TH

by Lazydaily

Peter different verse. For TTS in the app

3. Chapter 3

"You got one for him, Peter?" Sam asks. Peter nods a bit and adjusts his glasses. The blue light scans over Strange.

"Wizard Identified," Karen says, her voice tinged with annoyance. Peter hopes Strange doesn't feel too insulted by that. Clearly Tony had played around with her programming a bit when he uploaded her to the glasses.

"I'm not a wizard," says Strange. The drone makes an appearance once more and Peter wishes there was a way to thank it for its hard work. He decides that he'll have to give it a proper name and treat it kindly.

No one says anything as a video is projected for them all to see. It's shorter than the others but that's no surprise. Peter's time with Doctor Strange had been short. They'd met for the first time on the donut ship on the way to Titan and then they'd both been dusted by the snap. They never interacted after that. Not until Peter had messed everything up by trying to get everyone to forget he was Spider-man.

The Doctor Strange in the video sticks to the facts. He explains that he is in another universe, that the Strange of this universe had sent out a message after performing the spell to make everyone forget Peter. He tells him that Peter was brought into their universe for a short time in order to convince Tony not to do anything that would mess with the timeline and so that Peter could get the assistance he needed as well.

Peter drops back down onto the chair while the video plays, he pulls up his knees and wraps his arms around them. He knows there's nothing Strange can do right now. To be honest, if it had been up to just him he probably wouldn't have said anything at all.

"I see," Strange says when the video has finished. Peter holds out a hand and the drone drops into his hand instead of returning to the backpack. Peter smiles and runs a finger along the back of it. The drone lets out a happy sounding noise and Peter can't help but smile a bit. It's kind of like having a pet.

"Do you?" Rhodey asks.

"Yes of course," Strange turns to look at Peter. "I am sorry for this but I'm afraid I can't offer a solution right now. It will… take me some time to right the issues."

"It's okay," Peter crosses his legs and sits up a bit. "I knew you couldn't do anything."

"He's part of our family," Rhodey is definitely still cross. "He should have been with us, he shouldn't have been dealing with all of this on his own."

"It's my fault really Uncle Rhodey," Peter assures him. "I was the one who asked Doctor Strange for the spell, and then I kept talking. I messed it all up. I kept everyone from the other universes here for too long. I thought I was helping." He can feel all the adults in the room watching him. He can practically feel their concern. It's everything he's been missing since the statue of liberty but too much at the same time. He wants to be surrounded by the people he loves, he wants to be taken care of, but he doesn't feel like he deserves it.

"It's not your fault," Rhodey says. "Strange had enough time to send off a message to another universe but he couldn't have figured out a way to let any of us know what was happening? Someone should have been there for you kid. If he'd sent you to one of us when he erased our memories we could have figured it out a hell of a lot faster!"

"I… I was okay Uncle Rhodey really."

"What happened is not fair to you and it wasn't fair to any of us either. You're family. I'm going to call everyone back, they deserve to know what's happened too." Rhodey pulls his phone out. Peter jumps to his feet and puts the drone on his shoulder before holding up his hands.

"I don't want to bug everyone. They must be busy! I… I'm okay right now."

"Why don't we let them make their own choices?" Sam suggests. "Let's send everyone their videos and tell them that Peter is here at the compound right now. Then they can make up their own minds on whether or not they want to come."

"I think that might be the best option," Bruce agrees. Peter tugs at the hem of his shirt and tries not to fidget. How will the others react? He's seen Happy a few times while visiting May's grave. Will he realize that Peter lied to him about how he knew her? What will Pepper think? The Morgan in the other universe never met him. So there's no proof that Peter and she had gotten along before. Would Pepper want to keep them apart now? Peter used to be her go to babysitter whenever she needed help. He's missed so much time with her now.

"Peter?" Rhodey still has his phone in his hand. "Does that work for you?" Tony is dead, May is dead, no one remembers you, everyone you get close to gets hurt. Bucky gives his shoulder a squeeze. Peter looks around the room. They're all watching him, waiting for his answer. He's pretty sure that they'd listen to him. Like Bucky had about bringing him to the compound in the first place. If he tells them no, then they'll drop it. But is it the right thing to do? What if Peter makes the wrong choice again? Maybe it's better if he just listens to them.

"Okay, let's… send out the videos." He wraps his arms around himself.

"Friday can you access the videos from Peter's glasses?" Rhodey asks.

"Yes, I have no problem communicating with Karen," Friday says.

"Great, send those videos to the people they're meant for, please. Add on at the end that Peter is here at the compound for the time being, though at some point he may be returning to his and Bucky's apartment in Brooklyn so if they want to see him they should check with me first." Rhodey instructs.

"I've sent them," Friday says after a slight pause.

"Thank you," Rhodey makes his way over to Peter and ruffles his hair. "Why don't we get you settled here then? You can pick whichever unoccupied room you want. I'm sure we've got some more clothes around here you can borrow."

"Okay, thank you… is it alright if I walk around a bit on my own?"

"Of course, I'm sure you know how it works around here. Ask Friday if you need anything."

"I will thanks," Peter gets to his feet and throws his backpack strap over the shoulder that's not occupied by his drone. He leaves the common room and takes a deep breath. Will his room be open? Or has someone taken it over? He makes his way to the floor his room used to be on. It had been Tony's floor. Peter doubts that Pepper has much reason to come to the compound, even before the spell she hadn't wanted to be here. Somehow the floor feels much too quiet. Peter wanders down the hallway slowly, let's his hand trail along the wall.

"Hey Friday?" he calls.

"Yes, Mini-boss?" She asks.

"Has anyone been on this floor lately?"

"Just members of the cleaning crew, is something wrong?"

"No, it's not wrong." He stops and looks at the door that had once led to Tony and Pepper's bedroom. Peter's room had been across the hall from theirs. Their names are still posted on plaques outside the door but Peter's has been removed, or maybe it was never put up in the first place. He touches Tony's name first then turns to look at what used to be his room.

"Is there something you need Peter?" Friday asks gently, "You seem to be distressed."

"I'm not so much distressed," He rocks back on his heels. "This used to be my room."

"It can still be your room if you'd like, it is not currently in use and my protocols give you permission to be on this floor."

"I don't know how I feel about it. In the other universe, Tony had recreated the room I used to have, and seeing it gave me a lot of feelings. I guess… I just thought that I was done with this part of my life. I figured once everyone forgot me that it would be that way forever."

"From my understanding Peter the spell is reversible once it is safe to do so."

"Well maybe…" He puts his hand on the doorknob to his room but can't bring himself to open it. "But I figured…. They wouldn't remember that it needed to be undone. Doctor Strange didn't even remember performing the spell you know."

"Did you not want to inform anyone of what had happened?"

"I'm bad luck," Peter takes his hand off the door and turns to Tony's room instead. He opens the door and goes inside. It looks the same as it had before it was destroyed. Peter suspects that Pepper must have used it a time or two. He goes to the closet and opens it, and he's surprised to find that it's full of clothes. Peter reaches out and takes a t-shirt off of one of the shelves. They're Tony's clothes. Pepper must have brought them here. It was probably hard to see them every time she looked in their closets at the cabin. Peter folds the shirt back up carefully and places it back on the shelf. He takes a hoodie out next and pulls it on over his borrowed shirt. He thinks he might be imagining the faint scent of motor oil, but it's a comfort all the same. He's still tired from the combinations of his healing factor and the emotional day.

"Am I allowed to stay in here?" He asks as he sits on the edge of the bed.

"Yes you're allowed in here," Friday says. "I have been thinking about what you said and I can find no proof of you having directly caused anything bad to come to anyone." Peter huffs out a small laugh and scoots further onto the bed.

"You didn't have to search for that," He says as he lays on his side and pulls a pillow into his arms. "I'm not always where you can see me you know. And Bad luck's not really something you can see anyway. It's like… when people get close to me bad things happen to them. Even if I wasn't directly involved."

"I still don't think you are at fault for anyone's misfortune."

"Okay Fri, we'll agree to disagree," Peter curls around the pillow and closes his eyes. "Can you start my old bedtime protocol please?"

"Of course Peter," Friday says gently. The walls of the room become soundproof and the lights turn off. Music plays through Friday's speakers, so low that someone with normal hearing might not even hear it. Peter tugs the hoodie up a bit and takes a deep breath. It smells strongly of laundry detergent but underneath it, there is still a lingering smell of expensive cologne and motor oil. A weird mix, but it smells like home to Peter. He falls asleep wrapped in warm memories.

Chapter 24

Chapter Text

The mood in the common room is pretty subdued. Strange left shortly after Peter went off, saying something about needing to fix things. Bruce has resumed his pacing by the windows. Rhodey and Sam both sit on the couch chatting about whatever they can think of. It's clear their minds aren't really on it though, it's just a distraction. All of them are waiting, listening for their phones. Bucky sits in the armchair with his head tilted back and his eyes closed, his hand flexing occasionally the only sign that he's not actually sleeping.

