TH

by Lazydaily

Peter different verse. For TTS in the app

1. Chapter 1

SPIDER-MAN UNMASKED

As we are sure many of you may know two years amid the battle for Earth, web-slinging superhero Spiderman sacrificed himself in order to defeat Thanos and his army of aliens. Just this morning footage has been leaked from Stark Industries that shows him unmasked for the first time.

Peter slumps back in his chair, tugging his hood to make sure that his face is still hidden. His identity has been leaked. He's not even sure how it could have possibly happened again. After everything that happened with Doctor Strange and Peter two and three everyone should have forgotten him. He'd made sure there was no footage left. And what does it mean about him sacrificing himself in the battle against Thanos? Tony was the one who gave his life to save them all. Peter's not even sure he was useful at all in the battle, he'd barely held onto the gauntlet and he definitely would have lost it if Captain Marvel hadn't swooped in and saved his ass.

He risks a glance around the nearly empty library and hopes that no one had recognized him on his way in. Everything had seemed normal that morning but his senses were on high alert and he couldn't figure out why. Maybe this footage leak had something to do with it. He'd woken up that morning in his usual room at the motel where he'd been staying since being forgotten. He'd grabbed a couple of packs of powdered donuts from the pathetic excuse for breakfast and then slipped out before anyone could ask him anything that might give too much away. His eighteenth birthday had just passed but no one ever seemed to believe him when he said how old he was and he had no documentation to prove himself. He'd gotten lucky that the clerk that had checked him in that day hadn't bothered to ask him for anything. With one more glance around the room, he leans back towards the computer monitor to keep reading.

To everyone's shock, Spider-man's real identity has been revealed as Peter Parker, a sixteen-year-old from queens who many had thought lost to the blip. (picture displayed shows Peter Parker, his last school picture from before the blip) A look back at Spider-man's history leads us to believe that he was just fourteen years old when he first came onto the scene as the friendly neighborhood hero that protected the streets of queens. Many now wonder about Stark's involvement in the boy's adventures as a superhero. Did the billionaire inventor know his young age when giving him a suit of his own? Did his guardians know about all of this? Thousands have already taken to the internet demanding answers from both. We will be sure to keep you all

up to date as more information on the situation comes to light.

Peter drops his head to the desk, his breath leaving him all in one puff. This is not his universe. He shouldn't be here, he's got no idea how he even came to be here. Yesterday he'd been in his own universe where no one even knew he'd ever existed. He'd gone out on his patrol, snuck a few pictures of himself swinging around in his normal suit to sell to The Daily Bugle (he really had to thank the other Peter two for that idea). He'd been working himself harder than usual, spending more hours patrolling and doing his best to avoid any run-ins with any avengers that might be lurking around the city still. He remembers getting into a particularly rough fight with some guy that looked like a Rhino sometime after nightfall. He'd been feeling battered and bruised when he got back to his motel, so tired that he'd fallen face first into his -bed still fully clothed with his backpack on. Not the first time he's done that, probably not the last either. He's glad for it now though, He'd still had his backpack, wallet, and suit when he'd woken up. He hadn't bothered to check for any of his other belongings before leaving though so who knows what he had left.

He can't sit here all day, there are a lot of things he should be doing. He needs to figure out what exactly happened and how to get back to his own universe. This must be similar to what happened with the other Peters. He's clearly gotten tossed into some other universe. One where apparently Peter Parker is dead, Peter Parker is dead because in the battle for Earth he sacrificed himself to defeat Thanos's army. He sacrificed himself. Peter's breath catches in his throat. The Peter in this universe sacrificed himself. Like Stark had sacrificed himself in his universe. Peter sits up fully again and scrolls down to the video, hitting the play button.

The footage shown is all from the battle of Earth. Peter's pretty sure it's mostly recordings from the different hero's suits. He recognizes the voice of the Falcon as he sees himself swinging through Doctor strange's portal, He sees himself dropping down onto the ground, his mask off as he rambles through his explanation of what had happened when he woke up on Titan and realizes that it's taken from the iron man armor. This footage wasn't stolen from Stark industries it was stolen directly from Tony and Peter is sure that whoever did it was in for a world of hurt or at least the lawsuit of a lifetime.

Pretty much everything that happens in the footage is exactly as Peter remembers it happening himself until suddenly it's not. The Peter in the video is laying on the ground, the gauntlet and infinity stones clutched in his arms. But as Captain Marvel lands in front of him and he stupidly introduces himself like a dork, a group of the weird creepy aliens swarms her and there's more coming for him and it's clear from the vitals displayed that he's panicking and then he's sliding his hand into the gauntlet and there's power surging through his body, his suit is burning. The footage switches back to the Ironman armor. He's shooting across the battlefield in the direction of Peter, the vitals from the iron spider suit are flashing red in the corner. Peter watches as this other version of himself locks eyes on Ironman, and then he lifts his hand and snaps. The footage goes grainy as a shockwave shoots out from the gauntlet and Thanos's army turns to dust. There's just a glimpse at the very end of Peter, his face covered in dirt and blood, his suit burning away, black lines crawling up the skin of the left half of his face. It's just a few seconds and then it's gone as the Ironman suit breaks away from Tony.

Peter closes the webpage and drops his head onto the desk again, making himself take slow even breaths. The Peter of this universe is dead. He sacrificed himself by putting on the gauntlet and snapping away the army. The same way that Tony had in his universe. That means that here, in this universe Tony Stark was still alive. Tony was alive. It takes all of Peter's willpower not to bolt out of the chair and run straight to Stark Industries. He has to be smart about this. He has to be. He can't go messing with the multiverse anymore than he already has. He can't take that kind of risk again. It's been nearly eight months since everything went to shit in his own universe. Eight months of living along, of avoiding everyone he'd once loved. Even if things are different in this universe he can't mess it up. He needs to go straight to Doctor Strange and get him to send him back to where he belongs.

He stays in the library for several more hours, watching the internet as more information comes out. There's another video leaked at one in the afternoon, his own video diary from the trip to Germany. His interactions with Tony in the car afterward. The internet is in a frenzy over the whole thing, everyone shocked to discover that he was just a boy. That Tony would put him at risk by bringing him into that world. They demand answers from Tony, they demand answers from May. May who's still alive, Peter has to force himself to stay still again at that piece of information. Peter's headstone is turned into a shrine, with more and more pictures of it covered in flowers, cards, and stuffed animals popping up online.

Just after four Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones-Watson, two first year M.I.T students are brought in for questioning in regards to the hacking of Stark Industries and the Avenger's servers. MJ sends out a tweet right as her dorm is raided.

The world deserves to know who he was.

Peter has to move. He tries to rub away the tightness in his chest as he gets to his feet and slips out of the library. He makes sure to keep his hood tugged down low to hide his face and he finds himself checking his clothes every now and then as he walks to make sure that his suit isn't showing at all beneath his jeans or hoodie. His face is everywhere right now. The last thing he needs is for someone to recognize him.

"Okay, I gotta find the wizard first," He mumbles to himself as he slips his phone from his pocket and curses when he realizes that he's got no service. Of course, he would have no service this isn't even his universe. He decides that his best bet is to make it to Greenwich village and he's sure that from there he'll be able to spot the building. He briefly considers changing into his suit and swinging over there but tosses that idea away before it's even fully formed. Not only is his real face everywhere but there are billboards and murals of spiderman on the walls as well. He slips into an alleyway and leans his back against the wall. "I'm so fucked," he groans burying his face in his hands. This is all way too much for him to take in at once. Tony is alive, May is alive, Ned and MJ are at M.I.T, everyone remembers him. Everyone is mourning him. They care about him. They know him. He slides until he's sitting on the damp ground and holds his head in his hands. There's no way he can stay here. There's too much at risk. There's too much temptation.

"Thirty seconds," He whispers to himself, then he squeezes his eyes shut and slowly counts to thirty as he forces himself to breathe evenly. "Thirty seconds and then I need a plan."

When his thirty seconds are up he gets back to his feet and stands up straight. He's managed to live for seven months like a shadow in his universe. He can manage one day in this one. Doctor Strange's house is pretty memorable so he's sure that once he makes his way to Greenwich village he'll be able to locate it, but first, he needs to do one thing. Just one quick thing. Because he'd given up everything to make sure Ned and MJ could make it into M.I.T without his secret identities ruining it for them and he sure as hell wasn't going to let them throw it away in this universe.

Peter stands up straight and takes four deep even breaths, and then heads out towards Hell's kitchen.

Notes:

Comments are always appreciated.

Tumblr!

Twitter!

Tiktok!

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

It takes Peter a while before he manages to find the building that houses the law offices of Nelson and Murdock. He should have thought his plan through just a little more before he'd set out. He'd met with Mr. Murdock several times when he was working his case but it had been pretty impossible for Peter to leave the apartment so the lawyer had always come to him. He makes sure that no one is paying any attention before he slips into the building and makes his way to the office.

"Hello?" He calls out softly as he enters. There's no one at the desk in the front but he can hear someone in one of the offices. There are footsteps and the tapping of a cane and then Mr. Murdock steps into the room.

"Hi, can I help you?" He asks.

"Oh thank god, Mr. Murdock I did not know how I was going to explain anything to anyone else," Peter says quickly. Now that he's here talking to another person he's feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything. He wants to be able to give all his problems over to an adult. He keeps forgetting that he's an adult now too. "It's all very confusing but anyway Ned and MJ are being questioned by the police and they shouldn't be. Well I mean Ned has the skills probably and MJ would… But that's not really what matters because they're both good people an-"

"Mr Parker, why don't you take a few deep breaths and start from the beginning," Mr. Murdock leans against the desk and folds his hands over his cane. Peter's pretty sure his brain does a full reboot at the sound of his name.

"What no no no I'm not… I'm um…" He stutters.

"I watch the news like everyone else. I recognize your voice. I am pretty curious how you're here in my office alive though when everyone is currently mourning your death."

"That's… that's a bit hard to explain. Cause I am dead… or he is dead. Peter Parker… which is me but also not me… I don't have time to explain really. I need you to represent Ned Leeds and Mj please."

"You think they did it?"

"Does it matter? Please, Mr. Murdock. They deserve to have normal lives. They don't… They've lost a lot because of me. I need to help them. Please, Mr. Murdock?"

"Why did you come to me?"

"Well, you… I… You're a really good lawyer," Peter feels like such an idiot right now. He doesn't know what's too much and what's not enough. He knows that Mr. Murdock will know if he lies but it's not really a lie if he just… doesn't say much.

"I'll give you that." Mr. Murdock stands up straight. "They're being brought to New York. I'll meet them. See what I can do."

"You will? Really?" Peter wants to hug him, it's been so long since he hugged someone.

"You saved the world, Mr. Parker. It's the least I could do for you."

"Thank you Mr. Murdock, thank you so so much. This is really amazing. Can I do anything to help? Do you need any information? I just… You can't tell anyone that I came here okay. I'm not… I'm not supposed to be around."

"Your secret is safe with me Mr. Parker. I'll assume that you know about as much of the situation as I do from the news?"

"Yes Sir," Peter fidgets with the sleeves of his hoodie.

"I'm going to guess that you won't be… In town for much longer. Your friends are the most likely suspects right now. If there was… another likely suspect then…"

"Oh! Oh! I got it Mr. Murdock! I got it! Thank you!" Peter spins around and bolts for the door already trying to figure out a plan. He just has to do this one thing, this one last thing and then he'll go straight to Dr. Strange and get this whole mess sorted out. Mr. Murdock will get Ned and MJ out of trouble and they'll be able to go back to school.

Peter hurries away from Hell's kitchen, he wants to make sure that nothing he does can lead back to Mr. Murdock. He'll have to be smart about it. He'll just quickly hack into the Stark Industries servers and make sure he's noticed. There's no way FRIDAY will miss it. Then He'll slip on the suit and make sure he's sighted a few times while he's on his way to the Wizard. Easy peasy, even he can't mess it up.

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

Midtown school was fully closed down for the night by the time Peter makes it there. He slips in through a skylight in the gym just like he's done hundreds of times since the statue of liberty. He's basically an expert at it by now. It's the only place he can make his web fluid in peace. Tonight though he's heading to the computer lab instead of the chemistry lab. He slips quietly through the halls and quickly stops at his old locker, lifting it up. He smiles at the sight of his stash in the same place he'd always left it. He's sure that the Peter in this universe must have been more like him than the other Peters he'd met.

He gathers some web fluid from the stash, though he's not sure it'll still be useful after so long. It's probably been there for nearly seven years now. The thought of that makes him pause in the hallway. In this universe Peter Parker went to Titan and was blipped for five years, he came back from that only to die again so soon after. He died. Peter Parker died. Peter falls against the lockers and gasps as images of the battlefield flash before him. The smoke and the dust and the yelling. The blood, so much blood. He remembers Tony holding him tightly. He remembers seeing Tony sitting there with his suit ruined and-

Peter forces himself to take deep breaths. It's over, it's in the past. He pulls his backpack off and digs through it until he finds the tan case. He pops it open and carefully removes the glasses from inside. He hasn't used them since he stole them back from damage control. He'd wanted them more for sentiment than anything. Tony had entrusted them to him and he'd already made the mistake once of letting someone else take them. He runs his finger gently over the frame of the glasses.

They'd probably remember him. Peter had figured out quickly after Dr. Strange's spell that while the memory of him had been completely wiped out the digital traces hadn't. He'd had to lock himself in the school computer lab and write a code to wipe himself completely from the internet. It'd taken the better part of a night to get it done, but he'd managed. He'd kept a copy of his school records to help him get a GED and he'd made sure that his social security number and ID stayed valid. His hopes of ever going to college were completely dashed but he'd still need some sort of ID to get a real job someday.

Peter glances around the hall even though he knows it's empty. He would have heard or sensed someone well before they could sneak up on him but he can't shake the paranoia that's stuck with him since he became a shadow. The glasses sit comfortably on his face, they don't feel quite as heavy as they did the first time he wore them. He thinks that maybe the meaning behind them had weighed more than the glasses themselves. "Edith."

"Standby for retinal and biometric scan," The voice comes through the glasses. "Retinal and biometric scan accepted."

"Hello Edith," Peter sits and hugs his knees to his chest.

"Hello Peter, what can I do for you today?" He lets out a long sigh of relief when he hears his name. It's been so long since anyone has called him by his name. Mr. Stark is alive, May is alive, Ned and MJ remember.

"I need access to…" He pauses thinking about it, what does he need? Does he need anything? Maybe it's nothing at all. "Bring up everything you've got on Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones. They've been taken in by police and they're being brought back to New York. Can you keep an eye on the case for me? Set up communication with Matt Murdock as well, in case he needs anything from me."

"It seems that my connection has been disrupted. Should I attempt to reconnect?" Edith asks. Peter frowns at that. Did that mean that they had been disabled in this universe? Or was it just because these glasses had come to his universe.

"Yeah go ahead and reconnect," He won't be here long and Tony was the one who created Edith. Maybe no one would notice that they were active again. He takes one more glance around the dark hallway before making his way to the computer lab. The lock on the door only takes Peter a second to pick and thankfully his old logins still work. For a technology school, their security isn't really on top of it. He loads up a few of the computers and gets to work.

He was never at good with computers as Ned was. Ned was always faster but Peter could almost keep up. They'd learned together so it's not too hard for him to guess how Ned might have done it. Still, he waits until Edith has reconnected and he's able to view the evidence from the police. Of course, Tony hasn't given the police too much information on how it was done but there's enough for Peter to guess. He's had to get into the servers a few times himself since people forgot him so he's got plenty of practice bypassing all the security. This time he needs to leave a trail though, with Ned and MJ they can't be blamed for this hacking attempt and it should cast doubt on the first one. He'll just have to make sure it doesn't come back to Midtown high. Instead, he leaves a trace back to a library computer at Caltech. Just because he'll never get to go to MIT in his own universe doesn't mean he can't partake a bit in the rivalry.

"What did they access the first time they got in?" He asks Edith as he works to leave his proper trail.

