We've come to the end of the very first story I started writing (From the Same Star) about ten months ago. I didn't know if I could write. I didn't think I had anything new to say in this fandom. But I wanted more (good) soulmate stories, and I couldn't get the character who would become Hallie out of my head. I'm not done with Peter and Hallie, but this is the end of their first big story. Other ones will hopefully be added as inspiration strikes, and as I have time. I still need to finish Hardly Coincidence too, so I'll probably focus on that for a while. (As well as starting the follow-up series to Strands in the Rope, which also just finished!)

Thanks so much for anyone who joined me on this crazy little adventure and for all the comments and kudos along the way (mostly on AO3). I wouldn't have had the inspiration and interest to follow them so far into their story without your encouragement. You are all amazing!

Thanks again to junker5, who has been my biggest cheerleader and support with these stories! You are the best!

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Hallie

"Hallie, Peter is asking if you're back yet," FRIDAY said from the elevator's ceiling.

That was a weird way to phrase it. "Did you tell him 'yes,' FRIDAY?" Hallie asked.

FRIDAY was silent. Did AI's get nervous? FRIDAY almost seemed anxious about the day's events from her tone. And she wasn't calling Peter "Dr. Parker."

"Tell him I just got in, and I'm heading to the penthouse to change, and we're planning to watch from there?" she said, glancing sideways at Chase with eyebrows raised. Bucky and Casey had parted ways with them in the parking garage, but Ty would be joining Chase and Hallie before the press conference. She was pretty sure they were still good to watch it from the penthouse. Other than the basically-a-bomb-shelter in the sub-levels, ( that had been an eye-opening tour) it was the safest place in the Tower. Possibly one of the most-protected places in the city.

FRIDAY's sensor light blinked at her before the AI responded, several floors later. "He will meet you there."

Oh. He wasn't already at the press conference? It was—she checked her watch—almost 3:50. She had left class a few minutes early to get here with plenty of time. She figured Peter would be in the ready room by now. If he wasn't, she was sure there was more than one person who was stressed about it.

They arrived at the penthouse, and Hallie, who was starting to get used to being overprotected, waited at the elevator while Chase did a quick physical sweep. FRIDAY and Karen, and a few other unknown systems were monitoring, but it never hurt to do a glance-through in person.

Chase came back and gestured that her suite was all-clear, and Hallie gratefully escaped (not from Chase, just from… everything) into it, changing from her school clothes into some soft sleep shorts and one of Peter's t-shirts. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be leaving the penthouse again today, and she was craving a little comfort.

Speaking of, was there any ice cream in the freezer? She padded over and opened it, nudging things around curiously. There was some rocky road, but she wasn't really in the mood for that, and if she remembered right, it was from her first week here. Ice cream didn't get "old" that fast, but it wasn't going to scratch the itch, either. What was she in the mood for? Not something chocolatey right now.

Just then, there was a soft announcing knock on the door before Peter poked his head in, the rest of him following, pulling a brown paper bag in behind him. It smelled heavenly.

"Hey," he said softly, dumping it on the kitchen table so he could pull Hallie into his arms. Immediately, the jumpy, anxious feelings she hadn't realized she was trying to soothe with sugar disappeared. It had been half a day since they'd been together, and though she'd done pretty well with it, it felt so much better to be close to him.

Peter pressed his forehead to hers, and hummed his approval at her clothing choice as he slipped his hand under her shirt to let his fingers brush her soul mark. As a bonus, his wrist and forearm were pressing against her skin as well. Even through his shirtsleeves, Hallie knew the contact was giving him comfort, too. They didn't move for a few minutes, just clinging to each other and breathing. He finally pulled back, kissing her forehead, and then her temple, before burying his nose in her hair again.

"I don't know that we're quite ready for spending most of the day apart yet," he finally said with a shaky laugh.

Hallie pulled back to look at him, her hands jumping up from his arms to frame his face. "Are you okay? Were you having symptoms? I didn't feel anything, except I realized I just… missed you? A lot? And it had me looking for your clothes and ice cream, and—" she quieted abruptly, a little embarrassed at her sudden outburst.

Peter chuckled, and smoothed her hair comfortingly as he pulled her back into a hug. "I wasn't having physical symptoms, but apparently I got really grouchy this last hour. Tony helped, but Pepper's the one who suggested I come reconnect with you for a minute before the press conference." He interrupted himself, pulling back and leaning down a little to kiss her soundly. "Actually, it was a little stronger than a suggestion. She was right. As usual."