"He's a good kid," Sam says. "An amazing kid probably. I mean we don't remember him before all this but look at the stuff that he's done as Spider-man in the time since. We could have used his help with those super soldiers right Buck?"

"Stronger than me," Bucky says. "He said it the night he got dropped in front of me but I didn't believe it at first. A couple nights ago the kid caught a bus with busted breaks. He wasn't even phased by it. Just casually caught a speeding bus with his bare hands and then helped everyone off it. When I asked him about it later he said that he'd stopped a train once and that a bus was nothing compared to that."

"Christ," Rhodey runs a hand over his face.

"Smart too," Bruce says. "Some of the things he was doing in those clips are things college students would struggle with. I want to get in the lab with him and see what he can do."

"He dropped out of school," Bucky says quietly.

"What?" Bruce turns to look at him.

"Because of all this," He waves a hand vaguely to indicate the situation. "He mentioned something about a GED."

"Where did he go to school before? He should probably be in college already." Bruce rubs the back of his neck.

"Mini-Boss used to attend Midtown school of science and technology." Friday supplies.

"Good STEM school," Bruce nods a bit. "Maybe I can do something. I have some contacts at schools still. Even with a GED maybe."

"Let's wait til Peter's up and see what he wants," Rhodey rubs his leg absently.

"He can fix that," Bucky says.

"Fix what?"

"Your braces. He's got blueprints on his tablet. I'm guessing from Tony."

"He can?"

"He said he'd worked on my arm before. I say give him a chance."

"Maybe I'll take him down to the lab when he wakes up," Rhodey says thoughtfully.

"Tony's?" Bruce comes and joins them, sitting down on the other armchair.

"Probably knows his way around it better than any of us. Hey, think he can fix Redwing for me?"

"I will literally beg him not to," Bucky groans.

"What do you have against Redwing?"

"It's you that's the problem."

"You're just jealous. I saw how Pete was with his little drone. I bet he'd appreciate Redwing."

"If he's done Buck's arm and my legs odds are that Tony probably let him work on Redwing too," Rhodey points out. "Did Princess Shuri make you a new Redwing with the fancy new suit?"

"It was my favor that got him the suit," Bucky says with a grin, then he ducks away to avoid the pillow Sam's chucked at his head.

"What's going on?" The new voice startles them all and they turn towards it, surprised to find Pepper standing there. She's still dressed in her professional clothes, though she looks a bit ruffled like she'd gone there in a hurry.

"Pepper," Rhodey uses the armrest to help him get to his feet and makes his way over to her.

"Where's the boy? Where's Peter?" Her eyes dart around the room.

"He said that he wanted to wander alone for a bit," Rhodey tells her.

"I think he's a little overwhelmed by everything," adds Bruce. Pepper takes a deep breath and then moves further into the living room and drops into a free chair.

"Is it real?" She asks.

"Doctor Strange confirmed it," Rhodey rests a hand on the back of her chair. "The kid is genuine."

"But I… how could I forget having a son? Oh my god, Morgan's been trying to tell me," Pepper covers her mouth with the realization, her eyes widening in horror.

"Morgan remembered him?" Bruce moves closer with a curious expression.

"She's been asking when her big brother was going to come back, never a name just… big brother. We thought that it was something she made up, to help her cope with losing Tony." Pepper stands back up quickly, "I need to talk to him. Friday where is Peter right now?"

"He is currently asleep in your room," Friday answers.

"Oh," Pepper places a hand over her heart, "Maybe I should let him sleep."

"I think he'd rather be woken up," Bucky offers. "He'll want to know how quickly you came to see him."

"Right, he's comfortable with you right Bucky? He's been living with you?"

"For a little bit yeah, just since he came back from this other universe."

"Do you want to come with me? Would he be more comfortable that way?"

"Pep, the kid knows all of us. We're his family." Rhodey reminds her. "It's not that he's uncomfortable around us but that he's worried we'll be uncomfortable with him."

"Right… Okay, I need one of you to call Happy. Have him pick Morgan up from school and bring her straight here."

"I'll call him," Rhodey promises.

"I wonder how Morgan managed to remember Peter," Bruce says thoughtfully.

"What if it's the bedtime stories?" Rhodey asks. "Tony used to tell her bedtime stories all the time, he turned all of us into characters in them."

"That could be it," Bruce nods a bit. "She's not remembering Peter himself but the character of her big brother from the story. From what I can tell from the videos we've seen Peter was lost during the decimation. It's likely you and Tony both spent the first years of Morgan's life telling her about her big brother."

"You're probably right." Pepper straightens out her clothes a bit. "Alright, I'm going to see him. Rhodey call Happy please." She walks to the elevator and waits for the doors to close before leaning back against the wall. She covers her face with her hands and tries to keep herself from crying. She can't understand how she could have lost a son and not remembered. After everything they've lost, how did she not notice he was missing when Morgan was practically begging to see her brother.

Pepper had just brushed it off as a coping mechanism. But she had just seen the message from Tony telling her that while he wasn't their blood Peter was as much their child as Morgan. And those videos. Those videos of the three of them acting like a family, of Tony and Peter moving around the lab like they shared a brain. Even just from the brief glimpses she got, she wouldn't have been surprised to hear that Peter was biologically Tony's son. There was no footage of Peter from after the decimation. The Tony in the video, the Tony of the other universe had said that they lost their Peter for good. That Peter had been the one to sacrifice himself to save the world. Pepper wanted to know what had happened after everyone had come back. Everything about Tony's funeral had been a bit of a blur, had Peter been there? She wanted to know everything about him.

"You've been in the elevator for several minutes Mrs. Potts," Friday says gently. "Do you require assistance?"

"No Friday, thank you…" Pepper steps off the elevator onto what had once been the floor she and Tony had shared here before they'd retired to the lake house. "Is Peter still sleeping?"

"Yes, he is."

Pepper takes her time walking down the hall, she tries as hard as she can to remember. The videos had shown how Peter fit into their lives. Pepper had seen the vibrant young boy in that video and she'd felt something, there had been something there. But how could she not remember him. She stops outside the bedroom door and debates whether or not to knock. He probably needs the sleep, she knows that he'd been injured a few days ago. He was definitely enhanced, she'd seen it in the videos that he was Spider-man.

She takes a few moments to compose herself and then slips quietly into the room. The sight that greets her nearly breaks her heart. Peter lays in the middle of the bed curled up in a ball and looking so small in the oversized sweater he must have taken out of the closet. His hair is a mess of curls and he looks so peaceful sleeping there. Pepper slips quietly into the room and sits on the edge of the bed. Her heart aches for the boy. She reaches out and brushes his bangs from his forehead, it's a familiar motion. Peter stirs a bit and burrows deeper into the bedding.

"Five more minutes," He mumbles. Pepper can't help but smile.

"Take all the time you want," she whispers. Peter smiles softly and scoots closer to her.

"Pepper," He says opening his eyes just a bit to look up at her.

"Hi sweetie," She runs her fingers through his curls gently. Peter leans into the touch and starts to doze again. Pepper knows she has a lot to do still. She'd rushed out of the office after watching the video and had her secretary postpone all her meetings. There was a lot she should be doing but instead, she felt content to sit here and watch over this boy the way she does with Morgan.

Peter sleeps peacefully for a while longer, Pepper cards her fingers through his hair continuously while she watches him. She's not really sure how long it is until he wakes. One second he's sleeping quietly and the next he's shooting up with wide eyes and rapid breaths. Pepper reaches out and rests a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, you were just dreaming," She says softly. Peter turns to look at her, his big brown eyes wide with surprise.

"Pepper?"

"That's me," She gives him a smile. Peter's eyes fill with tears and he all but leaps into her arms, clinging to her tightly and hiding his face against her neck. Pepper holds him tightly and presses a kiss against his curls.

"Pepper, Pepper, Pepper," He repeats her name over and over, his shoulders trembling.

"It's alright," She says. "Take your time."

"Pepper," He sits up a bit and rubs his eyes with his sleeves. "You're here?" He looks so surprised. Pepper moves his hands away and cups his cheeks.

"I came as soon as I got the message," She says. Peter sniffles and places his hands over hers.

"You believe it?" He asks.

"I do. I thought it was real as soon as I saw the video and the second I saw you sleeping here I knew that it was real."

"I… I missed you," He whispers in a voice that breaks Pepper's heart. She pulls him into her arms again and presses a kiss to his forehead.

"I don't remember you right now Peter but that hasn't affected my feelings. The second I saw you I knew you were my family. My boy."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. And I know that Happy and Morgan will feel the same when they get here," She cards her fingers through his hair again. "Morgan has been asking about her big brother almost constantly."