"It appears that the original hackers only accessed things with reference to Peter Parker or Spiderman," Edith answers, pulling up the referenced files for him.

"They could have tried to be at least a little more obvious," Peter sighs. He lifts the glasses just a bit and rubs the bridge of his nose then goes back to the computer. "Alright, we're going to do the same then. Pull up the footage from the baby monitor protocol. I remember that I used to wear the mask and do impressions in the mirror. Karen showed them too me once." He watches the screen as Edith pulls the videos up. They make Peter smile a bit. He'd been embarrassed when he first realized that Karen had recorded them but it's nice to look back on it now. He really had been just a kid back then. Peter saves the videos to a flash drive and then shuts everything down. He gets up and heads for the exit.

"Peter it appears that Mr. Leeds and Ms. Jones have arrived in New York. Mr. Murdock was there to meet them," Edith announces.

"Thank's Edith," Peter says as he slips out of the building and makes his way down the road a bit. He'll need to suit up and head for Greenwich village to find the wizard now. He slips into an alleyway and pulls his hoodie off, being careful to not knock off the glasses. It's quickly shoved into his backpack and then he kicks his shoes off and shoves them in as well. He always wears his web shooters now, hasn't taken them off in months. Peter taps them together four times then watches as his suit expands out from inside them, covering all but his head. The nanobots had been a good idea. He'd had to piece a suit together on his own after everything that had happened. But he'd managed it. He'd even scavenged the parts to recreate Karen for himself, grateful for the familiar companion each time he put his mask on.

"Edith, can you link up with Karen?"

"Yes Peter," There's a pause, "I am now linked with Karen." Peter takes the glasses off and puts them carefully into the case. He eyes the note briefly before closing it and adding it back to his bag. His mask closes over his head and the HUD comes up.

"Good evening Peter," Karen says.

"Hey Karen what's new?" Peter makes sure he has enough web fluid left for his trip and then takes off toward Greenwich.

"I have connected with Edith, our systems are currently integrating."

"Cool cool, tell me if she has any news for me alright?" Peter tries to stick to quieter roads as he travels. Staying as hidden as he can while swinging across the city. He hears a few shouts as he goes still and he's sure that it's worked. Tony will see that his files have been accessed, people will be posting about spiderman sightings. Maybe someone will think that it's some sort of copycat or something. It'll be enough of a distraction to keep them from looking too closely at Ned and MJ. Enough hopefully for Matt to get them released.

"You have a message from Matt Murdock," Edith tells him. It's a little weird hearing a voice besides Karen's coming through his mask.

"Go ahead and read it to me Edi-" He cuts himself off when he hears an all too familiar sound, he quickly drops onto the roof of the nearest building and sticks himself into the smallest crevice he can find. There are all sorts of sounds around him, cars, and people, and sirens, and in the distance nearly drowned out by the other sounds is the sound of repulsors, growing louder. Peter curses himself, he should have known that Tony would be in town while everything was going on with the leaked videos.

"Karen we need to go dark. Shut down everything," Karen doesn't bother to answer, his HUD goes dark. He presses himself just a bit further back into his spot. Its tiny, no normal sized person should be able to fit but Peter's always been small for his age and he hasn't been eating enough to keep up with his metabolism lately. Even if Tony does find the roof that he's on maybe he won't figure out his hiding spot.

There's a soft clank as the ironman suit lands on the roof. Peter holds his breath as he listens, trying to listen for any sign that it's just an empty suit. But the mask slides open and Peter can hear Tony breathing. He eyes the distance from his hiding spot to the edge of the roof and wonders if he can be faster than the ironman suit. Maybe he should find a way to add repulsors to his own suit. He'd have to make his gloves and shoes metal again. He could probably have to get the parts from some old Stark tech.

"Look, whoever you are let's just make this easy. I've got a lot of shit to do that doesn't involve some annoying punk hacker," Tony calls out with an annoyed voice. He's lying, of course, Peter knows he's lying. Someone being able to hack him not once but twice is a serious offense. Peter eyes the edge of the roof again. The alley is narrow. The Ironman armor probably couldn't fit down there. It might give Peter a headstart.

"Marco," Tony calls as he walks around the roof. "Friday give me a scan of the area," He whispers. Peter knows that his body temperature is generally lower than most normal humans but he'll still be spotted by Friday. He tenses up, judges the distance between the edge of the roof and where he last heard Tony's voice. It's now or never, he's got to get away. It's Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark is right there. He's alive and he's right there. Peter pushes himself quickly out of his hiding spot and bolts towards the edge. He's right there when a hand grabs his arm and tosses him down onto the roof. Before he can even think to react there are metal ropes wrapping around him and pinning him face down to the roof. He doesn't bother to struggle. It's Mr. Stark, It's Mr. Stark. He knows that whatever Tony had used to make the ropes wouldn't be easily broken.

"So what's this supposed to be then? You some spiderman superfan or something?" Tony walks over and crouches down beside him. "Maybe a cheap knockoff."

Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark.

"I… I um…" He tugs a big at his bindings, just in case.

"I will admit that your skills were pretty impressive. I'm still not sure how you managed to get into my servers to be honest," Tony leans forward, his elbows on his knees. Peter tries to think of a way out of this but having Tony there right in front of him, alive! Is making it hard for his brain to function. He takes a deep breath and then lets his mask retract.

"Mr Stark, please don't freak out," He begs, tilting his head to the side to try and get a good look at the man. Tony jerks backward and falls on his butt. Before Peter even really registers it happening Tony has raised his hand and has a charged repulsor aimed at Peter's head.

"Who are you?" He demands.

"What? Wait no Mr. Stark it's me! It's me, Peter!" Peter struggles against the ropes trying to free himself so he can explain better.

"Who are you?" Tony demands again as he gets to his knees.

"I'm Peter Parker! I'm… I think I'm eighteen but to be honest, the whole missing five years thing is really confusing so… so I might still be seventeen or even nineteen. Please let me up and I'll explain everything. Please Mr. Stark I really don't like being pinned down like this…" Peter was determined not to cry but it was getting harder by the second. The past twenty-four hours have been super overwhelming and he's not really sure how he's made it this long without a proper breakdown.

"Peter Parker is dead," Tony says his voice rough.

"I… Yes… The… I'm" Peter doesn't know how the hell he's going to explain this. "My Name is Peter Benjamin Parker. I'll explain everything if you just let me up… please? I'm… I think I'm about to have a panic attack and…"

"If you're Peter then what's the first thing I ever said to you?" Tony asks. Peter squeezes his eyes shut and takes a couple of deep breaths.

"You said nice work kid," Peter forces himself to keep taking steady breaths. He's pretty sure that he's going to cry any second now and he really doesn't want that to be the first impression he gives.

"That's wrong, that-"

"It was 2010. At the Stark Expo when the Hammer drones went crazy. I had on an iron man mask. I got separated from Ben and He always said that if I got lost i should stay in the same place and when I saw the drone coming for me I thought I could just be like Iron man and blast it away. You saved me," Peter's pretty sure he forgot to breathe while he got all of that out. "I don't… I don't know if that happened here in this place actually. But then… The second time we met you were sitting on the couch with May eating… something she made. I think you called me Mr. Parker. You lied and said we'd been emailing about the September foundation and I went along with it because… because Tony Stark was in my apartment."

The ropes release him and Peter jumps to his feet. His legs are shaking too much and he ends up falling back down but at least he's not face down anymore, at least he isn't feeling the phantom weight of a building holding him down. He puts his head between his knees and counts his breaths.

Chapter 4

Chapter Text

"Peter?" Tony's voice is rough. He puts his hands on Peter's shoulders and sits him back up, his eyes scanning over Peter's face, taking him all in. "You're really Peter?"

"Mr. Stark," Peter's eyes are burning. He doesn't care if he looks pathetic anymore. He throws himself forward and clings tightly to Tony. The Iron Man suit returns to the housing unit on his chest and Peter tightens his grip as Tony's arms wrap around him. His tears fall as he presses his face against Tony's shoulder. He listens to Mr. Stark, his heart beating in his chest, each breath he takes.

"How?" Tony gasps, "How are you alive?"

"It's… it's hard to explain. I need to get to Doctor Strange. I…" He has to go. He needs to get back. He can't stay in this universe. No matter how much he wants to He can't stay. "I've got to get to Doctor Strange."

"Okay okay alright kid. Let's go to the tower and I'll give the wizard a call," Tony places his hands on Peter's shoulders and moves him back again. "You're more of a twig than usual. We'll eat something when we get there." Peter's pretty sure he's going to start crying again.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," He doesn't want to let go.

"You're okay kid, I've got you okay? You're alright," Peter wonders which one of them Tony is trying to reassure. He can't help but cling to his mentor once again and breathe in the familiar smell of expensive cologne and motor oil. For the first time in months, his spider sense is completely and blessedly silent. He's safe. Tony is here with him, and he's safe. He can't stop the tears from falling. Tony's hand cups the back of his head, smoothing down his curls. "You're safe Peter." He repeats over and over. Peter wishes he could be a child again, wishes that he could just hand all his problems to Tony and let himself be taken care of.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Peter whispers.

"You're alright kid. I've got you. Friday, send our location to Happy. Tell him we need a ride," Tony gets back to his feet and pulls Peter up with him. Peter's tired though, he's so very tired. He lets Tony take most of his weight as they stand there. "Are you hurt kiddo? Friday run a full scan of him. I'm not connected to your suit, where'd you get this one? I haven't seen you since… since the battle. You were injured badly."

"Sorry, Mr. Stark. Karen, you can give him access," Peter forces himself to stand up straight again and ignores how cold it leaves him feeling. "There's a lot of…. Of really weird things that I'm going to have to explain. But… The battle ended the way you remember. I'm… not the same Peter that you remember."

"Okay… Alright. We'll go back to the tower and get you fed and…. You haven't eaten today?" Tony frowns disapprovingly as he listens to whatever Friday is telling him through his earpiece.

"I had some donuts… well I grabbed them. It's kind of been a really weird day so I don't remember if I ate them or not." He admits. Tony shakes his head and drops a hand onto Peter's shoulder.

"Happy's on the ground now. Can you get down or do you need a lift?"

"I'll meet you down there," Peter forces himself to take a step back and brings his mask back up over his face. Tony nods at him then flies down to the ground. Peter takes a few deep breaths then jumps off the edge as well, landing just behind Tony. He watches as Happy gets out of the car and takes a few steps towards them with his brows furrowed.

"You make a friend Mr. Stark?" Happy asks. He looks between the two of them with confusion and maybe some hope in his eyes.

"Ran into an old one actually Hap. Let's talk in the car," Tony reaches back and puts his arm around Peter again as he leads him to the backseat. He pulls the door open for him and waits while Peter ducks inside before climbing in himself. Happy hurries to get back in the car and glances repeatedly into the rearview mirror as he starts the car. Tony doesn't take his eyes off him. Peter slumps down in the seat and tilts his head back closing his eyes.

"You can probably ditch your suit now if you want. Is it nanotech? I saw that your mask was at least," Tony says with interest in his voice. Peter can feel Happy looking back at them. He raises is wrists and taps the web shooters together three times and the suit slides back inside them. Peter wiggles out of his backpack and holds it on his lap.

"Peter?" Happy gasps out as he jerks the car to a stop on the side of the road.

"Jesus Happy," Tony throws his arm out to keep Peter from being jerked forward. "Seatbelt on kid. Apparently, Happy's forgotten how to drive tonight."

"What the hell you can't just… Bring the kid back to life and expect me not to react to it!" Happy snaps as he twists around to get a better look at Peter.

"I didn't bring him back to life," Tony rolls his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic."

"I'm allowed to be dramatic when there's a formerly dead kid sitting in the backseat of my car!" Peter winces at the volume. It's been so long since he's been in an enclosed space with other people that he forgot how loud it could be.

"Don't yell Hap," Tony reminds him. He points at Peter's seatbelt again with a raised brow. "I don't know all the details yet either. We're going to go back to the tower and Peter's going to catch us up on everything. You can sit in if you want. Let's grab some food on the way. You have any preferences kiddo?"

"Can we get Thai? I haven't had Thai in a long time," he admits as he buckles himself in.

"You can have anything you want kid," Happy is definitely sniffling as he puts the car back in drive and pulls out onto the road once more. Peter hugs his backpack tighter. He wonders how they'll feel when he tells them that he's not their Peter, that he'll have to go back to his own universe. Mr. Stark is dead, May is dead, no one knows who I am.

"Great Thai it is," Tony is still watching Peter closely. His eyes darting over all his features. Peter lets him. He wants to do the same but he's worried about how much it'll hurt when it's time to go.

He barely notices the drive at all, floating somewhere between awake and sleep. He listens to the sounds of Tony and Happy's breathing. The steady beating of their hearts. When Happy stops to grab their Thai he lets himself tip sideways to rest his head on Tony's shoulder. Tony wraps an arm around him and tucks him into his side. Peter lets himself enjoy the comfort, no matter how brief it'll be. He must fall asleep because the next thing he knows Tony is encouraging him to sit up and get out of the car.

Peter is barely out of the car before he's being wrapped up in a tight hug by Happy. He returns the hug and presses his face against his shoulder with a smile. Happy doesn't remember me. Happy lets him go abruptly and straightens his suit, he sniffles a few times as he grabs the Thai food from the passenger seat. Tony throws his arm around Peter's shoulder again and leads him into the building.

"When did you get the tower back?" Peter asks while they wait for the elevator. He can smell the Thai food from the bag Happy is holding and he's trying his best not to drool over it.

"A few months ago," Tony says sticking his hands into his pockets. "We still use the compound mostly but… well it's too remote for some people. So I bought it back. Moved most of SI back in. I spend some time here every now and then but I'm mostly at the compound upstate."

"Not at your cabin?" Peter asks.

"My cabin? I um… I go out there sometimes. Pepper and I are… Taking a bit of a break right now." He admits, "So I'm living at the compound while we… sort things out."

"Mr. Stark!" Peter gasps, "What about Morgan?"

"We share custody. You know I think we have a lot to talk about and I don't think my relationship status was on the list," Tony guides him onto the elevator. Peter pouts and leans against the wall as Happy joins them.

"What happened Happy?" he asks.

"Don't answer that," Tony warns.

"It's been a rough few years kid," Happy says with a shrug. Tony gives him a quick glare then returns his gaze to Peter. He's pretty sure Tony hasn't looked away from him at all since he revealed himself on the roof.

The tower isn't all that familiar to Peter. Tony had kept him at arm's length until after moving day. Then he'd brought him up to the compound a few days of the week so they could work together and try to make his internship look legit. The tower sort of has the same feeling though at least. Tony leads him to a kitchen and Peter doesn't bother to wait for Happy to gather their plates before he's taking the food out of its bags and grabbing a pair of chopsticks to stuff his face with.

"Geez try to actually chew your food, we don't need you choking," Tony says it like a joke but there's a tinge of real worry in his voice. Peter swallows what's in his mouth and wipes his face with a napkin.

"Sorry Mr. Stark," He mumbles as he accepts the plate that Happy offers him. He waits for both of the men to take some food before he loads his own plate.

"So…" Tony says taking a bite of his own food. "Should we… Talk now?" Peter takes a deep breath.

"You know the multiverse theory right?" He pushes his food around a bit with his chopsticks.

"Sure," Tony says at the same time Happy says "No."

"Okay well the short version is that… there's like a lot of universes that all exist and some of them are really similar and some are super different but they all exist and… I've found recently that there are… ways to travel between them. Well, I've seen it happen. People from other universes came to mine after a spell by Doctor Strange went wrong. There were two other versions of me. Well, they didn't look like me really but they were both Peter Parker just like me." He takes a deep breath. "So what I'm trying to say is… I'm Peter Parker but… I'm not the Peter Parker that… that you knew. I mean as far as I can tell everything is the same but… I didn't die in the battle of earth."

"So… The multiverse is real…" Tony looks skeptical.

