TS POV
He looked up from Piper's still body, trying to ignore FRIDAY warning her dangerously low vitals.
Where was Dr. Strange?
As if called by his thoughts, Dr. Strange floated down,kneeling on the other side of her.
"She's alive." Tony's head shot up to glare at Strange.
"1 in 14 million." He hissed at Strange who had the decency to look guilty.
"There was no other way."
He felt his eye twitch. "No- No other way! There had to be!"
"Tony." Pepper called.
"You could've done it! Carol could've done it! I could've!"
"Tony."
"You killed my daughter!"
"TONY!"
His head snapped to Pepper, to see T'Challa, Shuri and Okoye had arrived too.
"Let me take her to Wakanda." T'Challa said. "We have more advanced-"
"Yes." Tony said instantly. "Please. I can't loose her too."
T'Challa nodded before looking to Strange. "Can you open a portal, Strange?"
Strange nodded before standing and opening a portal.
Tony looked to Peter, now noticing the boy looked close to a panic attack. Shit. He was so worried he hadn't even noticed...
"Kid." Tony said nudging him away from Piper. "Kid. it's ok."
"She's-" Peter gasped.
"She's going to be fine." Tony promised as Harry lifted Piper up, her head cradled on his shoulder as her arms hung limply down. "In fact she's in the best hands."
"Come on." Pepper cooed placing a gentle hand on Peter's shoulder. "Let's go."
She had to be ok. Tony thought as he followed them through the portal. I can't gain one just to lose the other.
/
NO POV
"-Can't keep letting people walk all over you. The only way to get around in this world is to claw your way to the top. No matter what."
Some nights he was plagued with his deeds, but he still stood by his actions.
Perhaps he was too hard on his son. But it was the only for him to get anywhere in life. Norman wouldn't let him be spineless like his father had been. Or weak like how Emily-
His thoughts came to a halt as he heard something fall to the ground. He sighed softly to himself. If Harry broke something again.
He turned to see Bernard standing at the door way, a tray of dirty dishes at the floor by his feet. The man seemed older than usual.
And the room was dark? He knew the lights were on a minute ago. And why was his desk a mess?! Papers were scattered everywhere. He always left it in perfect condition!
"Master Norman?" Bernard asked his voice shaky, and his skin pale.
"Bernard." Norman started. "Why is my desk a mess? And who turned off the lights?!" He glanced around the room again. "And where is Harry!?" He always tried skipping out on lessons with him.
"Master Norman... You're here... How...?"
"What are you talking about it?" He's been in his office all day.
"Sir..." Bernard walked closer to him, stepping over the tray. "What is the last thing you remember?"
"Perhaps we should discuss retirement." Norman noted aloud. "I've been in my office all day. Now why is it in such disarray?"
"What year is it?"
Norman rolled his eyes. "2018."
Bernard sighed tiredly. "Sir, I don't know how to tell you this, but it's not 2018, it's 2023."
"What?" Was he out of his mind?
"Sir, in 2018 half the world's population was wiped out of existence. You- You were among that half."
Norman looked down as his phone buzzed violently. He glanced at the screen, hundreds of notifications. The top one was a news outlet headline reading: The Decimated Return. Mass Confusion.
It was true then. He was gone for five years...
"Harry..?" Did his son also disappear? Or did Norman leave him too?
"Is out." Bernard said. "He left earlier today, probably with Piper upstate." Bernard then closed his eyes as if mentally reprimanding himself.
"Piper?" He questioned.
"Parker." Bernard supplied. "Piper Parker."
Parker. it had to be a Parker. "Tell him it ends."
"I'm sorry sir, but no."
"No?" He rarely questioned him.
"Sir, you haven't seen Harry over the last few years, but he's grown a lot. Led this company in your absence. Has helped expand the energy and weapons departments, and Piper has been by his side through it all."
If Parker really did help him, he'd let her stay.
"Does he know?"
"No."
"Good. He can never know."
/
HO POV
He sat forward, elbows on his knees and his head hung low. He should've protected her. Stopped her from getting the stupid stones.
He and several others were in a Wakandan waiting room. While he had once talked to General Okoye with Piper, he's never actually been in Wakanda. Under different circumstances he would've been ecstatic.
He could hear Tony arguing with a Wakandan nurse about seeing Piper. But even Harry knew it was a moot point.
"Hey," He looked up as Pepper placed a hand on his shoulder, sitting next to him. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine." Harry assured with a small nod. "Just..."
"We're all worried." Pepper agreed. She smiled softly. "Nice suit."
Harry looked down at himself. The suit was a black exoskeleton suit meant to enhance the physical strength and endurance of the user. Of course it has room for improvement but so does everything.
It was a project he began his freshman year. Originally he intended to show it to his father as a new product for the company. He wanted to make sure it was perfect before showing it to him. Norman would disappear long before he could though.
And then when he and Piper started getting closer, he showed her his designs, she was impressed and helped him improve it. He also took Tony's advise and kept it off all company's hard drive.
The glider was a last minute addition. And was he glad he brought it today.
"Yours too." Harry said looking at the nanotech chamber sticking out of Pepper's pocket.