"Morgan… she remembers me?" Pepper realizes that this boy really wears his heart on his sleeve. She can see his surprise and his hope on his face.

"You've spent time with her since you came back from being gone right?" Pepper asks. Peter nods his head. "When you came back and met Morgan for the first time did she know you?"

"She knew the stories she'd heard about me," Peter confirms.

"I think that she still remembers those stories. I think because of the stories she could tell more than the rest of us that something was missing from her life."

"Can I see her?" He sounds excited. Pepper smiles at him and checks her watch to see what Happy and Morgan's location is.

"It looks like she's with Happy already. They're on their way here," She pauses for a moment, her gaze on her watch. Tony had created them to keep the family safe. She, Happy, and Morgan all had them and they could be used to find each other's locations as well as vitals. Now her watch displayed Peter's name right between Happy and Morgan's. She looks at the boy beside her and spots the watch that sits on his wrist beside a bracelet.

"I can't wait to see them both again," Peter's smile practically brightens up the room.

"You didn't have a watch before?" Pepper asks as she taps the one on his wrist. Peter looks down at it.

"Mine broke… I'm not sure when. I kept wearing it for a long time until the band broke. When I… when I was in the other universe Tony gave me a new one. He gave me a lot of things to come back here with." He places a hand over his watch for a brief moment then reaches over to the nightstand and picks up a pair of glasses that Pepper thinks must have been Tony's once as well.

"I can tell from the video he sent for me that he loved you, Peter. You're part of our family. I'm so sorry that this has happened to you. I will make sure that things get back to the way they're supposed to be."

"It's my fault, I'm the one that messed everything so bad," Peter tugs on the sleeves of his sweater. "Ah I'm sorry I took this from the closet, it just made me feel warm."

"This is not your fault Peter. Doctor Strange should have never even considered taking away people's memories. He's the adult. He should have been the one to say no."

"But if I hadn't-"

"No Peter," she says sternly. "You are not at fault. I don't want you to blame yourself. We all know the truth now, we know what happened and we're going to get it fixed. Understand?"

"I understand," He says softly. Pepper gives him a gentle smile and strokes his cheek gently.

"That's my boy. Now have you eaten lately? I think we should get some food started. I'm sure Morgan and Happy will be hungry when they get here too." Pepper gets up off the bed and holds a hand out to Peter. He smiles softly at her as he takes the offered hand and gets up. Pepper doesn't let go as she leads him back to the kitchen to see if they can wrangle up enough food to feed everyone.

Chapter 25

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Peter is sitting at the dining room table with everyone, a large stack of sandwiches sits in the center of the table along with an assortment of chips, vegetables, and macaroni salad. They'd been about to eat when Friday had alerted them that Happy was pulling up to the property.

"Did Happy see his video?" Peter asks as he turns to look towards the door.

"He did," Pepper says as she sets a pitcher of lemonade on the table.

"Did he say anything about it?"

"Not yet, I thought it was best we talked about it all in person," Pepper takes a seat at the table.

"I saw Happy a couple of times after the spell went wrong." Peter watches as Sam pours some lemonade into his cup.

"You did?"

"Yeah," Peter picks up the cup and takes a sip. The door opens and Morgan bursts into the compound, running straight for the table. Peter thinks that she's definitely grown a bit since he last saw her.

"Mommy!" Morgan yells as she throws her arms around Pepper's waist.

"Hi sweetie," Pepper Picks her up and sets her on her lap. Happy comes in shortly afterward, his eyes land on Peter immediately and he stops where he is.

"You're the kid from the cemetery," He says. Peter puts his cup down and stands up, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "You're May's nephew."

"I… yeah," Peter nods a bit.

"You didn't say anything when we met," It's clear that Happy's upset.

"I didn't… I didn't tell anyone."

"He wasn't going to," Bucky adds unhelpfully.

"What do you mean?" Happy walks closer and looks down at Peter. He has to admit that he's really missed Happy, the man always tried to act tough around him but he'd come every time Peter needed him. He wonders if he could get away with hugging him now.

"He's a self sacrificing little shit," Rhodey says.

"Morgan," Pepper brushes a hand over her daughter's hair. "Do you know who that is?" She points at Peter as she asks the question. Peter turns to look at the little girl. Will she remember him? Morgan tilts her head a bit and looks at him, after a moment her eyes widen and she jumps off Pepper's lap to run over to him.

"You're my big brother!" She yells holding out her arms. Peter's pretty sure he's going to cry as he lifts her up into his arms and hugs her tight. Morgan hugs him back and squeezes tight.

"Hi Morgy, I'm Peter," He says.

"My big brother! I missed you!" She presses a sloppy kiss to his cheek and Peter smiles widely at her.

"I missed you too little miss."

"He's the brother she's been asking about?" Happy asks, looking at Pepper.

"It seems so," She nods.

"How the hell could the wizard just erase all our memories like that?" Happy sits in one of the open chairs and looks around at everyone. "Did you all get videos too?"

"Yeah," Rhodey nods. "I think everyone that's ever met the kid did."

"What's the plan? How are we fixing this? We're going to get our memories back right?"

"You can't force it," Peter sits back down in his seat, still holding Morgan. "If you try to force the memories out you could permanently damage your brain."

"Can I have a sandwich?" Morgan asks. Peter reaches over and grabs one. He puts it on the plate in front of them and cuts it into squares with his free hand. Morgan smiles and picks up a square to nibble on. Peter loads the plate up with some of the other food from the table, grabbing all the things she likes.

"You need to eat too Peter," Pepper says gently. Peter gives her a smile and takes a bite of a carrot. He doesn't really feel like eating right now but he probably does need the food and he doesn't want any of them to worry about them. He shares his food with Morgan and listens to the others talk.

It feels good, safe. Like he's isn't alone. Peter eats a grape that Morgan holds up for him and tickles her sides. She giggles and curls in on herself trying to push his hands away.

"No tickles Petey!" She laughs. Peter smiles down at her. It really almost feels like the way things were before the spell went wrong. Sitting here like this he could almost pretend that everything was alright, that everything was going to be okay. No one remembers you, no one remembers you, no one remembers you. It's going to be okay. Peter presses a kiss to Morgan's cheek then lets her go as she slips under the table and pops back up beside Rhodey's chair. He lifts her onto his lap and pats her head as she steals some chips off his plate.

"What do you think Peter?" Pepper asks, reaching over to brush his hair back from his forehead.

"Sorry what about?" Peter asks, embarrassed to have been caught not paying attention. This is all about him after all. They're all here because he needed help and now he can't even pay attention to a conversation for five minutes.

"It's alright," Pepper assures him. "You've been living with Bucky at his apartment since you got back. I'm sure it must be a tight fit for both of you. Stark Industries constructed several apartment buildings after the decimation. There are several available now I can get you and Bucky into one so you can each have your own space."

"What about the apartment we have now?" Peter looks at Bucky.

"It's just an apartment, I don't mind where we live."

"Then… It's fine with me if we do that."

"You are of course welcome to come stay with me and Morgan at the cabin." Morgan perks up at the sound of her name and leans across the table towards Peter.

"We can have sleepovers!" She says cheerfully. Peter reaches over and ruffles her hair gently.

"I'll come for sleepovers whenever you want," he promises. "But I think I'm better off living in the city. Being Spider-man is important to me and it'll be easier than having to have someone drive me to the city every day."

"Do you know how to drive?" Happy asks.

"I don't have a license. May and Tony both taught me how to drive but I wasn't going to get my license until after I graduated." He smiles a bit at the memory. "I was afraid that if I got my license before then Tony would try to buy me some ridiculously expensive car."

"Well," Pepper starts in a way that makes Peter think he isn't going to like what comes next. "Why don't we see about getting you your license? You'll need identification anyway. I'll have my lawyers help to prove your identity. Once you have your license then we'll arrange to get you a car. Then you can come to the cabin or up here to the compound whenever you want."

"I really don't need a car," Peter insists.

"Kid, it's pretty likely that you probably own a car or two," Rhodey points out. Peter frowns and looks at him.

"Why would I own a car?"

"Tony considered you one of his kids, it's likely he probably left you more than just those glasses in his will," Bucky points out. Peter's eyes widen. He'd never seen Tony's will. He'd watched the video that Tony had left for them of course but when they'd started talking about Tony's assets at the funeral he'd left the room. May had tried to talk to him on the way home but he'd shut her down and wanted to sit in silence for a while.

"I don't… I don't need anything." Peter furrows his brow, he thinks about the duffle bags of money he'd left at his and Bucky's apartment. That was more than he even knew what to do with and he can't imagine handling anything else.

"There's a copy of Tony's will in his old office here," Pepper says. "Why don't we grab it and take a look. I'm sure that the lawyers can handle anything that needs handling with that as well."

"I know where it is," Rhodey says, he starts to stand up but stops when his braces make a grinding sound. Peter focuses on the sound.

