#peter may need a father figure in his life but the moment any woman disappears in just about any hero’s life everything goes to shit

[yourbustedkneecaps]

unfriendly reminder that though peter cried as tony died right in front of him, he broke down and attempted to kill osborn is cold blood after the death of aunt may.

tony’s death may have been sad but may’s death absolutely ruined him. she was the final nail in the coffin after uncle ben. tony will never get peter in any universe without may, or may without peter, bc that’s not how that works. the parker’s might as well be a mafia family with how close they are to each other and their loved ones

[imaginesmai]

With all my heart (IRONDAD) - Chapter 1

Hey there! I’m back with a full fic! ❤💕💕💕 This is an irondad/bambi/The game plan AU! It’s finished, so it will have two updates every week, or more (if you guys like it a lot!) Make sure to follow me on instagram:@ irondadiscanon to know when I update, more irondad content and fic recs!

SUMMARY: Tony Stark isn't the best dad - distant, cold, almost neglectful. But when his ex-wife dies, he has to take care of his son; 5-year-old Peter, a boy with too many allergies and that can't talk to Tony without stuttering. Follow the path of two hurt people, a man and a boy, who learn how to love each other through thick and thin.-A Bambi AU (Disney) that @buckets_of_stars inspired me into writting that I've mixed with The Game Plan.

AO3 link

Tony has a tight smile on during the funeral. He knows he has no right being there, that most of the people around him, even if they are strangers for Tony, were closer to Mary than him. He shifts uncomfortable in his black suit, fighting the hangover from last night. On his right, Mary’s sister is crying her eyes out, looking at the coffin as its lowered on the ground. From what he has heard, the man besides May is Ben, his husband, and both of them have made a long journey to come to the funeral. It makes him feel bad, because Tony was the one arriving late and he lives barely thirty minutes away.

 But the news hit him hard. 

For six years, he has been doing just fine. He gets drunk, sleeps around with anyone that catches his eye, bosses around and goes to sleep really, really late. It’s not something to take pride of, but Tony likes his life – now, his past life. There is another thing that has been a constant for the last five years and a half; monthly cheques to his ex-girlfriend account. Since he lost any type of right over his son. Five and half years ago.

 Now, Mary is lying eight foot deep in a coffin. He received a call yesterday, and found comfort in his liquor cabinet. He shouldn’t have, he’s sure of it, because he knows that there has to be new changes on his life from now on; but he still kept a small place of his heart for the brunette girl with big, doe eyes that had a contagious laugh. Tony tightens the grip on his left wrist, trying to control the shaking of his hands. 

When that doesn’t work, he tries next looking at the small figure gripping May’s legs, close to Tony. It’s not the first time Tony has seen Peter Parker, because once or twice every two months, he gets to spend a weekend with his son. He has a room on the tower, as dull as a white paper, and Tony is listed as his second emergency contact. It doesn’t matter how much he tries to distance himself from Howard. Most of the times the kid is with him, Tony is reminded of the lost chance of raising him. Peter sees him as a stranger, and Tony drinks.

 Peter sniffles softly, and May runs a careful hand through his curls. Taking after Tony, he’s short and skinny. The father doesn’t know much about him – that he likes science, is asthmatic and has a list of allergies, dyslexic, and his favourite colour is blue and red. Mary made sure to keep him away from Tony, and she wasn’t wrong. Because Tony is the worst influence the kid can have.

 It doesn’t matter, though, because May and Ben are both active workers that are barely home, and Peter doesn’t have any other family left.

 “Tony”

 He turns around, and shamefully discovers that almost everyone is gone now. Only May, the priest and Peter remain. The last one is still hiding between May’s legs, hiccupping every now and then. Tony blinks and coughs the awkwardness; he tries to clear the wetness around his eyes, and thanks himself for getting dark glasses before leaving that morning. May, always the kind woman, gives him a soft smile, and squeezes his forearm gently. His husband doesn’t like Tony that much, but it seems that May sees something not even Tony himself can see.

 “We have to arrange some things. Custody papers and legal documents” she says.

 “Yes. I’ll – My driver is just there. He will take us to the notary. He has enough space for all of us. And don’t worry, Happy is discrete. He won’t – “

 “Ben and I can take care of it just fine” May interrupts him. He pushes Peter forward, but the boy doesn’t look up. “Peter hasn’t slept much, and he hasn’t eaten since yesterday. I thought that, maybe, you could take him home and rest a little. It’s been hard for everyone.”

 “Happy can take him”

 “Peter needs his father”

 It’s her stern voice. He has only heard it twice; once, when Peter was born and he was late for the birth, and Mary decided she didn’t even want him to meet his son. May had used her stern voice on her and Tony had held Peter close, as the boy latched on his little finger. The second time was directed at him. He was ready to give up the custody of Peter, he didn’t want to go to the trial; and thanks to May, who dragged him out of his ear, he got to see Peter every two months. Even if he hadn’t known how to do it right.

 Peter looks up at Tony, and the man notices the tears still falling from his eyes. He has the same look he always carries around Tony; as if he wasn’t his father, just an authoritative stranger that he had to respect.

 “I think a nap will do you some good” Tony lowers his voice, and tries to give Peter a reassuring smile. “Did you pack your bag already?”

 “No” he answers in a small voice. “Uncle Ben said I c-could do it later”

 “We can bring it later. Maybe have a last dinner together before we leave?” May suggests, and Peter nods vigorously. “We have to leave tomorrow morning. But we are only a few hours away. If he gets sick or needs anything, we’ll be here as soon as possible. And that goes for you too Tony. You can call me anytime you want”

 “I think we’re gonna be just fine. Right, Peter?”

 Tony holds his fist so that Peter can bump it, but the kid just stares at it. Possibly, it’s not the best place to do something like that. Reluctantly, he lowers his fist. He remembers the first time Peter was brought to him as a conscious human being, not a baby. Mary had been on a trip with him for three months, and Tony got to stay with Peter for a week – and in that moment, when Peter didn’t call Tony daddy but ‘Mr Tony’, Tony realized that Peter didn’t see him as a father. As a dad.

 It hurts him that he hasn’t known how to be there for his son. Some of the dates Mary and him set for Peter to stay with Tony were spent poorly; Tony out drinking and Peter with Pepper or with a nanny. Tony missed some of them because he liked to party, and the man wasn’t there when the kid had his first asthma attack and ended up in hospital. He wasn’t even there for Peter’s fourth birthday, because he was lost somewhere in Monaco drinking expensive liquors and losing consciousness.

 Selfishly, he thinks that this is his chance to make things right. Peter has to stay with him, because there is no chance that he lets the boy in the system, and staying with his aunt is impossible. So, he tries to bury his hurt and keeps the kind smile on.

 “Give me a call when you’re finished” he tells May, who nods. The woman kneels in front of Peter, and cradles his cheek.

 “We can come whenever you need us. Ask Tony to call us or use the phone mom got you, it’s in the bottom of your bag. You remember Ben’s number?” May asks. Peter doesn’t answer. “Come here, give me a big hug”

 Peter launches himself to his aunt’s arms, letting out a chocked sob. May hugs him tight and lets him cry on her shoulder. As most of the times he’s with his son, Tony feels misplaced. Like he’s watching a show he’s not a part of – like it isn’t his family. It’s not, his mind supplies. They break the hug before Tony can dwell on the thought for too long. If someone expected Peter to hug his father next, they get a huge disappointment. Peter moves to stand close to Tony, and quickly dries his tears so Tony doesn’t notice them.

 “No peanuts, walnuts, cashews or hazels. That goes for Nutella or other chocolate sweet that could have hazels” May remembers him, although Tony has JARVIS programmed to keep up with Peter’s allergies. “There are epinephrine injections in his bag, with the instructions. He has to take his vitamins every morning. After breakfast”

 “And I have to be careful with lobsters and oysters, because they upset his stomach”

 “You have to cut the crust off the sandwiches, and Peter doesn’t like cheese sandwiches. But make sure to put extra cheese on his pizza”

 “He also likes mac and cheese, I know” Tony says with a bit of annoyance. “He’s my son. I know him better than what you think”

 “You better take care of him, because I don’t care how much money you have or how important your last name is” May takes a threatening step forward. “If I have to drag your sorry Stark ass to court, I will. Without blinking once”

 Tony briefly remembers the conversation he has had with May before the funeral. Mary said it in her will, Ben and May knew they would have to change their life style if Peter came to life with them, and Tony was the most capable person, in materials and financial terms, to take care of Peter. But still, she had offered to take him. And Ben had threatened Tony. The man hopes he can live to everyone’s expectations.

 He reaches a hand and brings Peter closer. In a soft whisper that only comes out every now and then when he’s with his son, he tells him to go and wait in the car. Peter gives a quiet ‘yes sir’ and hugs May one last time. Tony doesn’t miss the glassy eyes May gets when Peter wraps his skinny arms around her waist and squeezes her tight. He has never received a hug from Peter.

 Not like he feels worthy of them.

 Peter waves at her and drags his feet to the car. The boy likes Happy, or at least he likes him as much as he can like someone from Tony’s life – he gives the man some rare smiles and actually answers to his questions. He watches as Peter disappear inside the car, and closes the door behind him. Then, he turns to May.

 “You can’t say those things in front of Peter” he argues. “He’s gonna think I’m some kind of monster that it’s gonna eat him at night”

 “He already thinks that. Why do you think he wanted to spend the night with us in the hotel instead of going with you? Peter is afraid. The only memories he has with his father are you sitting on a couch drinking, hiding in the lab or giving him away to nannies” May points a shaky finger at him. “He spent the whole night crying and sobbing, but when he comes here, he tries to hide it so you don’t see him. Trust me when I say he knows where he’s going”

 “And what am I supposed to do? If he hates me so much, then maybe you should take him!”

 There is a second of silence in the lonely cemetery.

 “Peter doesn’t hate you, Tony. He thinks you don’t want him” she says sadly, and Tony thinks he preferred the idea of Peter hating him. “All he knows is a cold man with a hard face, that didn’t make an effort to love him when he went to see you”

 “I really don’t know how to fix that, May” he admits. He realises his own eyes are getting misty behind the glasses, but he doesn’t feel strong enough to wipe them. He only wants to go back home and lock himself in the lab with a bottle of whisky, maybe two.

 “You and I both know you love him. You did things wrong, but so did Mary. So just – show him you love him, now. Consider this your chance to be a father to Peter, a real father”

 May surprises Tony by dragging him into her arms, and he goes rigid. He doesn’t like behind handed things, he doesn’t like shaking people’s hands, he doesn’t like touching anyone and doesn’t like being touched unless it’s Pepper. He has ignored Rhodey’s calls and Happy attempt to comfort him, because he knew that no matter how much he hated physical touch, he would break down.

 So, Tony breaks down in sobs, and hugs May Parker back. The woman is tall but skinny, yet is almost as strong as Tony. It’s the touch he needs, because it manages to keep him together. Tony thinks of Mary, of how beautiful everything was before he fucked up and she left, pregnant without knowing. He thinks of her sweet smile and dimples, of her brown curls that fell loose on her back. And he sees her in the boy in the car, in the way he pretends to be collected but wears his heart on his sleeve.

 A raindrop hit him on the nose, and when he looks up, he’s met with another on his left glass. He tears away from May who doesn’t bother wiping the tears away from her cheeks. They share a short nod and a few words, then Tony walks towards the car. He tries to make the small distance to it as long as possible, because he doesn’t want to meet the doe, bambi eyes that will stare at him in the car.

 Because Peter does that a lot – staring at Tony. Not talking, not smiling. Staring at Tony as if he’s looking for something that he doesn’t have. That’s part of the reason why he avoids the boy so much, because if he can’t be what Peter needs, then what good can he make?

 Apparently, he’s about to find out.

Want to read more? Check out my side blog @imaginesmaimasterlists, where I keep all the masterlists! Feedback is always appreciated

[milstrim]

Happy FFWF! 💛 What would you say are the top 3 scenes you've ever written? This can be for any story or drabble you've written for :)

Happy (late) FFWF!!!

oh wow uh idk hmmm

this is gonna get long so ill cut it

3) This one's whumpy but I like it

"Why do you even care? You're never around anyway," she muttered, bitter and spiteful.

Tony didn't flinch, "I'm never around, huh? I don't care? Well, excuse me if I have to leave to try and keep the world spinning, or because a certain group has threatened you again."

"I don't need you to protect me all the time!"

"Because you can lift a bus? Because you think you're some kind of invincible teenager who sneaks out knowing that the UN wants to arrest you. Knowing that there is a whole terrorist organization out for your blood. And you leave the tower anyway, using your powers as a party trick."

"They're not a party trick!" she protested heatedly. She wasn't a party trick.

"But you still went to that party. You ditched Happy and left your trackers and went to a party and got drunk apparently. How long were you lying about doing that little stunt? You can definitely keep a secret longer than I thought. Though you're a terrible liar."

Penny didn't say anything, the doubts the worries and the fears all unfolding before her. She'd tried so, so hard to be exactly what Tony expected of her. Of what everyone expected of her. She was smart in her classes. She was well behaved. She tried to be what Tony had been at her age; a prodigy. Even though she wasn't.

The few secrets she'd held close to her chest--some locked deep and hidden, never to see the light of day--had been the last of what felt like her life, before it had completely crumbled. Spider-Woman was the only thing that let her know she was important, that she was okay. If she could save other people, if she could make sure that others were okay, surely she must be okay too.

"Was it a dare? Or did you make that idiotic decision on your own? To get kidnapped and Happy hurt and Rhodey paralyzed and everyone else worried out of their minds." Her breath caught. Paralyzed. "Do you think that you can do this all on your own? That some radiation and spider experimentation means that you can do whatever you want, willy nilly?"

"I don't--"

"No, this is where you zip it, all right? The adult is talking. What if somebody had died tonight? What if Rhodey had? What if Phoenix had taken the weapons they'd wanted? Because I can assure you that they don't want them to make sure everyone holds hands. Different story, right? ‘Cause that’s on you. And if you died, that's on me," he paused, but she didn't notice the fear and the guilt, as though he were reliving the moment he spoke of. All she could think of was what she'd done. And about what she hadn't done, "I'm still waiting on the why. Why leave? Why lie? Why trust Natasha and not me?"

"I didn't tell her," Penny muttered, "She found out."

"And then you swore her to secrecy. You made her promise not to tell me, because...? Because you don't trust me? Is there anything that can make me trustworthy in your eyes? What the hell do you need, Penny!?"

"I need for my life to be normal again!" she spat, not even noticing as she sprung up onto her feet, her eyes watering as she yelled, "I need to not be a celebrity! I need to see my friends and feel free in my own home without people breathing down my neck all the time! I need my dad to be here when I feel like I'm dying or losing my mind, like May and Ben always used to!!!" Her voice broke, "I wish I was just a Parker again! I wish I wasn't your daughter!!!"

Tony flinched. Tears slipped down her cheeks. They stared at each other, tense silence that stretched in thick tension between them. A storm ready to break.

She'd already broken.

Without a word, the man stalked over to her. He didn't make eye contact with her, didn't say anything. He didn't even look at her. He brushed past Penny, grabbing the bright red suit sprawled on the hospital bed.

She didn't watch him as he did, staring straight ahead at the offending wall, her breaths gasping. She couldn't think. All she could feel was regret. Her hands trembled with it, her legs shaking in fear at her own words.

Her father walked past her again, the suit clutched in an angry fist. He left.

A sob tore from her throat.

2) This one will be spoilers for the next chap for my Ashes fic, but I figure its been so long ive got to throw some bread crumbs

Tony smiled at the thought, but it quickly disappeared when the teenager flinched, followed by a guttural whine. Nightmares, he guessed.

As he was pondering what to do, his muggy mind failing him, he caught sight of a familiar matted figure. His eyes lit up at the sight of Platty sitting on top of the white hospital blanket. Moving without thinking, he reached out for it, tucking the stuffed animal up to Penny's collar. He followed the action by hugging her closer to him and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

She didn't flinch again, but the twitching and whimpering continued. He tried his best to urge her past whatever nightmares were tormenting her, rubbing soothing circles into her back and peppering kisses onto her hairline whenever there was a pained murmur.

It took a few minutes, but, finally, Penny stilled. Tony wasn't sure whether it had been his comfort or if the nightmare had simply run its course, but he couldn't find the energy to understand which. With the danger of Penny's pain gone, his eyes began to droop again, dark eyes slipping until he was consumed by slight snores.

The two were stuck in the motion of instinctual comfort. A teenager tucked against her dad's side, her cheek draped against his shoulder. A man's head curled into his daughter's hairline, asleep mid-comforting kiss. Between them, a yellow stuffed animal buoyed warmth and familiarity.

1) I just love this scene. ive very rarely ended fics so far and i loved trying it out (*￣3￣)╭

"Boss, Mr. Parker is back."

Tony glanced up from where he was working in the lab, looking away from his newest project to smile brightly at the ceiling. He stood up, wiping his oily hands off on his equally oily pants, finally conceding to grab a cloth and rub the slick grease from his fingers. The mechanic gave the new project one last glance before throwing the cloth down on the nearest table and stepping toward the elevator.

"Great. Tell him I'm on my--"

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Tony turned, a confused expression turning into a small smile as he caught sight of the red and blue figure stuck on the window, waving at the mechanic in excitement. He rolled his eyes, walking over and undoing the latch on the window to let the teenager finally at a healthy weight roll into the room.

"I'm gonna start putting bug spray around the apartment until you learn to use a door," Tony warned. Peter pulled his mask off, revealing hair pulled down by sweat and a bright smile. They grew brighter and brighter every day. The teenager rammed a shoulder into Tony's playfully.

"Why can't a window be a door?"

"Because it's a window."

"Old houses in the south used to be able to transform between windows and doors to evade taxes."

Tony considered him. "How do you know this?"

"Decathlon."

Tony rolled his eyes, unsure of how he hadn't guessed that. He was going to the kid's competition next week for heaven's sake!

"Well, this is not the old south. We use doors here."

"That's less fun."

"Yeah, yeah. Go wash up for dinner."

"But it's barely five! I was going to go out again."

"Should've thought about that earlier," Tony teased. "It's family dinner night. And don't you have an essay due?"

Peter mumbled, but listened nonetheless, beginning to pad away towards the elevator to go up to their apartment suite, when there was the ringing of an oncoming call. Both of their heads turned as a screen popped up, displaying an unknown number, untraceable too. Tony and Peter exchanged raised eyebrows as the kid walked back over.

"What is this, Fri?"

"It is an incoming call from the phone Captain Rogers sent you."

Peter glanced between him and the screen warily. "That means there's a problem, doesn't it?"

"Probably," Tony admitted.

He turned to the kid, patting the kid's back and fixing him with a steady stare. Peter's doe eyes attached to his, trusting in a way that had been growing exponentially recently. Tony hadn't known it was possible to look at someone with that much trust. That much love. Especially from a kid whose first interaction with Tony had ended up in him running away, but life had become steadily calm, steadily trusting, as the days had gone by. As the months had. A few bumps in the road and a couple of mishaps, some bigger than others along the way, but good nonetheless. Yeah, life was good.

Tony liked to think he was right most of the time, but even he knew he was pretty hit or miss on how to remain any kind of relationship. But this--Tony knew he'd been right. His purpose was to protect Peter. And he loved every second of it.

"But if it is, I'll keep you safe. We'll fix it together."

Peter's lips tugged in a trusting smile. He held out a fist. "Together. MacaTony--"

Tony returned the fist bump lightly with a roll of his eyes, grinning as he caught sight of their shadows switching, "--And Peter-butter."

Whatever Steve was calling for, neither would be going in alone. They were never alone.

Their shadows made sure of it.

[friccinfricks]

The Princess & the Pauper Pt. 2- Ben Hardy x Reader

A/N: okay this one’s extra bad. I, um, ahem, barely edited. And it’s long. School’s starting, it’s late, I’m tired, but this is kind of... giving me a lot of joy? Like, writing this is making me legitimately very happy. Someone commented on my last one and it made my fucking day. So please comment/reblog/like! And if you want to request anything, for this series or another, my inbox is open. Let me know if you want to be tagged!!

Warnings: cursing, sex jokes, a Karen, bad writing, you know.

-----

Y/N stood uncomfortably behind the desk that sat near the door.

“A price increase?! This is ridiculous, let me speak to your manager! At once!” The customer on the other side hollered. She was a stout, larger woman with thick makeup caked unto her face, making her seem even more monstrous. Y/N balled her fists tighter.

“Madame, I’ve already told you, there is no manager. I’m the owner.”

“Then bring out your husband!” Her voice shrieked even louder, her chest heaving as she flailed her arms.

“I have no husband, madame. And if you can’t pay for the dress, then please, leave without it.” Y/N spoke sternly, trying her hardest not to roll her eyes. Husband this, husband that. When would the world come to their senses about marriage being a sham?

The woman huffed, reaching into her coin purse and throwing a few pieces on the counter dividing the two women. Y/N stood up more straightly as she heard the door open and the bell jingle. She looked to the door and lo and behold, there was the fellow from yesterday, the man accompanying Princess Lucy. He looked disgruntled, red rimmed his puffy eyes and he wore the same clothes from the day before (however, so did Y/N, but that wasn’t unusual for her. For a palace official though... it was odd). She gave him a warm smile as she handed the woman her dress. She stormed out, checking the young man with her shoulder as she did so. Rami rubbed his shoulder as he approached Y/N, not sure how to pose his request.

