The mountain top was silent as the boy stared at the two newcomers. He then turned, uncertainly, to May, who smiled, reassuringly.

"It's okay. Go say hello."

Peter turned back to them, stepping forward, almost shyly. He knew who they were, of course, but he hadn't actually seen them since he was very small, and his memories of them were fleeting, for the most part. He watched them as he walked over to them. They watched him in silence, but they were studying him, intently, having just as little time with him as he'd had with them, after all.

The boy stopped in front of them, just out of reach.

"Hi…" he said, studying their faces. They looked exactly like they had in the videos that they'd made for him. His father's beard and his mother's pretty eyes. "I'm… I'm Peter…"

The woman smiled, and stepped forward, first.

"Of course you are," she said, reaching out and touching his chin. "Look how big you are…" she turned to the man. "He looks just like your father, doesn't he?"

Richard Parker's eyes filled with tears as he nodded and stepped up, as well.

"He's beautiful."

The man gathered Peter into his arms with a sob, and the boy automatically reached up to touch the beard. Mary Parker put her arms around both of them, and they held him tight for a long moment.

May Parker watched the reunion, but then turned and walked over to Pepper, Stephen and Tony – who was watching Peter, but looked afraid more than anything. She understood his concern, immediately, and smiled, reaching out to touch his ironclad arm.

"Don't freak out, Tony," she said, softly. "It's not permanent. He's still yours."

"They're really here, though?" Stephen asked, just as softly, as if afraid to interrupt the embrace he was watching. "What I mean, is; they're real?"

"Yes." She nodded. "It's unheard of to allow this – and will never happen, again – but the universe does owe him one, and more than anything, he needs closure. They left him so suddenly, and so young… He's so uncertain about them, and doesn't know them well enough to understand that they love him so much they're glad he's found new parents to love him now that they can't be there for him."

Pepper sniffed, wiping her eyes with her own steel-clad hand, and then giving a weak chuckle at the way the metal was simply smeared. Stephen noticed, of course, and a tissue appeared in his hand, which he gave her with a soft smile.

"And you're really here, too?" Tony asked, looking amazed – and relieved.

"Yep." May hugged him, then, Ironman suit and all. "Thank you so much for taking such good care of him."

She released Tony and turned and hugged Pepper, as well.

"We love him," she told May, who could only smile, again, as she let her go.

"It shows." She turned to Strange. "Hi, Stephen."

"Hey, May…" he hugged her before she could reach for him. "You look good."

That earned him a chuckle.

"Everyone looks good, here. It's one of the perks"

They fell silent, then, as they watched Peter step back just enough to look at his parents.

"How…? I mean… you're here? This is where I can find you?"

Richard shook his head.

"You can't come find us, here, son. We're only here for a minute. To have a chance to see you. To meet you."

"And to tell you how proud we are of you," Mary added, smiling as she touched his cheek, again. "You're so amazing. I knew you'd grow up to be special."

Peter blushed at the praise.

"I could come back, though," he said to them. "I have a rock that will teleport me anywhere I just tell it where I want to go and-"

"Peter," his father interrupted. "It's dangerous to use it – and not at all necessary. You know where to find us when you need to talk to us. We've listened to your stories; heard all about what's going on in your life. Heard about Nutmeg, and Ironpig, even… Don't you even think about doing something so foolish."

The boy looked startled, but he nodded.

"Oh… yeah. I'm sorry."

The elder Parker pulled him into his arms, again, and hugged him close, and now Peter's arms went around him, too.

"Don't be sorry. Just don't be dumb. You're too smart to be dumb. Right, Mary?"

Peter's mother smiled, hugging him, again, and couldn't seem to help but touch his face, once more.

"Don't listen to him, Peter," she said. "He's done a lot of dumb things, too. Things that would fill a book. But he's right about not using that stone to come looking for us. We won't be here, and you'll be alone…"

Peter nodded, again.

"I won't."

"We can't stay long, son," Richard told him, pulling back. "I want to talk to Tony and Pepper before we have to go, though. Would you introduce us?"

"Yeah." He turned toward his adoptive parents, and saw them all watching him and his biological ones. Peter smiled, thinking that he was the luckiest person in the world, just then. In any worlds, really. He walked over, with them following. "Tony? Pepper?" he smiled; his expression awestruck as he added to the introduction. "Mom? Dad?" Which made Tony and Pepper both smile, too. "These are my folks, Richard and Mary."

May stepped up, and reached for Peter's hand – the one wearing the gauntlet.

"Let's give them a chance to talk," she said, completely unaffected by the power of the stones, even when the soul stone brightened just a little at her presence. "Stephen?"

"Yes, of course."

Strange and May walked with Peter a short distance away, and Tony found himself watching – just to make sure the boy didn't stray too far.

"May chose well," Mary said, smiling at the automatic protectiveness displayed by the other man. "You're so good with him."

"I love him," Tony said, echoing Pepper's comment from earlier.

"It shows."

Stephen turned his attention to May, affording the others as much privacy as he could. It was a very private moment, really, despite the fact that the two couples had never met.

"What happens, next?" he asked her.

"When Peter gives me the stone, you guys all go home."

"Where do you go?" the boy asked. "Does it hurt?"

"No. It's called the soul world," she replied. "And it's a pretty amazing place."

"Like heaven, then?"

"Not quite." She smiled at her nephew, and couldn't help but run her fingers through his hair. "It's too complicated to explain, and I wouldn't do it right, anyway. But I guess it could be an interpretation of heaven."

"Depending on your beliefs," Strange hazarded.

"Yes."

Before she could say anything else, they were joined by the others, and Peter found himself engulfed in another hug from Mary and Richard. His mother kissed him, looking at him, intently.

"We love you."

The boy's smile was filled with awe.

"I love you, too."

"Give May the stone," Richard told Peter, touching his son's cheek, once more.

"But then you'll leave…"

May hugged him, close, before any of the others could.

"None of us are ever really gone, sweetheart. You know where to find them – and me – if you need to talk.

He sniffed, holding her close for a long minute, while the adults around him watched. She was the one who was closest to him, after all. May crooned softly, reassuring him that it was really alright, and didn't release him until he let her go and stepped back. His eyes were red, but there was no agony in his expression.

Only an echo of the love of the people around him.

She held her hand out, and Peter plucked the soul stone from the polymorph gauntlet with his left hand, and gave it to her. A moment later there was a flare of incandescent light, and when it dimmed, the Parkers were all gone – save Peter, who was standing alone, his hand still raised.

Tony stepped up to his side, immediately, a hand going to the boy's shoulder.

"That was incredible…" Peter said, softly.

"Yes, it was…" He was watching Peter's expression, carefully, but couldn't see any indication that he wasn't anything but amazed. And even in the dim light of the planet's wan sun, the three adults could see a peace in those expressive brown eyes that hadn't been there, before. "Let's go home, okay?"

"Yeah."

They turned to Stephen, who didn't even roll his eyes. He did, however, concentrate for just a moment. A giftbag appeared in his hand and he gave it to Peter, before he turned to a clear space and began to wave his hand.

"I'll give you a hundred dollar bill if you hand that to Natasha when we get back and tell her that there was a souvenir stand at the top of this mountain."

Peter laughed, outright, at that, and nodded. He felt good, despite the gloom of the planet, and the ache in his hand.

"I'd do it for free," he admitted. "But I'll take the money."

Maybe he could take them out for ice cream, or something.