"I can fix that," he says, hoping they'll accept the change in subject. He pretends not to see the look that Rhodey and Pepper share.

"You can fix it?" Rhodey asks.

"Yeah," Peter stands up and moves around the table offering his hand to Rhodey. "If the lab here is the same then I should be able to do it no problem." Rhodey takes his hand and allows Peter to help him up. Peter knows the lab here was rebuilt exactly like it was before it was destroyed. He'd used it once when he snuck into the compound to put together his new suit. Obviously, it wasn't stocked with as many tools and materials as it used to be but now that he had permission to be in there he could probably order whatever he might need.

"You two go ahead to the lab," Pepper says.

"I wanna come!" Morgan yells.

"You know the rules about your Daddy's lab," Pepper reminds her.

"But mommy if Petey is using the lab now then it should be Petey's lab and maybe Petey's lab has different rules than Daddy's lab," Morgan whines. Peter brings up a hand to cover his smile. Morgan had used the same reasoning when she tried to get let into the garage at the cabin.

"The rules stay the same Morgan," Pepper says. Morgan rolls her eyes and gives her mother a look that Peter is sure means she's going to try and argue the matter again. Peter uses her momentary distraction to quickly leave the room with Rhodey. Once out of sight they slow down so as not to strain Rhodey too much.

"You don't seem excited by the prospect of inheriting anything from Tony," Rhodey says once they're on the elevator. Peter sticks his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels.

"I'm just… It's too much. I mean Fury gave me these glasses that Mr. Stark had left for me and I messed that up so bad that… well people got hurt and it was all bad. What if he left me something else and I mess that up too?"

"You've got us, kid, we'll help you with whatever it is. Hell you know Pepper, she'll have everything sorted out by the end of the business day." Rhodey pats his shoulder and exits the elevator into the lab. Peter takes a step out and looks around as well. It looks just like it did when Tony was alive, minus the bots. It feels wrong somehow.

"Right, no problem." Peter walks further into the room and starts turning things on. He pulls up all the information on the leg braces. Rhodey takes a seat in one of the chairs and removes the leg braces. He sets them down onto one of the work tables and watches Peter.

"I'm not sure what happened to them," Rhodey admits. "They make that grinding sound every now and then." Peter nods and has Friday scan the braces.

"Play some music please Friday," Peter asks as he examines the new scan and compares it to the original blueprint. Music starts to play through Friday's speakers. A playlist that He and Tony had created for their lab days. A mixture of both of their music that the other had found bearable. Peter can feel Rhodey watching him as he works but he doesn't really mind. He's in his element here, he knows what he's doing. It only takes a few minutes for him to spot the issue with the braces and using Tony's notes he finds a way to fix them so that it won't happen again.

"You sure you're not related to Tony?" Rhodey asks. Peter grins as he puts the last piece back onto the braces.

"Wrong blood type," Peter moves the braces closer to him. "Try these on." He watches as Rhodey straps the braces back onto his legs and powers them on. He stands up and takes a few steps back and forth to test them out. Peter watches them close.

"Feels like new," Rhodey says.

"Aren't they a little bulky? Is it okay with you if I tinker around and see if I can make a more streamlined pair?"

"Do whatever you want kid. These feel great."

"Cool," Peter pulls up all of Tony's notes and goes through them as he starts to work. He doesn't even notice when Rhodey leaves the lab.

It's hours later that Pepper comes down to find him. Peter's sense tells him that she's there but he's not ready to look away from what he's working on yet. Plus it's one of his favorite songs playing so he wants to keep singing along.

"Music Friday," Pepper says with amusement. The music stops and Peter definitely doesn't pout as he looks over his shoulder at her.

"I like that song," He says. Pepper comes over to get a better look at what he's working on, she cards a hand through his hair as she looks at the hologram. Peter leans into the touch.

"Thought I'd come drag you out of here for some food."

"Oh yeah I'll come up and grab something soon," He turns the hologram to look at a different angle.

"I've heard that one before," She says. "Why don't we go up and eat while we talk."

"Talk?" Peter wrinkles his nose. "So you found the will then?"

"I assume that I've known everything on it before, Stephen's spell sure was thorough when scrubbing our memories." Pepper takes a seat beside him.

"I'm guessing it was more than just the glasses then?" He keeps his focus on what he's working on. Engineering was never his specialty but he'd learned a lot from Tony and it all still made sense, even if it didn't immediately click for him the way chemistry did.

"It was a little more than the glasses," She admits, watching him as he works.

"Is it a 'little more' or a little more?"

"I'd say that it sits on the 'little more' side." She says.

"Should I be worried?"

"I think you're going to get to know the legal team a little better than you'd like. You're only eighteen now so you'll only have access to a part of your inheritance. The rest will come when you turn twenty-one."

"Is there a car?" He asks worriedly.

"A few."

"A few!?" Peter turns to look at her, his eyes wide.

"You know how Tony was with his cars. He separated up most of his collection but he left about five for you, some of them are just collection pieces though. I wouldn't recommend driving them."

"Oh god," Peter drops his head onto the desk.

"I'm sure you've probably already figured that money won't be a problem for you. Bruce and Rhodey have both offered to put in a good word for you if you'd like to try getting into college, I'll vouch for you having spent years interning under Tony as well."

"What does a heart attack feel like?" Peter asks. "I think I'm having a heart attack. I think I inherited Tony's heart problems."

"You're experiencing anxiety," Friday adds helpfully.

"Thanks sooo much," Peter groans. Pepper laughs as she rubs his back.

"You're going to survive Peter."

"That depends on what happens when I turn twenty-one." It feels so far away and so close at the same time. Hell if he hadn't been dusted in the blip he'd already be older. Now he has to think about college and money and multiple cars, multiple!

"Well," she's using that voice Peter is starting to dread again. "As one of Tony Stark's heirs you are entitled to a portion of St-"

"No no no no no," Peter sits up quickly. "Please don't say what I think you're about to say."

"Peter," She says gently.

"Oh god," Peter covers his face with his hands. "How much?"

"Fifty-fifty with your sister."

"Oh my god, oh my god. Are you sure I'm not having a heart attack?" He asks.

"You are fine," Friday says with far too much attitude.

"Come on Peter, let's go eat." Pepper stands up and waits for him. "Or I'll send Morgan down here to drag you to a tea party."

"Oh my god," Peter stands up and follows her out of the lab. He's pretty sure he really is going to have a heart attack. No wonder everyone waited to tell him this. If he'd heard it so soon after Tony's funeral he would have totally freaked out. Even now he's pretty sure he's seconds away from a full blown panic attack. Fifty percent of Stark industries. How can he be a partial owner of Stark industries? He's not even a Stark!

Peter barely even notices dinner, he eats the food placed in front of him and makes vague comments to feign interest in the conversations happening around him. He lets Morgan sit on his lap when she asks too and makes sure that they both eat enough food that Pepper will allow them to have dessert.

After dinner, Morgan needs to have a bath so Pepper takes her up to their floor. Peter slips away from the others and heads up to the roof of the compound. He takes a deep breath of the fresh air as he takes his usual spot on the wall. His head is so full of thoughts that it feels like it's going to burst. So much has happened in such little time and now he has no idea how he's supposed to process it all.

"I assume you could survive the height of that fall?" Bucky says. Peter kicks his feet and looks down at the ground.

"Probably. I've fallen a lot. Never measured the height of that of course." Peter shrugs.

"Let's not try and test that," Bucky sits down beside him.

"I'll do my best." He makes sure his hands are sticking properly to the railing.

"So what comes next for Peter Parker?" Bucky asks. Peter taps his feet together while he thinks about it.

"I don't know," he admits. "I didn't think I'd get this far to be honest. I mean last month I was living in a shitty motel thinking that any chances of a normal future were over. I thought I was lucky to have gotten my GED, to have a sort of job I could use to get money. I thought I was going to be alone, I told myself that it was better if I was alone."

"And now?"

"Now… Gods, I don't even know. With Rhodey, Doctor Banner, and Pepper vouching for me I could probably get into any college in the country even with just my GED. I mean I've got copies of my transcripts from Midtown as well. I don't need to ever go back to that shitty motel either. I mean Pepper offered us the apartment, which I will insist on paying for. I mean it's only right. But now I've got… Cars and money and in what barely three years I'll have fifty percent of Stark industries? Why? Why would Tony leave me so much in his will? I'm just me, I'm Just Peter Parker and this… this kind of life doesn't belong to Peter Parker!" Peter grips the edge of the roof tightly, feeling bits of it crumble under his strength.

"He left it to you because he believed you deserve it. I think you do as well and I don't even remember everything about you yet. You've worked hard Peter. You put your all into taking care of other people. Stark probably figured that this was the only way he could take care of you. He wanted to protect you even after he passed."