"Morgan found it." Pepper explained. "Said Tony was intending for it to be an anniversary present."
"You like it?"
Pepper smiled. "Love it." She then looked over. "You should talk to him."
He followed her gaze to see the teenage Peter Parker who was sitting against a window knees to his chest as he held his head gently. He still wore the Iron Spider suit.
Harry slowly walked over. "Hey..." He said shyly. How was he supposed to talk to someone who died five years ago?
The boys head shot up, looking at him with red rim eyes, but said nothing.
"Mind if I sit with you?"
Peter scooted ever slightly allowing Harry to sit with him.
"It's nice to finally meet you." Harry started. "Piper and Tony have told me so much about you."
"Like what?"
"That your smart, funny, brave, caring." Harry sighed sadly. "Piper was so heartbroken after what happened."
"I didn't even recognize her..." Peter spoke numbly. "I pushed her away. My twin and now she's" He gasped with a small sob.
Harry did not know what to do. Slowly he moved his hand to Peter's back and started rubbing it comfortingly. Apparently it worked since Peter leaned closer to him.
"Hey kid," They both looked up as Tony knelt in front of them. "How you feeling?"
"Tired." Peter said quietly.
"Yeah." Tony said softly. "His royal highness said we could use a couple of the guest rooms if you want to take a quick nap."
"But Piper..." Peter protested.
"Surgery will last a couple more hours." They looked to see a young Wakandan woman walk over. "You'll be informed when the surgery is over and when she wakes up. Considering the battle we just participated in, some rest may be nice."
Peter sighed seeming to give in. "I guess." Peter stood up. "Thank you for the offer miss..."
"Shuri." She said softly. "Just Shuri. Oh." She reached into her pocket. "While we were bringing her over, I saw this on the ground. I assume it belongs to Piper." She held out Piper's necklace.
"Thanks." Peter said softly taking it. "Piper would've freaked if-" He cut off as he stared intently at the necklace.
"Is something wrong?" Shuri asked.
"Our dad gave Piper this ring before he died." Peter said as he stared at his palm.
"Oh." Shuri said softly. "That's-"
"This is our mom's ring." He held out his palm, revealing two rings on the chain.
/
TS POV
After a quiet walk, a servant led them to a spare room.
Tony nodded in thanks, accepting the spare clothes, before escorting Peter in, a firm hand on his shoulder. "C'mon Underoos. Let's get you out of that and into something comfortable. Than you can take a nap."
Peter was quiet as he stared at the room. Tony looked around. It was fairly futuristic looking. The bed was queen sized with white bedding.
"Peter-"
"Where's May?"
"Don't worry." Tony assured. "We've got someone going to get her. Now let's get you out of this." As Peter stood still, Tony reached over patting the metallic spider on his chest. The nanotech peeled away, receding into it's center to form a spider shaped core. It feel off and into TOny's waiting palm.
Tony put the Wakandan outfit onto the bed in front of him. It was a pair of blue pants and a long sleeved red shirt that would fall to the mid thigh. Tony put the nano chamber onto the bedside table.
"Is she going to die?"
Tony looked up to see Peter staring at the floor. "Is she going to die?"
He walked closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and another under his chin directing his gaze toward him. "Hey listen to me. Piper is strong. You and I both know that. And a little snap isn't going to do her in."
"She shouldn't have done that."
"SHe did it for you. For us."
"Maybe I'm not worth it." Peter spat, angry tears streaming down his face.
"Don't say that." Tony said sharply. "Don't ever question your worth. Piper was destroyed without you. I was destroyed without you."
He would take that drunken night to his grave.
"Piper fought everyday for you. I built time travel for you. Don't question that. And don't you say you aren't worth it. You're my kid. I'll always look after you."
Peter sniffed before launching himself into Tony's arms with a sob. Tony didn't even hesitate to embrace him, running his fingers through his hair. "I love you 3000."
/
It's been hours since Peter went to nap. Tony had sat with him until he fell asleep, running his fingers through his hair for a little longer before leaving. Pepper was on the phone with Morgan and Happy assuring them everything was alright. Harry though was staring blankly at his phone.
Tony looked over as Harry's phone rang again. Harry declined it with a growl. "You good?"
"My Dad's tried calling me five times already." Harry said numbly.
Tony was not fond of Norman Osborn. The man was cold, ruthless and as arrogant as Hammer. At least Hammer tried to hide it behind a fake and cheesy mock persona of him.
Norman was once pleasant though, before the death of his wife Emily.
"Oh?" Tony prompted. "You not feeling talkative then?"
"My dad..." He sighed heavily. "Is my dad."
He could clearly remember telling others the same when he was younger, before he mastered deflecting.
"Alright." He let the subject drop. "I though the suit wasn't going to be finished for a couple more weeks?"
"When did you hack into my stuff?"
"Five minutes after you met Piper." Tony said sitting next to him.
His smile disappeared. "She told she's come with me to see my father. When she told me everyone was coming back, she told me she'd be there."
"And she will be." Tony reassured them both. "You know when I first met her she was sick."
"I thought she couldn't get sick. Enhanced metabolism and all that."