“Hello, sir.” Y/N said. “Are you looking for something for her royal highness?”

“More like looking for her royal highness herself.” Rami muttered beneath his breath. Y/N raised an eyebrow, her soft smile disappearing entirely as she saw the bruise on Rami’s forehead.

“Are you alright? What happened?” She asked gingerly as she moved a hand towards the mark. He winced as she touched the bruise, making her quickly retract her hand.

“I’m fine, but Princess Lucy isn’t. She’s been kidnapped.” Y/N gasped and brought her hand over her heart. “And I need a favor from you.”

“Me?” Y/N said softly, a strand of Y/H/C hair moving to cover her eyes. She pushed it back, blinking a few times as she listened to what Rami said next.

“She’s been taken. And I don’t know by who, but if you give me a couple of days, I’ll find her, I know I will. But no one can know of her disappearance.” He said, elbows now leaning against the desk, head lowered, voice soft.

“What? Why not?”

Rami looked over his shoulder, wondering how honest he could be with this stranger. “The royal mines- they’re empty. The Princess has to get married- quickly- so that the kingdom remains economically sustained. If not, we’ll crumble. Everything will. She... she didn’t want to have to do it, but she knew it was her duty.” Y/N nodded. She had figured as much. The supply and demand of Dulcinea had already shifted slightly, just enough to make her increase the prices of her dresses.

“So, what I need from you, is to come back to the palace with me and stand in for the Princess.” Rami continued, looking at her, pleading with his eyes.

“I can’t impersonate a princess. Are you mad?” She whispered, pointing to her hair. Rami stood up and smiled.

“I’ve got a solution for that.” He quickly ran out of the shop doors and returned, a package in hand. “Open it.”

Y/N did so, gasping as she pulled out a blonde wig. “How-”

“Even princesses have bad hair days sometimes.” He chuckled. Y/N smirked involuntarily. 

“Okay, but... I don’t know how to be a princess. And what about my shop? I can’t just take an unpaid vacation.”

“I’ll be sure you receive compensation. I promise. And with a little studying, I think I can have you ready to be a princess by the end of the day.” Y/N leaned against a column, putting her head back, contemplating.

“Alright, I’ll be a princess.”

-----

“This is bollocks!” Ben whispered to Gwilym as he watched his royal advisor, Damian, get into the carriage after the Prince and Dukes had made themselves comfortable. Gwilym and Joseph both rolled their eyes. They’d known Damian for years, and none of them were fans. Damian had a way of weaseling his way into parts of royal life that he wasn’t entitled to. The emeralds and rubies that donned his pudgy fingers shone as he gripped the cushion next to Joseph. His breath smelled of foul alcohol. 

“Just pay him no mind, maybe he’ll go away.” Gwilym mumbled, closing his eyes and stretching his legs out.

“Hey, Daddy Longlegs, please, keep your gargantuan limbs on your side of the carriage, thank you.” Joseph whined, playfully kicking his cousins legs.

“You’re just jealous, shorty.” Gwilym replied, not bothering to open his eyes. A smirk danced on Ben’s lips as he watched his cousins bicker, just as they always did.

But once the carriage began moving, Ben’s mind moved to other places. He felt sick to his stomach- he was terrified. Terrified of failing, terrified of disappointing his father, but most of all, terrified for the future. Though he liked to pretend he didn’t notice it, he saw how happy his parents were together. He wanted what they had, pure, intimate, cherished love. But what if he couldn’t find it in time?

------

Lucy paced the small room, back and forth, back and forth. She didn’t know how long she’d been locked in here, this room with blocked off windows and the small, uncomfortable bed. She pounded on the door, just as she did every few hours. A few moments later, her captors appeared at the other side of it, and she heard the key in the lock turn ever so slightly.

“Yes, your highness?” One of them said, poking his head in. Paul.

“Oh, Paul, thank goodness it’s you and not Peter.” Lucy said, trying her best to cover the disgust in her voice as she said their names. Paul and Peter were twins (it’s always twins, isn’t it?), both of them being gangly, lean men. They were young enough to be ignorant in every form of the word, but just old enough to, hypothetically, successfully kidnap a princess.

“Ay, what?” Peter demanded, poking his head in just above his brothers.

“She was just saying how she, the Princess, much prefers me to you.” Paul stated smugly.

“Oi, I know that’s a crock of shit! What about that time I brought you a muffin, your majesty?” Peter asked, looking pleadingly at the Princess. She shrugged her shoulders.

“You brought her a muffin?! What makes you think she’s deserving of any amenities? She’s our prisoner!” 

“Aye but look at her! We can’t starve her!”

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, please,” Lucy motioned for them to come into the room. “I called for you because, well, I’m so dreadfully hot.” She said, pointing to the fireplace.

The brothers looked at each other and then at her.

“Are you mad?” Paul asked.

“Hmm?”

“It’s nearly autumn, you’ll freeze!”

Lucy shrugged her shoulders again. “I’m sweating and ruining this dress.” She lied, “It was expensive. I’ll make you pay the difference as a deduction from whatever ransom you receive.”

Once again the brothers looked at one another, then it was their turn to shrug their shoulders. Paul turned on his heel to guard the door while Peter retrieved a bucket of water and put out the fire.

Lucy thanked them each quietly as she felt the already obvious draft come in. She shivered, laying back down on the bed. A few more hours, then it would be ready.

----

“Now, remember: no nagging, bragging, sweating, fretting, slipping, or tripping allowed. Stay present, stay pleasant, and proud.” Rami instructed Y/N after she’d put on the wig, changed into a proper gown, and found a tiara to place on her head. She nodded, though in all honesty, she didn’t catch half of what he was saying. He motioned for her to sit down at the small desk that sat in the corner of Princess Lucy’s bedroom, then promptly handed her a feathered quill and a piece of parchment.

He continued giving instructions, and Y/N wrote them down as quickly as she could. It wasn’t long before she was being taught how to curtsy and walk with a stack of books upon her head. Rami smiled as she began finishing tasks before he had even given the entire direction and knew that while Y/N may not have been born royalty, she sure as hell could act the part.

“And when in doubt, what do you do if you don’t know how to respond to something?” Rami asked, gripping her shoulders and looking intensely into her Y/E/C eyes.

Y/N pouted and furrowed her eyebrows, looking practically identical to Lucy. “Let me consult my personal advisors.”

“Perfect.” Rami grinned ear to ear. “Now, let’s get ready to meet some suitors.”

“Who’s coming, again?”

“A prince and two dukes. They’re all cousins.”

Y/N nodded, swallowing her nerves. This would certainly be interesting.

------

Ben watched as the castle came closer into view, taking in the sight of the countryside along the mountain it sat upon. It really was beautiful.

“Benny,” Joseph said softly, mischief gleaming in his eyes. “Are you prepared to meet a princess who will make you harder than this mountain?”

Just as he said it, the carriage hit a harsh bump and Ben’s side of the carriage sagged. The three cousins chuckled while Damian sat in his corner, rolling his eyes. These heathens! No respect for the crowns on their heads whatsoever. Shameful.

It didn’t take much longer for the carriage to arrive at the palace. When it did, the men were greeted by the palace guards and quickly escorted into the throne room while some of the servants retrieved their luggage. The four entered the room, where every set of eyes fell upon Y/N. All three suitors felt their breaths catch in their throats as she slowed looked to the three suitors presented in front of her. Ben had to force his eyes away from her for just a moment when he realized the Queen was talking.

“... and view the palace and all that your courtship would have to offer...” Ben heard the Queen say before he noticed the other person in the room- a man of smaller frame with a mop of curly dark hair pulled back. He stood by the Princess, one arm behind his back. Ben wondered what he was holding, but dismissed his thoughts when he saw Y/N’s movement in his peripheral vision. For a princess, she looked... nervous. Unsure of herself, almost. Perhaps she’s just humble. Don’t find a humble princess too often these days.

“Lucy? Lucy darling?” The Queen said, looking at her daughter, who stood on the other side of the throne. Y/N blinked a few times and turned towards the Queen, her hands shaking.

“Y-yes mother?” She stuttered softly.

“Please, why don’t you escort these young men around the palace?” She said, waving her hand off. Y/N nodded and lifted her dress just enough so she could walk down the three steps off of the platform in the throne room. As she reached the final step the three suitors walked towards her, moving quickly with her. Ben didn’t realize he was moving so slowly, he was practically drooling over her. He watched as she gracefully descended the steps, looking over her shoulder with a smirk he mistook for mischief (in reality is was a nervous habit Y/N had developed, and it was really coming out these past few hours). And that voice! So soft, so delicate. He watched as Joseph and Gwilym went to her sides, both offering their arms for her interlace her own in. Her hands shook as she grasped both of their arms, making Ben frown.

The quartet walked around the palace, Y/N trying her hardest to remember where she was going and how to get back. Rami had walked her around the palace briefly, but it hadn’t been enough time to memorize the location of every room.

“And here we have...erm,” Y/N paused, looking inside the room before quickly backing up and giggling, her eyes wide, pulling her right hand from Joseph’s arm to cover her smile as she laughed, “well, that was supposed to be our palace infirmary, but, um....” She shook her head, knowing it wouldn’t be very princess-y of her to say what she saw.

Ben raised his eyebrows, a smirk on his face. Ah, that laugh. He loved that laugh. Y/N leaned her back against the wall, biting her thumb to keep from bursting out into laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Gwilym asked, leaning over her to see inside the room. Y/N shook her head.

“No, no, don’t look in there, you won’t find it amusing!” She said, waving her arms. 

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll find it funny.” Joseph said, a smirk of his own growing. The pair of Dukes approached the door, about to open it. Just as Gwilym’s hand met the knob, the infirmary door burst open and a quite sweaty, older woman and a ruffled looking Abigor walked out. Y/N shook her head as a blush rose to their cheeks, her smile not bothering to hide itself.

Abigor looked at her and his eyes went wide. He pushed past the group of royals, muttering something about not having any privacy. Once he was out of earshot, the four looked at one another and doubled over.

“I honestly don’t know what they were thinking, the infirmary?” Ben chuckled, the creases of his eyes folding as he squinted with laughter.

“He’s... he’s got a room here and everything!” Y/N wheezed through giggles. 

The four laughed together some more as they walked, quickly easing any stuffy tension from before. Y/N walked on her own, no longer feeling the pressure to take the arm of a man to guide her.

When they arrived to the garden, they walked in a comfortable silence. They looked around freely, drinking in the scents of gardenia and rose petals. It was nearly sunset, making the view of the kingdom and mountains surrounding it even more beautiful. Y/N took in the view before Ben called her over, a yellow rose in hand.

“Princess Lucy?” He said softly, his expression nervous. Y/N turned around to face him, furrowing her eyebrows when she saw his face. She took a few steps closer to him and found herself involuntarily brushing his cheek with her hand, trying to relax him. He closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing.

“Please, take this rose that I plucked from uh... from your garden.” He said softly, a chuckle concluding his request.

“Hey, no fair! I wanted to deface the garden first!” Joseph called from the other side of the rose bush. Gwilym turned to look at them as well, smiling at Ben and giving him a thumbs up.

“Oh, Prince Benjamin... I- I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, first off, you can start by just calling me Ben.” Y/N smiled at that.

“Alright, Ben.”

-----

Rami returned to the servants quarters, the Queen’s spectacles still in hand. If anyone in the palace would have been able to tell Y/N from Lucy, it would have been her. And for now, there was no way Rami would let that happen. He watched Y/N from his small window, she was clearly attracted to Prince Ben. She looked at him the same way Rami looked at Lucy, and Ben looked at Y/N the same way Lucy looked at Rami. Lovingly. Adoringly, even if they had only just been acquainted.

Rami turned around, placing the Queen’s specs in the tiny hole in the wall behind his bed. They would be safe there. Just as he moved his bed back and turned around, he heard Abigor talking to someone in the hallway. He approached his door, listening intently.

“You idiots! I know the Princess isn’t at the cabin, she’s out with those fucking morons in the garden right now!” Abigor howled, seething with anger.

“But sire, we know she’s there! She was in the bed all night and was there this morning! She even asked to have the fire put out.” A deeper voice said, matter of factually.

“You simpering simpletons! How long has it been since you’ve checked on her? Hours?! All day?! How is my plan supposed to work if the Princess is still here?!”

Rami stepped back from the door, feeling nauseous. A cabin? What?

“Yes sir, right away sir.” A different voice said. Then he heard shuffling, and the mutterings of ‘sorry’s by the two other men. Abigor scoffed, then sighed, leaving as well.

Rami sat on his bed for a moment, taking in what he’d just heard. Then he knew what he had to do.

He quickly grabbed a coat and a blanket before rushing out to the stables, hitching a cart to a horse and trying his best to catch up to the men who he’d just heard.

“Don’t worry Princess, I’m coming to find you.” He promised softly, looking into the sunset, wondering if she saw it too. He had to find her, he just had to. 

He concluded that when he did find her, he would never let her go. 

Never again.

[sometimesiwritebadly]

The Lost Girl (Part 1)

Series Summary: The story of Raven, this first and only Lost Girl of Neverland. A long time ago she was a prisoner on a ship, and now she’s stuck on the island she helped create.

Chapter Summary: A long time ago in the Enchanted Forest, a young Killian, Liam, and Talia watch the stars. In present day Neverland, Raven runs into an old friend-turned-enemy.

Notes: Me? Starting a new series when I have two perfectly good ones? No I would never.

Ok actual notes now this is an OC story starting in season 3 of Once Upon A Time. It’s gonna have a little Peter Pan x OC, maybe some Henry x OC in far later chapters. But overall the story is more about my OC, Talia/Raven, than her relationships. In this story we’re disregarding the whole “Peter Pan is Rumplestiltskin’s dad” thing cause that was stupid. I’ll come up with something better. Also Henry is slightly aged up, I’m thinking around 15. I know this creates problems but i don’t really care :) Besides that there’s not much canon divergence for now, but once we get into seasons 4/5 whatever (idk IF the story will go that far into the show cause I only have a vague plan on the beginning and the end and the middle is a big old question mark) i’m gonna fix some shit *cough* frozen *cough*

Warnings: Heavily implied that the OC is a rape victim. I won’t ever go into any detail but it’s going to come up multiple times throughout this series. Not so much in this chapter, but depression/suicidal thoughts may come up in later chapters because of this. Language. 

Word Count: 2.6k

Series Masterlist

Full Masterlist

~ A very long time ago ~

“Talia!” A young boy’s whispers, and his hand shaking her shoulder, woke Talia from her sleep. Talia slowly peeled her eyes open, to reveal a boy a few years younger than herself. 

“Killian, it’s the middle of the night.” 

“The stars are falling! Come out and look, Liam is already on the deck!” Killian tugged on Talia’s hands this time, pulling as hard as he could. Even though Talia was easily stronger than Killian, she allowed herself to be taken from her bunk at the mention of Liam. Liam, Killian, and Talia are the only kids on the ship, luckily all relatively close in age. Talia couldn’t help but develop a crush on Liam, who was only a year older than herself.

When Killian and Talia emerged onto the deck, Talia’s eyes were immediately drawn to the sky. Just as Killian had said, hundreds of stars appeared to fall from the sky in a way Talia had never seen before. Killian and Talia ran to the side of the ship to where Liam was already standing. The trio giggled as they watched the sky, pointing out their favorite stars and enjoying this rare moment of fun. Normally the time spent on the ship was the exact opposite; they were all servants, sold to work for Captain Silver until they could buy their way out. Liam and Killian were brothers, who had been sold to the Captain by their father. Talia was given to the Captain by her mother a year later, when her mother was in desperate need of money. The three of them spent their time cleaning the ship, and avoiding the abuse of the crew.

“I wish I could fly like the stars.” Talia said to the brothers, still watching the sky as the stars began to stand still once more. 

“What do you mean?” Killian asked, looking up to the girl. Talia often teased him for his height, as she stood nearly a head taller than him.

“The stars are free. I wish I could fly away and disappear, like...like a raven disappears into the night.” Talia felt a tear develop in her eye, though quickly wiped it away, not wanting to appear weak. As she got older, Captain Silver and some of the other crew had begun expecting more of her. Talia wasn’t sure how much longer she could succumb to their requests.

“You would leave us?” Killian said, in a whisper so low Talia could barely hear it. Talia knew her answer, though she couldn’t form the words to voice it. How could she tell Killian, her best friend, the closest she’d ever come to a brother, that she would leave if given the chance? Before she could figure out her answer, an adult voice interrupted the night.

“Talia.” The deep voice caused all three kids to turn around, and they found Captain Silver had joined them on the deck. “Come. Keep me company tonight.” Liam’s hand found Talia’s, causing her to turn to look at him. Liam gave her hand a comforting squeeze, before releasing it. Liam and Talia had agreed to try and keep this part of her life from Killian as long as they could. He was still two years younger than Talia, and blissfully oblivious to the darker parts of life. But as Talia grew, the crew became less subtle about their eyes for her.

“Aye, Captain.” Talia spoke to Silver, leaving her friends for a night she’d rather forget.

~ Present day ~

Raven ran through the woods of Neverland, avoiding the traps she knew lost boys had set. She’d lost count of the days she’d been running a long time ago. For more years than she’d like to admit, Raven had been trying to find a way off the island, and rumor has it that Pan was close to finding the heart of the truest believer, which meant she had to get off this island now or never. If Pan really did have the heart, he’d soon be more powerful than ever before. She wouldn’t be able to hide from him any longer, If Pan ever found out what she’d done, he’d kill her on sight.

Luckily, right now she didn’t have to worry too much about Pan finding her, because his focus was on the newest group that had landed on the island. Raven didn’t know who they were, but her magic made it easy to sense them. They had magic of their own, both light and dark, that much was obvious. If Pan is distracted by them, she may be able to find a portal back to the Enchanted Forest without Pan noticing.

Raven slowed her run to a walk as she approached her hideout. The only place on the island that was hidden from Pan. She had a friend that had used it when he hid from Pan a long time ago, but he was gone now, and with a little extra protection magic, she’d made it her own. Her eyes moved up to the rock that covered the entrance, only to see a group of people attempting to get in. Quickly she drew her bow, and took aim. Her warning shot hit the rock just past the ear of one of the men, causing the whole group to turn towards her. It was a group of five; three women and a man she didn’t recognize, and one man she did. Hook.

“Hook, why the hell are you invading my hideout?” Raven said, pointing her bow at him this time. The other four were armed with weapons of their own; one woman even had a ball of fire in her hand, but she paid no attention to them. 

“Your hideout? Last I checked Baelfire was the one who lived here, lass. And you were with Pan.” Killian’s words caused the group to look at her with even more animosity than before. Raven didn’t even get a chance to respond before a fireball was making its way towards your face.

“Regina, no!” One of the women yelled, but she quickly realized her words were useless. Raven moved her bow into her right hand, and used the left to easily catch the fireball before it could hit her. With a smirk on her face, she made the ball disappear. The strangers looked at the seemingly young girl with shocked faces.

“You’ve been gone a long time, Hook. A lot has changed. Especially me.” Raven briefly stopped speaking, and used her magic to move the stone blocking the entrance. “I’m assuming you’re looking for something of Bae’s.” Raven walked towards the group, slipping past the man and women who held swords to enter the little home. “His stuff is all here, help yourselves. Just do it quickly, you being here will bring Pan’s attention, and he and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms.” She had moved all of Bae’s old things into baskets, and so she pulled them out of their hiding spot and onto the makeshift table. “I don’t know what use they have to you, Hook.”

“We thought his things might show how he managed to get off the island.” The woman who spoke had held a bow, like your own, but she was the only one of the group who had actually put away her weapon. 

“Bae got off the island?”

“You didn’t know?” Hook said, taking a step towards Raven and putting away his sword.

“When he ran from camp I was still with the lost boys. When he never came back, I assumed Pan killed him, or that he’d died trying to get off the island.” Raven paused, not wanting to accidentally reveal too much emotion behind her next words. “I’m glad to hear that he’s ok.”

There was an awkward silence after she spoke. “He’s not exactly-” The brunette, the nice one, spoke, before being cut off by another woman, who you assumed to be Regina.

“He’s dead.” Any hope Raven had previously was squashed in an instant.

“Regina!” The man she didn’t know scolded, only to be met with Regina’s glare.

“What? Are we supposed to comfort her? Lie to her? Hook said it himself, she works for Pan!”

Raven scoffed. “I used to work with Pan. I never worked for him.” While she spoke, Hook and the blonde woman were examining the drawings on the walls. Most of them were old, from Bae’s time in the cave, but a few were newer. Raven had added to Bae’s doodles over the years. “If there’s anything in here that’ll get someone off the island, I haven’t found it. And trust me, I’ve been trying to get off this island for a long time.” She said, beginning to pull stuff out of one of the baskets. The nice woman joined her, inspecting each item as she went.

“I’m Snow.” She introduced herself as she worked, looking at a coconut bowl before setting it down. “That’s my husband, David, and our daughter, Emma. That’s Regina, and it’s clear that you already know Hook.” She pointed to each person she introduced. David and Emma each gave Raven a nod when Snow spoke their names, while Regina ignored her as she rummaged through another basket. “What’s your name?” Snow asked kindly.