"It just… doesn't make sense," He says quietly. "Good things don't happen to Parker's. Everyone around me gets hurt. No matter how hard I try to protect them."

"That's not your fault."

"Isn't it?"

"It's not," Bucky places a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Tony loved you, Morgan and Pepper love you. You're part of their family."

"All of my family members end up dead," Peter whispers. "My mom and dad, Ben and May, Tony. The only thing connecting them all is me."

"You're not going to change my mind, Peter. You are not the one at fault for their deaths."

"It feels like it is," Peter leans into Bucky and rests his head on his shoulder.

"You've suffered a lot for someone so young," Bucky puts his arm around his shoulders. "It's time for you to have some good. I know it's not ideal. I know that it's such a big change to your life that it's probably giving you whiplash, but you deserve good things."

"What about Spider-man? I can't go off to college and just forget about being Spider-man!"

"Now you're just making excuses," Bucky scolds. "There are plenty of good colleges here in New York if you don't want to leave, but you can be Spider-man wherever you decide to go. I promise there's going to be crime in any city you end up in."

"That's not a reassuring thought," Peter sighs.

"No it's not, but it's the truth…"

"It's shitty."

"Language," Bucky says with a small grin. "You know Spider-man makes a big difference for Queens. But I bet that a part owner of a multibillion dollar company could probably make a pretty big difference as well. You're all about helping the little guy, you can do a lot of good."

Peter doesn't speak, he looks out at the woods surrounding the compound and thinks about what Bucky's said. He is right. He could do a lot of good for the whole world with the kind of money that Tony had left him. He could do anything he wanted.

"In the other universe I told my friend Ned that I was going to Empire State," Peter admits. "Maybe I could start by turning that into a truth?"

"Could be a good idea," Bucky says. "You balanced Spider-man and high school I'm sure you can figure out how to work it with college as well. You won't need a job after all."

"God this is weird," Peter sighs. "We never had money when I was growing up. We got by okay but it was always tight. I don't know the first thing about handling money."

"Yeah, the duffle bags still living under my couch make that pretty obvious."

"Oh god, I forgot that I have that still… Maybe I should give it away. I can barely handle that let alone all of it on top of whatever I'm inheriting."

"Pepper's good at all of that. She'll probably get you a financial advisor or something," Bucky pats his head and stands back up. "Come on kid, let's go inside before they start to worry about you."

"I'm okay here Buck. I'll come inside in a little bit." Peter gives him a smile that doesn't feel real. Bucky looks down at him for a moment then nods and goes inside. Peter lays back and stares up at the sky, watching the stars come out. His new life isn't going to be easy, he's got no idea how to handle all this change at once. But at least he's not alone anymore. Even if they don't remember him properly they're still his family. Peter counts the stars as they come out until his heart rate slows down to normal and he doesn't feel like he's going to be sick.

His life isn't perfect. There's still a lot that needs to be done to get back to normal. But it's better, it's better than being all alone. Mom and Dad, Ben and May, Tony, it's my fault. I'm the only connection. People I love get hurt.

Peter gets to his feet and brushes the dirt off his clothes. He takes one last look at the night sky and then he heads back inside to where his family waits for him. It's not perfect, but it's still worth fighting for. After all, May and Tony are out there in the other universe. He doesn't want to disappoint them.

Notes:

Wow writing this was emotional. When I started I thought that it would just be a short fix it to help me get over all the feels I had from No Way Home but the more I wrote the more I got into it. Thanks to everyone that came along on this journey! I think I'll probably have more MCU content in the future. I'll be posting the epilogue to this series shortly. Thank you all for the support!

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Chapter 26

Notes:

I'm really gonna have to invest in Kleenex stock or something or maybe it's just time to get a Costco card so I can buy in bulk. This epilogue will be the final part of this story. I wanted to give you all a glimpse of the ending from both universes. I hope you all enjoy. Thank you all again for coming on this journey with me. You guys are great!

~Taylor

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(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

May 29th, 2026

Morgan Stark sits at a table in her classroom fidgeting excitedly. Her lunchbox sits on the table in front of her but she's much to eager to focus on it. Any minute now she's going to get to go home. There's a knock on the classroom door and Morgan has to hold on tight to her chair because she knows her teacher will scold her if she jumps up and tries to answer it herself. Instead, she stares intently at the door as the teacher opens it and allows the person inside.

"Petey!" Morgan shoots out of her chair and rushes into her brother's arms. Peter laughs as he catches her and lifts her up.

"Hello Morgs," He smiles and presses a kiss to her cheek. Morgan is almost seven now and some people think that seven is too big to be picked up but Peter is always willing to carry her when she asks. She wraps her arms around his neck and he settles her on his hip so he can hold her with one arm.

"Are you the one going to be picking Morgan up today?" Her teacher asks. Morgan has to resist the urge to roll her eyes because her mom says that it's not polite.

"Yes," Peter says. "I'm Morgan's brother Peter." He holds out his hand to the teacher with a smile. She smiles back and shakes his hand.

"I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you before," She says.

"Oh yeah," Peter pulls his wallet out of his pocket and opens it with one hand. "Help me out here Morg." Morgan nods her head and pulls his driver's license out of his wallet for him.

"Peter Benjamin Parker Hyphen Stark," She reads it out loud then gives it to her teacher for her to read. Peter had taught her the word hyphen after he'd gotten his name changed. She knew that Peter wasn't her blood brother but he was still the best brother she'd ever had. Peter was a big boy but he was part of their family so their mom had adopted him. Now he got to have two last names. Morgan wishes she could have two last names. Then she could be Morgan Parker-Stark too.

"You excited for today?" Peter asks as he tucks a bit of Morgan's hair behind her ear. The teacher brings Peter's ID over to her desk and checks it on her computer then comes back.

"Alright it looks like everything is in order," She says as she gives the ID back to Peter.

"Great," He sets Morgan down on the ground. "Go get your backpack Maguna." Morgan hurries over to her cubby to get her backpack and the sweater that Peter made her bring even though it's almost summer and super warm now. Peter finds her lunch box on the table and steals a carrot before closing it up for her. Morgan brings her backpack over to him and holds it open so he can put the lunch box inside.

"How long is the drive?" she asks as Peter picks her up again.

"It's almost four hours," he tells her. They both wave goodbye to her teacher and class as they leave the classroom. Morgan rests her head on her brother's shoulder.

"That's a long drive," She tells him.

"Yeah it is but we'll be okay. I stocked the car with lots of snacks and I've got your tablet. You should probably take a nap too since we're probably going to be up late tonight."

"I'm too old for naps," Morgan tells him.

"Well, I'm not," Peter sets her down beside the car. Morgan knows that it used to be her Daddy's car but now it's Peter's. He unlocks the door and opens the door to the backseat for her. Morgan climbs in and puts her backpack down then climbs into her booster seat and buckles up. Peter checks the seatbelt then opens the bag that he'd put on the other seat. Morgan's favorite blanket is on top, he pulls it out and drapes it over her lap then makes sure that she can reach everything else.

"I'll drive and you can nap," Morgan tells him with a grin. "Karen can help me drive!"

"I am not sure that would be safe," Karen's voice comes through the radio speakers. "In the case of an emergency, you would be too little to see over the steering wheel."

"Then I'll sit on my knees duh," Morgan giggles.

"Maybe in a few years squirt," Peter laughs with her. "We have to make one stop to pick up the rest of our passengers and then we'll be on the road."

"Okay, Petey!" Morgan pulls her tablet out of the bag along with her headphones and puts them on. Peter checks her seatbelt one more time, he always checks it a bunch, then gets into the driver's seat.

"Karen we're going to the train station first," He says as he buckles up his seatbelt.

"Plotting the course now," Karen says. Morgan watches Peter as he checks his mirrors and then puts both hands on the steering wheel and starts to drive. Happy always says that Peter drives like a grandma, but Morgan's never seen a Grandma drive so she's not sure if that's true or not.

"Morgan, I'm gonna call mom do you want to talk to her too?" Peter asks just loud enough for Morgan to hear over her tv show. She slides her headphones around her neck.

"Yeah!" she cheers.

"Call mom please Karen," Peter says, not taking his eyes off the road. The sound of a ringing phone comes over the speakers. Morgan kicks her feet a bit excited to speak to her mom. She hasn't seen her mom since yesterday. She and Happy had to leave early to go get things set up so Morgan got to sleep over at Peter and Bucky's house.

"Hello Peter," Pepper says as she answers the call.

"Hey Pepper, I've got Morgan with me," Peter says.

"Hi, mommy!" Morgan yells.

"Hello Baby, how was your sleepover with Peter?" she asks.

"It was super fun!" Morgan leans forward in her seat. "We played chutes and ladders with Uncle Bucky and I won three times! Uncle Bucky is really bad at chutes and ladders."