"Oh she can get sick." Tony corrected remembering one particular time she violently threw up on him. "Just doesn't last as long as with others. She had a fever, May was worried sick but I knew she'd be fine."
He looked at the boy and said something he should've realized sooner. "No matter what happens with your father, you're a great guy. You kept the company afloat, you kept making things. And if Norman can't see that, than he isn't worth the time. Worst case, Stark Industries will have a co- CEO seat with your name on it."
Harry smiled. "Thanks Tony." He said with a nod. "Piper was right. You're a great Dad."
She said that? His heart skipped a beat. Before he could say anything a nurse came out.
"Mr. Stark?"
Both men stood, walking toward her apprehensively. "How is she?"
The nurse smiled gently. "She's good. Resting now." Her smile disappeared as she looked away. "But Qu- King T'Challa wishes to speak to you."
/
"Stark." T'Challa greeted. His sister, mother, Nakia and Okoye with him. Steve and Bucky were sitting at the chairs on the other side of the room. "And Mister...?"
"Osborn." Harry nodded respectfully. "Harry Osborn."
T'Challa nodded as he seemed to examine him. Deciding he wasn't a threat, he looked back to Tony.
"Stark, I hear it's you I have to thank for my continued existence."
Tony shrugged, "Just some basic Quantum knowledge. No big deal." He downplayed. "Your nurse mentioned you wanted to speak to me?"
"Yes." T'Challa nodded to his sister.
"The surgery went well." Shuri assured. "She's expected to make a full recovery. Maybe some scarring left over."
"Great." Tony clapped his hands. "Then if it's all the same to you, I'll be with my girl."
"There seems to be a change in her genetic structure though." Shuri continued.
"Change?" Harry asked concerned "What kind of change?"
"None of us are familiar with her genetic structure," Shuri said holding out her tablet.
"May I?" Harry asked reaching for it.
"Of course." Shuri said letting Harry skim over the information.
"Tony." He looked to see Steve walking closer.
"Yes?" Tony said conversationally.
"From my understanding," T'Challa added. "You were among the few authors left of the Sokovia Accords, yes?"
"Yeah. Pretty much scrapped it. The world had more pressing issues."
T'Challa seemed relieved. Which Tony supposed made sense. T'Challa and he were making pushes to amend the Accords before Thanos happened.
"Although more enhanced have come out of the woodwork since the Snap." He added. "Most seem to be friendlies, manage to keep the others in line at least. Hey," He looked to Okoye, Nakia and Ramonda. "You tell him about Ororo yet?"
Okoye smiled. "Not entirely. But she and several other of continents leaders are gathering later this week to decide on continued leadership."
"That'll be an interesting conversation." Tony muttered, remembering several encounters Piper told him about. There had been attempted power grabs all over the world.
"Tony." Harry called back holding up a hologram over his phone. "Look familiar?"
Tony examined the strand on the hologram. It looked almost exactly like Piper's. He noted the Oscorp logo in the bottom right corner.
"I thought you kept all Piper stuff off the servers."
"I do." Harry assured. "This is from one of my dad's old private servers."
Tony examined the structure, looking for any differences. "What was it for?"
"Still trying to figure that out." The hologram shut off, revealing an incoming call from Norman Osborn. "Speaking of which..."
Harry looked down at his phone. "I need to take this."
Harry walked away as SHuri walked closer. "Why do neither of y'all look concern? This genetic structure-"
"Is normal for her." Tony assured. "The concern is touching though."
Shuri nodded looking down curiously.
"With all due respect your majesty," Tony looked to T'Challa. "May I go...?"
T'Challa nodded.
/
AN:
I am so, so, sorry it took me so long to update. My life has been hectic. But thank you all for sticking around. I'll try to release another chapter before next year but no promises.
For those confused, basically when Piper saw her Dad in the Soul Stone, the stone let him give her the necklace again, along with the addition of his wife's ring. Like that scene from Atlantis: Lost Empire. What did y'all think of Norman? I'm trying to go for a father with good intentions- bad execution route with him and Harry.
And sorry this was more of a filler chapter just trying to set a couple of things up.
Thank you all who reviewed.
AlchemyWriter: I understand what you mean, and your concerns. I just felt like this was the way to take my story.
kaia: I'm glad you like them killing Thanos. Before Endgame was released, I was constantly debating with myself who I wanted to kill Thanos. But I always found something satisfying about stories where the abused take vengeance on their abusers so this happened. And I'm glad you liked the Harry- Piper conversation. It was actually based off when I overheard a couple of my friends who didn't realize I was in the room with them. And thank you for catching my mistake. I've been meaning to go back and fix it.
reika88: I'm glad you liked my Salem twist. But honestly, did it seem to out of nowhere? I tried adding little hints without seeming obvious, but also didn't add as many Salem scenes as I wanted to.
AuroraNova46: I'm glad you're enjoying this. I plan to add a little more to the world that has so far been left unclear. So I'll probably not be as connected to the MCU this point forward. I'm also still trying to figure out what I want for the rest of the story, so suggestions are nice.
As always thank you for reading. Please review. And have a good day.
Thank you.