“Raven.” She could hear Hook scoff from across the cave, but Raven elected to ignore it. 

“Hand me that candle.” Emma said from across the room. David grabbed it from the table where Snow had left it, and quickly lit it aflame before handing it to his daughter. Raven moved to the edge of the cave, watching as the group looked through Bae’s things and examined the wall. Emma and Hook had a hushed conversation about the drawings, while Regina, David, and Snow continued to look through the baskets. Emma turned away from Hook and spoke to the rest of the group after she finished looking at the artwork. “What’s all this?”

“Uh,” Snow began, “Just some cups and bowls he fashioned from things he found here.” Some of those items were actually Raven’s, but she decided to keep quiet and continue watching quietly.

“I don’t know how great a cup this coconut could make. It’s filled with holes.” Raven had already discovered the map that the coconut actually revealed, but she also knew the problem that followed it. So again, she kept quiet. She had no reason to help them, and she hoped once they realized there was nothing of use here, they’d leave and never come back.

“Uh, maybe it’s a tiny...colander.” Snow suggested.

“What’s a colander?” Raven spoke up. Snow waved it off, signalling that it wasn’t exactly important. 

“Yes, because preteen Baelfire probably made lots of pasta.” Regina noted sarcastically, ignoring your question and rolling her eyes at Snow. While Snow glared at Regina, you noticed Emma figuring out the hidden map.

“Hold on…” She started, “Hook, snuff out that torch.” Hook followed her direction quickly, and plunged the cave into darkness. Emma connected the two coconuts, and looked up at the roof. 

“What, am I supposed to be impressed that he made a night-light?” Regina made yet another sarcastic comment.

Raven, having enough of their slow place, decided to jump in. “It’s a map.” Unlike the rest of the group, who were looking at the ceiling, Raven’s eyes were fixed at the ground. She’d stared at that map hundreds of times, but could never decode it. 

“To home?” Emma questioned, a slight attitude in her voice, “I thought you said there wasn’t anything useful here?”

“I didn’t lie. It’s unreadable.”

“Aye, She’s right.” Hook said. Raven looked up, shocked that Hook would even be willing to admit she was right about anything. “There was a short time in Neverland when Baelfire was aboard my ship. I taught him to navigate using the stars. What you’re looking at is the fruit of my labors.”

“Then you can read it.” Regina noted, as she glanced away from the map and towards Hook. For the first time Raven had heard, there was no animosity in her voice. Raven scoffed at her remark, causing Regina’s glare to return and land on Raven. “What?”

Raven looked at Hook as she quoted the words they’d both heard as children, “The best captains conceal their maps in a code.” Hook held the stare for a moment before he spoke again.

“Aye. He was an apt pupil.”

“So you’re saying the only person who can read this map is Neal.” Snow said. Even her hope appeared to be draining. Raven’s eyebrows furrowed at the name Neal, but she figured Bae must’ve done the same thing she had when he left Neverland; New life, new name. 

“Which means the only person who can read it is dead. I told you, there’s nothing useful here.” Raven said. Emma took the lid off of the candle, before setting it back on the table and walking out of the cave, followed by Snow and David.

Regina continued to look annoyed, but shuffled through the last of Baelfire’s items. Raven decided to take this moment to confront Hook.

“Why’d you come back?”

Hook looked at her with an unreadable expression. “Why aren’t you working with Pan anymore?” Raven rolled her eyes at his question. Pan was the last person she wanted to be thinking about.

“We had a disagreement. Answer my question.”

“Pan found the heart of the truest believer.”

Raven drew a deep breath at this. Sure, she’d heard the rumors, but it’s different to have it confirmed. She’s really running out of time now. “I heard. What does that have to do with you?”

“It’s Emma’s son. Emma and…” Hook paused. “Emma and Baelfire’s boy.” Raven’s eyebrows shot up now. This was not what she’d expected at all. To learn that Baelfire made it off the island, died, and had a son who was now being held captive by Pan all at once is a lot for anyone to handle. Especially someone who has so much history with Bae.

“Pan took Bae’s son?” Raven could barely believe it.

“Aye.”

At this point, Emma came marching back in, followed by Snow and David. David took this time to relight the torch. The group began looking around again, she assumed they were trying to come up with some kind of plan, but Raven was hardly paying attention. She owed Baelfire so much, and even though every logical bone in her body said that she should just get these people out of her life, her heart knew she had to at least attempt to help. After all, she’d spent so many years working with Pan, her help had set Pan in the right direction to find Bae’s son. When Emma, Snow, and Regina made their exit Raven followed them, while Hook and David stayed behind a moment. 

“I want to help you guys.”

“No.”

“Really?”

Regina and Snow spoke at the same time, glaring at the other’s response.

“Look, I know you guys have no reason to trust me, but I owe Baelfire my life.” Behind you, David and Hook exited the cave. She had the whole group’s attention now. “If I can’t pay back Bae, the least I can do is help his son. Plus, I really hate Pan.” Raven could practically feel Hook rolling his eyes behind her, but she kept talking. “And I spent more years than I could count working with him. I know him better than anyone. All I ask in exchange is passage off the island after we find the boy.”

“Henry.” Emma said, as she took a step towards Raven, “His name is Henry. How do we know this isn’t a trick? Can you prove to us that you don’t work with Pan anymore?”

“Yes.”

“How?” Hook spoke up this time, coming into her line of sight.