"Oh I bet that was fun," Pepper says cheerfully.

"I'll have to send you a picture of his pouty face," Peter says with a grin. Morgan likes to see Peter smile. He has the best smile but sometimes he gets a sad look. When that happens Morgan tries to do her best to make him smile again.

"Please do, did you pack everything you need? Rhodey hasn't flown out yet, I'm sure he could swing by the cabin and grab whatever you need."

"Yeah we got everything, don't worry," Peter finds a spot to park on the street and lets Karen help him get into the rather tight spot. "We're at the train station now so I'm gonna let you go okay?"

"Alright, drive safe you too. Don't eat too much junk food," Pepper reminds him.

"We won't," Peter promises.

"What about Ice pops?" Morgan asks.

"No ice pops in the car Morgs," Pepper says. Morgan rolls her eyes and sits back in her chair.

"I wouldn't make a mess," She says.

"I'm sure, I'll see you both soon,"

"Bye Mommy! I love you 3000!" Morgan says.

"I love you both 3000," Pepper says.

"Love you too," Peter ends the call then gets out of the car and goes around to Morgan's door. He opens it and helps her get unbuckled and holds her hand so she can jump from the car to the curb.

"Are we gonna take the train?" She asks as she looks up at the train station. She's come here a few times with Peter to pick up his friends. He even took her on a train ride once. It was a lot more fun than taking the plane.

"Nope, we're just picking the others up remember? We're all gonna drive there in the car," Peter holds her hand and makes sure the car is locked then reads her into the building. Morgan skips along beside him.

"Peter! Morgan!" Ned calls as he waves at them. Morgan cheers when she spots Ned and MJ waiting for them inside. Morgan lets go of Peter's hand and runs over to wrap her arms around MJ's legs. Peter jogs a bit to keep her from getting too far ahead of him.

"Hey guys," Peter says, the smile he gives them is a little bit different than his normal smile. Morgan sees him do that sometimes. She knows that everyone used to have known Peter for a long time but a magician took away the memories. That makes Peter sad sometimes.

"Hello Morgan," MJ says patting her on the head.

"I'm so excited for this!" Ned says. "It's going to be the coolest thing ever and I get to be there at the opening!"

"I'm glad you guys were able to take the time off," Peter holds out his hand to Ned. They do a funny handshake that ends with a half hug. Morgan has tried to learn it before but it's too long so she forgets.

"We wouldn't miss this for the world!" Ned says.

"I'm only coming along as moral support," MJ says crossing her arms.

"Well… Thank you," Peter gives another one of his wrong smiles as he looks at MJ. Peter says that they're just friends but Morgan thinks they should be boyfriend and girlfriend. She knows that Peter likes-likes MJ and she thinks that MJ likes-likes him too.

"So are we just going to stand here all day or should we get on the road?" MJ asks.

"Oh right totally," Peter says as he pulls out his phone to check the time. "I think we should all use the bathroom first though. MJ do you mind going with Morgan?"

"I can go potty by myself, Petey," Morgan reminds him.

"I know you can, but this is a really public place so we should all use the buddy system so we stay safe."

"Okay okay," Morgan grabs onto MJ's hand before she can say anything then looks around briefly before pulling MJ towards the bathrooms. She can hear Peter and Ned laughing behind them.

Once they're all finally in the car Morgan gets her tablet out again. Peter's driving and MJ gets the passenger seat so Ned sits in the back with Morgan. She thinks he's a pretty funny guy. He plays games with her on her tablet during the drive and tells her all sorts of cool stories. Peter seems more relaxed with them around. He adds things onto Ned's stories and he glances at MJ sometimes, but only really quickly because he has to focus on the road. MJ draws pictures in her notebook and she lets Morgan see some of them.

Even though she's too old for naps Morgan decides halfway there that she is kind of tired and if she wants to stay up all night with the adults then she should sleep a little. She puts her headphones on and has Friday tell her one of her bedtime stories. Morgan likes the bedtime stories the best because her Daddy recorded them for her. Her Daddy died when she was younger. She misses him a lot now.

Morgan must fall asleep while listening to her stories because she wakes up some time later as Peter is picking her up out of the car. She wraps her arms around his neck and lays her head on his shoulder.

"We here Petey?" She asks as she tries to fight a yawn. Peter rubs her back and nods his head.

"Yeah we're here," he says. Morgan rubs her eyes then lifts her head and looks around. She knows where they are. It's the a museum with a long name that she has trouble saying but she came here before with her Dad, and then again with Peter. There was a whole section dedicated to Captain America. Morgan had met Captain America before, he was just her Uncle Steve to her though. He got really old after her dad died and now she doesn't see him anymore. So it's nice to come to the museum and see all the cool stuff about him and Bucky.

"Is Mommy here?" She asks. Ned and MJ have both gotten out of the car now and they seem to be waiting for them.

"Yeah she's waiting inside with Happy," Peter sets Morgan down on the ground and holds out his hand to her. Morgan smiles as she takes it. The four of them head into the building through a private door. The tiles inside are different colors so Morgan holds onto Peter's arm so she can stay on the black ones. Whenever the jump is too big Peter swings her over to it. He's super strong. She's even seen him pick up Happy before.

"Kids over here!" Pepper calls out to them. Peter lets Morgan's hand go so she can run over to her mom. Morgan hugs her mom tight. Pepper smiles down at her and runs a hand gently through her hair.

"Hey Pepper," Peter says as he comes to a stop in front of them.

"You guys get here okay?" Happy asks.

"No problems," Peter gives him two thumbs up. Ned and MJ are hanging back a bit.

"I'm surprised you made it here this week with the way you drive," Happy teases.

"I'm glad that you're a safe driver Peter," Pepper gives Happy a look as she says it.

"I was driving with precious cargo!" Peter reaches out and ruffles Morgan's hair. "We had to drive safe."

"Petey doesn't even let Karen drive!" Morgan tells them.

"That's because Karen doesn't have a driver's license." Peter grins.

"Right," Pepper checks her watch. "The others are waiting for us upfront. It's almost opening time. Are you guys ready?"

"Should I change?" Peter asks. He's wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt that Morgan thinks looks like one their dad used to have. Peter uses a lot of their dad's stuff so that would make sense. She likes to wear their dad's old shirts to bed sometimes. They're comfy.

"You can wear whatever you want," Pepper tells him. "But it is a bit chilly in there, did you bring a sweater?"

"Oh yeah," Peter pulls his backpack off his back and pulls out Morgan's purple sweater and a black jacket for himself. He gives the sweater to Pepper and puts the jacket on himself before putting his backpack on. Morgan holds out her arms so that her mom can help her put the sweater on and then she tries to run away when she tries to fix her hair. Peter catches her easily and hands her to Happy. He runs his fingers gently through her hair to get out any tangles and then quickly braids it.

"How did you get so good at that?" Ned asks. Peter takes a hair tie out of his backpack and puts it on the end of the braid.

"I think it's a spider thing," he admits.

"Really? Huh, I guess that would make sense." Ned says thoughtfully. Peter can't help but grin a bit as he takes Morgan back from Happy. Morgan giggles as she settles back in his arms. Peter had told her that a lot of people thought spiders were scary so when people asked about his powers sometimes he would make stuff up. He kept trying to convince their Uncle Rhodey that he didn't have bones anymore.

"Well if we're all ready let's do this then." Pepper puts her hand on Peter's back and leads him down a hallway. Morgan looks over Peter's shoulder and makes sure that everyone else is following them. They can't even see the exhibit yet when the sound of people reaches them. Morgan wraps her arms around Peter's neck nervously. Her mom had told her that there were going to be lots of people and cameras here and she never liked the camera people. She would have to stay with Peter or Happy while they were around. So she could be protected from them.

"Hey there's the kiddos!" There's a stage set up with a big curtain to hide them all from view. Rhodey is waiting there for them, along with other members of the Avengers. Morgan thinks that it's really cool her aunts and uncles are all superheroes. Her dad had been one and her brother was one too. She hoped that she could be a superhero when she was older.

"Hey uncle Rhodey," Peter walks over and gives him a hug. Morgan throws one arm around him as well.

"You ready for this kid?" Rhodey asks, moving Peter back so he can look at them both.

"Probably not," Peter admits with a pretend smile. "But I want to do it still." He sets Morgan down on the ground and taps her nose gently.

"Did you memorize your speech?" Pepper asks. She stands beside them and fixes Peter's hair a bit.

"Yeah but if I panic Karen has it too," Peter taps his glasses. Morgan knows that one day Peter and she are going to run their dad's company together. They're both still too young but since Peter is a big boy he has to make public appearances like their mom does. He had volunteered to make a speech today for the opening but Morgan knew that he wasn't that good at speaking to crowds. She'd brought him to school once to talk to her class and he'd messed up his words a lot. Morgan had to hold his hand to comfort him. She wonders who will go on stage with him this time. Maybe MJ would, that's something that girlfriends would do right?

