"You doing alright, kid?"
Peter Parker jumped in surprise and turned to face Sam Wilson, who leaned on the entrance to the websliger's room. He opened his mouth to answer, but stopped as he considered the question.
He wasn't sure how he felt. On one hand, Tony was alive! He was coming to the Compound today, along with Mr. Barnes and that Panther guy. Apparently, that had been their mission in Wakanda Friday had been referring to. If it really was Tony, then this was...amazing! His mentor, someone he considered a father, would be back!
On the other hand, it had been two months since Thanos's defeat and Tony's supposed death, and they had just now heard from him. That...that didn't sit right with Peter.
What if it wasn't really Tony? What if it was Beck's crew, or even just some imposter or villain trying to get the drop on the Avengers? There were so many ways it could all go wrong, so many ways he could end up losing Tony all over again.
"...I don't know, Mr. Wilson." He finally muttered, trying his best to muster up a weak grin. "I want to believe that Mr. Stark is alive, but...I don't want to risk the chance that he's not."
Sam nodded in understanding, offering the boy a small smile. "Well, if it eases your nerves, Bucky and T'challa vouch for him. It seems like he's the real deal. Hell, even if he's not, then we take care of it together."
"Yeah...yeah, I guess you're right." The boy admitted. before standing up and taking a deep breath. "Um, Mr. Wilson?"
"Sam, kid." He corrected, smiling good-naturedly. "You can call me Sam."
"Right, Sam. If you have time, could you show me around the Compound?" Peter asked, flashing his own awkward smile. "I haven't really gotten a chance to explore with everything that was going on."
"Sure, I got some time." Sam answered, Starting down the first hallway. "Let's get you acquainted with the new crew, web-head"
Peter nodded, walking alongside the man and privately hoping that a proper tour would distract his mind from what was to come.
Line Break
"So, are you just visiting Earth to save a certain spider's ass, or are you joining the Avengers for real this time?"
Carol Danvers didn't even turn before punching the last training droid she had been sparing with, allowing a chuckle to leave her lips.
"Still not sure." She answered, frowning slightly as she scanned the training room, now littered with the remains of drones which she had been using for target practice and hand-to-hand combat. "You think they'll care about the mess?"
"Stark put in an auto-clean function after using the Hulk to test run this thing, so no. I think you'll be fine." Fury answered, crossing his arms as he watched the captain diligently. "Why the conflict on staying?"
Carol sighed, and turned to face Fury fully, shrugging her shoulders loosely. "I don't know, Nick. I mean, do I really belong here?" She asked, gesturing to the facility around her. "I've been working alone for years, why should I switch it up now?"
"Why not?" The former spy asked, an unamused look still present on his face. "You work well with the Avengers, and they definitely need you these days."
Carol considered her old friend's words, and found some truth in them. Even after the Blip and Thanos's defeat, the world was a dangerous place, one that could use a fully assembled Avengers. She sighed, and nodded desivily as she climbed a set of stairs leading to the entrance of the training arena, where Fury stood.
"Ok...how about I consider it, and we call it a temporary draw?" She asked playfully, coaxing a miniscule smile out of Fury, who raised his hands in surrender.
"Fine, but we will be discussing this further, Danvers."
With that, the two moved to exit the room, resulting in the captain nearly colliding with Peter Parker, who stumbled and fell in an attempt to correct himself.
"C'mon kid, I thought you had some kind of six-sense to prevent shit like that." Sam teased, standing alongside the fallen webslinger with an amused smirk. Carol shot the man a short glare before offering Peter a hand, which he gratefully took.
"Thanks, Ms. Danvers. Sorry about that, I'm just...thinkin' about some things." The boy apologised, only to receive a dismissive wave of the hand from the blonde.
"No worries, Parker. I get it." She replied, shooting him a smirk. "Besides, I know that I am pretty distracting. Perks of being stunning."
"Heh, no kidding." Peter mumbled, before realizing the implications of his reply and turning a bright scarlet. Luckily, fate was on his side for once, as Bruce Banner leaned around the far corner of the hallway and called over to them.
"Hey, T'challa and Barnes are five minutes out, we're meeting up in the hanger!"
"Gotcha, Bruce. We'll be there shortly." Sam responded, before turning back to his companions and nodding. "Well, here we go. You guys ready?"
"Ready." Fury confirmed, his hand falling to his side and hovering over his holstered pistol.
"Let's move." Carol added, and with that, the three moved down the hallway and towards the hanger. Peter lingered a few moments longer, taking a deep breath and steeling himself for what to come.
I can do this...I can do this.
With that thought in mind, Peter followed his friends, hoping that whatever would be waiting for him in the hanger would help him, instead of hurting him.