“Easy. I’ll take you to my grave.”

~~~

I hope this is a good first chapter! I had a hard time deciding when to stop lol, but i already have half of the next chapter written so hopefully I’ll update this one pretty soon :)

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

Lets debunk the BS from this. Up top a lot of this BS comes from Bob Chipman/MovieBob who is the guy who if you recall said:

-         Superheroes like Superman (and thus by extension Spider-Man who marry civilians were jerks for putting their spouses through the same stuff soldiers’ spouses go through

-         Spider-Man appeals best to teens (even though he provably doesn’t since most people get into him before their teens and he appealed to college students in his heyday)

-         The Spider-Marriage was nothing more than a forced publicity stunt

-         Sins Past is worse than OMD

-         Spider-Man is about passive aggressive power

-         And the best one, ever since OMD Peter and MJ had become ‘more interesting’

That all being said lets dive into this:

Someone asked the panel what a queer reading would add to the character of Miles…Jesus…that’s just the greatest sign of hope for this podcast isn’t it? Shoot me now…

Miles was not 3 dimensional when he was created. Even if you disagree it is nonsense to say that Peter wasn’t  three dimensional when he was first created. Just look at how much Stan explored Peter’s psychology in this singular panel from ASM #50

Look at that. Peter Parker pulled between the two sides of his life. Making a judgement of someone. But then calling out his own judgement of them and acknowledging maybe he’s in the wrong.

This was 1967!

That isn’t three dimensional?

Additionally other people would disagree that Peter wasn’t three dimensional early on.

And even if you disagree with that it’s nonsense to say he hasn’t SINCE become three dimensional or that retaining his origin story (which Miles broadly uses as the basis for his story in every version of his character) somehow holds him back from being three dimensional. If nothing else Peter was at least multifaceted for the time period.

Spider-Man wasn’t an example of stories about a 15 year old made for 7 year olds. Spider-Man was intended to be a senior in AF #15 and the stories were written by Stan for at worst an older audience but at best basically just for him.

Stan Lee confirmed that AF #15 was written not as a one off but as something that if successful COULD become an on-going series.

Its BS to say Peter makes no sense as a character because he makes sense about as much as any character within the confines of the superhero genre can. MILES doesn’t somehow make more sense whatsoever.

No. Spider-Man wasn’t merely a thrown together ‘hey here is a teenage superhero story with a downer ending’ it was a story about selfishness, responsibility and appealed via it’s relative normalcy and lack of idealization of the superhero protagonist.

The psychology and thematic idea of his exclusive powers (invisibility+venom blast) is the same…how? How is disappearing and repelling people the same thing? They keep saying that in the podcast as though it’s obvious and it’s really not

Great Power=Great responsibility isn’t Peter’s catch phrase it’s the philosophy underpinning everything he does

‘The young end millennials have been thrown under the bus by society so the optimism is reserved for the young end millenials like Miles and Gwen’ oh but also ‘you need 5-10 years added to each character to have this make sense and also Spide-Ham doesn’t quit fit’…So…the theory doesn’t  make sense then does it. Also, what optimism is there for teen millenials in the late 2010s? We are all shit scared Global warming needs to be fixed within the next 10-20 years. The young end millenials will not be in much of a position to do that. Maybe not the high-end millenials either. The power rests in older Gen Xers or even older generations. So this ‘generational’ theory is bullshit. Yeah, Miles as the next generation maybe makes sense but not when you apply real world concepts of who the different generations are. Especially considering that’s made up bullshit anyway.

‘Blah blah blah for most of my life I’ve been uninterested in Spider-Man because I’ve believed him to be WHITE MALE teenaged wish fulfilment.’…*internally groans*…oh boy…this woman is one of those  types huh. Frankly I, and I would advocate others too, take a salt shaker with them whenever they hear someone say something like this. But more importantly Spider-Man is seriously NOT what she describes. For starters Peter was a senior in high school when he began and shouldered adult responsibilities when his father died. That’s wish fulfilment? That’s a BURDEN. The reason that spoke to so many people was because he was just different and because his imperfections made him more relatable. The whiteness idea is also bullshit since he was intentionally or otherwise subtextually Jewish and has spoken to countless people of all colours across the generations. He very particularly has a HUGE following among African Americans which was partially what prompted the creation of Miles Morals in the first place!  Shit, the showrunner for the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon was black for God’s sake. Many of the head honcho creators for ITSV were people of colour who were clearly MASSIVE Spider-Man fans!

‘As a woman Spider-Man didn’t resonate with me’. Spider-Man is male. And he acts in ways a male would in the context of the situations. But the character as a whole, in his deepest themes and concepts, is a universal character. He does and has spoken to people across race, gender, sex, sexuality, class, culture and generations. Spider-Girl, Mayday Parker, was her father’s daughter and far more similar than different to him. She spoke to male and female readers. Peter Parker himself has had female fans since his inception. There is no end of female fans here on tumblr or in other online spaces that are the proof of this, to say nothing of old letters pages.

Miles feels more like a real kid and fits together better than most other versions of Peter Parker?...how? I don’t like USM the comic but hwo the fuck do you take that, Spec Spidey, the 1994 cartoon and the Raimi movies (that MovieBob adores btw) and say ‘it doesn’t fit together properly like Miles’. Dude, Comic Book Miles Morales is a teenager in New York who goes to a bordering school for scientifically gifted kids and yet is supposed to be an everyman. That fits together well? He risked his life before  being motivated to do so which is how most 13 year old woudn’t  have acted. Then he feels guilty about Peter dying but his BFF explains it’s not his fault and he accepts this but then goes on to become Spider-Man anyway. And somehow this equates to guilt+responsibility. THAT’s better put together? His character got web-shooters two different ways by the same writer and the guy he was a legacy to was resurrected within like 3 years of Miles’ debut. That’s well put together? This makes more sense and is more believable than a kid who’s Dad dies because he didn’t use his gifts altruistically, so he spends his whole life striving to use them altruistically?

Blah blah blah MovieBob spewing more shit about how Peter is a teenage wish fulfilment power fantasy even though he clearly isn’t from a modern POV and REALLY wasn’t in the early 1960s.

By extension arguing Peter is an adult male’s retroactive teenaged wish fulfilment fantasy of working stuff out is so plainly wrong. Peter Parker in the early 1960s didn’t have everything figured out. The whole world was against him totally unfairly. He needed Aunt May or the Human Torch at times to give him pep talks. His social life was barely existent! You wanna see a middle aged man’s retroactive young wish fulfilment fantasy? Go read Brand New Day, which MovieBob claims was superior to the pre-OMD era. What is the wish fulfilment here? That attractive young women like him? Is that it? That one thing vs. all the horrible shit beating Peter down?

Bob claims there was a lot more Steve Ditko in the early issues of his run compared to Stan Lee because Peter was very angry. First of all Ditko was such a private person claiming he was definitely angry and that the anger was all him is a MASSIVE speculation. Especially considering Stan wrote Spidey as angry plenty after Ditko left. More importantly, Peter wasn’t  angry in the early Ditko issues except for maybe issue #8. He had his moments sure, but it wasn’t at all consistent. He wasn’t raging out or smashing shit like he did later  in Ditko’s run. He was more anxious and neurotic in those early issues which is comparatively closer to how Stan and Romita handled Peter in their earliest issues together. Peter and the whole world of Spidey got angrier towards the end  of Ditko’s run. You know when Stan was letting Steve plot stuff more and more…It’s almost like Bob is full of shit or something

Bob tries to claim by the time ITSV was being written the kinks in Miles’ character had been worked out in the comics. Nah fam. If anything they’d been exacerbated. In reality it was the ITSV writers who took the wonky early Miles character and worked out those kinks themselves, creating an overall superior rendition of the character. A viewpoint I am not alone in.

‘The Prowler has never been a particularly noteworthy villain in the comics’ That’s because he’s not  a villain. He was kind of a villain in his debut but he very quickly became an ally to Spidey

The panel then get into a very pretentious discussion about how ITSV preaches you arne’t stapled to your origin, you are not your trauma. That claiming that is pretentious ala Zack Snyder. But like…isn’t that the POINT of super hero origins? That they contextualize everything about the heroes thereafter? Isn’t carrying his trauma with everything they do practically the point of Batman and Spider-Man’s origins; you know the 2 most popular heroes? Uncle Ben’s death IS stapled to Spider-Man because it underlines everything he ever does. Shit it doesn’t even make sense when applied to Miles in ITSV. He does what he does because his Spider-Man died and then so did his uncle. There is even a whole scene in his dorm room where each Spider-Hero relays the grief that shaped their own lives. I’m not saying you need death and tragedy to be Spider-Man. But that’s neither a bad thing nor something that ISN’T applicable to Peter nor ITSV Miles. Aren’t these idiots supposed to be film buffs? How do you screw up such a basic reading like that?

One of the pundits claimed the movie preaches acting heroically in spite of your tragedies not because of them. Again though…that’ not Spider-Man. Peter is a hero specifically because his uncle died. Miles endeavours to become Spider-Man because his Peter died. His Uncle Aaron’s death further fuels him and allows him to make to final leap of faith. Yes, Peter B. continues to be a hero in spite of his failings but it is only his experiences with Miles that make that possible.

‘They don’t need the tragedies to be heroic they are already heroic in their own right. Look, I don’t disagree with that more broadly. Mayday Parker didn’t need tragedy to be a hero. But in terms of the specific characters in this movie? That’s clearly not true:

This whole ‘in spite of tragedy’ shit is so pre-Marvel DC comics it hurts. Heroes who just innately do the right thing because it is the right thing to do is a dated and archaic invention Spidey and the other Marvel heroes were reacting against.

‘Spider-Man Noir detracted from the film’s message of diversity because he was a brooding WHITE MAN who prowled the night to enact fist based justice!!!!’ Do I even need to say anything to that? First of all literally every hero in the movie enacts fist based justice. Why does Noir operating at night make him worse than Peter B? Why does him being male make that worse than Peni or Gwen? Why does him being white make that worse than Miles or Peni? And as for detracting from the message of diversity, shockingly diversity can be found within the same ethnic or gender group. You know white/male people aren’t a monolith and all that. Plus creatively you want PERSONALITY diversity more than anything else. In this movie in particular you want shorthand conceptual differences too. ‘Spider-Man but an anime mech girl’ ‘Spider-Man but a noir character’. ‘Spider-Man but a cartoon pig’. This is how asinine this disgusting modern day mentality is.

Wow…MovieBob defending Noir from the asinine comment. I’m genuinely surprised. Too bad he doesn’t use the most obvious defence of ‘that is obviously a ridiculous statement to make you moron’

The next topic of discussion was related to Marvel moving away from Gwen as Spider-Man’s dead girlfriend. I spoke a lot about Bob’s ice cold take on that in this post.

He claims they introduced Spider-Gwen because the idea would be taboo and thus would get people talking. HA! Spider-Gwen was done as just a general idea not something to spark controversy. It wouldn’t even BE controversial. Marvel brought back a version of Gwen within 2 years of her death. They brought her back again 15 years after her death. They brought her back again 22 years after her death along with other versions who melted because it was the Clone Saga. During and after all those times they had AUs of Gwen in What If, Age of Apocalypse, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane and other such stuff. An explicitly AU of Gwen Stacy in 2014 was one of the most aggressively uncontroversial  things you could do.

Gwen’s ballet shoes differentiate her from every other Spider-Man ever. I mean yes in terms of being a dancer I suppose but in terms of being dedicated and studious, training hard and earning immense physical control? There have been plenty of versions of Spider-Man pre-2018 who are like that.

The only way you can make Spider-Gwen work going forward is by not tying it to her death in the canon? Boy…too God damn bad her debut and origin is entirely built upon that. Her origin in the comics and in the movies is built  upon a role reversal because it is Peter who dies to motivate her. Film audiences would’ve still grasped that role reversal because it was only 4 years ago Emma Stone’s highly popular rendition of the character died. And that was in the last pre-MCU Spider-Man movie to boot!

‘The only Iron Man story anyone cared about was Demon in a Bottle’ Actually they only cared about that story and Armor Wars. But yeah, the MCU version is lesser for neither having his alcoholism nor a crippling heart condition. The mere fact people became complacent about that doesn’t mean it wasn’t reductive.

‘These are fictional characters they need to grow and change with the times to remain popular’ Gwen Stacy sucked shit in the 1960s-1970s and was then killed off and defined by her death. Somehow she still  wound up becoming a fan favourite by the 90s and 21st century. Spider-Gwen sucks as a character but not in concept. I never had a problem with the concept. But the idea that she needed to exist to keep Gwen popular is bullshit because Gwen had somehow become immensely popular in spite of being a nothing character. And that even presumes anyone needed to perform maintenance on Gwen to keep her popular. No we didn’t. She was an irrelevant character beyond her death. It’s like saying we need to change Uncle Ben or Bruce’s parents to keep them popular.

Gwen’s affect on Peter Parker was important for awhile but we aren’t that society anymore. It’s not a fucking societal concern!  Putting aside how a 2014 movie did Gwen’s death just a few years before ITSV, Gwen’s death is about a universal human experience.  Death, grief, moving on. Oh, I see. This halfwit mistakenly believes Gwen is an example of women in the refrigerator.

Gwen died because Peter had this perfect lovely girlfriend and everything was too great for him and they didn’t know how to write beyond that. An oversimplification. Gwen died because they needed to shake things up for sales in general. Because Conway shipped Peter with MJ. And a 20 year old Spidey in 1973 really was too young to be killed off. Oh and you know she was written like shit. Yeah that’s the part no one ever talks about. Gwen is played up as this underserving victim of a character but she sucked shit.

It’s almost the 2020s! So fucking what? People still lose loved ones in the 2020s? I’m not even saying Spider-Gwen should have died in ITSV or revolved around her counterpart dying. I’m saying this dumbass is wrong for bringing it up as though killing Gwen off is dated on principle. But this is the same moron who unironically said ‘I never connected to Spider-Man because he is a teenaged white male wish fulfilment fantasy’. I’m sure she got top marks in her gender studies class

‘sOme PpL nEEd 2 gEt oVa iTTTTTTT’ I genuinely wish this person would wake up mute someday.

‘We could do a whole movie about Spider-Gwen’. I don’t respect where this opinion is coming from but I don’t necesarilly disag- ‘Get Seanen Maguire to write it’…nevermind. This gets even worse when you consider Maguire had only been writing Gwen for literally 3 issues at the time this podcast was released. Of the back of three issues  you are declaring this writer qualified to write an entire movie about the character? Not even Jason Latour who created her. I smell someone who just jumped on the bandwagon or worse is blinded by agenda and ideology.

‘Gwen could’ve done with 5 more minutes’ It’s not her movie!  It’s Miles’ movie and secondarily Peter B’s movie because he is Miles mentor. It is through their mutual relationship that Miles learns to be Spider-Man and Peter learns to be Spider-Man again.

It never made sense for an 80 year old woman to be raising a 16 year old boy! Aunt May in the 1960s wasn’t in her 80s. She just looked that way because, duh, standards of health were different back then. A 40 year old now looks much younger and in better health than someone who potentially might’ve been born in the 19th century circa 1962! A working class  woman no less���With chronic health problems! Even if she was in her mid-late 50s her looking like that was totally believable in context! And her raising Peter was also entirely believable depending upon how old Ben and May were when Richard and Mary were born. It’s not beyond possibility at all that there was 15-20 years separating Ben and his younger brother, meaning if Peter was born when Richard was 25, Ben and May would’ve been in their 40s. Thus by the time Peter was 15 they’d be in their 50s or 60s.

These idiots keep treating Peter from Miles’ universe as a bona fide version of 616 Peter when it’s blindingly obvious he’s supposed to be an idealized rendition of the character. A version intended to be a juxtaposition to the version we all know walking into the movie.

Peter B. Parker having a more traditional version of Aunt May as opposed to a more proactive and involved version has left him with a sense of giving up. Er…no. It’s pretty obvious Peter B. Parker is the Spider-Man we know and love who normally doesn’t give up but one string of failures after another has brought him to his lowest. But he rises back up again. Look Peter is supposed to be a representation of human beings. Human beings need people and need emotional support. When you lose those people and are alone you can go to a very dark place. That’s Peter B’s story. If Aunt May had been more involved but everything else went wrong (including her death) he’d have still wound up in the dark place he went to. Blonde Peter might’ve weathered May’s death better in theory but he had OTHER stuff in his life to keep him afloat. Peter B lost most everything. What horseshit it is to argue if Aunt May was different he’d have not given up.

There was no purpose for Aunt May being as old as she was or on the cusp of death in the original comics. Er…yeah there was. She was that old because it made her more vulnerable and thus accentuated the loss of her husband and the need for Peter to be her support network. It also internally justified why she was so frail and unwell. Old people usually have health problems. Duh! But then Bob admits there is a reason for those decisions. So he is contradicting himself.

Bob presumes Blonde Peter told Aunt May his secret even though there is no evidence in the movie to support that idea.

Kids today aren’t resentful of their grandparents like older generations were, that’s why Aunt May is played differently now. Um…Peter was never resentful of Aunt May in the first place. He sincerely loved her and felt he needed to pay her back for all she’d done for him.

‘Kids today have cool grandparents because 50% of them would have been hippies.’ Hippies aren’t cool. And never were. They were pretentious losers that hid behind causes as an excuse to do drugs and have lots of sex. Over half a century later the world they claimed to fight for and want to build has yet to materialise and in fact is in a lot of ways far worse off than it was before their generation rose to the seats of power. The hippy generation are part of the baby boomer generation that are so thoroughly mocked today. The people in power who’ve fucked up the job and housing market for consequent generations. These idiots literally spouted a dumbass theory earlier on about how first wave millenials have been thrown under the bus. Who do you think did that? The baby boomers, many of whom used  to be hippies! And NONE of this demands Aunt May has to be different. I have no problem with her being different in ITSV. But the idea of someone who used to be a hippy being doting? Being a worry wart? Why the Hell is that a dated concept?

These idiots clearly view the world aggressively through an identitarian and group weighted lens as opposed to how the world really is. I.e. 7 billion+ individuals

There was a weird amount of focus upon gangsters in the Spec Spidey cartoon considering it was for kids. Not really, the show was reverential of the original comics. The original comics (which were for children) had lots of gangsters

To the people who bitch and moan about getting another Spider-Man it doesn’t take away from the one you had before. No one was complaining about Miles as another Spider-Man in this movie. People weren’t claiming it ruins the Raimi movies or something. People resent it in the comics because it waters down the brand and makes Spider-Man himself less special when he is an ONGOING character. It’d be one thing maybe if the torch was passed from person to person. But nowadays it’s literally all of them co-existing.

Blah blah bah symbolism of a young black boy fighting a big WHITE business MAN. Blah blah blah this is the type of bad guy Miles would fight in real life blah blah blah…Jesus Christ… these people really just buy that type of Kool-aid in bulk don’t they? As if Miles, were he ‘real’ wouldn’t fight anyone who’s doing bad things. FFS they just got done talking about Tombstone from the Spec cartoon. Tombstone is an African American!  And he’s in this fucking movie. He’s not some weird fantastical guy, he’s a regular gangster who happens to be albino. That’s it. Miles fights him in this fucking movie! Miles first major adversary in the comics was the Prowler who was another African American. Miles wouldn’t JUST fight ‘evil white businessMEN’

‘As far as I know about Doc Ock from Superior Spider-Man, which is excellent’ Wow. So, as would be obvious with anyone with a working brain and some prior knowledge of Otto, Superior is garbage. And saying you are basing your assessments of Otto on Superior is like saying you have never known about the character

Doc Ock is in so many Spidey stories as a scientific assistant to other people because the Green Goblin is always either dead or completely untrustworthy. Bob really just said that huh? This is further proof Bob has read precious little Spider-Man material. Doc Ock is NOBODY’s assistant. Even in Secret Wars he had to be threatened into compliance by Doom himself when Ultron was his attack dog. Doc Ock isn’t recruited by other people for his genius, he is the mover and shaker. He recruits other people and is the man in charge. And who the fuck is looking to get the help of Norman Osborn because he’s a scientist? Not to mention Norman is untrustworthy, oh but Otto?????????? The guy who tried to nuke NYC???????? WTF is Bob talking about?

Since we are in the ‘age of heroes’ (whatever THAT means?) it is impossible for Spider-Man to not be mentored by some other hero. Er…yeah it is? This is obviously a defence of MCU Spider-Man and it holds no water. First of all DC and Marvel have had young heroes show up when there are a plethora of heroes around they’ve not had mentors. Second of all it’s entirely possible for Peter to not WANT a mentor and it’d be entirely believable that the other heroes might not see themselves as mentors or might mistrust him.

The Spider-Heroes take their grief and turn it into action. WHOA WHOA WHOA! Didn’t these guys say earlier that the movie preaches the heroes are more than their trauma? That they aren’t stapled to their origins? That they move on from it? What’s this change of tune all of a sudden?

Miles Dad was probably made into a cop to avoid having a difficult discussion about how the police would react to a black super hero or a black Spider-Man. Yeah, or it’s because you know…his Dad worked in law enforcement in the comics so you know…faithfulness. Also the police don’t discriminate against black heroes in the MCU except Luke Cage. Also, also not every fucking cop is racist. Also, also, also how would they know Miles is black his costume covers his whole body!

Miles Dad was super authoritarian. Dude. He didn’t like vigilantes and he followed basic rules like stopping not abusing police sirens. That’s hardly akin to being a jackbooted fascist.

Miles would’ve had a different relationship with authority and the police if his Dad hadn’t been a cop. Er…no not necessarily. First of all being the son of a cop doesn’t mean he’d have not experienced institutionalized racism from the police. Second of all even if he had experienced that he could still believe in justice and taking down obviously evil and dangerous people like Kingpin.

They never touched upon institutional racism from the police in Luke Cage which was for adults. Er, yes they did. The rapper in the later episodes of season 1 (the Bulletproof Love guy) stated he wasn’t going to call the police. The police were stopping and searching black men in their hunt for Cage. Black people wore shirts with holes in them in order to protect Cage and defy the cops. The rap mentioned how nobody was interested in protecting their neighbourhood.

Nobody wants the tell a superhero story about institutional racism within the authorities. Isn’t that literally Luke Cage’s origin? Didn’t Black Panther mention that earlier in the year ITSV was released.

I’m going to disagree that Miles fighting Kingpin was unnecessary because of the cultural connotations we talked about….God…You couldn’t just say ‘the main hero obviously has to defeat the main villain. Duh!’…

Dan Slott is a dang genius! As if you needed more proof these people are unqualified  to talk about Spider-Man…

Spider-Verse’s (the comic’s) fan service is what happens when you get Spider-Man fans to do the story vs. ITSV. Nah fam. ITSV is what happens when you get real fans who are talented  vs. Spider-Verse is what happens when you get a real fan who fundamentally misunderstands the characters and is a hack

There is no real Peter Parker. Who cares! The real Peter Parker is the original because he is the one everyone else is derivative of and therefore based upon. And fans AND creators and Marvel itself clearly care about that because they sure as fuck didn’t kill him  off so Miles could replace him. They killed off the secondary and surplus Ultimate Peter Parker. Treating the original version as the true  one doesn’t invalidate any other versions because they can still be great characters unto themselves. But given how disgustingly SJW this whole podcast has been I am unsurprised they go in for this participation trophy form of analysis where everything is equal all the time.

It also doesn’t invalidate the idea of Spider-Man being anyone. Spider-Man CAN be anyone. But not everyone can be Peter Parker. If we are going to say otherwise the praise these jackoffs lauded onto Miles for how his specific identity was explored is invalidated. Peter is Peter. Miles is Miles. They can both be Spider-Heroes worthy of the mantle.

Because Miles is a POC people who don’t look like Peter can believe they can be Spider-Man. I’m not arguing against Miles but seriously, that was the case before Miles existed. The showrunner of Spider-Man 1994 was an African American and he related to Peter Parker in the 1960s. Poc can relate to Spider-Man regardless of skin colour.

The original comic book version of Spider-Man isn’t the true one just because he is the original. Er….yeah. It seriously does precisely BECAUSE he is the version all the other ones are derivative of. Hence he’s from the PRIME universe. Shit the Spider-Verse comic book the movie takes mild inspiration from literally says that. Granted it then contradicts itself but the point still stands. Because he is the original one he IS the true one because without him the others would not exist. He is the canonical one!