"You invented time travel and you're having trouble believing in the multiverse?" Peter points his chopsticks at him. "It's the truth, Mr. Stark. This… this isn't my universe. I don't know how I ended up here though because last night I went back to my hotel room and that's where I woke up this morning but now everything is… different."

"What's different?" Tony asks.

"Other than you being alive," Happy adds. Peter takes a bite of his food in order to stall. He doesn't want to say it out loud. Instead, he digs into his backpack and grasps the glasses case in his hand. He pops it open and makes sure the note is visible before sliding it across the table to Tony. He stares at it, then picks up the note and runs his thumb over the words written there. Peter has them memorized.

"I threw this note away," Tony says.

"Nick Fury gave them to me… A few months after the battle," Peter's pretty sure he's still hungry but his appetite is gone now. He can't stomach another bite right now.

"Are those your glasses?" Happy asks.

"Even dead I'm the hero," Peter's hands are shaking. "It's Edith."

"Tony?" Happy asks.

"I made plans before we went back in time. Made sure my affairs were in order," Tony lets out a long breath. "One of them was to make sure that if something happened to me these would be given to Peter."

"In my universe… It was Tony Stark that stole the infinity stones back from Thanos. It was Tony Stark that snapped away Thanos's army. It was Tony Stark that died."

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

Peter feels like crying. No, he definitely is crying. Tony Stark is dead, May is dead, no one remembers you. He pushes his plate aside and drops his forehead onto his arms to try and hide. Tony gets up quickly and moves around the table. He pulls Peter's chair back and gathers him into his arms.

"I'm here now Peter. I've got you okay?" Tony says. Peter clings to him tightly and cries. He doesn't care anymore how he looks. It's been so long since someone was there to comfort him. So long since someone held him. Tony's fingers card gently through his hair and he tries to focus on the feeling of that instead of all of the emotions fighting for attention inside him. He's tired. So so tired.

"Mr. Stark," It comes out as a sob.

"I've got you, kid. I'm not letting go," It's a lie they both desperately want to believe. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. But you can rest now alright. I've got you. I'll fix this. That's what I do, you know that. I'll fix this." There is no way to fix it. The only thing to do is to get Peter back to his own universe. Back to the world where no one cares what happens to him.

"We have to call Doctor Strange…" Peter forces himself to pull away. "In… In my universe when things got messed up Doctor Strange was able to fix it. He was able to send everyone back to their own universes." He would have done it with no side effects if Peter had just let him do his own thing in the first place. If he hadn't been so determined to do his own thing.

"I'll send him a message but the last time I heard from the good doctor he wasn't in town," Tony admits, pushing Peter's hair back out of his face. "You're going to stay with me and relax okay. Have you been taking care of yourself? You're way too thin and the bags under your eyes have bags."

"I'm fine Tony really," Peter sniffs and looks away from him. "It's just been… A long few months to be honest."

"Oh, I'm Tony now huh?" He teases, "Come on. Finish your food and then I'll get you set up in a room for a good night's sleep."

"We should call May," Happy says almost hesitantly. "She should know."

"No," Peter says too quickly. "I was… It'll be too hard for her. To see me and… and then When I leave again." It'll be too hard for Peter. To have Tony and May and Happy just like things were before.

"Peter," It's clear Happy wants to argue but Tony holds up his hand to stop him.

"It's late. Too late to drag May out of bed. We don't even know how long Peter will be here." Tony ruffles his hand through Peter's hair gently. "Eat up kid, come on it's late."

Peter nods and picks up his chopsticks again and starts to finish the food on his plate. He's grateful when Tony chooses to sit in the chair beside him again. Happy is clearly still worried about telling May and Peter's grateful for it. They must still be together. With Peter gone May will be safe in this universe. Happy will protect her from anything else.

"Is May… is she okay?" He finds himself asking. May is dead, May is dead, May is dead.

"It was hard for her," Happy admits. "It took her a long time to… get back on her feet."

"This news getting out… are people bothering her?" He shouldn't ask, it's too much temptation. Too much. May is dead, Tony is dead, no one remembers who you are.

"She's doing alright. It's brought up… a lot of bad memories for all of us. She's at my apartment right now to avoid most of the reporters," Happy scoops some more food onto his plate. Peter can see Happy's apartment in his head, he can see the villains he brought there, he can see… he can see the rubble in the lobby. The police outside. The blood on his hands, blood on his hands, blood on his hands, May's blood.

Peter stands up from the table so quickly that his chair flies back and clatters to the ground. He's gasping for air. He can't breathe. There's a building on his back. May is dying in front of him. Ben is dying in front of him. Tony is dying in front of him.

"Peter!" Tony is grasping his shoulders tightly. Peter startles back, no one knows him anymore, no one should be touching him. He trips over the chair and something cracks. He lays on the ground gasping.

"Peter, peter you're alright. You're safe. I've got you." Tony kneels beside him and catches Peter's wrists to keep him from lashing out. "Same side kid. Same side." Everything returns all at once. Peter looks up at Tony through the tears streaming from his eyes. Tony is right in front of him. Tony Stark is dead. "I've got you," Tony cups Peter's face in his hands. He's taking deep slow breaths. Peter copies him.

"Here boss," Happy walks over slowly holding an uncapped bottle of water. Tony helps Peter to sit up, resting him against his chest, before taking the water and holding it to Peter's lips.

"Take a drink Peter, just focus on breathing," Tony instructs. Peter drinks a bit of the water, it's ice cold and the feeling helps to bring him more fully to the present. He listens to the sound of Tony's breaths and forces himself to match them. Tony keeps one arm wrapped around Peter, holding him tight.

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark…" Peter mutters. He's tired, exhausted. He wants to just curl up where he is and sleep.

"Hey," Happy says, "Why don't I set up Star wars in the living room? Get some extra blankets and pillows out for you guys?"

"Yeah, that sounds good Hap. Come on kid, let's get comfortable on the couch," Tony gets up and helps Peter to his feet as well. Peter lets himself be led to the living room and be seated on the couch. He doesn't really pay attention as the other men move around him. He's wrapped in a blanket and the movie starts on the screen. Happy takes a seat in an armchair and puts his feet up. Tony sits on the couch with Peter. He puts a hand on his shoulder and urges the teen to lay down, his head resting on a pillow on Tony's lap. Peter lets himself relax. He's safe for now. Tony's fingers card through his curls. He doesn't even remember falling asleep.

"Hey keep it down," Happy's voice is tinged with sleep as he scolds whoever it is that's just wandered into the living room. Peter heard them in the elevator. Three new heartbeats, they're on the younger side. Logically, Peter knows that if they have access to the tower then they must be safe but he can't help but tense up.

"Oh hello, Happy man," A girl with an accent sings. "And Tony Stark! You have chosen to grace us with your presence!" Tony shifts a bit as he wakes up more, his hand continues its previous pattern of carding through Peter's hair. Peter must have pulled up his blanket while he was sleeping. It's covering most of his face now.

"Isn't it past you threes bedtime?" Tony asks.

"Oh come on old man we're young! We had to go out and see the town," A boy with a southern accent. Peter recognizes that voice. He met Harley Keener at Tony's funeral. The circumstances of their meeting had been bad but they'd talked a bit. They got along. They'd even exchanged numbers and talked quite a bit before the failed spell. Harley had been trying to create his own armor. Peter had helped him a bit.

"Yeah, Kate Bishop had to show us around," the girl with the accent says. Peter thinks she might be Russian.

"Well get to your rooms," Happy scolds them. "We're sleeping in here."

"Why are you… is that Morgan?" Harley asks. Peter listens to their footsteps as they move further into the living room.

"It is clearly too big to be Morgan," a third voice says, another girl. Peter is pretty sure Tony already knows he's awake but he taps a finger against his leg anyway just to let him know.

"It's a ghost," Tony says, "a ghost that needs to sleep and not to listen to a bunch of annoying ass kids stumbling home drunk at three in the morning."

"A good ghost or a bad ghost?" The Russian girl asks.

"A none of your business ghost," Happy says, he sounds tired and annoyed but he gets up from his chair with a groan. "Come on, off to bed. Don't disturb them anymore."

"If you are inviting ghosts to stay with us we should at least be allowed to know who they are." Russian girl says.

"Yeah what she said," Says the other girl. Tony lets out a long suffering sigh and gives one of Peter's curls a gentle tug.

"Up to you kiddo," he says. Peter really should try to stay away from people in this universe but if he's going to be staying at the tower until Doctor Strange comes then it's only fair that he knows who they are. After all, he doesn't want to have to hide.

He sits up and lets the blanket fall onto his lap. The lights are dim in the room but there's still a star wars movie playing on the tv so it's not that hard to see. He pushes his hair back out of his face and eyes the three newcomers. Harley looks the same as the last time Peter had seen him in his own universe and he thinks he recognizes one of the girls from some news report last Christmas. Something to do with hawkeye maybe. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and scoots just a bit closer to Tony.

"You are Starks kid!" Yelena exclaims. "You are indeed a ghost."

"Peter Parker," Harley says with wide eyes.

"Wait Spiderman? But… aren't you dead?" Kate, that's what the Russian girl had called her, asks.

"They did say I was a ghost…" Peter pulls his knees up. Tony rests his hand on the back of his neck and gives a reassuring squeeze.

"Look you three just go to bed, well explain things in the morning," Tony orders them. "Happy you get to bed as well, I don't want to listen to you complaining all day tomorrow about how much your back and neck hurt from sleeping in that chair."

"But Boss," Happy objects.

"I'll stay with Peter," Tony says. Peter wants to object but he's really grateful. As much as he'd love to sleep he doesn't want to be alone. He watches as Happy ushers the three newcomers out of the room and then turns to look at Tony.

"Your back is going to hurt in the morning too," Peter points out.

"I'm not sleeping right now kid," Tony lies. "I'm staying right here and keeping an eye on you."

"Mr. Stark…"

"I died in your universe right, Pete? You watched me die?" Tony asks. Peter forces himself to nod. "I watched you die twice. Both times in my arms. I lost you on titan and I spent five years trying to find a way to get you back, and it worked. It worked Peter. You came back to life and I… I should have made you leave the battle. I should have sent you home. But I didn't. I let you stay and then you died again. And both times, both times you laid there in my arms and kept apologizing like you'd done something wrong."

"I…" Peter leans forward and hugs Tony tightly. He wants to apologize but he knows it's not what he needs to hear right now. Tony hugs him back just as tightly.

"I'm going to stay right here kid. You get some more sleep okay. In the morning we'll talk more," Tony lets him go and has him lay back down. Peter lays his head back on the pillow and lets Tony adjust the blanket over him. He focuses his eyes on the tv but listens to Tony's heartbeat instead. He lets the sound lull him back to sleep.

Chapter 6

Chapter Text

Peter's spider senses wake him up. Someone is right in front of him. He doesn't hesitate as he throws himself off the couch, knocking the person back away from him. He crouches down ready to fight again as his surroundings come back to him. He's not in his hotel room. The girl with the long brown hair sits against the wall groaning as she pushes herself back up to her feet.

"Man you pack a punch," she says. Peter turns his head to the couch where Tony is waking up.

"I… I forgot where I was," Peter admits.

"You okay kid?" Tony asks. Peter nods as he stands up straight.

"I'm Kate," the girl takes a few small steps closer and holds out her hand. "Kate Bishop." Peter nods and shakes it.

"Peter Parker," He says. Tony stands up and rolls his shoulders stiffly then drops a hand onto Peter's shoulder.

"They sent me to wake you guys up," Kate explains. "Clint showed up this morning. He made breakfast."

"Does he know I'm here?" Peter asks. He never interacted much with Clint. Other than the fight in Germany. Kate thinks for a moment before answering.

"He's got a thing about air vents. He might not have even come through the living room and under your blanket, it's not like you were recognizable. Do you not want him to know you're here? Cause if so I should probably stop Harley before he blabs."

"No, it's alright… It's just an overall weird situation." He pushes his hair back out of his face, annoyed with the length. May had been taking him to the same barber since he was a kid, it's not the same going back there when the barber doesn't remember how he likes his hair.

"Sooo you gonna eat with us?" Kate asks, sticking her hands in her pockets. Peter casts a quick glance at Tony and then nods.

"I'm starving," He admits with a small smile.

"Well let's eat then!" She says before pushing them both towards to kitchen.

Tony goes straight for the coffee and pours himself a large mug while Kate drops into a chair at the table. Harley is already sitting there his phone in hand with one earbud in. Clint turns from the stove to say something but he freezes when his eyes land on Peter.

"Um… Hi Mr. Barton, sir." Peter mumbles.

"Peter?" He asks. Peter nods and then moves towards the table to take a seat next to Harley. He can feel all of their eyes on him as he fidgets with the plate and silverware set there.

"So you really are a ghost…" Harley says.

"Something like that," Peter admits.

"Well…" Clint says. "I'm gonna assume that ghosts get hungry too."

"You might need to cook more food," Tony says. "He eats like twice as much as Steve or Barnes." Clint eyes the plates of food he's already got and then nods. He pulls another carton of eggs out of the fridge and sets to work. Tony grabs a plate with his free hand and brings it to the table. Kate grabs the rest and brings them over as well. Peter waits while Kate and Harley load their own plates then he glances at Tony. He feels bad that Clint has to cook more because of him. Tony points at the plates.

"Eat kid," Tony orders. Peter nods a bit and puts some food on his own plate. It tastes delicious. Peter can't remember when he had a homecooked meal. He practically inhales the food on his plate and doesn't complain when Tony puts more on there. Clint joins them eventually with more food and Peter makes sure that everyone else gets what they want before he grabs some more. He can feel eyes on him, Tony, maybe Clint too. Peter glances up and sees that he's right.

"Is Happy still sleeping?" Peter asks as he reaches for a pitcher of orange juice to fill his glass.

"He took off this morning," Harley says. "Said something about checking on something at his apartment." Peter tenses and looks at Tony.

"He can't tell May," Peter says. "If he tells May then…" May is dead, May is dead, May is dead.

"Friday remind Happy to keep quiet about our ghost problem," Tony says to the AI.

"I've sent him the message," Friday answers.

"So…" Clint says. "How exactly did all this happen?"

"Kids from another universe where I snapped away Thanos instead of him," Tony shrugs and goes to refill his coffee. "Apparently he needs the wizard to send him home."

"Is Strange even around?" Clint takes a bite of a piece of bacon.

"If something is messing with the multiverses then he should already know," Peter admits. "When… well in my universe it was a spell of his that went wrong after I asked um… well anyway he seems to kinda know what's up with the whole multiverse thing. I kinda expected him to show up when I ended up here… but he didn't come."

"Yeah, I found you instead. Honestly, you really thought that you could just hack my shit and not get caught?"

"You hacked Stark?" Harley asks. "Were you the one that leaked those videos of yourself then?" Peter grimaces and takes a big bite of his toast to keep from answering. He still wants Ned and MJ out of trouble. He needs to be a distraction long enough for Mr. Murdock to get them out of trouble.

"I hacked Stark," Peter says. He doesn't bother to elaborate on why. "It's easier in my universe. They've gotten kinda sloppy since… since the battle. I was kinda confused when I ended up here. I forgot how fast Mr. Stark would be able to respond."

"You should have full access to everything," Tony says. "Why are you having to hack into my servers at all?"

"Oh…" Peter frowns at his plate. "It's kinda complicated. But I'm… well… I trusted the wrong person. My identity got revealed and… people didn't like that. It was a whole thing. But I've got it all sorted now. Things are… as normal as they'll ever be."

"I'm sorry kid," Tony says. Peter nods and stares at his plate.

"Can I get some clothes to wear?" He asks.

"I've got something you can borrow if you want," Harley offers. "You're a little smaller than me but they should fit okay."

"He's got his own clothes, Harley. I'll get them for you," Tony stands up.

"My clothes?" Peter looks up at him. Why would Tony have his clothes?

"Not much, just what you have in your room at the compound. I asked one of the staff to grab a few things and send them here. They should be here soon actually," Tony fidgets with the sleeves of his shirt.