Line Break
By the time Peter joined the others in the hanger, the Quinjet was landing. He glanced around as he arrived, noting everyone who was present. Sam, Rhodey, and Bruce took up the front, while Fury, Scott, and Carol stayed behind them.
The hatch of the jet slid open, revealing both Bucky Barnes and T'challa, who stepped out as the ramp descended.
"Barnes, T'challa." Sam greeted, offering the pair a small smile. "How was Wakanda?"
"Shuri was happy to see us again, and is still requesting access to our labs." T'challa answered, allowing his own smile. "I told her that she is welcome, as long as she can get her own ride."
Sam chuckled softly, before his expression hardened once more and he asked the question on everyone's mind.
"So, where's Tony?"
The former soldier and king glanced at each other, before T'challa shrugged and stepped out of the way of the ramp. "Knowing him, I'd assume he is preparing some kind of entrance."
Sure enough, the taillights on the Quinjet suddenly flared to life, flashing through a series of red, yellow, and white as a certain guitar intro from "Shoot To Thrill" blared from within the cockpit. From the ramp itself, the genius, billionaire, playboy himself emerged...looking very different.
He looked younger, wearing his Black Sabbath shirt and a pair of jeans, and most surprisingly, his entire form was a light, semi-translucent shade of blue. As he reached the end of the exit ramp, he waved his hand dramatically, bringing the light show and music to an end.
"So, what do you think? Too flashy?" He asked playfully, nearly oblivious to the stares and gawks he was receiving. "Yeah, guess it was a bit much, but hey! You only come back from the dead once, amiright?"
"...Tony?" Rhodey asked, his voice quiet but certain. Tony looked at his old friend, and smiled gleefully.
"Hey there, Platypus. Still grumping about?" he asked, going to clap the man on the shoulder before his hand phased through Rhodey's arm, prompting a noise between a scoff and a laugh. "Damn, I gotta get used to that."
"Mr. Stark?"
Just like that, Tony's smile slipped slightly, and he turned around to see Peter, who had tears forming on the edges of his eyes. "Is...is it really you, Mr. Stark?"
Silence crossed the room for an agonizing series of seconds. Then a soft, kind smile grew on the genius's face, and he greeted the webslinger with three words.
"Missed you, Underoos."
Line Break
"So, let me get this straight." Tony started, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. "I die for two months-TWO. MONTHS.-and you've managed to turn Cap into an old man, allowed some nutcase to destroy parts of Mexico, Italy, Prague, and London, and letting that same nutcase frame Peter for murder?"
"That about covers it all, yes." Fury confirmed, leaning against the far wall of the command room. "You've come back to quite the mess, Stark."
"No shit, sourpuss." Tony snarked, sighing as he released his nose and gazed out of the window he was standing before, scanning the grounds of the rebuilt Avengers compound. "What's our roaster look like?"
"At the moment?" Fury asked, shrugging his shoulders loosely. "Wilson, Barnes, Banner, T'challa, Rhodes, Lang, Maximoff, and Parker. Danvers and Strange are considering joining, and Maximoff is currently hunting down another potential asset."
A short laugh erupted from the holographic man, who turned to face the former spy with a small smile.
"Well, it's a bigger lot than usual." He admitted, before his expression darkened. "What are you doing regarding Beck's video?"
"Hill and some...friends of mine are taking care of it." Fury explained, ignoring Tony's cocked eyebrow as he continued. "Both in the sense of discrediting the sources and finding what remains of Beck's team."
"What "remains", huh?" Tony asked, his grin returning. "That implies there are members who have, ahem, "disappeared under mysterious circumstances"?"
"Would it really matter to you?" Fury retorted playfully, noticing the genius shake his head.
"After what they did to Peter? Not even for a second." He admitted, a dark quality entering his voice.
"Well, it's nice to see we're in agreement." Fury soffed, before turning around and heading for the door. "I'll keep you updated on my team's progress."
"Sounds good." Tony answered, shooting Fury a smile as he left. "See you around, Nick."
The former Shield director left, and the automated door closed once more. A few moments of silence followed before Tony chuckled, and glanced up at the air vent above the door.
"You need something, Pete? Or are you just gonna keep skulking around up there like Clint used to?"
"Mr. Barton crawled in the vents?" The boy asked, before realizing his mistake and muttering something likely explicit before kicking open the vent, and dropping down before the man before him, who offered a playful grin.
"Yup. Ol' Legolas used to crawl around up there, said it was, "To ensure security measures", as if someone was really gonna sneak into here through the ducts." He explained, still smiling as he arched an eyebrow at the web-slinger before him. "So, what's up, kid? Door's just not your style, or..?"