The true 616 Spider-Man will never be in any adaptation because there is too much continuity…Yeah…so? How does that make him not  the original one in the broad context though when you compare every version?

Continuity is the killer of enjoyment when it comes to movies. No, this podcast is the killer of enjoyment. And btw, maybe ask all the people who went to see Infinity War earlier in the year ITSV was released and ask them if continuity ruined that movie for them. This is such a lazy, myopic attitude.

If continuity is used to exclude people it is bad. Good job nobody was ever saying ITSV shouldn’t exist because Miles isn’t Peter then

Infinity War is a fine movie even if you do not know who everybody is. No it isn’t. Infinity War is wholly inaccessible if you do not know who everyone is because it’s throwing dozens of characters at you with little-no context provided.

Black Panther is better than Infinity War, this proves continuity is bad. No. Black Panther not having to have it’s story wrapped up in everything else in the wider universe was what helped make it better. FFS, Winter Soldier is better than Avengers 2012 and that still relies upon plenty of continuity. Civil War is better than Thor the Dark World and the latter has way less continuity than the former. It’s not about having continuity it’s about how you use it. Black Panther was world building in it’s own corner. It wasn’t plugged in so directly to the wider universe the way Homecoming or FFH was. THAT’s what made it good but that’s not a continuity issue that’s a world building issue.

Continuity is toxic when you use it to claim a long running fantasy series didn’t satisfy you. Uh huh, hey do you wanna ask all the people who hated Game of Thrones’ final season that?

Oh, and one of the pundits, the one who bleeted on about Spidey as a ‘tEEnAgE WHITE mAle wish fUlLfiLmEnt fantasy!’ is a Hollywood actress. Now her views make waaaaaaaaaay too much sense

In conclusion…Sigh…For a podcast called School of Movies I think these guys need to go back to kindergarten.

[margoshansons]

The Killing Kind (10/?)

Part Ten. 01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06. 07. 08. 09.

MASTERLIST:

Summary: Y/N and her father finally face each other after three years. Her powers have grown, but so have his.

Warning: ANGST! Mental and physical torture, manipulation, abuse, parent on child violence, suicidal thoughts. 

Notes: ooooooo boy, friends. We should’ve seen this coming, and I absolutely loved writing this chapter. PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS! If you want a song from the playlist to listen to I recommend Power, No Place like Home, and Speechless. In that order. Y/N deserves better.

“Get out of here,” Y/N commanded MJ, placing a protective shield around the two of them. MJ stared in awe of the blue energy before her, unsure of what to do next. 

“Are you not listening to me? I said go!” Y/N urged, not wanting to see the most important person in her life hurt by her own father. 

“No,” MJ stood strong, grasping a spare piece of debris, “I’m not leaving you behind. I’m staying here to help.”

Y/N shook her head, continuing to hold the protective shield as long as she could. 

“I’m not losing you again” MJ held herself in a rare moment of vulnerability, fear shaking the poor girl to her core. Y/N turned to her friend, seeing more than fear in her gaze, but determination. God how she hated how stubborn MJ could be. 

“Neither am I” She admitted, “Now go”

MJ nodded, taking cover in an alley not far from the square. Y/N continued to use the protective shield against the Molten Man, making sure the citizens were evacuated from the square before jumping into the fight. When enough citizens had escaped, she moved over to the tilted Ferris wheel, allowing the energy to flow from her palms and surround the carnival ride, lifting it back to its usual position. She collapsed her hands together, drawing a familiar circle glyph before her, the same teal color from Venice reappearing and creating the glyph needed to achieve stasis. With the Ferris wheel taken care of for several minutes, she called to Peter.

“Spiderman!” she groaned, holding the image as long as she could. 

“I got it!” He yelled webbing the Ferris wheel at its most vulnerable points, while Y/N kept it firmly in place. That ended when Molten Man got closer, ready to swipe at the carnival ride at any time. She let go and propelled herself forward, launching herself over the Ferris wheel and joining the illusion of her father in fighting against the beast. Her eyes began to glow as she charged the energy needed to stay afloat, guarding the ride against the monster. Her body warmed, sweat dripping down her face as she released both of her hands and screamed at the top of her lungs, emitting a dangerous amount of psychic energy at the beast. 

Red met Blue in a death match before she landed on the ground, anger spurring her forward, Peter’s cries lost in her ears. All she could focus on was getting to the center of the illusion. All she could focus on was finding her father. 

She found him at the top of the elegant building protruding from behind the Molten Monster. 

Cerulean tendrils wrapped around his ankle, pulling him forward, Y/N used her other hand to lift him up, the blue energy surrounding his body, working its way from the inside out. 

“I told you to stay away” He whispered through groans of pain. 

“You know better than anyone that I don’t listen.” Y/N snarked, crushing several of the drones and technical gear surrounding him. 

“That’s why you’re such a disappointment, honey” 

Her powers dissipated, and her father disappeared into the darkness.

“No, no no no no no no, NO!” She yelled over and over as the familiar illusions overtook her. 

Enclosed walls surrounded her, the musty smell of the church overtaking her senses. Her breath quickened at the enveloping sight.

“Really, it’s quite pathetic how you thought you could escape me” Quentin’s voice echoed, the illusion pushing and pulling her from their old apartment to the rainy streets of New York, and finally to the London Square they had spent so much time in before moving. 

“My sweet little Y/N, always running from her true place” Lightning flashed as she crashed to the ground, moaning in pain as she gazed upon two statues above her. The fishbowl was easy to make out, her father was glorifying himself, but the other… 

“My Side”

The other was her, eyes glowing with arms crossed, an evil smirk plastered into the marble. Y/N scrambled up, running away, her own tendril protruding from the statue, wrapping itself around her ankle, pulling her back into the illusion. 

“I’m never going to be like you!” She screamed into the void, crawling away, the thick smoke dissolving into a familiar scene.

“Oh, but honey,” Her father commented, “You already are.”

Two scenes one right after the other. Quentin and Peter overlooking Prague. Y/N and Peter overlooking Venice. The unusual bursts of energy as she fought off the molten man. The way they set their jaw. The anger that resides in both of them. The lies, the lies, the lies, the lies, the lies.

“You are more me than I could’ve hoped for. You lie and cheat to achieve your goals.”

She was back on the bus, the smell of sweat weaving itself through her nose, while the air conditioning left goosebumps up and down her arms. Her own hands were working against her will, grasping the EDITH glasses. Lying to Peter. Betraying her friend’s trust. Her chest twisted as she relived the action. 

 “Oh, how you lie. You’ve told so many lies you could fill an encyclopedia” 

A book of his own design fell atop her before dissipating into darkness, each containing a lie she had uttered to her closest supporters. 

Her living situation. 

Her family circumstances. 

She coughed at the impact, her now damaged lungs burning every time she took a breath.

“You’ve lied to everybody. Your best friend” 

A thick smoky tendril pierced through MJ’s heart.

“The woman who took you in”

May Parker joined the scene. 

Her heart twisted.

“Even the boy you care so much for” 

She was pulled to a stop in front of Peter, his mask torn, shrapnel embedded deep in his face, blood pouring from his abdomen. “No” She let out a strangled yell, saltwater burning her lips as it trailed down her cheeks. Eyes burning, she held Peter in her arms, not knowing if this was real or not. 

“Y/N” He struggled to get out, “How--how could you do it?”

“Peter I’m sorry,” Y/N sobbed, her own voice unrecognizable. 

“Why didn’t you save me?” 

Betrayal filled his eyes, squinting the the girl before him, flinching every time she moved closer.

She shook her head, speechless at the accusation, “I tried--”

His hand wrapped around her neck, latching onto the vocal cords, hatred gleaming in Peter’s innocent brown eyes. “Not hard enough”

From his hands, a shock collar latched itself around her throat, his last act before Peter drew his final breath. He remained limp in her arms. Even if she knew it wasn’t real, the pain was. 

“Stop it!” She cried out, clawing at the collar around her neck. An electric shock burned through her, muscles spasming from the aftershock. Her body convulsed against her will, screams involuntarily leaving her mouth. She looked up to see her Father holding the gun that had killed Peter. He cocked it once again, aiming the pistol at a familiar face. 

Her Mother’s shadowy figure only looked up at Quentin, accepting the challenge.

“Every time you lie, you are killing those around you, for what? Your own selfish motives? Your mother would be ashamed of you.”

Bang!

Blood pooled on the ground, her mother’s face hidden by shadow, the head of curls unmistakable. 

The scene replayed itself over and over until Peter took her mother’s place. She moved to get up, to use her powers, to do anything, but each time she did, the collar would go off, weakening her muscles further and further. 

“This is what they would relegate you to. A dog needing to be kept on a leash. But with me, I would let you be free. With me your lies would be triumphs, with me, you would be a hero undreamt of. You are my daughter, and you belong with me.”

Her father’s image warped until it wasn’t him holding the gun anymore. 

It was her. 

Pointing it directly at Peter’s head, cocking the bullet, ready to fire. 

“You are exactly like me”

An idea sprung in her head and she crawled forward, using her newfound adrenaline to push Peter out of the way, grasping the gun and pointing it at herself. 

“So do it then” She taunted weakly, her voice hoarse, “Kill me.”

The illusion began to dissolve until she was surrounded by black, her father standing above her, gun drawn against her head, his eyes alight with fear.

“No matter the consequences right?” She uttered bitterly, tears falling from her face. 

A moment passed. 

Then another. 

The cool barrel sent waves of fear through her. It would be over soon. Finally, all of this would end and she would be free. Even if she was scared to go, a part of her wanted so badly to.

She waited. 

Watching his bright blue eyes. Watching the conflict unfold behind them.

His breath hitched.

His hands shook.

He couldn’t do it. No matter what he wanted. He couldn’t kill his little girl. 

The gun dropped and Y/N let out a breath. 

Something lurched in her stomach, something that she barely had any time to register before she was thrown to the side, a drone launching her out of the building and directly into the pole of the Ferris wheel. The smoke cleared and all she saw was her own father collapsed on the pavement. 

Her vision went black.

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[elisaphoenix13]

Small Life Lessons (And Weaponized Candy)

Tony was in meetings all day, Peter was at Ned's working on some new Lego set and watching Star Wars for the billionth time, and Harley was at a friend's house as well. It left Stephen and Diana home by themselves, and the little girl wanted to spend time with the sorcerer instead of Cassie. He had things to do at Kamar-Taj and he told her so, and Diana was more than happy to accompany him. So while he taught a few classes and did his routine checks of the compound, his daughter followed at his heels. After all was said and done, they sat in the main room and Diana sat in front of him with her hands palms up and resting gently in his. She only showed a single ability of telekinesis, but he was curious to know if she had any other powers at her disposal. In case her ability to control magic wasn't natural though, he opened the mirror dimension around them so she wouldn't cause permanent damage if anything were to happen or she lost control.

"We're going to try something today...see if you have any other magic." Stephen tells her softly, his voice echoing in the mirror dimension.

"What if I don't?"

"Then that's perfectly fine. Your magic doesn't make you who you are."

Diana looks up at him, scrutinizing him carefully. "It makes you who you are though."

Stephen smiles. "Are you sure about that?"

"Aren't you the Sorcerer Supreme?" She asks and he nods.

"Yes, but that's not all. What am I to you?"

"My mommy." Diana replies immediately.

"I am many things. A master of the mystic artes, a mother, a friend, a doctor, a husband-" Stephen chuckles when his daughter corrects him by saying 'wife', and continues. "My point is that you are what you make of yourself, and it doesn't have to be one thing. I may be the Sorcerer Supreme to the students and masters here, but to you I am not."

"So even if I don't have more magic…"

"You are still my daughter. You could lose your magic and it would remain that way." Stephen looks down at Diana's hands. "Focus on your hands." Diana looks down at her hands. "Now, I want you to imagine a small flame."

Moments pass in silence as Diana stares at her hands, but when nothing happens over that time, Stephen notices his daughter slowly getting frustrated. Her eyebrows were scrunched together, her face was pinched, and she was actually glaring at her hands. The sorcerer figured that he didn't word his request correctly and clears his throat to get her attention again.

"Nothing's happening."

"That's because you're thinking too hard, and I miscommunicated what I wanted you to do. Instead, think about how you started using your telekinesis. Did you think about it?"

"No. I couldn't reach one of my coloring books, but I really wanted it and then it flew off the shelf and into my hands." She explains and Stephen raises an eyebrow.

"Try wanting the flame in your hands then."

Diana nods and looks back down at her hands, and not even five seconds later, a small ember hovers over one of her hands. His daughter's eyes widen in surprise and excitement, and Stephen's widen in realization. She really did use her heart to control her magic and from the small test, Tony could actually be right about Diana having natural control. She gave Stephen exactly what he asked for. A small flame and nothing more. There was no spark building up to it or overgrown flames, just one small flame. She didn't have a mean bone in her body, so even when she fought with the boys, she never wanted to hurt them. Or anyone for that matter.

"Try a single drop of water in your other hand." Stephen requests and a second later, Diana's other hand contained the one drop. "Have you ever wanted to use your powers for anything?"

"No. Just to get something in my room that I can't reach...or to help me color."

"What about to hurt your brothers?"

Diana actually glared scathingly at him for his question and pulled her hands out of his after making the water and fire disappear. "No! They make me mad sometimes but I don't want to hurt them!"

Stephen holds up his own hands to placate her. "I just want to know how much control you have."

Diana pulls her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around her legs. "I asked Uncle Quill about his powers before. I asked him how he knew when Uncle Scott was the one walking up to him when he's really angry."

"And what did he tell you?" Stephen asks quietly.

"He said he uses his heart to control his powers. Is that real? Do you do that too?"

"To an extent yes. Some magic I do have to think about to make sure it will be useful for what I'm trying to do, but otherwise, I know I want to use it to protect or help people. When I'm really sad, I can't use my magic, and that's why I like to cuddle you and your brothers." Stephen explains as Diana unfurls herself and climbs into the sorcerer's lap.

"Because we make you happy?"

"Very happy." He confirms and gently combs his fingers through her hair. "Just like Uncle Quill loves Uncle Scott and Cassie, Wanda loves Vision and the team, and I love your father and you kids."

Diana giggles. "And Uncle Loki loves Uncle Thor even though he won't admit it. They remind me of Peter and Harley."

Stephen snorts. "It's a brother thing. I was like that with my brother too."

"That's dumb."

Stephen bursts into laughter. Diana wasn't wrong, but some people have trouble expressing their feelings to others. Peter technically wore his heart on his sleeve but he always stumbled over words because he was just awkward like that. Everyone knew though, especially because he was a little better about his expressing his feelings through actions. Just a little. Harley was strictly expressing his feelings through actions...and Diana easily did both. Verbal and action. She was a little girl that didn't give a single shit though.

The sorcerer's laughter tapers off as be dismisses the mirror dimension and his bracelet beeps loudly just as his cell phone vibrates in his pocket. He asks Diana to move so he can get to it, and the moment he accepts the call from Christine he sighs a little dramatically.

"For the last time Christine, I'm not-"

"Stephen! Harley's here!" The woman informs him frantically and Stephen immediately sobers up. Her tone definitely didn't nose well.

"What happened?!"

"Hit and run. I tried calling you and Tony earlier but neither of you answered."

"I'll be there in a moment."

Stephen ends the call and jumps to his feet before opening a gateway to the Metro General Hospital's janitorial closet, and Diana follows immediately. She sticks to his side as he uses his magic to change his robes into his street clothes, and closes the gateway before leading his daughter out of the closet. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have bothered changing, but there was a strong possibility that disrespectful reporters caught wind of one of Tony Stark's kids being in the hospital and Stephen didn't want to garner any more attention than necessary if at all. They weren't legally allowed into the hospital without permission but one or two always managed to slip in.

"Stephen!" Christine calls from the nurse's station and he rushes over to her, accepting the clipboard she hands him.

"Did he need surgery?"

"He had some internal bleeding but nothing severe. I just finished when I called you again."

A broken leg, broken arm, a couple of cracked ribs, but thankfully nothing more serious than the minor internal bleeding that Christine had told him about. His first reaction was to sigh with relief that his oldest got off relatively lucky, and his second was to think about how miserable Harley was going to be. That in turn was going to make Stephen miserable because he hated to see his kids hurt, and he knew Harley was going to try and take care of himself.

"What room is he in?" Stephen asks and Christine points down the hall.

"Closest one to this station. I wanted to keep a close eye on his room for obvious reasons."

"Thank you." The sorcerer herds Diana over to the room Harley is in after handing the charts back and kneels down to look at her. "Your brother got hurt, but no matter how bad he might look, he's going to be okay. Understand?"

"Yes."

Stephen stands back up and opens the door as quietly as possible into the private room, and Diana sits in one of the chairs as he makes his way over to Harley's bedside. The next hour passed quietly, with only the sounds of quiet scratching from Diana's crayons as she drew (Christine had brought her some blank paper and crayons to keep her occupied twenty minutes into their wait), and Tony rushed in at the end of that hour. He looked frazzled and worried, but Stephen quickly soothed his husband before he could open his mouth.

"He's going to be okay."

"I somehow accidently turned FRIDAY off. I didn't see the SOS from SARA until I turned her back on twenty minutes ago. Has he woken up?" Tony manages to spit out and Stephen shakes his head. "Do we know who did it?"

"No. It was a hit and run."

Tony growls quietly and pulls out his phone. "Not for long." He walks over to the table Diana is at and sits in the chair across from her. "What are you doing there Little Miss?"

"Making Harley a card." Diana replies quietly as she draws a teddy bear onto the front of said card.

"That's a good girl. Daddy's gonna find who did this so they get the punishment they deserve."

"Good."

The coldness in her voice had both Tony and Stephen staring at their daughter in surprise. She had never acted like this before, but it was possible that she didn't feel the need to because whenever someone in their dysfunctional family got hurt, team included, someone else was already getting angry. Right now though, it was just her and her parents, and Stephen was keeping vigil at Harley's side, and Tony was already searching through cameras to find the one responsible for hitting their son. He cringed a couple of minutes into his search and that's all Stephen needed to know that his husband came across the accident.

A sharp inhale pulls Stephen's attention back to their oldest child, and Harley winces before slowly blinking his eyes open. To his surprise, the teen slowly reaches up to him and grips the front of his shirt, tugging weakly in a silent request for Stephen to lay down, and the sorcerer obliges immediately. Harley moves to the side so Stephen can settle on his side as comfortably as possible, and then moves back to curl into the sorcerer's chest.

"Better?" Stephen asks quietly and Harley nods once. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a car." The teen mutters.

"Well you're not wrong."

Harley looks around the room and frowns. "This isn't the med bay."

"No. It's Metro General. Thankfully Christine was on duty. I'll talk to her about transferring you to the tower in a little bit. Just rest for now."

"'Kay…"

Harley dozed off after that, and when Stephen finally got around to asking Christine for the transfer, she asked to keep him overnight just in case. The sorcerer only agreed as long as someone (him) could stay with him for the night, and Christine allowed it, even though they both knew Stephen was going to stay whether she liked it or not. She didn't mind though, and Stephen stayed overnight, leaving Tony to take their daughter home. Peter wasn't aware of the accident until he got home later that night, felt kind of awful that he wasn't at the hospital to sit with his brother, and ended up in the medbay as soon as Stephen brought Harley home. The oldest teen was more lucid than he was the day before, so Peter kept him company with games and movies.

Tony had found the culprit soon after he and Diana got home and sent the evidence to the proper authorities, and Diana finished her card. She gave it to Harley with the teen's favorite candies that Cassie had sent up for him (she didn't want to overwhelm him), and he genuinely smiled at the gesture.

"Thanks Dia."

"Sissy got you the candy."

"I'm eating it all right now." Harley says with a grin and whines when Stephen takes the majority of it away. "Mom!"

"You need proper food as well or you won't heal any faster."

"Maybe I wanna be a crip for longer than usual!"

Stephen snorts. "We all know you're going to go stir crazy by the end of the night you insufferable cub."

"That's probably true. Can I at least have a second bag?" Harley asks and Stephen sighs before handing over another small bag of candy. The boy was hurting and did ask somewhat nicely. "No the gummy worms!"

"I am literally handing you gummy bears."

"I want the worms!"

Stephen sighs and switches the bears for the worms, and Harley rips into the bag. "What difference does it make?"

"All the difference in the world!" The sorcerer tilts his head in confusion as Harley seemingly jumbles a couple of worms together, and then suddenly, he uses his gummy makeshift slingshot to shoot an M&M at Stephen's forehead. "I can't do that with the bears!"

"...I'm sending you back to Christine."

Stephen walks out of the medbay, leaving all three children behind laughing hysterically. He should have known Harley would find a way to weaponize candy. At the very least, it would keep him occupied for a little while and they could send Steve in to clean the mess. He was next on the cleaning list for breaking one of the windows after all.

[teamhook]

A Chapter A Day... Savage Heart CS AU

Well, this is it the last of the month and a chapter a day. Today I give you the final two chapters. Yes, I know I don’t know how to count. :) Sorry.

I wanna thank @ilovemesomekillianjones my beta for the story. She is amazing! The sweetest person and i was lucky she agreed to help me with this story.

The lovely cover was made by the awesome @xhookswenchx one of the first to give love to this story.

Thank you all for reading.

A love story between a pirate and his savior. An innocent, beautiful, selfless woman meets a man with no manners, no formal education and not even a last name. Will Emma fall in love with Killian once she discovers that beneath his tough exterior lies a heart-wild, but a heart of gold? This is a Captain Swan AU

|AO3| |FFN| previous chapter

|AO3| |FFN| current chapter

Chapter 29: Truths Told

To say Killian is surprised to see his long lost brother at his doorstep is putting it mildly. He cannot stop the happiness he feels seeing Liam, he opens the door wide with a big smile - a clear invitation to enter.

Killian introduces Liam to Emma and their friend Tink. Liam smiles sweetly as he makes his own introductions. First, Elsa his love. Emma and Elsa share a moment of recognition. Emma's father had written about Elsa to Emma and vice versa. Then he moves on to Ingrid, Elsa's aunt and finally his former captain, Dakkar Nemo.

As the night's goes on, Liam and Killian share a moment away from the group.

"Brother, I'm happy you found a special lass like Emma. You made the right choice leaving the scoundrel behind." Liam pats Killian on the back.

Killian smiles, "Who says I've left the scoundrel behind?" and waggles his eyebrows. "My wife is quite fond of that side of me."

Liam shakes his head in disapproval. "That's no way to speak of your wife."

Killian rolls his eyes. "Brother, I'm sorry I offended your sensibilities. Sometimes the pirate is hard to be rid of. My Emma, she knows this and still loves me. I'm so happy you've come, how long are you staying?"

Liam ponders the question. "I have to first find accommodations for all of us."

Killian smiles, "We have more than enough room, I'm sure Emma wouldn't object-"

"I'm sorry, brother, but I'd rather not intrude on recently reunited newlyweds. I'm sure we can find lodging somewhere," Liam interjects.

"How about with my parents?" Emma suggests. "They have room and my mother would love the company. I'm sure my father would offer as well."

Emma and Killian escort the group to the Nolan's home once the evening has come to an end. David and Snow warmly welcome the group as the introductions are made. Snow is already planning a big dinner for the following night, to properly welcome their visitors.

The next morning at the Jones home, Emma wakes up first, she turns to face her husband. He's still in a peaceful slumber, she had missed him so much. She slowly pushes the hair on his forehead out of the way, and gently leans over to softly kiss him. She rests her head on his shoulder.

After a few minutes, he begins to stir. "Good morning, love."

"Good morning, Killian. Any plans today?"

"I was going to meet my brother at Archie's. I want to show him that the second chance he gave me was put to good use. I found myself a beautiful bride," he plays with her soft blonde hair, "and the business is one of honor. How about you?"

"I have some errands to do," she feels him stiffen at her words - the same words she'd spoken before she was taken - and rushes to reassure him, "don't worry, I'm taking Tink with me. Later in the afternoon we will go visit my mom and get to know Elsa and Ingrid." She also wants to look for Rufio, and Tink knows the boys well, but that has to stay a secret from her husband for now.

He nods his agreement. "I should get one of the men in my crew to keep you and Tink safe. It would have to be someone I trust."

"I think Tink and I will be okay. We can talk about this later."

Killian knows his wife is a force of nature and Tink will not go down easily, so for now he won't push her.

Cora waits in her room for the return of her daughter-in-law. She still hasn't decided if she should expose Milah to August, how would he survive the ridicule he would suffer if the truth comes out. Cora's smile becomes wicked as she thinks of ways to make Milah's life difficult. Perhaps the situation requires a permanent solution.