"My room at the compound…" Peter stares at his hands and tries to keep his eyes from watering. He didn't have a room at the compound in his universe anymore. He'd snuck in one night, hoping to get some things, but his room was gone. It made sense really, he hadn't gone out there since the rebuild. There was no reason too since Tony was gone. He'd spent some time at the cabin with Pepper and Morgan but he never kept any of his belongings out there.

"Yeah well I know a lot of it was destroyed but… a few of your things were dug out of the rubble of the old building so I had them cleaned up and put back in your room once it was rebuilt… There are some things from your old apartment too. You and May were both gone after the first snap. I had your apartment packed up, put your things in your room, and everything else in storage." Tony acts like this is no big deal but Peter knows that it is.

"You rebuilt my room… after the battle?" He's thankful that no one mentions the tears that are now falling.

"I invented time travel," Tony takes his phone out and scrolls through it. "They're sending your bag up the elevator now. Why don't you go hop in the shower, I'll bring you the bag. Go ahead and use my bathroom for now."

"Okay, thanks Mr. Stark," Peter doesn't look at the others as he hurries from the dining room. It's easy enough for him to find Tony's bedroom. The mixtures of his and Pepper's smells are still strong. Peter slips into the bathroom and turns the shower on but sits on the edge of the tub instead of getting in. He drops his head into his hands and counts each breath he takes. Tony Stark is dead, May is dead, no one remembers him. Tony was going to try and use time travel to find a way to bring him back.

Peter knows that he has a panic attack coming. He presses his palms into his eyes and slows his breathing, listening to the sounds of the tower. The soft electrical hum, someone snoring in a bedroom, Clint and Harley in the kitchen cleaning and speaking in low voices. He focuses on the sound of Tony's heartbeat. The sound of the elevator opening. Another familiar voice.

"Tony, what the hell is going on?" Rhodey asks as he walks off the elevator. Peter can hear the subtle sounds of his bionic leg braces.

"Honeybear," Tony's voice is strained. "I wasn't expecting you."

"I was at the compound. Thought I might catch you there. Instead, I find the place empty and the news is talking about spiderman sightings last night after the kid's identity was released to the whole world." Rhodey lifts up a duffle bag. "Then I hear from a staff member that you've requested a bag of the kid's clothes be sent to the tower. So I'll ask again, What the hell is going on?"

Peter turns the shower off and stands back up. He'll just grab the bag himself and then he can show Rhodey what's going on. What does it even really matter at this point? It's only a matter of time before the Avengers that are left figure out what's going on and then Doctor Strange will come and send Peter back home. Back to his own universe. Back to where no one knows him. He wipes his hands on his pants and heads back to the foyer.

Tony is stalling, he's trying to blow off the question and grab the bag but Rhodey is keeping it away from him. They're bickering and Peter thinks that he'd probably find it funny in another situation. In his own universe, back before everything happened. He takes a slow breath in and holds it for a few seconds then lets it out slowly. It's fine.

"Is that my bag?" He asks as he steps into the foyer. Tony and Rhodey both freeze and stare at him. "Hi, Uncle Rhodey."

"You…. Don't fucking hey uncle Rhodey me. What the hell kid!" Rhodey drops the bag and takes quick steps across the room to pull Peter into a tight hug. Peter returns it, torn between smiling and crying. No one remembers who you are.

"Language," Tony scolds. He's got a smile on his face. Tony Stark is dead, no one remembers who you are.

"Shut up Tony," Rhodey puts his hands on Peter's shoulders and moves him back to get a good look at him. "Are you alright Kid? What's going on?"

"It's been a while since I had a nice shower," Peter says. "Can Tony tell you what's up while I enjoy it?"

"Yeah yeah of course," Rhodey gives him another quick hug before letting him go. Peter flashes a grin at him then grabs the duffel bag off the floor. Before he can leave the room Tony throws an arm around his shoulders and pulls him close, pressing a kiss to his temple. Peter smiles at him as well then heads back to the bathroom with his bag.

Tony Stark is dead. No one remembers you. Tony Stark is dead. No one remembers you.

Chapter 7

Chapter Text

The shower is heavenly. Three different showerheads and a wide array of bath products. Peter turns the water pressure as heavy as it'll go and finally feels like he's able to wash off the filth of the past few months. The shower in his hotel room is never as clean as he wants it to be no matter how much he's tried to clean it himself. The water comes out in barely a trickle and is never hot enough. He washes and conditions his hair with Tony's fancy products. Once he's done he manages to find a new razor in a cabinet to clean off what little bit of stubble he's managed to grow. He considers Tony's aftershave where it sits on the counter but he remembers that it stung the last time that he used it and the smell would probably be too much for him so he decides against it.

He sets the duffle bag on the counter and takes a look inside. They really are his old clothes. He recognizes the dumb science pun shirts and the jeans with the rip in the knee from when he tripped going up the stairs outside his school. Tony had offered to replace them when he'd seen the rip but Peter had insisted they were still fine. Tony hadn't used Peter's death as an excuse to get rid of them. Tony Stark is dead, no one remembers you. Peter dries himself off fully with a big fluffy towel and then gets dressed in his own clothes. They still fit him just like they always did. He dries his hair and then looks in the drawers on the left side of the counter. The left side was always Peppers and It seems that some of her belongings are still there. Peter pulls out a hair tie and pulls his hair back into a short ponytail. He thinks briefly of the barber he'd always gone to. He'd probably remember Peter in this universe, but he really can't risk going out in public.

Once he's finished up he heads back out to the living room where he can hear people talking in low voices. It's mostly just Tony and Rhodey but Clint ads something in every now and then. Peter had been hoping that Doctor Strange would be there already. He's torn between wanting to stay here where he's remembered and loved and wanting to get back to his own universe. He knows he has to go home. He can't stay here. He's got to go before the multiverse starts getting messed up. He can't stay here. He can't.

"Hey kid," Tony calls when he sees him. He hops up quickly from the chair he'd been seated in and makes his way over to throw an arm around Peter's shoulder. Peter lets himself smile just a bit as he leans into the hold.

"Hey Mr. Stark, sorry I took so long. It's been a while since I've had such a nice shower,," Peter gives Tony a quick hug then makes his way to the couch, sitting down and pulling his feet up. "Have you heard from Doctor Strange yet? Maybe I should make my way over to his house… I know it's in Greenwich Village but I'm not sure of the exact address."

"I gave him a call but he hasn't answered," Tony comes closer to the couch and looks him over.

"I think he's got like portals in his house that connect to the other wizard houses or whatever they're called, So maybe I should go there. If Doctor Strange isn't home then Wong must be there…" He can't stay he can't.

"Pete," Tony drops down onto the couch next to him.

"Tony," Rhodey warns with a stern voice. Peter closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before looking at Tony again.

"We can do that," Tony says. "We'll head over to the sanatorium or whatever it is. It's just… Maybe you could stick around for just a bit?" Peter wants to. He wants to stay. He wants to bask in this warm home, with people that care about him. He wants to have more time with Tony, He wants to hug May. Peter feels his eyes starting to fill with tears again. He's so sick of crying. He'd cried for a long time after he lost everything. He'd thought that he was finally getting over it.

"Peter," Clint leans forward in his armchair. "I know that in your uh… universe, that Tony was the one who died in the battle for Earth, but is there other differences as well?"

"Yeah…" Peter admits. "There are differences."

"You aren't going to tell us though," Rhodey guesses. Peter nods. He can't tell them the truth because they know him. They love him. They won't want to send him back to his own universe, to where he'll be living in a shitty hotel room all alone.

"Come on Peter, has Pepper moved on? You can tell me," Tony jokes. Peter forces himself to grin at his mentor.

"Oh yeah, she and Uncle Rhodey are getting on great," Peter teases. Clint and Rhodey crack up laughing while Tony splutters about betrayals. Peter pats Tony reassuringly on the shoulder.

"I'm kidding obviously. Rhodey and Happy are competing for favorite uncle though. The last time I went out there they were really into it," Peter hadn't been able to participate. He knew that everyone was getting together at the cabin for Christmas. They'd been doing it almost every year since Tony's funeral. This was the first year Peter hadn't been invited. He'd hitched hiked out that way and then swung through the woods till he'd reached it. He didn't dare get too close but he'd perched himself in a tree where they could hear them all.

It'd been miserable really. Peter can't regulate the cold well and he'd gotten himself sick from sitting out there all night. He'd waited until everyone fell asleep and then had disabled the security system just long enough for him to slip in and leave them all presents. He shouldn't have spent so much money, but he just couldn't imagine spending Christmas all on his own.

"What about you?" Rhodey asks. Peter blinks back tears that keep trying to escape.

"Morgan calls me her big brother," He says, trying to keep his voice from breaking. "What about here? Lots of new faces it seems. I know Harley… I met him at um… well we met."

"Harley's an annoying punk," Tony says.

"Harley showed up at the Avenger's compound with his own suit of armor," Rhodey clarifies. "We were worried he'd go off and try to be a superhero on his own like you did if we left him alone so he's in training." Peter knows that Harley had been building armor. He'd sat on video calls with Harley while he'd put it together in his family's garage. They'd debated on what he'd be called and settled on Iron lad. Peter had been excited about it. He'd wanted someone he could work with. Now he can't help but feel jealous.

"The girls are a couple of strays that Clint picked up," Tony says.

"I tried to get rid of them," Clint complains. "Kate got herself wrapped up in something that was way over her head. I had to get her out of it and Yelena tried to kill me."

"Yelena is Natasha's sister, she's a black widow assassin," Rhodey adds.

"They seem fun," Peter says. He's pretty sure he'd get along with all of them if he stuck around. He lets himself give into weakness for a moment as he leans in to Tony's side. Let's himself pretend that he's a kid again. Tony doesn't question it. He puts his arm around Peter's shoulders and tucks him close. Clint and Rhodey fill the quiet with little details about everyone's lives. They tell him about how Sam has taken over as Captain America and Bucky is working with them. How Scott and Hope make sure to visit from San Francisco as often as they can and how Scott's daughter keeps asking for her own suit.

They stay that way for a few hours until Happy returns to the tower with a large pile of pizza. He sets it on the coffee table and hands out plates and napkins. Peter doesn't have much of an appetite, he's eaten more since last night than he's used to but he grabs a few slices and forces himself to eat because he can see the looks they're giving him. He keeps close to Tony's side even if it's a little awkward while they eat. Tony Stark is dead, May is dead, no one remembers you.

"Can I use someone's phone?" he asks after he's eaten slices of pizza. His stomach is hurting but he knows that he would have eaten triple that in the past.

"You don't have one?" Tony frowns at him. Peter doesn't bother to take his crappy prepaid phone out of his pocket. He's got a bad habit of breaking his phones and he can't afford to have a Starkphone anymore.

"It doesn't work here. I tried it when I first realized something was wrong. I was using Edith to send messages earlier but I don't feel like putting the suit on just to check my messages."

"You told someone else you were here?" Tony asks as he pulls his phone out and hands it to him.

"No I haven't," Peter says scrunching his face. "Someone had my friends arrested." Tony always has Friday installed on his phone so it's not too hard to have her pull up Mr. Murdock's number and send him a message letting him know that he might be around a bit longer if anything is needed. Then of course he remembers that Mr. Murdock is blind and hopes that he'll be able to read the text anyway.

"Yeah well… I didn't think there was anyone else smart enough then your friends to get through my security," Tony says. Peter had said that he was the one behind the hacks but he's pretty sure Tony doesn't believe him. While Peter has the skills they both know that he'd never actually be the one to out his identity to the world. Peter had never expected to convince Tony anyway. But it'll be enough to get the police off his friend's backs.

"Guess you're just off your game in your old age," Peter mumbles.

"Yeah guess that must be it. Curious how they managed to get Matthew Murdock's attention so quickly. He's got quite the reputation you know."

"Oh yeah I know," Peter says as he leans forward to grab the soda Happy had put on the coffee table for him. "He represented me when my identity got out."

"You needed a lawyer for that?" Clint asked.

"It was a whole thing," Peter shrugs, "The government wanted to take a lot of the Stark tech I had leftover. They took the glasses and they wanted the Iron Spider suit. Mr. Murdock helped me keep the suit and well… This guy that outed my identity, he had this whole video saying that I was… responsible for a lot of damage he'd caused and that I had killed him."

"Shit kid," Rhodey says with a frown.

"It's in the past now…" Peter messes with the tab on his can. "I trusted Beck and I shouldn't have. But Happy was there for me! I was on a school trip and I got stranded in like the Netherlands or something. I can't even pronounce the name of the city! Happy showed up in one of your jets and he let me build a new suit so I could protect everyone. People are really really nice in the Netherlands! Some guys gave me a shirt and this other guy let me use his phone to call Happy."

"Beck?" Tony asks. "Quintin Beck?"

"Yeah," Peter nods. "I was on a field trip with my school and Nick Fury hijacked the whole thing so that I could help fight these Elemental things. Well, Beck said that he was from another universe and that these elemental monsters had destroyed his universe. Fury told me to fight alongside him."

"That fucker caused some issues here too," Tony says. "Apparently a bunch of people I'd fired wanted revenge… I'm sorry you had to deal with that kid."

"I shouldn't have trusted him," Peter pulls the tab off his can. "I gave him Edith. I know I shouldn't have Mr. Stark but I was… I was trying to do too much all at once and I didn't feel like I was worthy of the trust you'd put in me. He messed with my head and I just… I wanted to be a kid." That was the last time Peter ever really had been just a kid. Everything had happened so quickly afterward he hadn't really been able to process it.

"It's not your fault Peter. I knew that it was a lot to burden a kid with, honestly, I had figured they'd wait longer before giving them to you," Tony gives his shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"It's not your fault either Mr. Stark," Peter smiles and knocks his foot against Tony's. "You've got big shoes… but I want to be a hero that can fill them one day."

"You will kid, You're better than I'll ever be." Tony tugs on his ponytail with a smile. Peter ducks his head, embarrassed by the praise. I can't stay, I can't stay, Tony Stark is dead, May is dead, no one remembers you, no one misses you.

Chapter 8

Chapter Text

Peter stands on the balcony of the tower leaning on the railing and looking down at the city spread out in front of him. It feels different here. Knowing that he could swing out there and people would know him. They miss him. Tony's let him keep hold of his phone and Peter's been watching the news stories about his identity. His headstone is buried in gifts now. There are candles and cards. Peter wants to go out there. He wants to tell them that he's okay, he's alright. It was his own choice to become a hero. But he's not the one that they're missing. He's not the Peter they want. He doesn't belong here. He needs to go home.

"Thinking of going for a swing Parker?" Harley asks as he leans against the railing beside him. Peter glances at him briefly then looks back at the city.

"I can't do that," Peter sighs. "They can't see me."

"They saw you a bit the other night," He points out. "I think everyone was on edge with the videos being released and then some people started posting about having seen Spiderman swinging in a new outfit. Half the avengers were probably about to descend on New York to try and find you if Tony hadn't gotten there first." Peter forces himself to smile a bit as he twists one of his web shooters around his wrist.

"That could have been fun. Like an intense game of tag. I really just wanted to get to Doctor Strange's house," Peter pulls out Tony's phone and checks the messages and call logs. Doctor Strange still hasn't answered.

"Are we friends in your universe?" Harley asks. "I thought I'd heard someone say you knew me."

"Yeah… yeah, we were friends. I helped you work on the Iron Lad suit. Well, I helped you bounce around ideas for it. You were in Tennessee and I was in New York so it was mostly video chats," Peter sends another text to Strange then puts Tony's phone back in his pocket before he accidentally drops off the balcony or something.

"Man that would have been nice. Everyone always says how smart you were… Or are. I could have definitely used the help. The suit was barely functioning when I decided to come to New York," Harley smiles apologetically.

"I think the past tense is probably still right. For all, I know the Peter from this universe was smarter than me. Not to mention I can't stay here long" Peter sets his web shooter on right and takes a step back from the railing.

"Do you have to go back?" Harley asks.

