I had no choice but to sign the accords. I thought it was the best option to keep superheroes in check, but Cap was going to ruin everything." Tony told Peter.

"Is that why the public sided with Cap and the UN decided to terminate the Sokovia Accords for being unconstitutional? Looks like it wasn't the best option after all." Peter remarked.

Tony was surprised to hear that the Sokovia Accords had been terminated. He thought it might have been the solution to keep superheroes in check, though he obviously signed the accords out of guilt for unleashing Ultron, not because he actually wanted to.

"I admired you. I looked up to you. I saw you as the hero that I could be someday, and you took advantage of it!" Peter angrily remarked.

"Peter, I understand that..."

"Shut up!" Peter shouted at Stark as he pointed his finger at him. "You don't understand anything about me."

Tony had no idea how to react to Peter's strange behavior towards him. Normally, he would be used to see Peter being very kind to him, even looking up to him and seeing him as his father figure. However, given the recent events that took place, it was clear that Peter's viewpoint on Stark drastically changed.

"And it's not the only time you screwed up with my life, Mr. Stark. A year ago, you provided me with an A.I. system into your glasses after your death, which had access to dangerous weapons that were considered to be a threat to security. When I gave the system to one of your former employees, Quentin Beck, he used it to launch an attack in London, which nearly cost my life." Peter trailed off.

"Peter..."

Peter interrupted Stark before he could say anything. "And then after Beck was killed, my identity was exposed to the world and it cost my aunt's life. You have no idea what it's like to live with the consequences of your actions, but I doubt that you know that, since you were so busy being a celebrity and everyone blindly looking up to you."

At this point, Tony was stuttered, not having an idea how to respond to Peter's remarks. On one hand, he didn't expect Peter to behave this way, but a part of him knew that Peter was right. He was so caught up in being famous he didn't take a second to see the consequences of his actions and he didn't take responsibility for it.

"You might think in your thoughts that we were like father and son, Tony, but Aunt May and Uncle Ben had something that you will never have." Peter remarked.

"And what's that, Spider-boy?" Tony sarcastically remarked.

"Guidance." Peter told Stark. "The last thing May and Ben told me before they died were "With great power, there must also come great responsibility" and I intend to live on with their words. If you truly did care about me as your son, you could have stopped me from joining you on Titan, but out of your sheer confidence of the fact that you could take Thanos alone, you chose not to. My life forever changed that day. I can still remember how I was dusted from existence every single day."

"Hey! You chose to follow me! It's not my fault!" Tony yelled back at Peter.

"You're right. I did make a choice back then, and I'm willing to make it again. From now on, I will be sticking out to the little guy. I'm different now and I'm through playing games with you, Mr. Stark. I don't wanna see you again." Peter remarked coldly.

With these words, Peter brushed off Tony and walked out of the cemetery, leaving Tony behind. Tony stood still, shaken by Peter's behavior towards him. He knew that the young, naive man who looked up to him had now grown up. He was proud to see him become the hero he always wanted to be, but a part of him was not pleased by his behavior, as he didn't get used to being called out on his actions. However, he couldn't deny that Peter was telling the truth.

And that's the end of the story. I tried my best to do the story as possible, as this is the first time I wrote an anti-Iron Dad fic.

If Peter sounded a bit too OOC, I'm sorry, but I don't see Peter looking up to Tony or being kind to him after the events of No Way Home.

To be honest, this was inspired by a comment on an Archive of Our Own story which said that 90% percent of post-No Way Home fics have Tony Stark return to life and become Peter's father figure again, making Iron Boy Jr., or have Peter and Ned become friends again, despite the fact that Ned didn't care about him that much. I personally never read any of those fics, aside from "Forever Winter", because I knew that these stories contradict the message and themes of No Way Home.

No Way Home saw Peter Parker finally coming on his own and becoming the Spider-Man we always love, but having him return to Iron Boy Jr. in these fics destroys that purpose. While I understand the fact Tony did care about Peter in some level, he treated him badly and basically manipulated him in Civil War. Hell, he even left him in the airport after the big fight.

I think this might be a metaphor for most of today's celebrities, where we look up to them as larger than life figures and they take advantage of our admiration, not really taking a second to hold themselves accountable for their actions and realize their flaws. I believe this might be accurate to MCU's Tony Stark. I love this character and I have nothing against RDJ's performance, but he made mistakes, such as the Ultron Offensive and not planning Thanos' defeat properly, and he needed to be called out on it.

In the comics, May's real name is Maybelle Reilly before she married Ben Parker, and I used that name on the epitaph of her grave, though it didn't appear in NWH, and had her birthdate as the year 1967, due to the fact that she's younger than her previous incarnations.

Let me know your thoughts on this story and I hope you enjoyed it. Stay safe everyone and take care.