August had gone riding to clear his head. His frustration is overwhelming, all he wants is to understand Emma's attitude toward him. Her safety is what matters to him, and she is not safe with Killian.

He spots Malcolm, and walks towards him. "Mr. Peters, may I have a word?"

Malcolm had hoped to avoid August, he prefers to deal with Cora. "Of course, Mr. Booth. How can I be of assistance today?"

"First, I want to know where you've been? You disappeared for days without a word. That is very unprofessional."

"Mr. Booth, I was on an errand for your mother. I'm sorry, I thought you knew."

August sneers at the man. "You are to report to me and me alone, not my mother. If that's going to be a problem, perhaps you should look for employment elsewhere."

Malcolm tries to stay calm. He will tell Cora and hope she deals with her son. If all else fails, he will ask for a good amount of money. He knows her secrets after all.

Milah arrives at the estate with a big grin on her face. As soon as she enters the house, she is greeted with Enith's face.

"Ma'am, Mrs. Booth would like a word. She's in her room and she is not in a waiting mood."

Milah rolls her eyes. "I don't have to run to her side. I'll go talk to her whenever I feel like it." Milah turns around and starts to walk to her room, leaving Enith with her mouth open.

Enith storms to Cora's room. She knocks and soon is rewarded with an invitation to come in.

"Ma'am, Ms. Milah arrived home and I informed her you had requested her presence but she said she would come talk to you whenever she feels like it."

Cora smirks, "Oh, did she say that?"

Enith simply nods.

"Alright, I'll wait for her to come to me when she is ready, but this humiliation will be added to her tally of misdeeds," Cora promises as she sits on her chaise.

Enith curtsies and leaves.

Moments later, a sudden pounding on her door startles Cora. "Come in."

Malcolm enters with a scowl. "Your son just informed me I no longer report to you. He wants me to report to him and he was upset I left with no explanation. I tried to explain that I was on an errand for you, but he didn't seem to care."

Cora has to admit she is proud of her son for finally showing some backbone. Too bad he doesn't show it with his wife. "I'll talk to him, but you must do something for me."

Malcolm sighs in frustration, before asking, "What do you want me to do?"

Cora's back straightens. "You seem close to my daughter-in-law."

"I don't know what you mean, we are simply cordial."

She studies him for a second. "Good to know, that ensures the task I'm about to give you is done without hesitation."

That catches Malcolm's attention. "What is it you want me to do?"

"I would be very happy and generously inclined if an accident were to befall Milah, but unlike her cousin, I wouldn't object if she didn't survive."

"Cora, I don't know if I can do that. I've done some questionable things but never anything as such."

Cora's brow raises. "Oh Malcolm, don't tell me you've fallen for her charms."

He ignores her. "What did she do to incur your wrath? I know you are not particularly fond of her but to kill your son's wife?"

"My son's wife is a common, lying whore. She bewitched my son and made a fool of him. She let us believe she was entering the marriage pure but she had fallen into bed with someone already. Who knows how many men have been in her bed."

"Why not a simple divorce or an annulment. I'm sure you know someone that can do it for you."

"My son has no idea who he married. This way he can mourn her and find someone else. Too bad Emma married the pirate. She was the perfect fit for my son."

"You mean the eldest Booth, your son's brother."

Cora glares at him. "You keep your mouth shut, we don't need someone overhearing us. Especially now that I have the letter back in my possession."

Malcolm nods.

"So will you do it?" Cora asks. "Or don't you have the stomach for it?"

"I'll do it, but it will cost you."

Cora smiles, "It will be worth it."

"Do you have something in mind?"

"No, I don't, maybe while horse riding. I'm sure you can figure something out."

"All right." He nods in agreement and leaves.

Milah is in her room relaxing, nothing could sour her mood, not even her witch of a mother-in-law. She knows she will need to go see what she wants before she is summoned again. Putting it off longer than she has is not an option. Milah checks her reflection in the mirror and finally leaves to go have a talk with Cora.

She arrives at Cora's closed door and knocks.

"Come in," the older woman says.

"You wanted to see me?" Milah asks as she enters the room, leaving the door ajar and promptly sitting down.

"Milah, darling. I just wanted to tell you that things are going to change around here. Your insolence will no longer be tolerated, and you will behave the way you're told to." Cora smiles as she thinks to herself, at least for as long as you have left.

"August has no problem with the way I behave and once I tell him how you are speaking to me, he will tell you so."

Cora laughs, "Oh dear girl, I know your secret." She makes a show of pulling the vial out of a small box. "I know what kind of woman you are. You were never deserving of my son and this proves it."

Milah looks at the vial and the recognition is clear on her face - but still she tries to deny it. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Under normal circumstances, I would reveal the truth to my son, but, for whatever reason, he loves you. All I can do is make sure you are the wife he deserves."

Milah glares at her mother-in-law. "I'm not Emma, I will not fold to your demands. If you have a problem with that, I have no problem telling August the truth myself."

"You will do as you're told and that is final!" Cora seethes.

August stops just outside of his mother's door when he hears his mother and wife arguing. He tries to piece together the bits of the conversation he is hearing.

"You know what, you are right! That vial is mine. I had a lover before I married your ponce of a son. I'm just so tired of having to deal with you. You are right, your beloved son deserved my nitwit cousin."

"I knew you were not in my son's league. How in the world it is possible for you and Emma to come from the same gene pool is beyond me. You disgust me."

August finally walks in shaking his head in disbelief. "No,no,no,no! Tell me this is not true," he pleads as he drops to his knees and wraps his arms around Milah's midsection. His tears flowing, he sniffles, his voice muffled by her dress. "Milah, sweetheart tell me it's a lie. You love me and only me."

Milah tries to push him away with disgust. "For the first time in a very long time, I'm telling the truth, I had a lover before I ended up in your bed. I love him and only him. How could I love you, you are pathetic!" she finally pushes him away successfully.

Cora tries to approach August to comfort him, he turns to glare at her and she stops in her tracks and stills. "Who the hell is it? Hmm? Tell me who!" he screams.

Milah simply smirks and tilts her head. "Don't you know?" Her gaze burns through him as she laughs then turns to Cora. "Really, you still cannot figure it out? Well, let me spell it out for you both. Killian Jones. You both were so eager to believe that Emma was the woman rumored to have had an affair with him. I still cannot believe you two fell for that. Emma, my insipid cousin would have never fallen in bed with him."

August's eyes darken as he glares at his wife. "I'm going to kill him," he declares and then storms out.

"You stupid girl," Cora berates.

Milah taunts Cora, "You should have said goodbye to him, Killian will kill him. You and I both know that. Oh well, I suppose soon there will be two Booth widows." Milah walks out of the room and heads for her bedroom, with August out of the way she is free - all she needs is for Killian to walk away from Emma.

Cora's angered face is shaking in disbelief, no, no, no, not him. Cora glares at Milah's retreating body. When Jones had showed up, she thought it was money he wanted and she had sacrificed Emma to him in order to protect her son's inheritance. She hated to admit it, but if August was successful and Killian agreed to a duel, her son would not survive. Without thought, she grabs the letter and holds it to her heart. This will save her son. Cora calls out for Enith. She needs to get to Emma, she will help her save her son.

Emma is sitting in the living room waiting for Tink to finish getting ready when a loud banging on the door startles her. She gets up and smoothes out her skirt before walking to the door.

August stands there wearing a scowl on his face. "Where's that pirate?" He pushes his way inside.

"August, what's going on?" He looks upset and she tries to calm him.

"Did you know?" His scowl turns to anguish. "How could I have been so blind?" He slowly approaches her, to try to touch her. "You are an angel, and I threw you away for a harlot. I'm so sorry."

Emma's eyes widen the more he speaks. He knows, he found out about Milah. "August, it's okay." She avoids his touch but is unable to evade the smell of alcohol that oozes from his pores. He must have gotten drunk after finding out the truth.

"You deserve the world and that bastard took advantage of your good heart. I know you married Killian to protect me. I don't need protecting anymore, I will save you. I'm going to kill him and I will send Milah away after I divorce her. Then we can make things right. We can marry and have the life we were meant to have."

"August, I'm sorry you found out about my cousin's treachery, but I'm where I belong. I truly love Killian, and you have to know that he didn't know about Milah's betrayal until after he returned from Arendelle. Their affair has been over for a long time. She tricked all of us."

"No, you only married him to protect me, because you love me!" he screams as he starts to pace the room. Suddenly he turns to face her, his anger is back. "If what you say is true and you love him, I think it's only fair for me to have you as he had my wife!" He lunges at her, grabbing her and pulling her down to the floor. His alcohol-infused breath blows on her face. She tries to push him off, attempting to grab anything to aid her. She keeps kicking and pushing his face away.

Tink had heard voices while she finished getting ready. As she arrives in the living room she sees Emma on the floor struggling with a man on top of her. Tink looks around the room and grabs the first thing she sees, a big, heavy book. She swings at the man's head.

August winces at the impact and lets go of Emma as he tries to get up while rubbing his head. He turns to the intruder and all he can see is Emma's disgusted face next to the pirate's friend. He feels his stomach churn at his actions.

Emma finds her voice, "Get out! Leave now and never show your face here again. What you just did, I will never forgive. You claim Killian is the worst human alive, but he would never do what you just tried to do."

August looks at her one last time before he leaves.

"August knows about Killian and Milah, we need to warn him," Emma urges Tink toward the door.

Tink holds on to her tight. "Emma, I can go. Stay here in case Killian comes home, and don't open the door."

After August's exit, Cora had quickly dressed. She had to hurry, everything was a blur to her. She was glad Enith had noticed her son leave, and had quickly came to her aid. She had fetched Malcolm and soon Cora was out the door.

Emma is pacing the living room. She wonders if Tink has gotten to Killian on time. She is still shaken by August's behavior. She knows that if Killian laid eyes on her, he would know something happened and she was afraid of his reaction. Not afraid for herself, but for anyone who stands in his way avenging her. He has worked so hard to become an honorable man, and although she is still upset, August's death isn't the answer. This mess is all Milah's fault.

There is a knock on the door. Emma knows that Tink told her not to answer the door for anyone, but maybe it is them? She stands quietly in front of the door and the voice she hears is unexpected.

"Emma, darling girl. Please, open the door... hurry."

Emma opens the door after recognizing Cora's voice as an urgent plea.

Cora enters the house. "Emma, I assume your husband isn't home?"

"No he is not, he is at his office."

"Has August been here?" Cora has a feeling of what the answer will be.

"Yes, he was here and he was drunk. He attacked me," Emma answers. She still has no idea what Cora knows.

"Oh dear," she gasps as she paces the room and takes a paper out of her pocket. "You have to help me. August overheard a conversation I had with your cousin." Cora sighs, is Emma aware of the history between her husband and cousin or is she about to find out? She continues, "He found out some unflattering news about Milah and your pirate."

"August told me what he found out and I tried to explain to him things were not as he claims."

"Emma, did you know?" Cora asks.

"I did."

"How long have you known?"

"I found out after Milah and August married."

"Why didn't you come to me? We could have fixed this."

"Do you honestly think August would've believed us? He would've accused me of making up lies. I had no proof, it was my word against Milah's. I also had to protect everyone. My family, my parents adore Milah, this will break their hearts. I thought it was for the best to keep quiet, but then Killian showed up at the estate." She sighs, "That is when I knew he wasn't going to let her go."

"Yet, you still married him. Why?" Cora asked.

"That doesn't matter anymore. August went looking for Killian, and although I'm afraid of what will happen, I hope my husband does everything he can to come back to me. I'd prefer without any bloodshed."

"That is why I'm here. I need your help convincing your husband to walk away. He cannot hurt August because-"

"Your son tried to force himself on me. He is out of control. I will not ask Killian to refuse the duel in order to protect August's pride."

Cora's face hardens. "Emma, it was your cousin who did this to us all, I know, but time is of the essence. We need to go find them and stop this madness. Is it truly acceptable to you, dear, if your husband kills his brother?"

"His brother?"

"I know they will not believe me, but I have proof and they will listen to you. Please, help me save my son."

Emma stares at Cora in disbelief, all this time Killian had been alone, unloved, he was denied both brothers- his family. "I want to see this proof."

Cora hands the paper over, Emma reads it quickly and shakes her head. "You kept them apart, Killian and August could have grown up together."

Cora yells, "We are running out of time, that is no longer important, we have to go before your husband kills his brother."

Emma folds the paper and walks to the door. "Let's go, I sent Tink to warn Killian but I don't know if she got there in time."

Cora and Emma rapidly climb into the carriage after a quick introduction to Malcolm Peters, the new Booth Steward.

Smee and Thomas are working quietly, while Archie and Killian give Liam and Nemo a small tour of the office. Things are busy when August arrives at the shared office of Archie and Killian. He slams the door open with all his pent up anger, the rage he feels blinds him and he fails to notice the other men in the room.

"I loved you like a brother!" August yells as he rushes Killian and punches his face. He tries to take another swing but he is pulled off by Archie. He looks at Killian who is being held back by two unknown men.

Archie stumbles as he tries to keep August away from Killian. "August, what is the meaning of this?"

"Did you know? Of course you did, you've protected him his whole life." August sneers at Archie and turns to Killian. "You thought I'd never find out? About you and that whore I have for a wife!"

Killian stops the struggle to get away from his brother Liam and the older man, Nemo. The realization and understanding of his former friend's anger dawns on him. Months back it had been him in his place, from his return to the moment he found out about Milah's betrayal.

With an insincere smile, he says, "I will not lie. I've had many a man's wife, but Milah was unattached when our dalliance took place. She was going to marry me, if anyone should be outraged it should be me."

August shakes his head in disbelief. "Is that right?"

"August, your father wouldn't want you to fight with Killian. Remember his last words," Archie implored.

"You want me to honor my father's wishes? This man, I thought was my friend. He sullied my wife and if that wasn't enough, he seduced Emma into marrying him. I'm here defending their honor! I demand a duel to make things right."

Archie looks at Killian as the pieces fall into place. It was Milah, the woman Killian was to marry, but somehow he found love with Emma.

Liam finds his voice, "I will be his second."

August turns to Liam, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm his brother," Liam answers.

August scoffs, "Brother? Well, your brother dallied with my wife, and still claimed to be my friend."

Liam turns to Killian and raises an eyebrow.

Killian shakes his head. "I haven't touched his wife."

August tries to get away from Archie who tightens his grip. "That's not what she claims, she admitted the affair quite proudly."

"Brother, is this true?" Liam asks.

August yells, "It doesn't matter, I demand retribution."

Liam answers curtly, "And you shall have it."

Killian turns to Liam, hurt at the doubt in his character.

August sneers, "At least one of you has honor."

Killian interrupts, "I do not deny my past with women is colorful, but I haven't laid a hand on Milah since she married you."

Realization dawns on August. "The rumor was true... but we were wrong about the identity of the woman, it was her, it was always Milah. Whether she was promised to you or not changes nothing. Once you're dead. I will be able to marry Emma and make things right."

Killian roars, "You will stay away from my wife."

August enjoys the anger he sees on his former friend's face. "You will die knowing I will make her mine. Just like you enjoyed my wife's companionship, I will enjoy Emma's. Meet me at Deadman's Peak in an hour. Make sure your affairs are in order." He storms out, followed by Archie who only nods at Killian.

Killian knows he has some explaining to do. Bloody hell, once Emma's parents find out, they will beg her to dissolve the marriage. He runs his hand through his hair. There's no time to think of that. Perhaps he can ask his brother to take care of Emma if he doesn't survive.

Liam claps Killian's back, "Was this Milah the woman you were to marry when we first met?"

Killian admits his truth, "Aye, when I returned she was already married. I will not lie to you brother, I still wanted her and at the time, I would have taken her, but then I met Emma and from the start I felt a pull to her. Slowly she filled my dark heart with her light."

Liam nods, "Good, her father is a close friend and she is a lovely lass. Let's get ready for this. Do you have a weapon?"

"Aye," Killian responds as he goes to his desk and pulls a revolver from the top locked drawer.

"This is obviously not going to be a proper duel. Anything else you need to do before we leave?"

"I can't face Emma. If I do, I know I will not be able to leave her. How could I? I don't doubt my ability to win the duel, but how will I face her after? All I want is to be the kind of man she deserves."

Tink had never ran that fast before in her life. She used every back alley and road she could think of to make her journey shorter, only to open the office door and simply find Mr. Smee and Mr. Thomas. She had missed them! Mr. Thomas had kindly offered her some water, while she was catching her breath, and Mr. Smee recounted the tale for her.

She is about to leave to go give Emma the bad news when the door flies open for the third time. Emma rushes inside, followed by Cora. Mr. Thomas' demeanor changes rapidly at the sight of his old boss.

Tink confusedly asks Emma, "What are you doing here?"

"Where's Killian?"

Tink answers sadly, "We missed him and yes, that jerk was here. Mr. Smee said they all left to go to the duel."

Both Cora and Emma pale at the information.

Emma turns to Mr. Smee, "Where did they go? What's the location?"

Smee looks down, "I'm sorry ma'am, I don't know if I should. A duel is no place for a lady."

Emma turns to Mr. Thomas, "Michael, please, we need to know. We have to stop it and we are losing time."

Cora snaps as she looks between Smee and Mr. Thomas, "You idiots, we need to know now! If we don't stop it and my son dies, I will make it my mission in life to ruin the rest of your lives!"

Mr. Thomas turns to Emma, "Ma'am, they went to Deadman's Peak. Mr. Hopper left with Mr. Booth, and Captain Jones' brother went with him and so did Mr. Nemo."

Emma smiles gratefully at the man. "Thank you, Michael. So where's this place?"

Michael Thomas looks at Mr. Smee as to ask for permission.

"I can take you. It's hard to get to if you don't know the area," Smee reluctantly offers. "Ma'am, you have nothing to worry about. The Captain has never lost a duel," Smee tries to calm his captain's wife.

Emma gives him a small smile. "Thank you, Mr. Smee."

Deadman's Peak is an accurate name for the cliff. So many men had lost their lives here. The less honorable people simply kicked the deadman's body down the cliff into the welcoming waves of the sea. The proper duels followed protocol. Archie Hopper knew all of this, he also knew that Killian was the more experienced of the two brothers, and that once the truth was known, he would never forgive himself. His attention turns to a pacing August. "August, are you sure? Your father wouldn't want you to go through with this."

"Are you serious? That pirate-" he spits, "he deserves to die, he was never my friend."

"August, you can't be serious? I saw you two together when you were young. Your father's wish was for you two to look out for each other like brothers."

August glares at Archie. "Why are you here? It's obvious you care for him as if he was your son and yet you're here with me?"

"Killian has his brother Liam and Captain Nemo. You're alone, and although I don't agree with your desire for a duel, I feel like I owe it to your father. He was my best friend."

August turns to look at the small trail that leads to the peak. "Thank you," he whispers.

"August, are you sure you want this to be to the death?"

August sighs, "He deserves to die."

Archie's head falls in his failure to persuade a different outcome as a reluctant Killian arrives followed by Liam and Nemo.

Emma and Cora hear a single shot as they are closing in on Deadman's Peak. Emma picks up her pace as she tries to run up the cliff. She almost trips a few times in her haste to reach the top.

Emma arrives as Killian is about to take his shot.

"Killian!" she cries out as she hurries to reach his side.

All the men turn to her.

"Killian, you can't do this. Please, both of you have to stop!"

Killian's right arm was scratched by the bullet. Emma sobs with relief as she finally reaches him. She gently touches his face, blocking him from August's view. She slowly turns to face August and takes out the paper. "This," she waves the paper in the air, "is the reason why you two cannot do this. You are brothers, both sons of Brennan Booth, and this is proof."

August shakes his head. "No, you are lying! He is not my brother."

Emma slowly walks up to him. "This says otherwise. Look at it!"

August reaches for the paper, as a frozen Killian looks on.

August reads the paper and he recognizes his father's signature.

"This is a lie, lies to save him," he points at Killian, "this is not over!" He throws the paper on the ground and rushes past the group.

Killian and Emma hold onto each other as they make the trek down the cliff.

Liam, Captain Nemo, and Archie are behind them.

Cora had raced after August as fast as she could, but her son had ignored her pleas to listen to her.

Cora gets on the carriage with the help of Malcolm and heads to the Booth Estate hoping to find her son there.

Killian, Emma, Liam, Captain Nemo, Archie, and Smee head to the Jones home.

Emma's head rests on Killian's left shoulder.

August walks into the tavern and heads to the back. He waves at the barmaid and sits down. The chair next to him slides noisily on the ground. August turns to glare at the intruder.

"Mr. Booth, fancy seeing you in a place like this," Nottingham says as he sits down.

August smirks, "We have an enemy in common Sheriff. How do you feel about working together?"

@hookedonapirate

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​

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[loserholland]

𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟

Pairing ➺ Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Warning ➺ angst, fluff at the end though.

Word Count ➺ 1,855

Summary ➺ If only she could turn back time to the night they had a silly fight, if only she could say goodbye and how much she loved him.

A/N ➺  My request are open! They will be open till July 14 <3

Request ➺  hi can you do a Peter Parker x Stark! Reader where they fight and almost break up because she and Tony had a fight and never got to make up before he died and she’s pushing everyone away because of it? thanks!- anonbabe <3

✿ 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓣𝓪𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽 ✿ - @loveyathreethousand​, @taronxfiction, @killerqueen-gunpowdergelatine, @spideyyypeter @lou-la-lou @babebenhardy@rivervixenbaby @acklesholland @zabdisamor@keepingupwiththehollands@sweet666pea @sspider-parker@jackiehollanderr @iloveyou3000morgan @random-things-i-love @caro0512

☞  Masterlist  ☜

-

The news swept the nation by storm, Tony Stark is dead.

The moment Pepper had returned home she hoped her dad was right beside her, that he would tell (Y/N) and Morgan “I did it.” if only that happened. Instead Pepper returned home with a broken smile and tear stained cheeks. 

(Y/N) could see it in her eyes, she had just lost her dad. She had just lost her hero, the person who was there to make things better. She ran up to her room, sadness, anger and guilt ran through her veins she couldn’t hold it together. Could you blame her though? She had just lost her dad.

Pepper ran up to (Y/N) room opening her door to see she was sobbing uncontrollably, though (Y/N) wasn’t her daughter she still loved her like her own rushing over to her side to cradle her.

Someone once said, “It’s not the memories inside my head that drives me crazy. It’s the new memories without you that push me over the edge.”

Tony wouldn’t see (Y/N) off to prom, or when she graduated high school and was now moving onto college. It was those memories, those milestones she didn’t want to make. She didn’t want those memories to be filled without her dad.

-

Everybody wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn't always roll that way. Maybe this time. I'm hoping if you play this back... it's in celebration. I hope families are reunited.” Tony’s hologram spoke, everyone was gathered in the living room sitting and standing in silence. 

She was there the night he had figured out what Scott had told him could most likely work, she was there that night he would risk anything to get everyone back. When Tony had told (Y/N) he had lost Peter, it hurt him to see her so sad.

In those five years, the Stark’s welcomed Morgan though she was (Y/N) half sister she loved her nonetheless and would protect her at all cost. Morgan was the one to help (Y/N) find her happiness again. I guess the roll of being big sister came with tea parties and dress up. They’d make forts and binge on disney movies, every so often they’d sneak into the garage to see what their dad had brewing.

“I hope we get it back, in somewhat like a normal version of the planet has been restored, if there ever was such a thing.“

In which they did, thanks to Bruce. Though his arm is permanently damaged, he helped return those who we thought we lost. Those who disappeared into dust five years ago are now back and returned safely to their families.

“God, what a world. Universe now. If you told me 10 years ago that we weren't alone, let alone you know to this extent... I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised. But come on, you know. That epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play. And for better or worse, that's the reality Morgan's going to find a way to grow up in. So I found a private area to record a little greeting in case of an untimely death on my part. Not that death at any time is ever timely.”

(Y/N) closed her eyes lightly remembering her last words to her father, god if she could turn back time to apologize to him before he left. The night before the in Scott’s words, ‘time heist.” (Y/N) and Tony had a big fight, she had just gotten home from being out almost all night and not answering any of their calls.

She needed time to herself, weighing out the odds of will her dad make it out alive or not.

“This time travel thing that we are going to pull off tomorrow... it's got me scratching my head about the survivability of all this. But then again that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. What am I tripping for? Everything is going to work out exactly the way it's supposed to.”