"I'm needed back in my universe," Peter doesn't know if that's true. Do they really need him? No one remembers Peter Parker anymore, would they care if Spiderman vanished too? Would anything happen to the multiverse if he never went back?

"Right, I guess that your aunt would be pretty mad if you never went back. I've met her a few times you know. She's a great lady. She and Happy keep doing the on and off thing though, not sure what's up with that," Harley turns his back to the railing.

"So she's… doing well?" Peter's been trying not to think of May. It would only hurt her to see him like this. It would hurt so much to see her. Peter can't tell them the truth about his universe. He's already sure that Tony doesn't want him to go. If they knew that he was going back to be alone they'd ask him to stay. I don't belong here.

"Well, I think she's doing alright. I know that Happy stayed with her for a long time," Harley is watching him closely. "You should see her.'

"It's not a good idea…" Peter can't keep the waver out of his voice. "For her… or me. I have to leave, I can't stay."

"Why's it not good for you?" Harley ask. Peter can't think how to explain it away so he just gives a shrug and heads for the doors.

"I better go inside before Mr. Stark comes to hunt me down again," He slips inside before Harley can say anything else. Peter knows he's terrible at lying. He really needs to be more careful of what he says. He can't let his guard down. As far as they need to know the only difference between this universe and his own is that Tony was the one that snapped. They don't need any more information than that.

"You okay kiddo?" Tony asks. He'd let him go outside alone but Peter's pretty sure he'd been watching through the windows the whole time. He was probably been the one to send Harley out there.

"Yeah I'm alright Mr. Stark," Peter fakes another smile then walks over and wraps his arms around Tony's waist. He hides his face in his mentor's shirt and lets himself bask in the hug that Tony gives him. Peter knows that he's always been just a bit clingy. After losing his parents he'd been extra clingy with Ben and May. Then just when he'd started to grow out of it he'd lost Ben as well. So he'd kept it up. He loved cuddling with May and Ned and MJ. Even Tony and the other Avengers had started to indulge him when he spent his time at the compound. It's been hard to go without for so long.

"Good," Tony rests a hand on the top of Peter's head and presses a kiss to his temple. "You getting hungry? I was thinking that we'd just order something in for dinner. I know we had pizza for lunch but I'm still pretty shit at cooking and I never know how many people are around that will want to eat. Much easier to just have Friday order for everything"

"Take out is fine," Peter assures him, forcing himself to let Tony go and move back a few steps.

"Great, what are you in the mood for then?" Tony asks. He sticks his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. Peter leans on the back of the couch as he thinks about it. He's not used to having options but he knows that Tony would buy him anything he asked for.

"Do you think we could get sushi? I mean if the others don't like it we can get something else but…" Sushi is another thing he hasn't allowed himself to buy now that his income is so limited.

"Sushi it is kid. You still like the same stuff?"

"Yeah definitely," Peter smiles at him.

"Great. Friday get everyone's orders for the usual sushi place. Me and Peter will have our usuals," Tony calls to the AI.

"Right away boss," She answers. Peter hears the elevator moving and turns to look at the foyer.

"Someone else is coming up," Peter says. "I can hear Happy but not whoever he's with."

"Go get a snack from the kitchen. If it's someone you want to see then you can come back out," Tony says. Peter nods and goes to the kitchen quickly, still straining to hear who it might be. Happy sounds nervous and it's making Peter anxious as well. He starts to make himself a Nutella and jelly sandwich as a distraction.

"Stark!" May's voice rings out through the building and it hits Peter so hard his knees nearly give out. He grips the countertop tightly and squeezes his eyes shut. May, May is out there. Why is she there? Does she know? Did Happy tell her? May is dead, May is dead, May is dead.

"May? What are… What are you doing here?" Tony asks.

"Sorry boss I tried to tell her it wasn't a good idea right now but…" Happy says apologetically.

"What the hell is going on Stark? How did anyone get those videos? Why can't they just let him rest in peace!?" May is crying. Peter knows she's crying, the countertop cracks under his grip.

"I'm dealing with the videos May. I'm taking care of all of this. I told you I would," Tony says.

"The same way you promised to take care of Peter?" May snaps at him. Everyone goes silent then. It's a painful sort of silence. Peter can barely breathe. May is right there, May is right in the living room and she's in pain and Peter could ease her pain by stepping through the walkway. He could hug his aunt, he could see May. May is dead, Tony is dead, you can't stay here, you have to go home, no one remembers you. You're nobody.

Why do I have to go home? Why can't I stay here? What will happen if I stay? Peter carefully sets the broken marble pieces on the countertop. He breathes in deeply and holds it then lets it out slowly, then he turns from the counter steps through the doorway.

Chapter 9

Chapter Text

May's mouth falls open and she seems to be frozen where she stands beside Tony. Her warm brown eyes scan him over from head to toe, then she shakes her head. Peter can feel himself shaking. He wants to go to her. Wants to cling to her and cry and beg her to never leave him again. He stays where he is. May is dead, May is dead, May is dead. He lets her take him in fully. He knows what she's seeing. He's underweight, his hair is too long, he hasn't grown at all in the last year or so. He's not sure if that's because he's done growing or maybe because he can never get enough food.

"Peter, are you… You can't be…" She whispers in a strained voice. "How?"

"May," His voice cracks as he says her name and it seems to break the tension in the room. May rushes forward throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. Her legs give out first and Peter's aren't steady enough so they both fall to the ground. They're both crying and mumbling apologies and comforting words that don't make much sense. Peter doesn't even notice when Tony and Happy leave the room. He doesn't know how much time passes before they both start to calm down. They're sitting on the floor still, his head resting on May's shoulder as he listens to her heartbeat. She sniffs a couple of times, cards her fingers through his hair once, then cups his face in her hands and moves him back so she can look him over.

"You're too skinny," She tells him, and Peter can't help but laugh just a bit as he gives a shaky nod. May kisses his forehead then lets him go as she gets to her feet. Peter smiles as he takes her hand and gets up as well. "How are you here?"

"Why don't you guys find a spot more comfortable than the floor?" Tony asks from the doorway, he waits until he has both of their attention before coming closer and holding out a box of tissues. May takes a few and starts to wipe her face. Peter contemplates wiping his nose on his sleeve because he knows how much it annoys Tony but decides to accept a tissue anyway. He blows his nose loudly instead, laughing a bit at the annoyed look it gets him. He ducks his head away as Tony tries to ruffle his hair.

"Tony," May says sternly. "How is he here? What did you do?"

"Couch sit, be comfortable. You want something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Something stronger?" Tony puts a hand on each of their shoulders guiding them over to the couch. May must be really out of it still because she goes willingly and drops onto the couch when it's behind her. She even excepts the throw blanket he drops on her. Peter sits beside her, crossing his legs and pulling a bit of the blanket onto his own lap.

"Tony," May says.

"Happy!" Tony calls out, "Make drinks! Coffee for me, Hot chocolate for the kid, whatever the lady likes." He sits on the coffee table in front of them and folds his hands.

"How are you here Peter?" May asks. She takes one of Peter's hands in her own and squeezes it gently.

"I'm…" He locks his fingers with hers and glances at Tony. How does he tell her that he's not her Peter? That he shouldn't be here, that he'll have to leave.

"This might not make any sense," Tony says, "There's this thing called the multiverse theory. It basically suggests that our universe is not the only one, that there are an infinite number of other universes that exist alongside our with their own laws of physics and their own intelligent civilizations. They could be completely different from our universe in every way shape and form or… or they can be exactly like ours with just small differences."

"What does that mean?" May asks, her grip on Peter's hand isn't as strong now and he's sure that she's going to pull away any second.

"Aunt May, it means… that I'm Peter. I'm Peter Benjamin Parker but… I'm not your Peter. Not the Peter that… Died in this universe," He holds his breath waiting for her to pull away.

"I don't understand."

"I'm like… A copy of your Peter."

"You're not a copy," Tony says. "You're just another version of Peter." Peter starts to pull his hand away from May's. He doesn't want to wait until she's done processing. It's better to get it over with. She doesn't let him though. She grips his hand tightly and pulls it further onto her lap.

"You're Peter," She says. "Whether you're from this universe or not you're still Peter." Peter curls into her side and drops his head onto her shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut. May is dead, May is dead, May is dead. May wraps her arms around him and presses a kiss to his temple.

"Thank you May," he whispers. May is dead, May is dead, May is dead. He wants to cry again. He wants to cling to her and never let go. He wants to tell them the truth. He wants to tell them that he's alone. That he'll always be alone in his universe. It's been so long since he's been held, and cared for. Since someone asked him if he'd had enough to eat or if he was okay.

Happy comes in with their drinks then. He hands Tony his coffee mug and sets two more beside him on the coffee table, then takes a seat in the armchair he'd slept in the night before. Peter can see that one of the drinks has whipped cream and chocolate syrup on the top. He smiles and pulls away from May just enough to reach for his mug. Tony grabs it and hands it two him.

"Two hands kiddo, don't stain my couch." Tony teases. Peter sticks his tongue out at his mentor but still makes sure to use two hands to hold the mug as he leans back into May's side. He licks at the whipped cream and directs a smile towards Happy. May runs her hand gently over his hair as she watches him.

"How long have you been here?" She asks, then she casts a glare at Tony. "Why didn't you tell me he was here?"

"It's my fault May," Peter says. "I asked them not to tell you."

"What?" She turns to look at him fully. Peter sits up and watches the whipped cream in his mug melt.

"I thought that… It might be too hard for you," He admits. "I have to go back to my own universe… We're just waiting for Doctor Strange. In my universe he… Well, some people came to my universe from other universes. Doctor Strange was able to send him back so I think that in this universe he'll be able to send me back too."

"Why do you have to go?" May asks. Peter takes a small sip of his hot chocolate. Trying to focus more on the flavor than on what he has to say.

"In my universe… There's no Iron Man anymore in my universe. There's no more Tony Stark. Someone has to be there. The world needs Avengers. My universe needs me."

"Why you? Why can't you just have a normal life? Be a normal kid?" May asks.

"I'd never be normal May, not as long as I have these powers. I have to be Spiderman. I can never not be Spiderman," Peter doesn't mention that it's all he has left. That no one even remembers that he even existed. That the Avengers don't remember he fought beside them on Titan and in the final battle against Thanos. Peter lifts his mug up closer to his face and takes a deep breath, using it as a chance to fight off the panic threatening to take him over.

"Peter look at me," Tony orders. Peter's gaze snaps up to meet his own. "Let out all your breath. Inhale through your nose for a count of four, hold it for a count of 7, exhale through your mouth for a count of eight." Peter tries to stay focused on him as he follows his directions. Tony's doing it himself, making it easy for Peter to copy. No one says anything for a few minutes as they breathe together.

"That's it, kid, you've got it," Tony says. Peter nods and blows on his hot chocolate a bit before taking a long drink.

"I'm sorry…" Peter mumbles.

"You don't need to apologize for anything," Tony says. "When did the panic attacks start? You had one last night at dinner too."

"After the battle… Everyone kept asking, who was going to be the next Iron man. Who was going to be the next Tony Stark and…. And people kept looking at me, wanting me to answer. But I didn't feel worthy. I still don't. I'm… I've made too many mistakes. I just keep thinking about everything I've done. The Ferry and coney island, sneaking onto the ship when you told me not to, and after everything I trusted Beck. You left me the glasses and I just handed them over to a villain cause he was nice to me. I'm nothing like you."

"I never expected you to be like me Peter," Tony leans a bit closer and rests a hand on Peter's knee. "You're better than me kid. You were better than me before the battle." Peter sets what's left of his hot chocolate down and rests his head against Tony's shoulder. He has to keep reminding himself over and over again that this is not where he belongs but it's so hard when everything he wants is right here in front of him. Tony cups the back of his neck with one hand and rests their heads together. May's hand rubs gently up and down his back. He is warm and safe and his stomach is full and Tony and May are alive and with him.

"I'm staying with you," May says. "I'm going to call out of work for the week. I don't care how long you're here for I'm not going to leave your side."

"Are you sure May?" Peter asks.

"I'm absolutely positive."

"I think it would be better for us to go up to the compound," Tony says. "I've still got Peter's things there. He'll be able to wander around without worrying about who sees him."

"What about Doctor Strange?" Peter asks.

"He can get to the compound just as easily as the tower, you know that kid." Tony moves him back. "I'm sure you could use the fresh air anyway. We'll put May in the guest room on our floor." Peter knows that Doctor Strange can go anywhere easily. Hell, he'd brought them all the way from Titan to earth with one of his portals. A trip upstate would be nothing to him. It just feels risky to go. He needs to remember that this isn't real. This isn't his home. He can't stay here. He drops his head onto Tony's shoulder.

"Peter?" May says his name softly. Peter nods his head just once. He knows Tony will feel the motion.

"Okay, it's a plan then. Happy, let the relevant people know that I'm heading back to the compound. May will need some of her things I assume so why don't you run back to your place and grab them for her," Tony instructs.

"Oh," May mutters, her hand moving from Peter's back, "I can go with and make sure I have everything I need." Peter can see Happy's apartment in his mind. The Stark tech hidden in a backroom, the villains gathered in the living room, rubble in the lobby, May's fading heartbeat, blood staining his hands. May is dead, May is dead, May is dead, May is dead, May is dead.

"I'm sure I can find everything," Happy assures her. Tony's thumb rubs soothingly against Peter's neck. Peter can't remember how to breathe.

"Right now I think it's more important that you stay with Peter," Tony tells her. "If Happy forgets anything he can be the one to drive back and get it." The adults are silent for a moment and Peter's sure they're doing that weird thing where they have a whole conversation without speaking. May's hand returns to his back and he manages to take a breath that he hopes isn't too loud to those with normal hearing.

"Alright, I'll go get everything then," Happy stands back up, "Text me if you need anything."

The three of them stay curled together in the living room until Friday informs them that the food has been delivered. May stands up and encourages Peter to do the same. Tony stands and straightens out his clothes a bit before doing the same to Peter. Peter ducks away with a small smile as Tony reaches for his hair.

"You're just gonna mess it up," Peter grumbles.

"You need a haircut," Tony teases him.

"I know I know," Peter hops over the back of the couch to avoid him.

"I guess we can't bring you to David's barbershop for it anymore," May says. Peter fixes his hair, trying to get his unruly curls back under control.

"Who's David?" Tony asks as he makes his way to the elevator to collect their food.

"He's the barber that Peter's been going to since he came to live with me and Ben," May explains.

"Is that why you haven't gotten it cut?" Tony asks.

"I guess," Peter says.

"Give him a call May, see if he can come out here quick before we go," Tony brings the take out bags to the kitchen, "Friday let everyone know their food is here."

"Really?" Peter looks from May to Tony. "Is it okay if he knows I'm here?"

"I'll have him sign an NDA or something," Tony lays all the food out on the table. The three of them sit at the table to eat. Peter listens as the two adults make arrangements to get him a haircut. Rhodey and Clint come out to join them for the meal. The adults seem happy enough to carry on a conversation so he stays quiet and lets himself enjoy the feeling of sharing a meal with other people. Tony hands him a napkin when Peter drops some wasabi on his shirt and When Rhodey goes to the fridge to get himself a drink he brings back a Coke for Peter as well. It feels good to be cared for.

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Peter sits in the backseat of Happy's car caught somewhere between excitement and nerves. He feels better than he has in months. His hair has been cut back to his preferred length. May is sitting beside him talking about what's been going on in her life since the battle, most of it is the same as it was in Peter's universe but he lets her talk anyway because it's really just so good to hear her voice. Tony is in the passenger seat doing work on his tablet but keeps turning his head to check on Peter. Even Happy is checking the rearview mirror a lot.

Going back to the compound feels like a bad idea. Peter's sure that Strange can still get to them with no problem but it feels a lot like going back to his old life. He does need to go back. He's surprised he hasn't been sent back already. How long can he stay without messing with the multiverse? Peter rests his head against the window and closes his eyes. It's like he's living in a dream that he never wants to end.