"We can still change it up if you need to." Happy offers. Peter smiles at them and shakes his head.

"I'll be okay," he assures them. Morgan thinks he's a big liar and that if he keeps lying his pants might catch on fire. Their dad had told her about that once.

"I want to go with him!" Morgan declares, wrapping her arms around her brother's legs. All the adults look down at her but it doesn't bother Morgan. She likes to talk to people. She'll just have to do all the talking for Peter when he gets nervous.

"Morgan that-" Pepper starts. Peter is looking down at Morgan though, he meets her eyes and when she nods at him he nods back.

"Pepper, if you're alright with it I don't mind having Morgan up there with me. This is her legacy too. She probably deserves it more than I do."

"This legacy belongs to both of you," Pepper says firmly. "If you're comfortable keeping her with you then I'm okay with it… I'm sure that Tony would have been proud to see you both up there together." Morgan clings more tightly to Peter's leg. He rests a hand on her head and chews on his lip.

"Thank you, Pepper," Peter says softly. He lifts Morgan back up and gives her a tight hug that she returns just as tightly.

"Okay, we're starting in just a few minutes so Happy please show everyone to their seats," Pepper tells him. Happy nods and leads Ned, MJ, and Rhodey out to the seating area. Peter and Morgan peek through the curtain together and see that there are other members of the Avengers sitting out there already. Pepper kisses both of their cheeks when the time to start comes and then she goes out on stage first.

"You sure you wanna do this with me?" Peter asks as he shifts his hold on her a bit.

"Do you want to do it?" Morgan turns it back to him.

"I do, but I'm still kind of scared," he admits.

"It's okay to be scared," Morgan pats her brother's cheek. "That's why I'm gonna go too. For Moral support."

"You're the best," Peter says as he gives her a bunch of kisses. Morgan laughs and tries to push his face away.

"Petey nooo," she says through her giggles. Peter manages to plant one more kiss to her cheek before giving up the fight. Morgan lays her head on his shoulder and smiles.

"I love you Maguna," He whispers as he listens to Pepper on the stage.

"I love you too Petey," She whispers back.

"Now I'd like to you all to meet the minds behind this event," Pepper says as she turns to look at the side of the stage. Morgan knows that it's their sign to go out. She'd watched Peter practice over and over. Peter takes a deep breath and then sets Morgan down taking her hand as he heads onto the stage. Morgan follows along beside him.

"You've got this," Pepper whispers as she gives Peter a hug and then leans down to kiss the top of Morgan's head. Then she steps back, giving them access to the podium. Peter steps up to it and adjusts the microphone a bit. Morgan holds onto his pant leg so he can have his hands free. She looks out at the audience in front of them as Peter introduces himself and begins his speech. Morgan leans against his legs and listens to him talk. She hopes that she's being good moral support.

All of a sudden there's a weird feeling in her head for just the briefest moment. Morgan stands up straight and squeezes her eyes shut until it passes. When she opens them again she thinks that something is different. The people they know sitting in the front row all look really surprised and the reporters and the people with the cameras are whispering a lot. Morgan tugs urgently on Peter's pant leg. He stops what he was saying to look down at her.

"I remember," she whispers up to him. Peter looks confused.

"Peter! It's back!" Ned yells from the audience. Peter seems to notice for the first time the looks that everyone is making. He kneels down in front of Morgan.

"What do you mean Morg?"

"I remember all the fun stuff we did together," Morgan whispers to him.

"You… you remember?" He looks back at Pepper, she's got tears in her eyes and her hand is covering her mouth. Peter turns to look back at their friends and family in the front row. There's a fizzling sound from the back of the room and Peter and Morgan watch as a portal opens and Doctor Strange steps through. He meets Peter's gaze and gives him a brief nod.

"Oh my god," Peter whispers. The cameras are flashing even more now and the reporters are suddenly shouting questions at the stage. Morgan brings a hand up to cover her eyes. "Oh my god," Peter says again. He picks Morgan up and tucks her face against his shoulder to shield her from the chaos.

"What do we do Petey?" Morgan asks. Peter seems at a loss for a moment, then he straightens up and steps to the podium once more.

"Tony Stark was my mentor and like a father to me. I am happy to be here continuing on his legacy with the opening of the Iron Man exhibit. I'm assuming that you've all just had a rather weird feeling of remembering a lot of things about me. So I'll follow in Tony's footsteps now and say this," He says with a steady voice. "My name is Peter Parker-Stark, and I am Spider-man."

August 10th, 2026

Morgan Stark sits on the floor of her daycare. She's supposed to be having a tea party with her friends but she's way too excited to sit still. Any minute now her dad is going to show up to get her and she'll get to leave daycare early. She doesn't have to go to daycare every day, but her parents say that it's good for her to interact with kids her own age. At least she's in the same building where they work so if she's sad they come to see her. The doorbell on the daycare door rings as it opens and Morgan turns quickly to see her father step inside.

"Daddy!" She yells out as she runs across the room and jumps into his arms.

"Oof," he says stumbling back a bit as he catches her. "Did you grow again while I was working?"

"No daddy," she giggles as she wraps her arms around his neck.

"Hello Mr. Stark," The daycare teacher says as she approaches them. "Are you picking up or just stopping by?"

"Picking up today, we've got a plane to catch," Tony says as he shifts his grip on Morgan so he has a hand free.

"That sounds like fun," The teacher says, she holds up a tablet. "Just sign her out for me and you're good to go." Tony places a hand on the tablet and lets it scan it then signs on the line that appears afterward.

"Did you bring anything with you?" He asks Morgan.

"Yeah! I brought my backpack and my spider!" she tells him.

"Well go grab those then," He says as he puts her down on the ground. Morgan runs to her cubby and grabs her backpack and her Spider-man stuffie. It's her favorite of all her stuffies. She's not supposed to tell anyone but Spider-man was her big brother. He saved the world from all the bad guys and then he had to go away. Morgan never got to meet him but she's listened to all the stories about him.

"Ready Maguna?" Tony calls her. Morgan puts her backpack on her back and then runs back over to her dad.

"I'm ready Daddy!" She takes his hand with both of hers and pulls him towards the door. "We gotta go!"

"Alright alright, I'm coming," Tony laughs as he follows her out the door.

"Mommy said that she's gonna make sure you get left behind if you're not on the plane in time," She reminds him.

"Yeah, she did say that didn't she."

"Yep," Morgan says popping the P at the end.

"Well I have a secret weapon so they have to wait for me," he winks down at her. Morgan hangs onto his arm and looks up at him.

"What's your secret?"

"It's you," He grins and then scoops her up and lays her over his shoulder. "They might leave me behind but they definitely won't leave you, little miss." Morgan laughs and wiggles trying to get free from his hold.

"That's cheating!" She yells.

"It's not cheating, it's outsmarting," He steps into the elevator and sets Morgan down. "Fri take us to the landing pad please."

"Thank you, Friday!" Morgan says as the elevator starts moving.

"You're quite welcome little miss," Friday answers.

"Friday do you know what today is?" Morgan asks.

"Today is Monday, August 10th and the year is 2026."

"Yeah, but it's a special day," Morgan holds her Spider Stuffie up for Friday to see. "Today is my big brother's birthday!"

"Yes, it is a big day," Friday answers. "There have been talks about turning this day into a holiday. Right now it seems most people are in favor of making it Spider-man day."

"It should be Peter day!" Morgan looks up at her dad to see him putting on his sunglasses. Morgan knows that he does that sometimes when he's feeling sad. Morgan never got to meet her big brother but she knows her mom and dad miss him a lot.

"You're right," Tony says. "Peter Parker day would sound better than Spider-man day."

"Not Peter Stark?" Morgan wraps her arms around Tony's waist and looks up at him. He rests a hand on the top of her head.

"No not Stark, Peter had another family too. That's why he had a different last name but he was still just as much part of our family."

"He could have two last names," Morgan says. "He could be Parker AND Stark."

"He was," Tony takes her hand and leads her off the elevator and out onto the landing pad. Morgan holds his hand tightly. She knows that the landing pad can be dangerous so she has to stay close to an adult when she's out here. They're going to fly in the quin jet because it's faster. Her uncle Clint told her once that he would teach her how to fly it but her mom said that she wasn't allowed to learn until she was at least twenty and that's still a long time away.

"Hey! There's my favorite niece!" Rhodey says as he steps off the jet.

"Uncle Rhodey!" Morgan jumps up and down and tries to pull her dad forward faster. Rhodey lifts her up in the air then gives her a tight hug.

"Hey Morgs, how you doing?" he asks as he sets her back on the ground.

"I'm good! I got to leave daycare early today!" Morgan holds his hand and bounces. "Are we late? Mommy said that the plane would leave Daddy behind if he was late but Daddy had me and the plane won't leave me."