He pulled back from her, taking her hand and tugging her towards the kitchen table, where he pulled a chair out for her to sit. Hallie smirked a little, bemused. Where did he get these manners from? They came out at the most interesting moments.

"Did you still want ice cream?"

Hallie tilted her head in confusion, her eyebrows jumping up at the subject change.

He sat next to her as he opened the brown bag. Inside were two cheeseburgers, a giant order of French fries, and two milkshakes.

"Vanilla, right?" he asked, just a little bit of uncertainty in his face.

"Yeah, that's perfect. Thanks!"

She only ate about half of her cheeseburger, and a handful of fries (her stomach still felt a little anxious even after a soulmate-power-up) but the shake hit the spot perfectly.

Peter could only stay for a few more minutes, and he ate quickly (his food and her leftovers), then coaxed Hallie and her milkshake onto the couch so he could hold her for a few more minutes. You know, before he went to expose his secret of over ten years.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come and be in the ready room?" Hallie asked worriedly, a little concerned at his clinginess. "I can change pretty quickly and—"

"No, here is good. Like I said, I'll be less stressed if I know you're somewhere safe, waiting for me after. I'm okay, I promise. Just delaying the inevitable," he joked, regretfully shifting away from her. His eyes, a darker brown than usual, looked nervous, but resolute.

"It's going to be okay. I'll bet Tony's had plans for handling this almost since he met you."

"You're not wrong. Though his early plans were ridiculous, and involved convincing May to move with me to an island he has until I turned eighteen."

Hallie cocked her head in consternation. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. FRIDAY snitched on him. May told him where he could stick that idea. It was great." Peter grinned at her as he straightened his collar. "Do I look okay?" he asked quietly, the grin disappearing.

"You know you always look amazing."

He shot her a doubtful look, but nodded his thanks at her compliment. Hallie stood up and stepped forward, needlessly straightening his tie, but using the closeness as an excuse to kiss him one more time. "You've got this. I love you."

The smile she loved so much was back. "Love you too, cara mia . Thanks." And then he was gone.

Hallie sighed, and took a minute to clean up what was left of her wrappers. She took a few deep breaths, so nervous for him. Like she had said though, and really did believe, it would be fine. He had about a hundred amazing people in his corner. She took a deep breath and opened the door to join Chase (and Ty, it sounded like) to watch the press conference.


Peter

Peter fidgeted in his seat. He didn't usually struggle with that after years of practice, but today was different. Since he'd be activating his spider-suit at some point in the conference, he wasn't wearing a suit jacket. Just slacks and a button-down shirt. Which, even that wasn't the most comfortable under the nanite suit. He preferred one of the sleek undersuits Tony always used with his Iron Man suits, if he had a planned patrol. But too often he just ended up with clothes that looked like he'd napped in them afterwards.

They were already in front of the room full of quietly buzzing reporters, and Tony casually stretched his arm across the back of Peter's chair, his soulmate's touch grounding him so he could hold still for another minute or two before they started. He turned and smiled gratefully at him.

From what he could hear, the reporters and photographers were full-on confused about why Peter was there, flanked by Tony and Pepper on one side, but on the other side by a strong contingent of Avengers, and not just the local ones. Steve Rogers sat on Peter's right, and Rhodey, Sam, Bucky, Natasha, Kate, and Kamala, all in their full fighting gear, (except Rhodey, who was in uniform) were also present, as a show of solidarity. The press had no idea what to make of this mixed group. How much more integrated could SI get with the Avengers?

But then it was time, and Tony stood to take the podium, with a reassuring pat to Peter's knee as he rose. He wore his trademark three-piece suit, and didn't look at all like he'd spent time in medbay that week.

"First, as you can see, the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Again." That got a polite laugh.

"I was in an accident a few days ago, but I'm healing well, and doing well enough to be here. And despite how this looks, I'm staying at my same level of 'semi-retired' as a Avenger, still just mostly consulting, but available if there's a need. I'm also excited to be moving to that same title within Stark Industries over the next year, as our future CEO is finally done with all the boring school stuff, and we're going to be putting him to work full-time." He turned around for a moment to grin proudly at Peter, who was wearing a pleasant, neutral expression. He could always count on Tony to say whatever the heck he wanted, no matter if there was a script or not.