"Up and at em kiddo," Tony opens Peter's door and places a hand on his shoulder to keep him from falling over. Peter blinks his eyes open and looks up at his mentor. He doesn't even remember falling asleep.

"Putting him in a moving vehicle was always a surefire way to get him to sleep," May says as she gets her bag out of the trunk.

"He'd never fall asleep when I was driving him," Happy complains.

"That's because you were always driving me somewhere exciting," Peter says as he gets out of the car and stretches.

"Oh, so the compound isn't exciting anymore?" Tony teases. Peter rolls his eyes and grabs his backpack off the floor of the car. Happy is already grabbing his duffle bag from the trunk and Peter wonders if he'd be able to bring that back to his universe when it's time to go. He could use some more clothes and it'd be nice to have ones he's already familiar with.

"It is exciting to be back," He admits. "It's just… been a long however many hours I've been here." It's been so emotionally taxing that he'd almost forgotten that he'd really only been in this universe for a day. How long is left? Peter tries to remember how long the others had been in his universe. A day? Two? Maybe a week? Probably less. Peter doesn't remember sleeping during that time. It all blurs together. All he knows is that his time in this universe could end at any moment.

"I get it kiddo," Tony says gently as he pulls Peter into a one armed hug. "Why don't you give your Aunt the grand tour of the compound? Show her where the rooms are and all that fun stuff. The layout is pretty much the same as before. I'll round up whoever is home so they don't get in your way."

Peter can see in Tony's eyes what he's really doing. He knows how Peter feels about the compound. It had become like a second home to him before everything happened with Thanos. If he wasn't at school or on patrol he'd been here, training with the Avengers and working in the lab with Tony. It's all he has left of a home now. The apartment he'd lived in with May had been gone by the time they returned from the blip. Returning now is probably going to be emotional and it'll definitely be easier to handle with just May there to witness.

"Okay," Peter says, hoping that Tony can hear in his voice how grateful he is. "We'll find you when we're done." Don't leave me.

"Sounds like a plan then," Tony gives his shoulder a comforting squeeze, and then lets go. "Come on Hap, let's leave them to it." He flashes a smile at Peter and May and then turns around and heads into the compound. Peter watches him go and tries to ignore the way his chest clenches at the sight.

"Ready Pete?" May asks him softly. Peter forces himself to nod then heads inside. Like Tony had said the compound was mostly the same as Peter remembers it. The decore is a bit different but everything is in the same general spot. Peter shows May as much as he can handle, the huge cafeteria with its assortment of dining options, the hanger where the quinjet and Tony's private jet sit, the training rooms where Peter had spent hours being taught by the other Avengers. He'd spent a lot of time with Natasha there. Even before the rogues had been pardoned she had stopped in from time to time to check on things. If Peter had been at the compound at the same time she'd always make sure they got a training session in. She'd always said that spiders needed to look out for each other.

They move on after that, taking in the Avenger's private quarters. The common room, full of big comfy couches and video games, the kitchen that makes Peter think of the times that he and Vision had tried to learn to cook together only for Wanda to have to come and save whatever meal they'd been attempting. As they head for Tony's hallway Peter trails his finger along the wall where there used to be a long scratch that Peter had left after trying to throw Captain America's shield, even though he'd been warned numerous times about throwing things in the house. Peter tells all these stories to May as they walk. Neither of them mentions the tears that slide down his cheeks. He shows May to the guest bedrooms and they find the one that Happy has already left her bags in. May tells him that she wants to get settled and Peter is grateful for that as he makes his way back to his old bedroom.

His room is in the same spot it had been before. Just across the hall from Tony's. He has to stand with his hand on the door for a few minutes before he can work up the courage to open it. Stepping into the room is like stepping right into the past. The furniture looks exactly the same as it used to but the room is filled with the decor from the bedroom of the apartment he and May had lived in. His school books are piled on the desk next to the laptop he'd built from thrown out parts. His academic decathlon jacket hangs on a hook by the door. The closet and dresser are full of his clothes and the bookshelf full of his books. Peter sits cross legged in the middle of the floor and takes it all in.

The shelf above his bed holds four slightly beat up looking Avenger action figures. Rhodey had gifted him a whole set as a joke for his birthday. Peter loved them. The only ones left are Hulk with a missing leg, Thor with no arms, Hawkeye broke in half, Iron man missing all but his middle finger on one hand. The sad look of them makes him laugh as the tears continue to stream down his face. He's home, this is his home. He lets himself fall backward as his laughter turns into sobs. He figures the cheap glow in the dark stickers plastered to the ceiling won't judge him. He remembers the day he'd put them up, Tony had acted offended and insisted that he could make much better stars but Peter had insisted on the ones he and Ned had picked out at the dollar store. Tony had begrudgingly agreed to help him put them up. He stays there basking the familiarity of it all until a blue light flashes around the edge of his ceiling letting him know that there's a message for him.

"Go ahead Fri," He says as he sits back up and uses the sleeves of his hoodie to wipe his face.

"Welcome home Mini Boss," Friday sounds exceptionally happy to be speaking those words again. "Big Boss would like me to ask if you'd like to join everyone in the common room for an entertainment night." Peter gets to his feet and looks at himself in the mirror. His eyes are red and swollen from crying but his hair at least isn't too messed up from his time on the floor.

"Who all is here?" He asks. It's a little overwhelming to be seeing all these people again after everything. He imagines that it must be hard for them as well. They're all seeing a ghost after all.

"Currently Big Boss, Doctor Banner, Platypus, Birdbrain, Happy, and May Parker are present in the common room," Friday says. Peter can't help but laugh a little at the nicknames Rhodey and Clint got instead of their actual names.

"Thanks, Friday, tell Tony that I'll be there in a few minutes," Peter goes to his bathroom first and washes his face with cold water in the sink. It helps a little bit with the puffiness but he doubts any of them will really care that he's been crying. It's been an emotional few days for them all. Rhodey and Clint clearly followed them from the tower so they probably want to spend more time with him and Peter gets that. He wants to spend time with all of them as well. He finds a pair of sweatpants in his dresser and an MIT hoodie that he'd stolen from Tony a long time ago. He's a bit surprised that Tony never took it back but he's also grateful as he changes into the comfy clothes, finishes the outfit off with a pair of green Hulk socks then hurries to the common room.

Everyone is already seated on the couches when Peter gets there, a space has been left open for him between May and Tony. But first, he turns his attention to Bruce Banner. He's the only one in the room who hasn't seen Peter yet and his eyes are wide as he takes him in.

"Oh my god the multiverse is real," Bruce says. "This changes so much."

"I know!" Peter says excitedly. No one had understood him the first time he'd geeked out about the multiverse. He'd love to spend some time with Tony and Bruce and talk about what all of this means.

"Alright alright save the nerd talk for later," Clint says with a knowing smile. Peter tries to fight the wide grin on his face but it's really hopeless. Bruce stands up and barely has to raise his arms before Peter takes the invitation and hugs him tight. In his own universe, Peter hasn't seen Bruce since Tony's funeral. Bruce had been whisked away from the battle to deal with the injury to his arm caused by the first snap. They'd talked briefly at the funeral but there was really too much going on to say much. He doesn't know what happened to him after that. He's kind of surprised to see that he's back to his normal self instead of the sort of weird mix between Banner and Hulk that he'd been at the funeral.

"It's good to see you, Peter," Bruce says, giving him a tight squeeze.

"You too Bruce," Peter grins up at him.

"Wait!" Tony shouts, sitting up straight. "Why is he, Bruce? If I have to be Mr. Stark then he should be Doctor Banner!"

"Face it Tones, the kid likes me better," Bruce says with a smug smile. Tony grabs a pillow to launch at the Doctor but Rhodey snatches it out of his hand.

"Let's not get into arguments in the living room," He says giving them both stern looks. Bruce still looks pretty smug as sits back down in his earlier spot. Just to be a little shit Peter makes sure to look contemplatively at the spot next to Bruce for a moment.

"Sit your ass down," Tony says, pointing a finger at the empty seat between him and May.

"Language!" Several voices call out at once. Tony flips them off as Peter drops onto the couch with a laugh. Tony smiles at him as he wraps an arm around his shoulder.

"You're a brat," He says in a tone that is way too soft.

"You're old," Peter shoots back as he leans into his side.

"May! Who taught this child to be so sassy?" Tony asks as he ruffles Peter's hair. Peter lets out a shout as he tries to free himself from Tony's hold.

"I think he gets it from you," May answers fondly. Peter gives up on his plan of escape and lets himself relax against Tony's chest again. May pulls Peter's legs over her lap and spreads out a blanket over both of them.

"I mean at least he got my looks to go with it," Tony cards his fingers through Peter's curls. Peter leans his head into the touch. If he was a cat he's pretty sure he'd be purring.

"Alright alright, now what the hell are we watching?" Clint asks, he's trying to sound annoyed but the smile on his face gives him away. Peter snuggles in and holds May's hand with one of his own. The other he rests on Tony's arm to keep it in place around his shoulders. They all bicker good naturedly about what movie to watch for a bit before they give in to Peter's demands for more Star Wars. At some point someone makes popcorn but Bruce confiscates it from Clint and Rhodey when they start throwing it at each other. Peter can't remember the last time he was this happy.

The first movie is nearly over when they all hear the sound of footsteps running into the lounge. Peter's spider sense isn't going off at all but he can't help but be nervous. He presses himself a bit more into the couch and pulls the blanket up higher. Tony glances down at him.

"What's up underoos?" He asks.

"Someone's coming," Peter answers.

"It's alright," Tony pats his head gently. "I have a feeling I know who it is."

The door to the common room bursts open and Sam Wilson comes running in wearing his suit. Peter eyes him from his spot on the couch wondering if this universes Sam has accepted the title of Captain America or if he's still the Falcon. Peter's pretty sure that it's his new Captain America suit but he's never actually seen it in person.

"What the hell Stark?" Sam asks as he takes in the dimmed lights and the relaxed nature of all the Avengers already there looking at him. "I swear to god if I flew all the way up here for some dumb ass team bonding movie night again,"

"Oh calm down," Tony grins. "I figured I'd invite you up and see if you wanted to get your ass kicked by a twelve year old again."

"Tony the emergency alert is… What do you mean again?" Sam asks with narrowed eyes. Clint snickers as he leans towards Bruce and whispers to him, Peter can hear him explaining how Peter took on Sam and Barnes in the airport. Tony lifts his arm up and pulls away the bit of blanket that had been hiding Peter from the other man's view.

"What do you say underoos?" Tony asks. "Want to beat up wings?" Peter props himself up a bit and looks over at Sam.

"Can I beat him up tomorrow?" He asks, trying to make his face as innocent as possible. Sam's jaw drops, Peter's pretty sure he's never actually seen anyone but Ned do that before. He has to fight to keep his expression from changing.

"Sure kiddo," Tony says with a smile.

"What the Fu-" a pillow hits him in the face before he can finish the word.

"Language!" Clint scolds.

"Oh I'm sorry was I not supposed to be surprised to find the kid alive?" Sam asks, crossing his arms.

"You're not supposed to swear in front of the kid," Happy tells him.

"Yeah, don't fucking swear in front of me," Peter laughs. He sits up fully and lets the blanket fall onto his lap. "Hi, Mr. Wilson."

"Jesus Christ," Sam takes quick steps forward and wraps Peter in a hug. Peter returns the hug, peeking over Sam's shoulder he can see Clint signing something. It's been a while since he's used sign language at all but he still understands. While Sam is focused on hugging him Peter unclips the shield from his back and tosses it over to Clint who catches it in two hands and holds it up in the air like a trophy.

"I got it!" he yells. Sam pulls back.

"Hey!" he shouts as he goes to take it back. Clint jumps over the back of the couch to escape from him.

"I had to prove I could steal it even from the new Captain America," Peter says as he burrows back into Tony's side. He watches with a smile as Sam chases Clint around the room trying to get his shield back. They're arguing as they jump over the furniture and their teammates. Happy gets stepped on at some point and he threatens to ground them both if they don't start acting like adults. He confiscates the shield and goes to put it up somewhere else.

"This is your fault," Sam complains as he and Clint sit beside each other on the couch.

"The kid took the shield first," Clint grins.

"You encouraged him,' Sam snaps.

"I swear I'm surrounded by idiots," Tony shakes his head as he tucks the blanket back around Peter. Sam shrugs off his wings and puts them on the ground by his feet as he watches Peter.

"Okay, but for real how is… I don't mean to offend anyone or anything but the kid died. I mean we all saw him die right?" Sam says.

"I'm visiting," Peter says. "From another universe."

"You what?"

"It's Bruce's turn to explain," Tony says waving a hand toward the other scientist.

"I wanna see the end of Star Wars!" Peter complains.

"Cause you haven't seen it a million times," Rhodey says with a roll of his eyes.

"It's a good ending," Is all Peter says in response. He doesn't actually make it to the end. At some point, he falls asleep nestled between Tony and May as he listens to Bruce's whispered explanations of the multiverse theory.

Chapter 11

Chapter Text

Tony can't sleep. Peter is curled warm and safe against his side. Rhodey, Bruce, and Happy had all headed off to bed a while ago, Clint and Sam slept leaning against each other, a bit of drool dripping from the corner of Clint's mouth as he snored. May slept cuddled against her nephew's other side. Tony knew he should sleep, but he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes. He wanted to soak up every moment he got with Peter. He'd failed the boy before and he didn't want to do it again. He needed to do better to protect him. It's clear that the boy has been through a lot. Tony's not even sure how long the kid has been on his own, but he's definitely not been taking care for several months at least.

It takes a lot of slow movement and careful maneuvering of a pillow for Tony to get out from under Peter. He tucks the blanket around the kid and presses a kiss to his forehead. He stays there for a couple of minutes just to make sure that he's not going to wake up before he turns and slips out of the room as quietly as he can.

He needs to find a way to take care of his kid. He's barely taken his eyes off Peter since he caught him on that rooftop and it's obvious that something isn't adding up. Peter has always been a terrible liar and the way he'd been acting just wasn't right. Tony had seen the way that Peter had reacted to his aunt. Like he hadn't seen her in a long time. Hell, he acted the same way about seeing May that May had acted seeing her nephew come back to life. Tony didn't want to think too hard about what that could really mean.

Normally when he can't sleep he'd go to his lab and mess around with whatever his current project was but Tony knew what he'd find there. The lab was spotless, everything put away where it belonged, all his projects wrapped up. A tablet sitting on his tablet, waiting. Tony goes to one of the hangers instead. He's been spending a lot of time there, almost as much as he had before they'd gone after the infinity stones.

Tony scans his handprint on the door to be let into the hanger. No one but him is allowed in there now. Somehow though he isn't really that surprised to find the wizard there waiting for him. The reconstructed time machine stands in front of them. Tony slows his steps as he rounds the machine. He could have made it smaller this time. Like the one that they used to send Steve back with the stones, but it hadn't felt right.

"You never got to see it the first time around did you?" Tony asks as he approaches his worktop.

"No," Strange admits. "I shouldn't be seeing it now either."

"In case of emergencies," Tony shrugs.

"I know what you're planning Stark."

"Planning?" Tony opens some drawers looking for the snacks he'd stashed last time he was working in here.

"The kid," is all Strange says. Tony pulls out a bag of trail mix and opens it.

"It was you wasn't it?" Tony sits down in a chair and looks at Strange properly this time. "That's why you've been ignoring my calls. You brought the kid here from his universe."

"I did," Stephen nods and finds a seat for himself as well.

"Why?"

"Because it seemed the best way to help you both. I knew you were planning to go back in time. You can't disrupt the timeline like that."

"You said there was only one possible way for the fight to end in our favor. You said that it had to happen in just the right way. You did not tell me that the only way to win was for my kid to die!" Tony stands back up, throwing the bag of trail mix across the room. Strange doesn't flinch. They've had this argument too many times now.

"It was the only way," Strange says softly.

