Author's Note: Hey guys, trying to get back into writing, so I'm throwing this out there as practice. Feel free to comment, I enjoy criticism as much as compliments, just like to know if what I write is interesting.

Enjoy!


Chapter 1: In The Time We Were Gone

Michelle couldn't help but feel empty. It wasn't because she was walking into Midtown for the first time since returning from Oblivion, going through schooling like the Snap and Blip never happened. It wasn't because she went from being in her home to appearing in someone else's. It wasn't because Michelle is haunted by seeing an army in the distance from the apartment, charging towards the Avengers Compound, witnessing the carnage of war so close to home yet again. Nor was it the days she spent looking for her family in the chaos; hopelessness in her eyes when her mom and brother finally found her.

It was an absence on her mind and a hole in her heart that she can't help but admit to herself- must be filled.

It's been two weeks since she and Ned were brought back from being ashed to nothing, two weeks, and there's been no sign of Peter Parker. He hasn't texted, called or came to see either of them. The first week was understandable, given that's how long it took Thor to wake from a coma after using the Infinity Gauntlet to desolate Thanos' army. The pair thought Peter was simply going through the motions as anyone would, having someone he considered a friend to him fall too close to death. Then that second week flew by and still no contact from Peter Parker.

Nor any sightings of Spider-Man for that matter, not that Peter knows she knows he's Spider-Man. During lunch, Michelle and Ned used the computers in the library at Midtown, researching anything they could about reports on their webhead friend. They couldn't believe their eyes when they discovered Spider-Man hasn't been seen or heard from since Thanos snapped his fingers. Reports and articles of a new Spider vigilante named Silk were plenty, appearing to the duo that the protection of New York may have fallen to another while they were gone. But that left one question.

Was Peter Parker snapped away like they were?

That question led them to go as far as going to his Aunt May's house directly, hoping to find answers or better yet, him. They didn't find May, instead finding someone else living where she and Peter once did. That only added to their distress, leaving them alone and unsure why they hadn't heard from her nephew, troubled about the dark place Peter may have found himself in while they were gone five years.

So they did the only sane thing any teenagers do and call the Avengers Tower directly, swinging the words Peter Parker and best friends, maybe a little where the fuck is he was used. Courtesy of Michelle, of course, leaving Ned dumbfounded, but they got through to May herself pretty swiftly after that. They could hear that stern heartbreak in May's voice as if she was pushing herself to be able to even have the conversation. She immediately informed them Happy would be picking them up after school on Friday and she'd personally speak to their parents for permission.

And of course, they had a conversation two days ago, on a Wednesday, and it just had to be after their first day back at school.

After all the patience they forced themselves through, biting their nails while they were left in the dark, it was pretty safe to say the pair was pissed. Yet, it was May they were speaking to, but they insisted they needed to know something. Given the circumstances, Michelle and Ned were owed that, at the very least, telling her how much they missed Peter and the shared fear they felt due to his absence.

Despite her despair, May did have answers for them, warning them it may not be what they want to hear.

They couldn't believe what they were hearing.

May vanished.

Tony too.

Peter was alone, left behind on a distant planet after the Snap before finding himself on a ship, lost and drifting through space in a ship for weeks.

When Captain Marvel found the ship, bringing it back to the planet, the Avengers were heartbroken by what they found. Nebula, though starving, was in relatively good shape due to her enhancements.

Peter was not so lucky.

He was on the brink of starvation, his body thin and skeletal, with large scars from life-threatening injuries born from his battle with the Mad Titan. Worst of all, May had to tell her nephew's best friends that Peter lost one of his arms, tears streaming down her red cheeks.

She had to note to the pair that she wouldn't know anything if not for Pepper Stark; who took Peter on as a guardian until he came of legal age.

She pressed that they'd know everything else on Friday, nervously advising Michelle and Ned that they'd be involved in a meeting with the Avengers.

That certainly didn't ease their fears.