"You don't know it, but you're not here to hear from me. Or even from my lovely wife, or from any of these impressive do-gooders up here. I'd like to turn the mic over to my soulmate, my son, and my heir, Peter Parker-Stark."

"Was all of that really necessary?" Peter asked with the ghost of a smile as he met Tony halfway between their seats and the podium.

"Always. Gotta give the people what they came for," Tony said with a wink and a quick grip of Peter's soul-mark-shoulder. "Go get 'em, kid."

Peter took a deep breath as he stepped up to the microphone. He let his body relax and sink into his professional persona as he smiled at the members of the press.

"Hey, everyone. I know you probably weren't planning on listening to me again so soon, but I think you'll forgive us for calling another press conference in the same week. Gotta spread out the news and help you meet your story quotas, right?" There was a nervous chuckle from the reporters.

"First of all, I do apologize for deflecting last week about my connection with Ms. Dayton. We were still working out security and plans, but I'm happy to confirm that yes, she is also my soulmate, and I'm ridiculously lucky to have found her." He looked at one of the side cameras, with its red indicator light on top and gave it a quick wink, just for Hallie. He knew it would spark all kinds of speculation, why he'd chosen to do that, but pretty much everything he did ended up that way anyway. Why not give them something to talk about?

The murmurs were obvious, and he waited a moment to let them die down. A few hands raised tentatively, but he shook his head gently. "No questions, yet. Yes, that means I have a double soulmate, just like my dad, and yes, I have been aware of my status since my blanks presented at seventeen." The two hands that had stayed stubbornly in the air lowered slowly.

"But that's not what we're here to talk about either." He just pushed forward, ignoring the whispers and mutterings. Those weren't going to stop. "It's true that I will be stepping up and taking on more responsibilities at SI this summer, but I also keep kind of busy with another job, one you're all currently unaware of." Peter felt a light sweat break out along his hairline that had nothing to do with public speaking, which didn't usually phase him anymore.

"Wednesday night there was an unfortunate event at Cambridge, during one of my MBA class presentations, which I'm sure you'll hear more about, since those NDA's are about to be void. Because of what happened there, it's time for me to publicly announce that I'm not just following in my dad's footsteps in the business world, but in all aspects of my life. The reason you see so many Avengers here adding their support this afternoon, is because I work pretty closely with them, as well. I'm Spider-man."

Peter stepped back slightly from the podium and quickly tapped his wristbands together to activate his suit, mask and all. There were a few seconds of almost-silence at the transformation before the conference room descended into bedlam.

Peter just stood there, letting them get it out. But it was taking more time than he expected, and almost every hand in the room was starting to shoot up. They didn't have any questions prepared for this, but oh , did they have questions.

After a few more moments of chaos, Peter regretfully deactivated his mask. That felt so wrong. He was fine addressing them as a representative of the Stark family or of SI as Peter Parker, and fine addressing them on behalf of the Avengers as Spider-man, but being in his suit but with his face exposed felt very off. He knew his soulmate felt his discomfiture immediately, because Tony casually stood up to join him. He registered that Steve quickly did the same on the other side, presenting a united front. He appreciated them both for it.

"Are you taking questions, Peter?" Tony asked lightly, standing back from the mic. Cuing him a bit, but also giving him the choice to go off-script and be done, if he needed to be.

"Uh, yeah," he fumbled, stepping back up to the mic. "I can answer a few questions, if you guys can calm down," he said firmly, drawing on experience from both aspects of his life. The crowd quieted, but hands stayed up. Peter looked around carefully for reporters he knew usually acted professionally.

"Jamie," he indicated to an older man with salt-and-pepper hair and smile wrinkles.

"Jamie Ord, for the Sun. Uh… Dr. Parker? Spider-man?" The man looked confused about how to address him.

"Either is fine. Yes?"

"Um, you've been seen with Spider-man countless times over the years. How do you explain that, and, I'm sorry, but how do we know you're telling the truth?"

"Fair questions," Peter reassured the man. "To protect my identity, and those close to me, we've actually gone to great lengths to show that I'm not Spider-man, despite a few accusations that I was, several years ago. Basically, I have a 'stunt double' who we have worked with over the years. And as for proving it—" Hmm. There wasn't exactly room for web-slinging in there.

Though it felt reckless without his mask, Peter glanced at the height of the ceiling, (not bad, maybe four feet above his head) flexed his knees, and jumped. He hung there for a moment, both feet and a hand holding him in an upside-down crouch. The pack of people started talking again, and in the background he could hear the camera coordinator whisper-shouting at someone to shift up and get that shot!