"He was just a kid," Tony leans his hands against a counter and hangs his head. "He's my kid. It should have been me. It could have been me! I did it in the other universe!"

"It wouldn't have worked here. The circumstances were different. You could not have gotten the stones in time." Strange makes a bottle of water appear beside Tony's hand. "Going back in time will not save anyone. If you change anything the whole world will be destroyed."

"Why did you send him here? Why did you… let me have this time with him?" Tony picks up the bottle of water and holds it to his neck, letting the cold help ground him.

"Because it was the only way I could help you both." Strange gets a bottle of water for himself. "You know somethings wrong don't you?"

"Of course," Tony sighs. "The kid's a terrible liar. He's not… being looked after from what I can tell and the way he reacted to seeing May again means that… she's probably gone in his universe."

"You're right," Strange looks away, fiddling with the bottle in his hands. "A while back I received a message from his universe. It was sent by the other version of me. He'd made a mistake and the only way to correct it left Peter without anyone."

"What?" Tony turns quickly to look at him. "What did you do?"

"After Peter's identity was revealed he went to him… me for help. He asked for a spell that could make people forget his identity. But it went wrong. I'm not equipped to handle kids. Not the way you are. I never know what to do with them. That version of me is obviously the same. Peter was a scared kid who needed an adult to turn to that had all the right answers to give him. But the me in that universe didn't see a kid he saw an adult so instead of asking questions he performed the spell and it went wrong. Instead of making everyone forget it brought people that knew the identity of Peter Parker into our universe. Villains mostly."

"Did they hurt him?" Tony's voice is strained as he tries to keep calm. He knows he needs to listen to the full story but it's hard when it's his kid involved.

"Physically not much… but he and the other Doctor Strange had a difference in opinion on how to handle these villains. He discovered that they were each pulled from their own universes just as they were about to die, he wanted to save them, he fought the other Strange and trapped him where he couldn't get back right away. In the process of helping those villains… His aunt was killed by one of them."

"Jesus Christ," Tony breathes. He can only imagine how much the kid must blame himself.

"There were other versions of Peter that got pulled into that universe as well. They looked different but they were still fundamentally him. They worked together and were able to help the villains but… they'd been there for too long. The universe was breaking. More people were going to be pulled into that one."

"How did you stop it?" Tony asks.

"The Doctor Strange of that universe stopped it by using another spell, one to make everyone forget Peter Parker."

"Everyone…. Then he's…" Tony isn't sure he remembers how to breathe.

"That entire world no longer knows that Peter Parker exists," Strange confirms. Tony grabs the chair that he'd been sitting in and throws it, it crashes into the wall and breaks. He paces back and forth quickly, rubbing at the spot on his chest where the ARC reactor had once sat. He tries to remember how to breathe.

"You have to fix it," He spins quickly and grabs Strange by his collar. "You have to fix it. He can't be alone. He's just a kid! He needs… he needs people to look after him!"

"I've done everything that I can Stark. I'm at my limit for how much I can meddle in a universe that is not my own and the Doctor Strange of his universe has no memory of Peter Parker. He sent out a message as he was performing the spell. Bringing Peter here was all I could do but he can't stay forever. His universe needs Spiderman and this one will be damaged if he stays for too long."

"I can't… I can't send him back there. I can't send him back to a universe where no one cares about him. There's got to be something you can do! You've got to be able to help him!" Tony gives him a good shake, hoping that it helps the message hit home.

"I'm going to do all that I can for him. I'm going to send him back with a message for the Doctor Strange of his universe. But that's all I can do. When I brought him here the backpack that he was wearing came with. I assume this means that anything he carries with him is able to travel between the universes. I suggest you do with that information what you will."

"How long do we have?" Tony asks.

"I can give you two more days."

"Two days… two more days," Tony takes slow deep breaths.

"You can not go back in time Tony. When you agreed to it the first time you told Captain America that you would only do it if nothing in this time changed. Going back there… It would be a one way trip for you and you would still fail. I have seen every possible outcome. This universe needs Iron Man just as the other one needs Spider-Man."

"He's my kid," Tony says, his voice filled with desperation. "How can I… How can I just send my kid back to a world like that?"

"Because it's the only way."

"What if I go with him?" Tony's mind is already thinking through a plan, a few days in Peter's universe and he's sure that he could at least get some of the problems sorted out.

"I can't send you there," Strange says. "I could only bring Peter here because of the message that the other version of me sent and even if I could send you without breaking the multiverse anymore than it already is I don't know if I could bring you back."

Tony let's go of Strange's collar and moves back trying to think it all through. He'd already known that his trip back in time would be one way. He'd made preparations, he'd distanced himself from Pepper and Morgan. There was another version of Pepper and Morgan in Peter's universe that was living without him.

"What if I don't go back?" Tony and Strange both turn quickly at the sound of the new voice. Peter sits high up on one of the walls, an open window just above him. Tony curses himself for not locking them.

"You saw the multiverse start to break once already didn't you?" Strange asks.

"Well yeah but… That's not what I meant," Peter shoots a web onto the ceiling and uses it to lower himself down to the ground, no not the ground. He lands in the center of the time machine and turns slowly to take it all in. "I never got to see the time machine you know. This one was obviously destroyed and then when Captain Roger's didn't come back that one was destroyed too."

"What did you mean?" Tony asks, there's a sinking feeling in his gut. He isn't going to like whatever comes out of the kid's mouth next.

"Well," Peter reaches out and touches a part of the time machine. Tony wants to snap at him to get away from it. "You can't go back in time Mr. Stark because you'll break the timeline or whatever. Not to mention Pepper and Morgan need you here. But Doctor Strange told you everything right? He told you what happened in my universe?" The kid looks at him, his eyes wide and glistening with unshed tears.

"He did," Tony admits. Peter nods at this and turns his back to them as he continues to examine the device.

"Well this version of me can't exist in this universe… And well you're wrong about one thing Doctor Strange because no one in my universe needs me anymore. Spider-Man is barely a blip on anyone's radar. Just a friendly neighborhood vigilante. Peter Parker already doesn't exist."

"Kid," Tony wants to go to him. Wants to pull him into his arms and promise him that everything is going to be okay. Tony's the mechanic, he can fix anything. He should be able to fix this.

"So Why don't I go back in time? I know where your Peter will be, and it'll still be a Peter Parker snapping so… It shouldn't disrupt the timeline too much right?"

"Fuck no!" Tony yells. He storms onto the time machine and pulls Peter into a tight hug, ignoring the kid's weak protests. "No." He will not let Peter die again.

"If I do that then you'll have your own Peter back," The kid says, "You won't even remember me."

"I will never forget you," Tony cups the kid's face in his hands and looks him in the eyes. "I will not forget you." He wipes away the kid's tears as they finally break free.

"It's okay Mr. Stark." He whispers.

"You're wrong Peter," Doctor Strange says. "You're important in your universe just as you are here. Things are broken right now but they will be fixed. It will take time but the world will remember Peter Parker. Your friends and family will remember you."

"What family?" Peter says with a weak laugh.

"Us," Strange says, "The Avengers, we're your family."

"That's sappy," Peter mumbles with false humor in his voice. Tony wraps one arm around the kid's neck and pulls him against his chest.

"That's what families are for," He presses a kiss to soft brown curls. "I'm not sending you home without a solution. I'm gonna figure something out for you okay? You are definitely not going to go back in time to sacrifice yourself. What the hell kid? Do you have any sense of self-preservation?" Peter just shrugs and drops his head down onto Tony's shoulder.

"There are beings out there who keep the timeline from being disrupted," Strange says as he walks closer to them. "Even if you tried to go back they'd stop you."

"If that's true then why did no one try to stop us when we went back for the infinity stones?" Tony asked. He wasn't feeling very fond of the wizard right at the moment. Especially when he thought about how much his kid had gone through because of Strange's failed spell.

"I don't know," Strange admits. "I don't know much about them at all. Maybe because Captain America returned the stones before the timeline could be affected? But if you went back and tried to change the outcome of the battle then it would definitely not go unnoticed. So no use trying it."

"If you so much as think about going back on your own I will make sure to destroy every Pym particle I can get my hands on," Tony threatens before pressing another kiss to the boy's head. Peter grumbles something unintelligible into the fabric of Tony's shirt. "I'm going to… figure something out before you have to go home. The multiverse is science as much as it is magic I'm guessing. We've got access to some of the best brains in the world and a wizard. I'm sure we'll figure out something."

"I was a man of science long before I became a wiz… Master of the mystic arts," Strange said. Tony laughs as he moves off the time machine, pulling Peter along with him.

"Let's go see if we can wake up Banner without waking up the green guy," he says. "What's the time difference with Wakanda? Maybe we'll pick their brains while we're at it too."

"Mr. Stark?" Peter says quietly. Tony slows his steps and looks down at the kid. "Can we get some food first?" Tony smiles and gives his shoulders a squeeze.

"Whatever you want kiddo."

Chapter 12

Chapter Text

"Alright, we've got what a little over 48 hours left, right Strange?" Tony asks. He's sitting in the dining room with Peter, Strange, and Bruce. Peter's watching staring at him with wide eyes, so full of hope that it makes Tony's chest feel tight. He can do this. He can take care of his kid. Even if they can't be in the same universe together. Bruce isn't really awake yet, he's still wearing his pajamas and staring blankly into his teacup.

"Yeah just a little over," Strange confirms. Tony considers their options. There's so much that needs to be done. The kid has nothing back in his world. While they had waited for Bruce to come out of his room Tony had gotten more information out of him. Peter was living in some sleazy motel, he'd dropped out of school, even selling pictures of Spider Man to that trashcan of a gossip paper the Daily Bugle.

The money Tony could handle with no problem. As soon as it hit a time that could reasonably be considered morning he'd send Happy to the bank. He'd just have to shrink it down so it would fit into Peter's backpack. The real problem was that Peter would still be alone in his own universe. Sure he's eighteen now and legally an adult but he still needs someone that's going to look out for him because the kid is for sure not going to do it himself. So how do they solve that without being able to get people's memories back?

"Peter I assume you haven't been able to get any medical care in your universe?" Tony asks him. Peter startles from whatever daze he'd been in and hesitantly nods, a spoon full of lucky charms frozen halfway to his mouth. "Okay, that's our first order of business then. Bruce I know you're not that kind of doctor but I also know that you sort of are. We're going to need all of Peter's past medical records. Anything you have on his mutation and instructions on how to make that medication that Cho designed for him. He needs a physical too. Maybe some new blood work if we've got time."

"Yeah, I can probably manage that," Bruce says into his tea. Tony's hoping that he'll fully wake up once he's in his lab.

"Alright… Peter, I want you to take today to hang out with your Aunt alright. Other than while Bruce is looking you over you should just take the time to relax."

"What? But Mr. Stark I can help!" Peter insists, starting to rise up from his chair. Tony puts a hand on his shoulder and gently guides him back down.

"I know you could Peter. But You've been taking care of yourself for a long time and you deserve to rest. Let me handle this. Can you do that?" Tony tries to sound gentle.

"I… Mr. Stark…" Peter mumbles.

"I've got this. I promise," Tony cards his fingers once through Peter's curls and the teen lets his shoulders relax. "Thank you," Tony smiles at him, and Peter nods once.

"Okay Mr. Stark," He mutters.

"Would it be alright if I borrowed your suit?" He taps a finger on the web shooters on Peter's wrists. He hasn't seen him take them off once the whole time he's been here and Tony has a suspicion that he probably hasn't taken them off at all since he's been on his own. Peter places a hand over one of them hesitantly. He twists it around his wrist a couple of times and then takes them both off and hands them over.

"I scavenged what parts I could from my old suit and the iron spider," He admits. "I um… The rest was parts that I… Borrowed from Stark industries." Tony can't help but laugh at that. He's a little miffed that security has gotten lax enough for a teenage vigilante to be able to break in and take whatever he wants but if Peter hadn't been erased from anything electronic then Friday probably would have just let him in. Hell Friday seemed so fond of the kid she'd probably let him take over her whole system.

"That's alright Pete. What's mine is yours even if I'm not around," Tony promises him. He'll have to find a way to fix that too. Was Peter erased from physical documents too? Tony had left him more than just the Edith glasses in his will. If they could convince Pepper of who Peter was then he'd be able to access it all. Once again it all came down to proving that Peter was real. Convincing people that their memories of him had been taken from him.

"Will… you need them for long?" There are tan lines around the kid's wrists where the web shooters had sat.

"Give me ten hours?" Tony asks. "You spend ten hours just catching up with your aunt, maybe tell her a little bit of what's going on? Then I'll have your suit back to you and answers to what we're going to do when you have to go home alright?" ten hours was a lot and not enough all at once. Tony didn't want to spend their remaining time together locked up in his lab but he also needed to find a solution. He wanted to make some adjustments to the kid's suit too. He had no doubt that the way Peter had built it would be flawless but he also hadn't had access to all the materials that Tony did. He wanted to make sure that the kid would be safe as possible.

"Ten hours," Peter repeats. Tony nods and strokes his hair once more before standing up.

"Alright, Peter go cuddle and watch trash tv with your aunt. Bruce get the documents in order and prepare for Peter's physical. Strange, you're with me in my lab. I need to know what to expect from Peter traveling through the Multiverse and I might need you to pick up some things for me." Tony orders them all. Bruce gets up and shuffles off to his lab with no complaint. He probably doesn't even notice he's wearing a bathrobe instead of a lab coat. Peter slurps up the milk and what little bit of cereal that was left in his bowl then puts it in the dishwasher before heading back to the common room.

"I'm not a delivery service," Strange says moodily.

"You made the world forget my kid. You're gonna do whatever I need you to do to fix it," Tony snaps at him. The wizard looks like he wants to say something else but he keeps quiet. There will be time for arguing later. After they've taken care of Peter. Tony grabs his cup of coffee off the table and heads down to the lab knowing that Strange is following behind him.

The suit is the only thing Tony really has an answer to right now so he sets the web shooters on a holo table and has Friday pull them up so he can see what he's working with. He's admittedly impressed with what the kid managed to build. Tony sets to work on upgrading them as he thinks over the other problems they're facing.

"Can they get their memories back without magic?" Tony asks. Strange has found himself a seat on a stool out of the way of most of the equipment. Tony finds it a bit weird to have someone he's not that familiar with in his lab while he's working.

"It would take a lot. The memories still exist in everyone's minds but there's a seal around them, blocking them off."

"So there's no way to just force them out?" Definitely not the kind of answer Tony was looking for.

"Not without potentially damaging the mind," Strange makes a cup of coffee appear in his own hands and takes a sip of it. Tony is about to complain when he notices that his own mug has been refilled. He takes a drink as he stares at the holograph in front of him.

"We need to convince them then. Convince them that they can trust Peter and that he's someone important."

"It would have to be the right person," Strange adds. "Someone who would be willing to believe the kid."

"Lang is probably the most gullible," Tony says, tapping the web shooters so the suit materializes on the table. "Wouldn't be the first person I'd pick though."

"Just what the world needs, Ant-man, Wasp, and Spider-man teaming up."

"Oh god, a team of bugs. No one would trust them."

"Spider's aren't bugs."

"Trust me I'm aware. I think I read every bit of spider facts that exist out there… Someone who knows what it's like to deal with magic then," Tony grabs a pair of safety goggles and puts them on as he works. "Could we convince you?"

"Probably, but I'm clearly not the best equipped to handle young adults and I've probably got more than a few issues with the whole universe breaking thing going on."

"Wanda's probably out too… she hasn't been the same since we lost Vision," Tony drums his fingers on his desk as he thinks. He grimaces as an idea hits him. One he's definitely not fond of.

"What do you know of the other Avengers in Peter's universe? Are they doing the same thing there as they are here?"

"I don't know too much," Strange admits, "What are you thinking?"