"Don't worry you're right on time, besides if we had to ditch your dad I would just steal you," Rhodey says with a wink. Morgan giggles and scoots closer to Rhodey. She has to be careful of his legs because he wears leg braces that help him walk. Her dad built them.

"Yeah well if we're all so worried about my punctuality then we should get on the road," Tony claps his hands together and waves them both towards the quin jet.

"We're flying not driving daddy," Morgan reminds him as she pulls Rhodey onto the plane.

"Yeah Tones," Rhodey says following her.

"What is it pick on Tony day?" Tony asks as he gets onto the plane. Morgan gets excited when she gets on the plane, there are people already on there sitting in their seats. There's Bucky, and Sam, and Bruce, and even Clint!

"No daddy it's Peter day" Morgan declares as she rushes around to give all of her uncles hugs.

"Peter day?" Sam asks as he ruffles Morgan's hair. Tony takes a seat next to bruce and motions for Morgan to come over.

"Gotta buckle up little miss," He tells her.

"Friday said that they were trying to make today into Spider-man day," Morgan climbs into the chair beside her father and wrestles with the seatbelt. "But I think it should be Peter Parker day."

"That does sound better," Bruce says. Tony helps Morgan get buckled up then buckles his own seatbelt. Morgan slips her Spider-man stuffie into her seatbelt with her so they can both be safe.

"Peter would hate that," Bucky says.

"Oh absolutely." Tony smiles a bit. It's one of his sad smiles though, Morgan sees them sometimes when her dad is thinking about Peter.

"Why would he hate it?" She asks. She thinks it would be pretty cool to have a Morgan day, then she could do whatever she wanted for the whole day. She could have a million icy pops!

"Peter never liked the attention," Tony explains. "He'd get embarrassed if too many people were looking at him. But he was super smart, probably would have been smarter than me or Bruce if he'd gotten to grow up."

"Whoa," Morgan exclaims. She leans forward to look at Bruce on her dad's other side. "Smarter than you Uncle Bruce?"

"Yeah, probably." Bruce nods, he's rubbing his hands together and staring resolutely out of one of the jet windows. Morgan sits back in her seat and thinks about it.

"I wanna be as smart as Peter," She decides after a few moments.

"That's a good plan," Rhodey tells her. "Peter was a good kid, a much better role model than some other people."

"Ass," Tony says.

"You can't say that word," Morgan reminds him. "That's mommy's word."

"Oh right of course. My bad. Don't tell mommy I said it," Tony says giving her a wink. Morgan nods her head.

"For three icy pops," She holds up his pinky.

"Being blackmailed by my own kid," Tony sighs and links his pinky with hers.

"I love you, daddy!"

"I can really tell," Tony teases. He leans down and presses a kiss to the top of her head. "I love you too Squirt."

"Landing in ten," Clint calls back to them from the front of the jet. Morgan bounces in her seat and strains to look out the window. She's excited to see her mom. She and Happy had left the night before because they'd had to get here early to set things up, so it had just been her and her dad last night. They played Sorry but only one round because her dad is bad when he loses but then they'd watched Star Wars. They're kind of old movies but she likes them anyway. She watches them with her dad every summer. She thinks that Peter must have liked them too because there are Star Wars posters on the walls in his bedroom.

She waits patiently in her seat while the jet lands on the ground. She knows that it's like a car and you can't get out of your seat until it's stopped. Clint shuts it off and gets out of his seat going back to them.

"All ashore that's going ashore," He says cheerfully. He helps Morgan get unbuckled while her dad and everyone else gets up. Morgan gives him a fist bump before sliding off her chair and grabbing onto her dad's hand.

Morgan knows where they are. It's the museum with a long name that she has trouble saying but she came here before with her Dad. There was a whole section dedicated to Captain America. Morgan had met Captain America before, he was just her Uncle Steve to her though. He got really old after the big fight against the bad guys and now she doesn't see him anymore. So it's nice to come to the museum and see all the cool stuff about him and Bucky.

Most of the group they arrived with had to go into the museum through a different door but Morgan and her dad get to go in through a back door so they can avoid all the camera people and reporters. Morgan hates it when the reporters come around. They always ask a bunch of questions and the camera people flash lights in her face. She has to stay close to her Dad or Happy when they're around.

"You're actually on time," Pepper says when she sees them approaching her. Tony lets go of Morgan's hand so she can run over and throw her arms around her mom's waist.

"Mommy!" She yells cheerfully. Pepper smiles and kneels down giving Morgan a hug.

"Hi sweetie," she says.

"What do you mean actually on time?" Tony asks as he comes to a stop beside them. "I'm always on time."

"I don't think you know the meaning of on time boss," Happy teases him. Tony rolls his eyes and gives Pepper a kiss on the cheek.

"Good to see you too dear," He says softly. Pepper smiles as she gives him a kiss.

"Everything is all ready to go. After the speeches, you'll open the doors and then we can all head inside."

"How does it look?" He asks.

"It's perfect," Pepper assures him.

"The kid would have an actual heart attack if he could see it." Happy says. Morgan's pretty sure the kid is Peter. Happy calls him that all the time when they talk about him. He has a sad smile like her dad does.

"Can I see it?" Morgan asks bouncing a bit as she grabs onto her dad's arm again.

"After the speeches," Pepper promises.

"That's so far away," Morgan leans against her dad's legs and looks up at him with a pout.

"We've got what?" Tony places a hand gently on her head. "Twenty minutes til speech time?"

"Tony," Pepper says in what Morgan considers her 'about to be in trouble' voice. Her dad gets the voice a lot more than Morgan does though.

"Twenty minutes, quick walkthrough. We'll make it in time and if I don't you can just stall for me."

"Tony you can't be late for this," She warns him.

"That's not a no, come on Squirt let's make a run for it." Tony scoops Morgan up into his arms and hurries away from Pepper and Happy. Morgan giggles as she clings to her dad.

"Twenty minutes Tony!" Pepper calls after them.

"See you later mommy!" Morgan calls to her.

When they make it to the main part of the museum Tony sets Morgan down on the ground and takes her hand once again. The Spider-man exhibit is in front of them. Morgan squeezes her stuffie tight as she looks at the big picture in the front. The picture is of her brother Peter and it's huge. He's wearing his Spider-man costume with his mask off. Morgan's seen a lot of pictures of Peter but this one is really cool.

"That's my big brother," She says.

"Yeah, yeah it is," Tony gives her hand a squeeze, Morgan squeezes back. They walk through the exhibit slowly. There are a lot of pictures in there. There are all his Spider-man costumes sitting in a row. There are fun facts about him too, they say things like 'Peter sometimes pretended that he could control Spiders to scare criminals and Col Rhodes' and 'When feeling extra tired Peter would sometimes take naps on the ceiling' Morgan is still learning how to read so she has her dad read each fun fact out loud to her. They watch the videos of Peter swinging around in his costume and saving people. There are even screens that play his video diaries.

Morgan's favorite part of it is the last exhibit though. The room is a big circle and in the center is a statue. It shows a little kid that's not much bigger than her. He's wearing an Iron man mask and holding up his hand. Behind the kid is Peter. He's wearing his costume with the mask off in like the picture. He's staring forward with a really brave look on his face and he's holding one of his hands in front of his heart, there's a glove on that hand too, one with stones on the back of it. Morgan knows that it's the special glove that her dad made so they could get rid of the bad guys.

"Who's the little kid daddy?" Morgan asks as she runs her finger over the plaque in front of the statue.

"That's Peter, the first day I met him," Tony sounds really sad. "He was just a little Squirt like you are now but he saw bad robots trying to hurt people and he wanted to fight them too."

"Did he fight them?" Morgan looks up at her dad.

"No," He says with a laugh. "No, I came and saved him."

"Good job Daddy," Morgan says. She looks around the room. There are lots of pictures of Peter on the walls, pictures of him from school and at the Avengers house. Around it is a bunch of words that all keep appearing and changing. "What do those say?" She asks pointing at them.

"Those are stories. I saved Peter that day when he was a little kid but he grew up to save a lot of people. Those are stories from all of the people he helped as himself and as Spider-man. Everyone wanted to have nice things to say about him." he takes a handkerchief out of his pocket and uses it to quickly wipe his eyes. Morgan doesn't like to see her dad cry. She runs her fingers over the plaque in front of her again.

"What does this say?" She asks. They've probably been gone for more than twenty minutes. But Morgan doesn't want to go see the reporters and camera people. She'd rather hear more about Peter.

"When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen? They happen because of you."

"What does that mean?" Morgan wraps her arms around her Dad's waist and leans her weight against him.

"It means that your big brother was an amazing person and that a lot of people are going to be inspired to do great things because of him."

"I wanna be just like Peter," She declares.

"Me too Maguna, me too."