After just a moment, he dropped into an easy front flip, with a twist, landing with his back to the press so he could wink at Tony.

"You are such a prima donna," Tony said under his breath. He was grinning, though.

"I learned from the best!" Peter said quietly, before turning around to take more questions.

"Allie?" Peter said, pointing at a petite brunette in a suit. He liked her. She wrote good stuff, and didn't seem to care if it ruffled powerful feathers. They'd had a few good lunch interviews over the last few years, and were about the same age.

"Alison Finn, with Daily News."

Right, Alison. He forgot that, whoops.

"Dr. Parker, none of the other Avengers have maintained secret identities over the years, including Tony Stark." Her eyes had flickered down the line of seated Avengers, as if to make sure she was correct. "What makes you so special? How can the public trust you as a leader in either area, if you kept such a big secret for so long?"

Yep, not pulling any punches, despite their good relations. "Well, if you think about it, how many of them, other than Iron Man, even had the option?" He let the press mull that over for a few minutes. Ms. Bishop might have been able to pull it off, if she had considered it," he said with a smile, "and Ms. Khan didn't go public until she was twenty-one, if you remember. At first, it was a way to protect myself, and my family. And though it's still some protection, I've continued it after I came of age because surprisingly, I didn't feel like being scrutinized all the time. I got it a little bit just from being a Stark, and I didn't feel like I needed it as Spider-man in my private life as well." He turned back to the Avengers. Can I have a show of hands from those who think it would be nice to not have everyone know you were a superhero?"

Slowly, all the hands came up. Except for Tony, who knew he didn't have a leg to stand on, and Kamala, who just beamed at the press. Peter huffed a little laugh to himself. No shocker there.

"Isn't it enough that I've dedicated so much of myself and my time to helping the people of this city, and of the world? Really, I didn't owe anyone my identity, too" Peter said calmly. "And neither do any future heroes who would rather stay anonymous." A few people looked thoughtful, and many more were typing into their phones or even writing things down.

Peter skimmed the crowd for another hand. He pointed at an older lady. He couldn't remember her name, but he knew she worked somewhere other than the Bugle (which never got invites, or if they managed to weasel their way in, never got called on).

"Dina Nader with the Sentinel. Dr. Parker, what happened that made you decide now was the time? I'd think you'd want more privacy, not less, since you're involved with what seems to be a fairly new bond."

"Ah, yes. There will be a press release where you can get all the details, but basically, someone thought it might be a good idea to try to take my fiancee while I was presenting. To ensure her safety, I had to act fast, and I had to use my, uh… enhancements to do it. So a whole room of grad students and their families got a little sneak peak last night. There wasn't really a way to keep that under wraps, unfortunately, at least not long-term, so here we are." Conversation picked up again, and people started consulting their phones. Peter had no doubt Cambridge's local news agencies would start releasing news of the event now that the NDA's were void.

"On that note," he said loudly, bringing attention back to the front of the room, "as for the Avengers' soulmates, families, and friends, I believe it's common knowledge that we don't mess around when it comes to protecting them. And though we might sometimes have personal differences, this is one subject we're united on one hundred percent of the time." He knew if he could look behind him, even Steve and Kamala would have their "angry eyes" on. He leaned forward towards the microphone, dropping the cheerful professionalism he almost always maintained. "If that sounds like a threat? Yeah. It kinda is."

Silence. Peter leaned back and let his expression change back to a polite smile. "Anyone else?" Hands shot back up.


Hallie

Later that evening, with Morgan settled into bed, Hallie, Peter, Tony, and Pepper were piled together on the common area couch, watching the ten o'clock news cycle. They'd had a big extended-team dinner, (which Hallie had put real clothes on for, despite Peter's protests that what she was wearing was fine) with lots of conversation, comments, and congratulations. Even in a room full of Avengers, Hallie had been aware of Alex, Chase, Casey, and Ty, as well as a couple other security personnel, hanging out at doorways. Peter had mostly stayed at her side all night, not giving her a chance to feel awkward or out-of-place with the warmth of his hand at her waist. Plus, she'd had conversations with most of those people by now, and they were all friendly and welcoming.

Still, Hallie was glad to be home (and yes, the penthouse was what she pictured every time she thought that word now) and tucked into her soulmate's side after such an insane day.