"Well, I was just thinking that I might know who might be willing to take care of Peter… I just don't know if I actually want to trust him with my son," Tony's fingers tap faster on the desk. He knows that it's probably the best shot they've got. He can't think of anyone who's already got experience looking out for someone like Peter. Peter's just good, he's self-sacrificing and tends to move his body before his mind can catch up. Pepper had said once that Peter was like a perfect mix of Tony and Steve rolled up into one kid. Not to mention Tony is sure that he'd be pissed to learn that his memories had been tampered with. He's already had experience with that after all.

"Who is it?"

"I need you to go to Indiana to pick something up for me," Tony really hopes that he's not going to regret this.

"Indiana?" Strange asks, a look of understanding crosses his face. "Oh."

"Yeah," Tony sighs, "Oh."

"I haven't met him one on one before. Will he come with me now?"

"He will if he doesn't want to have to go all the way to Wakanda next time he needs a repair. Besides he's got a soft spot for the kid." Strange gives a quick nod and then he's disappearing through one of his portals without another word. "Friday!"

"Yes, Boss?" The AI answers. Tony spins his chair around as he collects his thoughts.

"I need you to bring up all the footage of Spider man or Peter that you have. I want you to organize it into different folders depending on who he's interacting with in them."

"I'll start right away," She confirms.

"Great, can you access the Edith glasses that Peter brought with him?"

"Yes, I can."

"Okay, I'm going to need to add some new programming to them and to the Karen AI that Peter has installed in his suit."

"Understood Boss." Tony places his hands on the table to stop his spinning and sets to work on his plan. It doesn't take that long before a portal is opening back up in his lab and Doctor Strange returns, this time with James Buchannan Barnes in tow. Tony forces away the unease that always settles in his gut when he first sees the assassin. They've gotten along fine since the final battle. Not best friends or anything but Tony's gone and willingly repaired his arm for him whenever it needs it.

"How's that arm feeling Buck?" He asks without looking up from the kid's suit.

"Working fine," Bucky says, lifting his vibranium arm and bending it as proof. His eyes drop to Tony's workstation and what is clearly a Spider man suit laying there. "What's going on?"

"You watch the news at all?" Tony points a finger across the lab at a tool. "I need that Wizard." Strange makes a face but the tool floats to Tony's hand anyway.

"I saw the stuff about the kid," Bucky admits. He stays on the far side of the table, Tony appreciates that he seems to know when to give Tony his space.

"Great, I need you to make a video diary," He pauses. "Actually Friday I need you to send a message to everyone associated with Peter Parker or Spider man."

"What's the message Boss?" She asks. Bucky eyes the ceiling a bit warily.

"Tell them that I need them all to send me recordings of themselves. They need to talk about the kid. Everything from how they met him to their fondest memories and why they like him. Make sure the message gets through to everyone. I don't care if their phone is off or they're off in space somewhere. They have," He checks his watch, "Eight hours to get them to me."

"I've sent the message using the emergency alert system."

"Perfect."

"Why did you need me here to do that?" Bucky asks, his eyes are still focused on the Suit spread out across the table, there's a deep sadness in them. The loss of Peter had hit everyone really hard. Tony types out a message to Friday on his phone, telling her to start recording Bucky.

"Because I need something more specific from you. It's easier to make sure we get everything in person."

"What is it?"

"You've had your memories messed with before," Tony knows he has, But he needs to get his reaction to the question on camera. He needs to make sure that there's no way the Bucky in the other universe could doubt the authenticity of the video.

"Obviously," Bucky's whole demeanor darkens. His eyes narrow and his jaw clenches, he flexes the fingers of his metal hand. "What is this about Stark?"

"It's about Peter." Just like that Bucky relaxes. His shoulders slump and that sadness is back on his face as he reaches forward slowly and picks the Spider-Man mask up off the table.

"I wasn't the one that leaked his identity if that's what you're trying to figure out," He says.

"I know it wasn't you. The kid is in trouble," Tony waves his hand and another hologram pops up showing the video feed from the living room. Peter and May are seated on the couch wrapped together in a blanket while some reality show plays on the tv in front of them. Bucky stares at it.

"When is this from?" He asks.

"Right now, live feed. Friday, tell the kid to wave to the camera." The three of them listen as Friday's voice repeats the message in the living room. Peter sits up a bit straighter and looks around the room. His eyes fall on the camera and his face brightens as he waves at it.

"That's real?" Bucky asks. He looks like he's ready to bolt from the room.

"It's real, you can text Sam for confirmation if you want. He got here last night. But before you go up there I need your help."

"How is he alive?"

"Focus Buckaroo," Tony snaps his fingers at him and Bucky shoots him a glare.

"There's a long sciencey explanation but the short of it is that Gandalf here brought another version of Peter into our world so that we could help him."

"How is that possible?" Bucky's gaze returns to the video feed.

"Magic," Tony says at the same time that Strange says "The mystic arts."

"Why does he need help?"

"Because no one remembers him," Tony explains. Bucky furrows his brow.

"How can I help?"

"I need you to talk about your feelings. I know very therapy. The kid has to go back to his own universe. I need you to convince the other version of yourself that he's someone you know. Something that will make you want to take care of him." Bucky thinks about it for a moment and then his eyes widen as he turns to stare at Tony.

"That's what the videos from the others are for too right? You want them to see the messages from themselves?"

"Yes."

"Why do you need a different message from me?" Bucky asks. Tony fidgets with one of his tools as he stares down at the suit.

"Because the kid needs someone to watch his back. I'm dead in his universe. I can't take care of him. You know what he's like when he thinks he can help people. The kid will get himself killed if he doesn't have someone there with him."

"You want me… to protect your kid." Bucky's voice is full of disbelief and if Tony is honest with himself he can't believe he's doing it either.

"It's got to be you," Tony admits. "I think that you're the only one who will believe that there was an entire person erased from your memories." Bucky lets out a long slow breath.

"I'd give my life for him Tony. I have no doubt about that. The kid deserves no less but… you really want it to be me?"

"I figure that… with all your experience dealing with Steve that you're the one for the job."

"You're trusting me with your kid Stark. I mean… I guess it's not me but," Bucky sits down hard onto a stool. "Are you recording?"

"I'm always recording in my lab," Tony shrugs and goes back to upgrading Peter's suit.

"Okay well, you better include this part of the conversation because there ain't no way in hell I'm gonna believe you asked me to take care of your kid."

"I planned on it."

"What about Rhodey?" Bucky flexes his metal hand again, Tony wonders if it's a nervous tic or if it's bothering him.

"I picked you," Tony holds out his hand again. "Soldering gun." He catches it when it floats to his hand.

"Sam? I'm sure that the kid could convince Sam that he's important."

"Buck," Tony makes sure to meet his gaze this time. "I picked you. You trained the kid, you know how to work together. You managed to keep Steve from getting himself killed when he was scrawny. I know that we've had our difference… but you've proven yourself to me. I've seen you with the kid."

"You're sure you don't want to ask Rhodey instead?"

"James," Tony shoots him a look.

"Alright alright, I'm sorry. I just had to make sure."

"I'm sending the kid back with some stuff. If I'm dead in his universe then you really do have to rely on the Wakandans to get your arm fixed. I'll send the kid back with the instructions for it."

"let's record this video diary or whatever then," Bucky says. "Then I get to go hang with the kid right?"

"Yes yes," Tony waves a hand dismissively. He pretends that he doesn't see the awkward smile Bucky flashes at him.

Chapter 13

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Peter sits on the roof of the Avengers compound, his feet dangling over the edge as he watches the sunset in the distance. He's had what is probably one of the best days of his life. He spent the morning cuddled on the couch with May catching up on all their reality tv shows that he hasn't been able to bring himself to watch since she passed. Then after Bruce gave him a quick physical they spent a little time in his lab working on making some small samples of the medication that had been created to work with his metabolism. Peter wouldn't have access to a lab in his own universe to make it himself but they're hoping to get him in touch with Doctor Cho so that she can help him if he ever does get a serious injury.

Sam and Clint had both been awake by the time Peter made it back to the common room. Sam had cooked a ton of breakfast food so they'd all sat down to eat together. Every time Peter had gotten close to finishing his food someone would drop more onto his plate. They tried to coax Tony out of his lab to eat as well but he'd refused. Peter had kind of figured he would, he'd asked for ten hours to work after all.

After breakfast, they gather back in the common room and Peter gets to absolutely destroy them all at video games. May insists that she make Peter a walnut date loaf since 'they're his favorite' and while she was in the kitchen Peter and Sam made a bet for their final round of Mario kart. If Peter won he'd get to try the wings and if Sam won he'd get to try the web shooters. Sadly May caught them in the training room as Sam was helping Peter strap into the wings and refused to let him try them.

Clint insisted they practice with the bow and arrow instead which she still wasn't too keen on but allowed anyway since she had to get back to the kitchen. Peter figures that she doesn't need to know that their practice included shooting blunt arrows at Sam while he flew around near the ceiling. Peter even managed to hit him twice! Rhodey joined them but he was pretty bad at shooting the arrows so instead, he pulled out a bunch of paintball guns and they moved to the obstacle course to play.

They made Peter promise to stay off the walls so he wouldn't have an unfair advantage but he'd still done pretty well. Especially when Bucky had dropped into the course beside him armed with two of the paintball guns. Peter's sense's had let him know something was coming so he'd dropped to the ground out of the way as Bucky hit Sam, Clint, and Rhodey all in the chests. They'd had a quick time out after that so Bucky could give Peter a hug and then it had been a full on battle of Peter and Bucky vs Sam, Clint, and Rhodey.

It had ended with all of them covered from head to toe in paint and welts. May had scolded them all for the mess they'd made even though some of Tony's robots were already cleaning the paint from the obstacle course. They'd separated to go shower off the paint and put on clean clothes before meeting in the dining room for lunch. Peter and Bucky had already started healing the bruises they'd gotten from the paintballs but the three unenhanced heroes were still clearly feeling sore. Peter tried not to tease them too much, but they really made it too easy. Especially after Clint uses his spoon to flick mashed potatoes at Sam and May threatened to tell his wife he's being a child.

Peter had gotten an idea after lunch and had dragged Rhodey down to one of the extra labs. With Tony gone in his universe, he's sure that Rhodey has trouble getting his leg braces repaired. Thankfully the Rhodey of this universe was willing to go along with it. Peter studied the leg braces and looked up all the information Tony had on them, along with all of the plans he'd made to try and improve them. Rhodey went over it with him, showed him all the ways they work, and what he does to take care of them now. Peter knows that the Rhodey of his universe doesn't remember him right now but he still wants to be useful if he can.

It was nice to work in a fully stocked lab again with Friday there to help him with everything he needed to do the work. He had listened to Rhodey tell stories about the time since the battle. He talks about how the government had tried to create a new Captain America and Sam and Bucky had stopped a group of super soldiers. How Clint and Kate had knocked down the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. He tells him about gatherings at the lake house and how Morgan was starting to show a rather frightening mix of Tony and Pepper's personalities.

Peter wishes that he could see Pepper and Morgan. He knows that Tony will have to make up with Pepper soon. It's not right for their family to be apart now. But the Morgan of this universe had never met Peter. She'd just heard stories about her 'big brother' and how he'd saved the world. Peter doesn't want her to miss him. It wouldn't be fair to introduce himself to her only to have to leave right after. Better that he remains just a story to her.

"There you are Underoos," Tony's voice pulls Peter out of his thoughts and he turns to find his mentor taking a careful seat next to him. He's got the housing unit for his nano suit on his chest as he glances nervously down at the ground. "You pick the worst hang out spots."

"Sorry," Peter says, though he's not really. Since the spider bite, he's felt more comfortable in high up places. Even without his suit, he could easily get down from the roof. Tony drapes an arm over Peter's shoulders and tugs him closer to his side.

"May was thinking about coming up here but she says that she hates heights."

"Oh yeah she's terrified of them," Peter grins. "I tried to get her to come swing with me once and she got so pale that I thought she was gonna faint just from the thought of it." He laughs as he leans into his mentor's warmth. Tony laughs with him.

"Did you have a good day kid? Friday showed me some highlights from your paintball game while I was working in the lab."

"Oh yeah, it was great! I totally thought that I was gonna lose the match because they made a rule that I had to stay on the ground but then Bucky was up on top of one of the walls and he jumped down with two guns and he shot them all! The looks on their faces were so great. Friday recorded it right? Do you think she could send it to Karen so I can watch it over again?"

"Of course kid," Tony chuckles. "Ah speaking of, I saw that piece of junk in your backpack. So take this one," Tony holds out a new Starkphone with a pretty heavy duty looking case on it. Peter takes it carefully and turns it over in his hand.

"I don't know if it'll work in my universe Mr. Stark," Peter would really like to have a proper phone again. One that can take pictures and search the internet.

"It should work fine. I've installed Edith on it. She should be able to link you up to my own network. You won't even get a bill or anything. Also, I've done my best to make that phone virtually indestructible but I know your luck with phones so make sure it stays in the case for extra protection."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Peter slips his arms around his mentor's waist and gives him a tight hug. "Are you done working now? Will you be able to spend some time with me before I have to go back?"

"I'm all yours kid," Tony promises, bringing up a hand to ruffle Peter's curls. "We should test out the upgrades to your suit tomorrow so you're prepared when you get back to your universe. I've updated Edith too. I want you to wear the glasses whenever you're not in the suit alright? It'll make me feel better if I know she's looking out for you."

"I'll be okay Mr. Stark. I've been on my own for like eight months now. I know how to do it," Peter doesn't want to worry him. He's got more important things to think about here other than a Peter that's not even the one he's always known.

"Can't just turn off the worrying kid. It's a parental thing. Just constantly there whenever my eyes aren't on my kids," Tony smiles down at him and Peter can feel his face flushing red. Tony really considers him his kid. Even though the Peter that Tony knew was gone now. Tony is dead, May is dead, No one knows who you are .

"I don't want to go back," Peter whispers. Tony's grip on him tightens and rests his head on top of Peter's.

"I don't want to let you go either Pete. I… I'll gladly fight the wizard to keep you here if you want me to. We all will. I'll figure out a way to make it work," Tony presses a kiss to his head.

At that moment Peter knows that Tony would fight for him. Tony would risk destroying the multiverse to keep Peter. He'd fight against any power that tried to stand between him and his kids. Peter knows that all he would have to do is say the word and Tony would go to war for him. But they both know that Peter won't ask that of him. Peter will never put his own happiness over the lives of others.

"I love you," Peter says instead of everything he wants to ask for.

"I love you too," Tony whispers back. "You always were better than me." They stay on the roof long after the sun has set. Tony has Friday turn off all the exterior lights and they lay back on the roof watching the stars.

Notes:

Writing this made me cry at work, ended up having to answer the phone and pretend that I didn't just break my own heart.

Chapter 14

Chapter Text

It's Peter's last night in this universe so he chooses not to sleep. He and Tony stay up on the roof for a while then head back inside to find the others already waiting for them. The common room has been turned into an elaborate blanket fort. The ground is covered in even more blankets and pillows. Sam has cooked a bunch of food and there are even more snacks and drinks laid out. Even Happy and Bruce join them on the floor as they eat and watch movies. The night is almost as fun as the day had been. Once the others fall asleep Tony and Peter sneak out of the fort and go down to Tony's lab.

They work together just like old times. Bouncing ideas off each other as they move around the lab. They don't work on anything in particular. Just jumping from project to project as they go along. Peter's too excited to really stay still. He jumps over tables and stands on the ceiling when he needs to think. It feels so good to have someone he can talk to that understands even the half-formed thoughts that tumble out of his mouth.

Peter is sitting cross-legged on the ceiling over Tony's workstation as he watches him work on their current project. He's tucked his sweater into his pajama pants to keep it from falling down and his hair is definitely going to be standing on end whenever he decides he feels like returning to the ground. He uses his webs to grab any tools that Tony requires. It's fun. It's one of the things that he's missed the most about having Tony around. He even puts in the earbuds Tony had designed to help him with his hearing so they can listen to Tony's music at his usual volume.

They're both so focused on their work that neither of them notices when the door to the lab opens. Not until the music suddenly comes to a stop. They both look at each other with confused expressions.

"It wasn't me," they say at the same time.