The words replayed over and over again, the more guilt she had felt. “I hate you! You’re gonna leave me just like mom did!”

“I love you 3000.” she watched as Tony’s hologram disappeared, she tried to push back the memory of their last moment together. She hated herself for not even trying to wish him good luck the next day.

(Y/N) got up from her seat excusing herself before heading upstairs to her room. She heard murmurs of “Are you okay?” “What’s wrong?” instead she ignored them not wanting to talk to anyone.

The moment she got into her room she fell to her knee’s letting out a loud sob, she couldn’t hold it in anymore all her emotion’s came crashing down all at once. 

Peter rushed up the stairs and into her room kneeling down to take her into his arms, “Baby, hey I’m here just breathe.” she clenched onto his arm crying into her boyfriend’s chest as her world came crumbling down.

“Pete, I-I messed up. I messed up so bad.” (Y/N) sobbed as Peter’s heart clenched, he hated to see her this way. 

“I know you miss him, I miss him too.” Peter tried to reassure her, as (Y/N) pulled away from his chest she shook her head lightly keeping her gaze on her floorboards.

“You got to see him, you were there in his last moments Peter. You got to have your last words with him, he wasn’t even your father and you got to have your last word’s with him.” 

Peter brows pinched in confusion, (Y/N) never spoke to him this way. Maybe it was just because she was grieving, she knew he lost his parent’s at a young age along with his uncle Ben. She knew that Tony was a father figure in Peter’s life.

“(Y/N), I know you don’t mean that.” he tried to reason reaching forward to intwine his hand with her’s.

“But I do mean it Peter! I hate that you got to see him! He wasn’t even your father!”

“I know he wasn’t my father (Y/N)! But do you know how painful it was to see him take his last few breaths? The amount of pain that you’re feeling, we’re all feeling!” Peter got up from where he was sitting and headed for the door.

“You’re being really selfish right now (Y/N). I think we should take some time away from one another.”

He was right, god he was right. She was only thinking of her feelings, she didn’t take anyone else’s feelings into consideration. But when he said they should take some time away from one another, it broke her heart even more.

-

It’s been two weeks since the funeral, two weeks since she last saw Peter. She had spent most of her time in her room with the blinds shut leaving her in the dark. 

(Y/N) sighed getting up to see if Pepper was in her office, she needed someone to talk to, to get off whatever was weighing on her shoulder’s. She stood outside the door unsure if she should enter or not, she paced back and forth lifting her clenched hand to knock yet she didn’t.

“(Y/N), I know you’re out there come in.” Pepper announced pulling her attention away from the computer screen watching as (Y/N) entered sheepishly. She could tell (Y/N) had been crying for hours on end.

“How are you feeling?” Pepper questioned, she heard the fight her and Peter had. The two haven’t spoken to each other in two weeks, she wasn’t okay.

“Not the greatest. I-I just wanted to apologize for my behavior, I didn’t exactly have my final goodbye with dad. I said the most awful words, and now that’s all he’ll remember me by. I just want to turn back time to that night, to apologize and to have a proper goodbye-” her voice cracked lightly looking up at Pepper with teary eyes.

“I told Peter that Tony wasn’t even his father, how he got to see dad before he took his final rest. I hurt him because I was feeling selfish now I feel like we’re gonna break up.” Pepper stood from her sit and walked over to hug (Y/N), god she’s been through so much in the past five years.

Pepper pulled out a letter that was addressed to (Y/N), something Tony had wrote the night after their huge fight. He instructed Pepper to give it to her when the time was right. Safe to say the time was right now.

-

Dear (Y/N),

 My dear sweet (Y/N). You may be reading this right now and might have already seen my message, I am now dead. I know the past five years have been hectic and full of unanswered questions. I know I may not be here with you anymore, but with your smarts (which you got from me) you can continue my legacy. You could be the next Iron woman, yeah it had a nice ring to it. (If you hadn’t caught on by now, I made you a suit and it’s embedded into the ring). I remember holding you in my arms the day you were born, I knew I’d protect you at all cost. When Thanos happened, I thought I lost you and Pepper. I wouldn’t know how to survive if that happened. I forgive you for what you said, I understand where you were coming from. Don’t blame yourself okay? Don’t ever blame yourself, trust me I know how it feels. What you and underoos have, though I never approved at first, is special. Hold onto that kid, I know you two will make the world proud as you continue my legacy. I love you so much, remember that. 

-

(Y/N) knocked on Peter’s bedroom window, watching as he blinked a few times to see she had a suit that was just like her dad’s. She pressed the ring on her finger causing the suit to dissolve. Peter quickly opened up the window allowing (Y/N) in.

She wrapped her arms around his neck standing on her toes as she rest her head in the crook of his neck, “I-I’m so sorry Peter, I’m sorry for being selfish and not taking anyone else’s feeling into consideration. It was wrong of me to say he wasn’t your father. I-I just came here to make thing’s right, though I understand if you want to break up with me.”

Peter shushed her lightly breaking away from their hug to place his hands on her cheek, brushing away the freshly fallen tears, “I’m not breaking up with you, I could never do that. I love you too much to break up with you. Before Tony took his final rest, he told me to take care of you, to not break you heart. Or else he’d haunt me beyond the grave-- with that being said. I love you, and I forgive you.”

Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings in heaven. Where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down to let us know their happy.

[sciencelings-writes]

Last Man Standing

Summary: I wanted to write another endgame/ infinity war fix it where instead of Peter dusting, It’s Tony. shit goes a little crazy from there. 8.7k words, get ready fam. AO3 LINK

Peter sat in the guardian’s ship, frozen in place. He was in shock. Because the worst thing that could happen, happened again. 

He was gone, Mr. Stark was gone. Tony was gone. Disintegrating into dust after a single glance into Peter’s eyes. No goodbye. Not like Ben. Uncle Ben had moments more than Tony did. Bleeding out. Peter didn’t know which was worse, A father figure dying in front of him, slowly, being able to hear his heartbeat slow and stop or his new father figure disappearing without even a chance to say a word. Just look into his eyes, looking worried but not having any time to think about it. 

Peter had time to think about it. Too much time. He had worked with the blue cyborg woman to repair the ship for a few days. At least then he could distract himself. But she was working on getting them to earth, and he could only think. Or sleep. But sleeping was so much worse. 

He had been zoning out for god knows how long. Hours? Days? It felt like an eternity and he didn’t feel like he was in his body at a certain point. He was only shaking out of it because of Nebula’s, the blue woman’s monotone voice. 

“You need to eat.” She ordered simply. He took the space food out of her hand and muttered a thanks. Peter’s normally talkative demeanor was snuffed out after they lost. Nebula wasn’t much of a talker to begin with and they worked together out of necessity. Peter would always be thankful that she didn’t leave him alone on the planet even though she totally could have. 

Once she got autopilot fixed and had no need to stay in the cockpit, she seemed to always be near him. Not close but within her silent gaze. He would try to fill his time by tinkering with extra parts and pacing around. 

They had their real conversation a full week into flying in space. While they were frantically trying to upgrade the air recycling system so they wouldn’t die days away from earth. They had already run out of food and Peter was growing weaker but air was a little more important. 

“Was he your father?” Nebula said dryly as Peter took out the power source from his Iron spider suit. It was a tiny arc reactor hidden in the spider on his chest, made out of nanites. 

“Uh, kinda… not really. He’s my mentor but he is… was kinda like a dad to me. You know, teaching me how to be a hero and scolding me when I was being dumb…” His voice was a little hoarse from not being used and from not getting enough water in attempt to conserve it. 

“You are lucky. My father was the one we were fighting.” 

“Ouch, that’s rough. I thought my luck with father figures was bad…” This managed to lift the sides of Nebula’s mouth for the hint of a smile. It was gone faster than it came, she didn’t seem used to small talk. 

“I’m sorry about what happened to him.” She grumbled as they worked. 

“It happened to your friends too and half of the universe if I remember. I don’t even know if we are the lucky half.” 

“We aren’t.” Nebula muttered. Peter knew she was right. It was much harder to live than it was to die. 

Eventually, the work was done and they could rest. The would probably have a few more days of air but they both knew they wouldn’t get to earth fast enough. If they had to die, they would die together and Peter would really rather not die but if he had to die, at least he wasn’t alone. 

He tried to hang out with Nebula more, explain earth things, show her how to play games like thumb wars, where she almost broke his hand. She would indulge him, knowing they were not far from suffocating to death. Or starving to death… or dehydrating to death. Whichever one happened first. 

Peter got weaker and weaker without the food to sustain him. Nebula had given him her last ration. They were out of fuel, out of water, hours away from being out of air, out of food and out of hope. 

They were still so many days away from earth when it got to the point where Peter couldn’t even stand. Nebula sat with him. She even picked him up and placed him on the co-pilots chair so that he could look at the stars instead of the dirty metal. 

He was so so tired. It was probable that if he closed his eyes, he would never open them again. If he was hydrated enough to have tears come to his eyes, they would be. They were so close to death and so far away from home. And he was so tired… 

His eyes closed, for what he thought would be the last time and he wondered what he would see. Would he see Ben? Tony? Would his mom and dad be up there? Maybe Nebula would see her sister again. Maybe there would be nothing at all. The thought made him strangely at peace. The pain would be over, the sorrow wouldn’t weigh him down, it would all be over. 

That’s when a bright light apeared on the other side of his eyelids. He peeked them open, squinting his eyes as it had been so long since he had seen something so bright. Was this it? Was he dead? 

The light faded slightly and revealed a blonde woman smiling. Was she an angel? Peter was delirious but it was a nice thought. Maybe she would take him to wherever Ben and Tony were. 

She didn’t. She flew under their ship and carried it home. Peter fought to stay awake, he tried to call out to Nebula to tell her about the angel but his voice wasn’t very loud. He smiled knowing that they were saved. 

They landed near Avengers Compound, there were people waiting for them. The glowing angel woman had to help Peter out of the ship but he made it. He had never been more excited to breathe in his life. 

Captain America ran up to them. Before he could say anything Peter whimpered out a few words. 

“I’m sorry… I lost him.” 

“We lost,” Cap said sorrowfully. As if Peter couldn’t already tell. Pepper and Rhodey came running after Steve, they weren’t as fast as a super-soldier but they had much more reason to run towards the ship. Tony could’ve been on it. The thought made a ping of pain ripple through Peter’s chest. 

“Did Tony-” Pepper started. She didn’t finish. She saw the look in Peter’s eyes and she knew. She put a hand over her mouth to muffle a sob and Rhodey tried to look composed but Peter could see him trembling. 

“I’m so sorry…” Peter wheezed before starting a brief coughing fit that made him blackout for a moment. It was kind of spooky.  The glowing angel woman still held him up and advised that they take him to the med bay. 

That was the last thing he heard before everything went dark, thankfully, not for the last time. 

***

He woke up after a terrible dream. By the time his eyes were open, he had already forgotten it but he still felt his heart race and sweat, the moisture of fear, in several uncomfortable places. He noticed the sweat and looked at the optimistic side. He was hydrated. He had enough water in his body that he could sweat. 

Then he noticed everything else. He had needles and tubes everywhere they could medically stick him. His throat hurt, probably from having a feeding tube shoved down it. He had an IV and as many monitors that would fit on his malnourished body. The only other person in the room was Pepper. She was on her tablet and he noticed that there were slight shadows under her eyes. He knew he looked a whole lot worse though. 

“Ms. Potts?” He said weakly. She looked up quickly and plastered on a fake smile. 

“Hey, Pete. Did you sleep well?” 

“Uh, Yeah.” he lied, “Did Aunt May…” his voice shook as he left the question hanging, suspecting the answer. 

“I’m sorry Peter, she didn’t make it…” he looked down and avoided her gaze. Preparing himself did nothing and it was like the knife that was left by Tony’s death and it was now being twisted. In other words, it fucking sucked. 

“This is a pretty sucky fifty percent huh…” Peter muttered after a wet sob. 

“Yeah… you could say that.” Pepper smiled sadly as she wiped a few tears from her own eyes. 

“Who else did we lose?” Peter asked, desperate for a distraction. 

“The kind of Wakanda, his sister came with us to the compound, she wants to be part of the solution. Uh, Sam Wilson, you know, falcon, Nick Fury, Ant-Man…” she went on, naming everyone from celebrities to anyone she thought he would know. Including his friends. 

The next few days were the worst of his life. He had to deal with everyone he was close to being dusted and being unable to get out of bed. The later was much less painful but it still bothered him. It made him feel useless in addition to absolutely destroyed and depressed. 

Eventually, enough was enough. He took out everything except for the IV as he was still dehydrated and could roll it around pretty easily. He carefully got himself into his wheelchair and rolled himself to where his enhanced senses heard the somber avengers gathering. 

Peter was surprised but not that surprised to see a raccoon in clothes in the room with the remaining heroes. He’s seen aliens, it wasn’t that weird to see a talking raccoon with a familiar accent. 

“Kid, what are you doing out and about?” Rhode said, looking mildly concerned. 

“I got sick of just sitting on my ass.” He grumbled. “Now, does anyone have any idea what we’re going to do or did I just exchange sitting on my ass with access to a comfortable bed for sitting on my ass in a room full of depression?” 

“If we find Thanos and get the infinity stones back, we can theoretically bring everyone back.” Doctor Banner said calmly. He ignored Peter’s grumpy mood, everyone dealt with major tragedies differently.  

“We couldn’t keep the stones from him, now he has the most powerful weapon in the galaxy and we have half the ranks with some of our best indistinguishable from the sand on a beach. And you want to go back and try again. Like he can’t just snap his fingers and have you join the rest of the universe. Yeah, that’s pretty stupid.” Peter spat as he settled near the holograms listing the people who were dusted. 

“Well, do you have any other ideas?” Cap sighed. 

“Yeah, anything but that.” Peter groaned. “You’ll all get killed and then the universe will have no hope. Maybe we can contain the stones or something.” 

“We wouldn’t be able to do any tests, if it doesn’t work we’re all dead.” Doctor Banner shrugged. 

“Tony Stark’s nanotech sheild deflected a direct blast from the purple infinity stone. That’s at least a start.” 

“The purple one… that’s the power stone kid! So this dead guy deflected a hit from the power stone with his tech? I’d like to get a hold of that…” The raccoon exclaimed. 

“You know, it’s really too bad that this all couldn’t have been avoided…” Peter looked directly at Captain America. He didn’t know why he was consumed with such irrational anger because he would never act this way normally. His line had been crossed weeks ago when Mr. Stark died in front of him. He was just at a point where he didn’t give a fuck. 

“What are you even talking about kid?” Steve raised an annoyingly calm eyebrow. 

“If only everyone was all together to fight him at once rather than separated and weaker. We almost got the gauntlet off with only like seven people, imagine if it was all of you guys too…” Peter hissed. “You know Tony warned you about this. He knew something was coming and nobody listened.” 

“Ultron was made because of his paranoia.” 

“So was the Vision. He was our superman and the only being I would trust with the infinite power that he was given. It really sucks because if you all just stuck together and you know, didn’t become war criminals because you had your heads so far up Mr. perfects ass, Tony would still be alive, along with all of my friends and the only family I had left.” Peter gradually started to yell. He had just held too much in for too long and apparently now was the time to let it out. 

Most infuriating of all, Steve just stood there. He didn’t try to argue with Peter, he didn’t make any kind of retort. He just stood there with a blank expression. 

“If you had any sort of trust in him, he would still be alive!” Peter ripped his IV out of his arm, it was just in the way and it had become one of the things that were just holding him back. He shakily stood up in his adrenaline-filled fury. 

“Whoa kid-” Rhodey put a comforting hand on Peter’s shoulder but it did nothing to hold him back. 

“No matter how strong and mighty you think you are, you’re nothing compared to the guy that killed him. Don’t let your fucking ego get in the way of the fate of the universe! A fucking wizard with fucking magic couldn’t take this guy down! You’re just full of steroids and misplaced self-confidence.” Peter limped his way to Steve with so much rage in his eyes that the man several inches taller backed away a little. “ So yeah, I’ve got nothing for you. No plan, no ideas, no trust, LIAR!” he had an accusing finger stabbing at Steve’s chest. 

This, of course, was the exact time he started to feel light-headed. He stumbled back a little and barely caught his footing. After not standing for so long, thirty full seconds made his useless body want to give up. 

He could sense angel lady and Rhodey being ready to catch him when he inevitably fell. He looked at Cap one last time, who also seemed like he was worried that Peter was going to fall. 

“I… I don’t feel so good-” His voice shook, less than a second later, his vision turned black and he collapsed to the floor. 

The next time he woke up, it was days later. He physically felt as good as new but that changed when he was told what happened while he was sedated. The Avengers came back with Thanos’ blood on their hands but no infinity stones. Thanos had the last laugh when he used the stones to destroy the stones. He destroyed the only thing that could get everyone back and it finally sunk in what happened. They were all gone. And unless they had some reality-defying solution, it would be for good. 

***

FIVE YEARS LATER

***

Peter had moved on. Or at least he thought he did. For the first year after the snap, he put all his effort into finding a solution. He didn’t find one. He had to move on. Without MJ or Ned or even Flash, he didn’t have a reason to stay in the same grade. He finished high school early. He sped through college and when he turned eighteen, he revealed his identity to the world and became an official avenger. 

He also became best friends with the new black panther and queen of Wakanda. They were both incredibly smart and the same age and were enhanced with the theming of an animal. She was the only person he could feel normal with. Well, It started out as best friends, it evolved a little beyond that. 

They became an unstoppable duo, superheroing and not superheroing. They made a pretty good team in smash. Shuri always played Samus and Peter always played Kirby. Peter visited Wakanda when he couldn’t stand living in the city, they worked endless hours in her labs and alternated music choices to blast at ungodly volumes. It was some of the best times of his life. 

He moved past Thanos and he finally felt kind of stable. That was until Scott Lang came back from the quantum realm with ideas that have already been thought of. Peter and Shuri had already tried time travel to get their loved ones back but for some reason, this was different. Scott came to them. Most people wouldn’t come to them, they were often underestimated for their intelligence and sometimes ego was a larger factor than actual intellect. 

Ant-Man came to Peter and Shuri because right now, they were his best bet to get everyone back. At the moment, they were probably the smartest people on the planet. Sure it wasn’t as taboo as when they were teenagers but they were still too young to be respected as tech geniuses.

But Peter wasn’t ready to change everything again. He had finally found peace after years of trauma and loss. Of course he wanted everyone back but he didn’t know if trying again would just make everything worse. The world had moved on and accepted what happened. It had been over for years, reopening old wounds, potentially for nothing, did not sound fun. 

That’s why he said no at first. Even the idea of Thanos still scared the shit out of him. Thanos was dead. At least this version of Thanos was. If they went back in time to get the stones… Thanos would still be alive. Peter thought he had seen the last of that dried eggplant asshole. 

He worked on the time travel simulations after Shuri had gone to bed. Scott was staying in a guest room in the palace and Peter was all alone, with barely any hope, trying to solve time travel. Then he did it. At two AM when he was about to give up, he did it. The simulation worked. With the information Scott had about the quantum realm, they could use it to time travel and actually control where they went. 

He could get them back… May, Tony, Ned, MJ… all of them. He could bring them back… 

He spent the rest of the night crying with joy until he fell asleep on his desk. For once his sleep was peaceful. He dreamed of seeing them again. 

***

“I figured it out.” He brought up, out of nowhere the first time they were all gathered for a hologram meeting with the avengers all around the world and the few in space. “Time travel. I figured it out. We can get the stones from the past and use them now to bring everyone back.” 

There was silence for a moment as everyone thought about what he said. 

“You… figured out time travel?” Natasha said and if Peter wasn’t mistaken, she sounded impressed. 

“At least the method. It will take a few days to make the actual time machine. But it is possible and my simulations have been successful. We only have enough Pym particles for nine of us round trip excluding two tests. We’ll have to split up into teams to collect the stones so that we can get to them all. We can discuss everything at the compound after the machine is built so… avengers assemble I guess.” Peter said calmly, but he couldn’t keep a smile from his face. 

“Well, you heard Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble.” 

***

Peter decided not to go on the time-traveling adventure. They would need tech geniuses on both sides, just so nothing would go wrong. Shuri would go with Professor Hulk, Captain America, and Ant-Man to New York 2012, Carol would go with Rhodey to get the power stone from some planet in the past, punk Hawkeye and Black widow were going for the soul stone, and hobo Thor with Rocket, going to Asgard for the reality stone. The hulk had managed to get Thor out of his hole in New Asgard. 

Hawkeye had tested the time machine by going into the past and saving some enhanced kids’ life. Someone named Piedro. He was apparently the magic girl’s brother. Well, she better be thankful when they bring her back from the dust.   

“Everyone ready?” Peter said as he flipped all the switches and pressed all the buttons that he needed to get the large time machine set up. The avengers came into the room wearing their black and red quantum nano suits sans helmets. 

The vibranium gauntlet that was to hold the infinity stones was waiting to be used beside him. It was hard to accept that for him, it was only going to be a minute before all of the stones were together. They were so close to bringing everyone back that it was almost impossible for Peter to wrap his head around it. 

The Avengers took their places on the platform with Shuri bringing up the rear. Before she started on the steps, she leaned down to where he was sitting and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She smirked at how red his face turned. Natasha snorted at his reaction. Rocket scoffed something that Peter couldn’t quite hear. 

“Stay safe your highness. And uh, I guess everyone else.” Peter smiled shyly. “Okay, sending you all off in 3… 2...1!” He twisted a nob and everything started to glow. In a flash, everyone was gone. 

“And they should be back in… 3… 2… 1!” He talked to himself as a flash of light flooded the room and everyone was back. Well, almost everyone. Everyone’s helmets disappeared and Natasha had tears in her eyes. Clint wasn’t in the group that came back. There was a moment of silence between all of the Avengers and Shuri jogged towards Peter and almost suffocated him in a hug.

“Woah woah, what happened? You okay?” He said worriedly. 

“It’s fine, there were just a few bumps in the road.” She sighed. She looked a little bruised and had a few bloody wounds, nothing too bad though. 

“It was a sacrifice…” Natasha said weakly. “It was the only way to get the stone…” 

The room went quiet once again. They weren’t prepared for a casualty. 

***

 They would mourn Clint later, they had all the stones and could finally get everyone back. Peter’s veins were filled with adrenaline. He had never been so excited in his life. He wanted everyone back so fucking bad, but so much had changed. Would they even recognize him now? He was in his early twenties, he had grown so much. Physically and as a person. God, he was probably taller than Tony now… 

“I’ll do it.” Carol interrupted his train of thought. Oh yeah, they were trying to decide who would do the snap. “I can absorb the energy that tries to damage me. I’m the safest option.” She said definitively. Thor and Professor Hult seemed to try to argue but Carol talked them down. It wouldn’t hurt her as it would hurt them. She was practically made of infinity stone energy, if anything, it could make her stronger. 

Peter had used an enclosed robot arm to place the stones in the dark vibranium gauntlet and it was ready to be used. Carol picked it up and put it on impatiently. They had already waited five years for this moment, none of them wanted to wait any longer. 

Arcs of multi-colored light grew on Carol’s arm, she didn’t even wince. She closed her eyes and snapped. There was no more lead up, she just did it. 

Peter was the only one that felt an immediate change. He felt what he could only describe as a sigh of relief. It was like all the background noise he tended to tune out was doubled. He just felt the presence of people. It worked. Oh god, it worked. After all this time, they did it. Holy fuck.

It wasn’t a dramatic moment, it was just something that they couldn’t wait to be done. There was no music to confirm that everyone was back, they just had to trust that it worked. It only took a moment for the changes to prove that they happened. 

Peter’s phone rang. He whipped it out at the speed of light and sobbed a little when he saw who it was. He didn’t hesitate to answer. 

“Peter? Is that you? Can you please tell me what’s going on?” May’s voice sounded a little bit shaky. It took Peter a moment to find his voice. 

“Yeah, yeah, it’s me… It’s a little bit of a long story.” He quickly wiped a tear from his eye and shuffled out of the room of avengers. He didn’t what them staring at him. They probably also had a few calls to make. Including one to Clint’s family. 

“Why does your voice sound so weird? Are you sick?” May asked. 

“My voice is not what you should be focusing on. A whole lot has happened. You might want to sit down…” He said as he did the same. He knew May would be distraught for missing out on his life but it’s not like she had a choice. 