"You couldn't think of a less-excessive trick to prove you were Spider-man there, Peter?" Pepper teased as the news and talk shows alike replayed clips ad nauseam. The one of him maskless, upside-down on the ceiling was a favorite.

"No, but I can think of a few more -excessive ways," he shot back. "So maybe you should just be grateful we had the press conference there instead of somewhere with higher ceilings."

Tony and Pepper both laughed, and Hallie rolled her eyes with a smile.

"The next few weeks are going to be a little insane," Pepper said, more quietly. "Pete can mostly stick to the Tower unless he's out as Spider-man, but you'll probably get the brunt of a lot of the attention and curiosity, Hallie. Are you going to be okay?" she asked as she leaned out so she could see past Tony and Peter. "What can we do to make it easier for you?"

"Yeah. It'll be… it already has been a lot. But Chase said she'll be with me every day for class, plus a few other people, I'm guessing, and there's only like two and a half weeks left in the semester. I'll be fine."

Peter sighed, and brought his hand up to stroke through her hair. "I'd like to just go with you myself next week at least, but everyone says that will just draw more attention," he said, resigned.

"They're probably right," Hallie pointed out. "I should be fine with Chase and Casey or Ty, right?"

"I'm sure you would be, but Steve was acting sad that he hadn't gotten to hang out with you yet,"—Tony made a rude noise, which Peter ignored— "and Natasha said she'll be back in town for a day or two next week, too. And Kamala and Kate asked for a turn, too, so if you don't mind too much…" He sounded nervous about her reaction to this news, and she let him stew for just a minute.

"So you're saying I'm also going to have an Avengers escort pretty much every day for the rest of the semester?" she asked, letting doubt color her tone. It was okay for him to sweat a little bit. She did feel like he was being a little over-protective.

"Not every day," Peter floundered, "maybe just—"

"Pete," she stopped him. "It's fine. It's not that much more time. And then maybe we can just… not be around other people for a while?"

"I'm absolutely, one hundred percent on board with that," he said in relief, hugging her in close.

"Bruce has been complaining," Tony piped up from the other side of her husband, "so you might want to exclude him from the 'other people' thing, if you don't want him to start getting all Hulky down there."

Hallie laughed. "Of course I didn't mean him. I'm really looking forward to spending a lot of time in the lab this summer, if he wants me." She tilted her head. "And I'm looking forward to not working eight hours a day at the café and then picking up shifts at the dry cleaner. I'm not quite sure what I'll do with all this free time, actually."

Peter sighed sadly and kissed the side of her head. "Yeah, none of that, please. You deserve a little free time."

"But you two should make some plans for when school's out, to celebrate your MBA and Hallie's year-end, too," Pepper said. "You know, get away for a couple weeks, while Tony and I are still used to doing our jobs, before we dump everything else on you, too," she (mostly) joked.

"True," Tony said, stretching. "Any ideas, kids?"

"Well," Peter said slowly, "MJ has been badgering me about coming to visit them in Washington," he said, testing the waters. "And I thought about spending a few extra days at the Compound before or after the regional training coming up. I did promise to teach you to drive," he said lightly, followed quickly by, "and there's this ranch in Wyoming that has a lot of horseback adventures, and some really cool hiking excursions, if you're maybe interested in that," he finished hopefully. When she didn't reply, he backtracked a little. "But I'm also completely content just staying here and spending time together, and with family. Basically anything with you, I'm in. Do you like the sound of any of those?"

Hallie had been fighting back a few tears. Sheesh. She had cried more in the last month than in the last year. Finally, she took a deep breath and a happy little laugh escaped.

"Honestly, it all sounds kind of like 'happily ever after,'" Hallie said.

Peter blew out a breath in relief and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "Awesome. That's what we're shooting for. A little bit of 'happily ever after' is just what the doctor ordered."

"Which doctor?" Hallie asked, bemused.

"Me. I'm a doctor, and I put some of that on order for you the day we met."

"You guys stop being mushy," Tony fake-complained. "I'm trying to hear what James Corden thought of my introduction this afternoon."

Hallie and Peter both laughed, and he shifted her closer, so her head was tucked under his chin. Yeah. This is definitely what 'happy' felt like.


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Thanks again for reading. Let me know what you think, and make sure to check out Hardly Coincidence if you haven't (next story in this series) and follow me if you want to hear about it when we get to see more adventures in this universe!