"Oh, well...I just wanted to talk to you about...jeez, about everything." Peter confessed, allowing his smile to slip slightly. "It's been a wild few weeks."
"You're telling me, kid." Tony snarked, though his tone softened with his expression. "Well, I got all the time in the world. Hit me with it, Pete."
Even now, after everything that happened, all the twists and betrayal and death, Tony Stark was still Tony Stark. Peter couldn't help but admire that.
So, he spilled. He told Tony about the last two months; his school trip, Fury, Mysterio, the aftermath, all of it. Needless to say, Tony was a bit floored after he heard everything he went through.
"You-you got hit by a fucking train?!"
There was also that.
"W-well, yeah, but I was fine when I woke up!" Peter protested, waving his hands wildly. "Um, kinda ok. Happy needed to stitch me up, but I was totally fine afterwards!"
"Totally fine, my ass!" The genius retorted, rubbing his eyes in frustration. "Jesus, I need a drink."
"Um, Mr. Stark? Is that even possible anymore?" Peter asked, resulting in a look of realization on the man's face before he let out a groan of disappointment.
"Well, this has been an enlightening evening, but I think it's about time I settle down, figure out if I have a sleep mode or something."
"Oh, yeah. Cool." Peter conceded, starting towards the door. "Well, I'll leave you to it then."
"Hey, kid?"
Peter turned back around, seeing his mentor smiling at him.
"Wanna work on your web shooters tomorrow?" Tony asked. "I'm waiting to see this new suit you've made."
Peter couldn't help but beam at the offer, and nodded excitedly.
"Y-yeah! Sounds good, I'll see you tomorrow then!"
With that, he walked out of the command center, leaving the holographic man to his devices.
Line Break
"Hey, Peter Parker. What are you up to?"
Peter jolted as Carol Danver's voice rang out from behind him, resulting in him nearly dropping his phone off the side of the roof he was sitting on, hastily catching it while the former pilot laughed.
"Jeez, I didn't mean to scare you, kid!" She explained, still smiling as she sat beside the frazzled webslinger, who managed a thin chuckle.
"Yeah, of course. It's fine." The boy apologized, raking a hand through his hair nervously. "I just kinda spaced out."
"Something on your mind?" Carol asked, quirking an eyebrow at the teen, who sighed and nodded in confirmation.
"I've just been considering calling my friends to let them know I'm alright, but I don't know if I should." Peter explained. "I mean, I should definitely call Ned, he's my best friend and tech guy, but MJ...I'm not so sure I should call her."
"Oh? Why's that?" Carol questioned, another smirk gracing her features. "Worried she'll freak out about the whole, "Spider Man" thing?"
"Oh, no. She already figured that out." Peter answered. "It's just...things are a little weird between us right now."
Off the hybrid's confused expression, he sighed again and admitted the one thing he didn't want to.
"I kinda asked her out, and she shut me down. Hard."
Just like that, the captain's expression became one of sympathy, if not a touch of agitation. Perhaps that second part was just in his head.
"Damn, I'm sorry to hear that, kid." She comforted, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a gentle squeeze. "It sucks getting rejected, but you know what the best way to deal with it is?"
"Give up for the foreseeable future and cry for an hour or two?" Peter quipped, coaxing another laugh from his companion, who shook her head.
"No, genius. Get back out there, find a new girl." She explained, shooting him a smirk. "Hell, I'll even be your wingman if you need some help."
That got a laugh from the boy, who smiled as he watched the stars above him.
"Thanks, Ms. Danvers. I'll consider it."
"Carol, kid. You can call me Carol." She clarified, shooting him one last smirk before standing up and stretching. "Welp, I'm gonna hit the hay. See you tomorrow, Parker?"
As Carol asked the question, she turned around and offered Peter a hand. As he took it, he gazed up at her and saw that same gorgeous woman who flew down in the middle of the raging battle against Thanos, smirk and all. His heart started to beat a little faster.
"Yeah. See you then, Carol."
Line Break
"Hey, Freaky Friday! Whatcha up to?"
Wanda Maximoff slowed her pace and slowly turned around, her gaze settling on her target. The man was clad in what looked like a red and black suit and mask, equipped with a series of pouches, gun, and two swords on his back. Judging by the way his hands hovered over both his pistol holsters, he was expecting a fight.
"I'm looking for someone. I have a proposition for him." She answered calmly, half expecting the man to just pull his pistols and start firing. He didn't...yet.
"Oh? What, like an offer he can't refuse?" He quipped, tilting his head in a quizzical manner. "Who are you with, exactly?"
"My name is Wanda Maximoff." She greeted, allowing the smallest smile to grow on her lips as the man's posture straightened out, his eyes widening in surprise. "And I'm looking for Wade Wilson."