“Peter!” Carol’s voice came frantically from the other room. “Kid! Get in the quinjet!” 

“Sorry May, I’ve got to go. I’ll explain everything later!” Peter knew that if Carol was panicking, something must have really gone wrong. He ended the call and jumped up to sprint outside to the quinjet. He could vaguely sense the rest of the avengers following him, with a little bit of emphasis on Rocket’s scampering on all fours like the animal he looked like. 

Carol scrambled to the pilot’s seat and everyone, even those who could fly independently, filed into the dark jet. 

“Okay, can someone tell me what the hell is going on now?” Peter groaned as he stood behind Nebula who was in the co-pilots chair. 

“Sorry kid, I guess I got ahead of myself.” Carol sighed. “I just wanted to bring everyone back, I didn’t think that the black order would come back too.” 

“Including Thanos or not including Thanos?” Peter’s voice shook and may have risen a few octaves. 

“We don’t know, but their ships are gathering above New York City.” 

“We still have the infinity stone right? You can just dust them can’t you?” 

“The gauntlet is practically unusable.  Even made of vibranium it couldn’t stand the strength of the infinity stones.”

“You absorbed the first snap, right? Maybe you could just hold the stones or something.” He said frantically as they took off and headed to the city at full speed. It would only take them a few minutes to get there. 

“I almost couldn’t contain the power from the first one with the gauntlet. If I used them without it, I’d explode.”

“Then explode near their ships,” Peter suggested.  

“I’ll think about it.” She snorted in response. “I can deal with the ships and hopefully the black order is easily knocked off of the playing board. We need people dealing with civilians.” 

“I’ll go. My weapons didn’t do much to these guys last time…” Rhodey said. 

“Me too.” Natasha nodded. “Unless you want me to sneak on their ship and take hold of their weapons. I can do that too.” 

“Can I come?” Antman asked as his mask flipped on his head. “I can help with small stuff!” 

“Sure, go for it,” Carol said, accidentally becoming the leader instead of the other captain. Neither of them really seemed to care. 

Peter stayed quiet as they discussed plans, he thought this was all over… He thought Thanos was gone but apparently, he might not be and that scared the shit out of him. Only minutes ago he was pretty damn happy that they brought everyone back but now it could all be undone again and Peter really wasn’t ready. 

Okay maybe he was panicking a little but not one was noticing so it didn’t matter. Maybe he was just overthinking it, they had everyone back, it wouldn’t be like last time. 

“Spidey, were you listening?” Shuri seemed to realize that Peter was having a little bit of trouble but didn’t point it out. 

“Uh, kinda. You should repeat it just to make sure…” 

“We’re splitting up the stones since we can’t exactly use them. Carol is taking the power stone since she’s the only one that can hold it, I’m taking the mind stone because I might be able to figure it out, Cap gets time, yadda yadda yadda. You get the Soul Stone. The guardian of the soul stone said that it was different from the other stones so we need someone special to protect it. Someone fast and with a danger sense. Anyway, we’re about there. Just make sure the stones are split up so that we can defeat Thanos without them. Got it? Cool.” Shuri rambled at a speed that only Peter could follow along with.

“Cool.” Peter put on his web-shooters and activated the nanites inside them. The nanotech left their containment and covered his body in his suit. He had adjusted the design of the iron spider suit and even got vibranium added to the mix. There were several lines and points in the suit that had a slight indigo glow from the metal but Peter kept the bright red sections. For the aesthetic. It was the perfect amalgamation of starktech and Shuri’s Wakandan technology with Peter’s own designs sprinkled throughout. 

Carol gave him the little orange stone. It seemed too small to be one of the most powerful items in the galaxy. Even through his suit, it was warm. He could feel it’s energy. He put it in a pocket in his web-shooter. Normally the place had extra web fluid but he forgot to refill it. It managed to be the perfect size, thank god. 

Then he remembered that people were sacrificed for this little glowing rock. Hawkeye… Nebulas sister… This tiny stone definitely was different than the others. The other ones could be stollen, this one had to be paid, and the price was a little steep by Peter’s standards. 

He really hoped that the soul stone wasn’t affected by inflation and that it was always a soul for a soul. Maybe a thousand years ago it was a different cool rock for the magic glowing stone. Like a geode from a national park gift shop for the soul stone. He realized that he may have zoned out a little. 

The quinjet hovered above the city and the avengers got ready to jump out. Flyers automatically paired up with non-fliers. Nebula stayed in the cockpit to man the jet while Carol paired herself up with Natasha. Rhodey had Rocket snarling on his shoulder with a gun as big as he was. 

One by one, the pairs of avengers leaped out of the quinjet. Except for Captain America, who didn’t need anyone to jump with, he didn’t even have a parachute. From what Peter knew about Steve, that was completely normal. 

Peter put his arm safely around Shuri’s waist and jumped out. Shuri whooped like she was on a rollercoaster as if they weren’t going into battle with a resurrected intergalactic warlord. It’s not like he hasn’t taken her web-slinging before, in much safer circumstances. 

The city was smoldering and civilians were running as far away as they could. Tripping on debris on the way. Peter spotted people stuck in a crumbling building and as if they had a neurological connection, he and Shuri went to work. 

There was a reason they were paired up so often. They were an extremely fluid team that was constantly on the same page. They never had to tell each other what to do, they just knew what they were doing. Okay, they weren’t perfect but they had worked together for years and they knew each other pretty well. Shuri usually depended on Peter to catch her when she fell and he usually did. 

This was why when Peter threw Shuri into the window of the building, she didn’t swear at him. With both of his hands free and Shuri in the building with the trapped people, he was able to make a large net with his webs. Shuri helped the family jump into the webbing for Peter to escort to the ground, to run as far away from the carnage as fast as they could. 

They carried on like this, staying away from the main fight and helping everyone that needed to be helped until a flash of light caught Peter’s attention. He and Shuri were on a building only a few buildings away from where the flash came from. 

It was him. It was Thanos. Below him was Steve, bloody and bruised and broken. He looked dead but Peter hoped otherwise. The glowing green gem hovered in between the mad titan’s massive fingers. One stone down… five to go. Peter shuttered at the thought. The time stone was one of the worst ones for him to get first. Well, any of them would be terrible for him to have but Time was a really bad start. 

The purple Hitler alien grinned smugly and sent the black order out to find the rest of the stones. He did so, very dramatically. 

“We need to split up,” Peter said urgently.

“That’s what I was going to suggest. We’ve already been risking it with two infinity stone so close together. I wouldn’t be surprised if that asshole can smell them like a dog.” She hissed. She took a precious moment that they could’ve spent running by giving him an urgent kiss. “For luck?” she suggested as she jumped off of the roof. Peter rolled his eyes but started web-slinging the opposite way. He could already tell that he would need that good luck. 

For the next half hour, everything was so chaotic that Peter wasn’t sure he could perceive it all. He was pretty sure that he pulled someone from under the debris of a collapsed building, he saved a kid from space Voldemorts telepathic attacks that were missing whatever avenger he was currently after. 

One by one, Thanos collected the stones, whether through his minions or himself. He took down each avenger, one at a time. If they had a stone or not. They lost Space, Reality, Mind, and Power. Peter became the last Avenger with an infinity stone. He became the last avenger standing. 

When he saw the yellow flash of light, he knew Shuri was caught and he stopped whatever he was doing. He cried out a few choice expletives, Hoping that the bastard had only taken the stone and not her life. 

Peter was the last one left. If Captain Marvel couldn’t kick this guys ass, there was no way that he could. Everyone was down except for him. That was a lot of pressure. Not many things could distract him from what was happening in front of him but something managed. 

There was a burning pain through his wrist, where he hid the soul stone. It didn’t distract him long, he could ignore it for a minute. But he had to do something. He was the only one that could do something. 

So he stepped out into the light and let his nanite mask retract. He wanted his face to show. He wanted to breathe the burning air and he wanted to show Thanos that he wasn’t afraid. This was odd because he had been scared to death of Thanos for half a decade, to a point where he had panic attacks over it, but now, all he felt was rage. A hot burning rage that ignited his veins. 

He snuck around the broken city in complete silence. His plan could only work if he had the element of surprise. He couldn’t go against all of the black order and Thanos at once. After an eternity of obsessively controlling his breathing and every movement he made, he was in position. He was right behind Thanos. 

He took a breath. A moment to collect his thoughts before shit went down and he was going to get hurt. In… and out... In … and out. He lept into action. 

In a flash, he flipped over the titan and grabbed blindly at the gems already in the gauntlet. Good news, he managed to get one. Bad news, it was the power stone and Thanos grabbed him by the throat before he was able to get away. His arm burned with the violet energy as Thanos inspected him with a chuckle that only a bad guy could utter. 

“They gave a child the soul stone?” 

“I know I look young but come on, I don’t look that young.” He wheezed and wasted what little breath he had. His arm still burned but it was fading, it was as if the soul stone and the power stone were canceling each other out.

“It is impressive how long you were able to evade us, but my will is inevitable, the fight is done now. Give me the stones or I will rip them from your corpse.” The titan said calmly as if he was actually giving Peter the choice and not threatening to murder him.  

“I don’t think I will.” Peter rasped. “Jesus Christ, if you let me breathe I might be able to actually talk to you… is this normally how negotiations work with you?” Peter noticed his fist holding the power stone and in the same hand as the soul stone was starting to heat up. Not burning destructively like it was before, but with power that was starting to course through him. 

Thanos tightened his grip and raised Peter to the sky, cutting off his air and displaying him thousands of feet in the air. That’s when he started to hear a distantly familiar noise. Like a sparkler on the fourth of July multiplied by a million. He could see golden sparks out of the corners of his eyes. Thanos’s expression tightened but he didn’t react to the portals that Peter knew were starting to appear on top of buildings around him.

“Kid?” A painfully familiar voice yelled from somewhere behind him. He was starting to blackout, his lungs begged painfully for air but he couldn’t even gasp. “Let go of him!” 

Peter smiled in between dry gasping like a fish out of water. He saw his fist glowing the orange of the soul stone with a fiery intensity. He closed his eyes and reached out to the soul stone. He finally understood. The little glowing rock was alive. The Soul was the most alive thing in the universe. And it was just as angry as Peter was. 

Peter’s vision went white. Not because Thanos had successfully choked him to death, but because of the blast. The energy from the soul stone in contact with the power stone caused a concentrated white-hot explosion that didn’t even affect Peter. He wasn’t blown back, he just landed on the roof of the building as Thanos and the black order all around him were blown away with ease. 

He frantically turned around, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of Tony but his spider-sense went off before he could see his long lost mentor. He jumped off the skyscraper before a blast of energy could catch him off guard. 

The soul stone led him to the fallen avengers which were all thankfully, not dead. Peter reached out his hand and the cloudy orange energy lazily floated into their bodies like fog. Wounds faded and gasps of breath echoed from around them. Once Peter knew they were okay, he left. 

He swung up to a vacant rooftop and took his first full look at the reinforcements. There were at least four armies, the Wakandan army led by T’Challa, The Asgardian Army led by Valkarie, a mess of aliens behind the resurrected guardians of the galaxy and a few hundred wizards in matching robes, led by Doctor Strange. That wasn’t even including all of the undusted avengers and other heroes that stood at the front lines. 

Then, Peter saw a glint of red fly out of the corner of his eye and smiled as he turned his head towards it. Moments later, Tony landed in a fresh bleeding-edge suit, his helmet melted back faster than Peter thought that it could. 

“Hey, Mr. Stark. It’s been a little while.” Peter was staying cool for now but he was so close to crying. Tony looked exactly like he did before, maybe a little smaller but that was probably on Peter’s side. He did grow a few inches over the years. 

“Peter? Is that really you? You look so… mature.” The man joked and raised his eyebrow. 

“I better be, It’s been five years after all... You have been gone for a hot second.” Peter grinned, just glad to see Tony alive and in front of him. He could hear Tony’s heartbeat and it was the most beautiful sound. 

“Five years? That’s why you’re so tall.” Peter laughed at Tony’s reaction and couldn’t restrict himself any longer, he hugged his old man. 

“I missed you… you don’t even know…” It took a moment but Tony hugged back, just as tightly. 

“Thank god someone did, That strange guy seemed rather annoyed that I was with them on Titan.” 

“Wait, shit,” Peter pulled back from the hug, “We’re in the middle of a fight. Hugs later okay, the big bad guy still has four singularities that are super powerful by themselves.” 

“Yeah, that sucks. Want a piggyback ride to the middle of it?” Tony offered as his helmet folded back on.  

“Sure.” Peter shrugged. Moments later, he stood on Iron Mans back like he was a magic carpet. Moments later he dove off to confront Thanos again. This time, he was aware of the power that he held. 

The only thing life really needed was a soul, and Peter had the essence of the soul in his hand. No time, no reality, no mind would change the fact that he was in control of life. That’s why it was the only stone that needed a sacrifice, that’s why it required the ultimate sacrifice. Because it was more powerful than the power gem. It was alive and it was angry. It had a will and a connection to every living thing. Including Thanos. 

Thanos, in all his strength and intelligence, was not immune to the soul stones rage. No time, no space, no reality, no mind could save him. 

It was almost disappointing how easy it was. So anticlimactic. The raging energy ate through the titan like he was paper in a flame. The armor didn’t matter, the stones didn’t matter. In moments, he was gone. After Thanos was defeated, the black order was taken down easily. 

It was over. It was finally over. Everything was back to normal. 

***

Okay, maybe not back to normal but families were reunited, friends were back from the dead and every other problem seemed pretty minuscule. That’s why, after everyone had a nap, the Avengers had a massive party at the compound. 

Everyone’s families were invited, May was there, Carol joyfully hung out with her cat goose, Maria, Monica, and Nick Fury, Sam Wilsons mom was there, she even took the time to make cookies, the Wakandan royal family was there and literally hundreds more people. Everyone was glad to be alive and there was an incredible amount of catching up that needed to be done. 

Both T’Challa, May, and Tony were pretty stunned to see Shuri and Peter together but after a moment of thought, it really made sense. 

Rocket was crying as he hugged a tree teenager and denied the crying bit. He also seemed happy that the rest of his friends were alive, except Nebula’s sister but most of his friends were undusted. 

Thor was still kind of glum but a few conversations with Professor Hulk and Valkarie got him laughing heartily. His family may be gone but he still had his friends. 

Peter reunited with Ned and MJ, which was weird at first because he was older than them, and MJ didn’t know that he was Spider-Man, she suspected but she didn’t really know. It didn’t take long for them to realize that Peter was still Peter even though he was a little taller now. He was still the same nerd who had to refrain from giving away Star Wars spoilers from movies and TV shows they didn’t know existed. 

It wasn’t all good though, while Ned and MJ took advantage of being around every superhero they had ever idolized, May lowkey started flirting with Carol, and Tony was being hogged by Pepper and Happy, Peter stook in a corner, still trying to accept that everything was fixed. 

Even though everyone was back now, he still felt odd. He guessed that everything didn’t just suddenly resolve after everyone was brought back to life. The snap didn’t erase what had already happened. Peter had still spent five years separated from all of his friends and family. He had spent so much time mourning only to get everyone back years later. Those feelings didn’t just disappear. 

It felt like a dream that they were all back. His mind sending him a reminder of what they looked and sounded like but he knew they were real. He could hear their heartbeats and laughs across the room. They were alive and Peter was so happy, they missed so much. 

Peter had changed while they were gone, he was still Peter, he was just more traumatized and more withdrawn. He had grown but he was still the same. He still liked to hang upside down to nap and he was still bad at cooking but not baking. He was just taller and more in tune with his powers and diagnosed with a panic disorder. 

In the long run, those changes wouldn’t matter, at least not to people who truly cared. It would just take them a few weeks to get back into the flow of normal life with the people they thought they lost. 

It was like half of the universe was Captain America-ed for five years where literally everything changed. Earth became part of the universe, known to other planets as a complete powerhouse instead of an easy steal for some galactic empire. There were more humans in space than ever before and the snap affected everything. Ecosystems, culture, interplanetary and international relations, governmental control, and practically every aspect of normal human life was changed forever. 

Peter was shaken out of his thoughts with Shuri handing him a plate full of deserts. He immediately bit into a cookie. 

“Something on your mind?” She asked as she stole the cookie from his hand. He didn’t even react. 

“Yeah, I know everything’s all fixed and everyone is back, but I don’t know, it feels weird.” He shrugged and grabbed another treat from the plate, knowing that the cookie was lost. 

“I know, a lot happened in five years. We already mourned them and cried for them, and poof, they’re back. It’s not bad it’s just, weird.” She nodded. 

“I just don’t feel like the same person that they all knew. Like for them, it’s been five seconds and for us, it’s been five years.” 

“Does it matter? You are you. No matter your age or what you’ve been through. People change and grow and they just have to get used to who you are now.” 

“Yeah, you’re right. I can’t turn back time to be sixteen again, I definitely don’t even want to. I like the me that I am now, but it’s not the same as my friends and family know. Whatever, this is a party, not therapy.” 

“That is true, it is time to avoid our problems like there’s no tomorrow!” 

And they did. 

***

It was three in the morning and Peter was still awake. Not because he wasn’t tired, he definitely was, but because he was afraid of what would come when he closed his eyes. Instead of sleeping, he was in Tony’s lab. He had spent so much time there during the five years of missing his mentor. 

Working always helped, it kept him focused. It was calming and it came naturally for him. He played music in the background that was everything from comedy bands to musicals to modern rock and classic rock. It was so much easier to avoid his problems than deal with them. 

“Hey Friday, turn down the music, I need to talk to you.” He said while he was pacing and not working on anything at all. 

“Of course. What do you want to talk about?” The AI replied cheerfully. She seemed a lot happier since Tony returned. 

“I think it’s time to change your primary user back to Tony. He’s alive again so the ‘EDITH’ protocol should be reset. That also means to give back the trust and all that. I can’t rely on my inheritance anyway…” He rambled. 

“I’m sorry Peter but I cannot do that. Boss locked the ‘Old Man’ protocol for his retirement. He wants to keep ‘EDITH’ in place.” 

“I mean he’s not dead so why would he keep it?” 

“It’s getting a little late kid,” Tony spoke from behind Peter. He turned to the man and shrugged. 

“Not a kid. I’m old enough to drink but it doesn’t even do anything so that sucks.” 

“Believe me, that’s a good thing. You don’t even get hangovers?” 

“No, I can’t even get high dude. Weed is useless.” He sighed. Tony laughed. 

“You should seriously go to bed though it’s been a pretty long day.” 

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to.” Peter pouted. 

“Poor baby.” Tony practically dragged Peter out of the workshop, it had been a pretty long day. 

“I’m a little too tall to be a baby.” Peter yawned. 

“You’re always going to be my baby,” Tony said surprisingly fondly. 

“I’m taller than you.” 

“Not emotionally,” Tony noted.  Peter snorted in response as they wandered to his bedroom. In the five years of living there, it had barely changed. There were still three Star Wars posters on the wall and the desk was still a mess. The only thing that really changed was the comforter on the queen-sized bed. It had a little flying Iron Man pattern on it and little arc reactors. It used to be a solid scarlet. 

“I love you, you know that right? I didn’t get to tell you before and I never want the opportunity to slip away ever again. You’ve been like a dad to me and I could never ask for anyone better. Shit, don’t tell Ben that…” Peter embraced Tony before he left for the night. Tony’s hand instinctually combed comfortingly through his kid’s hair. 

“I love you too kid. It’s been rough for you lately but it’s okay now. You saved the universe, not many people can say that.”

“I know right, what are the perks of that? Do I get free food a McDonald’s or something? I mean Jesus got several holidays for saving mankind in some indefinable way, will my birthday become like a day off of school or something?” Peter joked as he stepped back. 

“Now that’s an idea… who do you contact for making a holiday…” 

“Okay no, don’t do that. Don’t you dare.” Peter said in a serious tone. 

“Fine, good night Spider-Jesus.” Tony started to head back to his own room with Pepper. 

“I’m not the one that came back from the dead, whatever. Good night Iron Jesus.” He sighed and flopped into bed. He was out like a light in moments. Even if he had a nightmare, he would always wake up to something better than any dream he could conjure. And that was enough.  

[mandowh0re]

Make a Choice

Requested: Yes, myself

Fandom: Avengers MCU

Summary: Peter gets severely hurt in battle, sending him into a spiritual realm. When Loki comes to the rescue, Peter has to make a choice. Stay, and be with May and Ben? Or go back to Mister Stark, and everyone else?

Word Count: 2295

Warnings: Swearing (I think I can’t remember), mentions of blood, mentions of death

Comments: In this universe, May has died and Peter now lives with Tony and the rest of the Avengers. I really wanted this written, I’ve had it in my mind for months, so I finally wrote it myself.

Happy reading!

A sickening crack was heard in everyone’s comms followed by Steve’s scream, “Spider-man!”

Steve’s cry made Tony stop in his tracks.

“FRIDAY,”

“Already on it, boss,”

Peter’s location quickly lit up on Tony’s HUD. He turned in the air and headed that way.

“Rogers, go help Barton and Romanoff. I’ve got the spider.” Tony ordered.

“We’re good here.” Natasha answered.

“As are we.” Thor spoke.

“I think we’re finished.” Sam’s voice cut through too, but Tony ignored all of them as he found the still figure of his kid on the road.

Touching down, the suit retracted back into the housing unit as Tony dropped next to Peter.

“Pete?” He gently shook the boy’s shoulders, “Peter? Come on, buddy. You gotta wake up.” His voice cracked at the end, “FRIDAY, connect to KAREN, now.”

“Connecting now,”

“Tony! Is he okay?” Steve called as he jogged over.

“Connected.”

“Initialize body scan.” Tony ordered, still trying to get Peter to wake up.

“Initializing.”

“Tony?” Steve reached out to put a hand on Tony’s shoulder but the man just batted it away.

“Nat, get Bruce. Like, yesterday.”

“Working on it.”

By now most of the Avengers, including Loki, were gathering around Tony and Peter.

“Peter has sustained a severe concussion and a fractured skull. There seems to be multiple internal injuries including internal bleeding. If he is not tended to immediately-”

“Okay that’s enough!” Tony barked, now hyperventilating, “We have to, we have, we,” He was scrambling, moving to pull the mask off of Peter, only to see blood leaking from his nose and from his head. His skin was ghostly pale and he didn’t even look like he was breathing.

Tony went to pull the boy into his arms, but Clint stopped him, “Jostling him could cause more damage, we need to get him back to Cho right now. Bruce is on the jet. Let’s-”

Right then Peter started to seize, and everything exploded into chaos. Tony was crying and screaming, Rhodey was holding him back and consoling him, Clint and Steve were barking orders, Wanda was standing stunned at the sight of her best friend on the ground half dead, Vision was dragging her away, Sam, and Thor were trying to keep media and passerbys away.

Then there was Loki.

Loki, who had grown close to Peter in his time on Earth. Loki, who had promised himself never to let anyone get close. Loki, who replaced that promise with the promise to protect the child at all costs within the first two minutes of knowing him. Loki, who was ready to kill himself for letting Peter get hurt today.

Loki, who was not letting Peter die today.

The God walked towards him, ignoring everyone else around him, kneeling down on the other side of Peter. He looked up at Tony who was holding one of Peter’s hands.

Tony and Loki didn’t get along, but they shared something in common.

Peter.

With one look, Tony nodded, and Loki placed his hands on either side of Peter’s head.

Peter stopped seizing immediately, going limp on the ground, gaining the attention of everyone else.

“What the fuck is he doing?” Sam asked.

“Hey!” Steve barked, going to grab Loki, but Rhodey jumped, grabbing onto the super soldier’s wrist.

“Stop! He’s trying to help.”

“Help?” Clint scoffed.

“It is true,” Thor added, “My brother loves young Peter dearly. He just does not show it around others.”

Everyone turned to watch the scene unfold in front of them.

***

Everything was white. A blinding, pure, white. Loki knew this place all too well. It was a place between life and death. Where the soul goes when it has left the body, but is still connected because the body isn’t yet ready to die.

This is where the soul goes when it’s confused.

Loki shuddered. He remembered that he came here by choice this time.

“Peter?”

No answer.

“Peter?” He called a little louder.

Still no answer.

Anxiety bloomed in his chest. Was he too late?

“Come on, spider child. Do not make me go back there without you-”

“Loki?”

Loki whipped around to see Peter standing several feet away from him.

Peter ran straight into Loki’s chest and wrapped his arms around the God.

Loki returned the hug without a second thought.

“I thought I was alone. I kept calling and I couldn’t find anyone.” Suddenly Peter pulled away and poked Loki’s chest, “Are you real?”

Loki rolled his eyes, “Yes, child, I’m real. I came here to get you. You need to come back. Your father is blubbering like a baby and that needs to end.”

Peter ignored the ‘father’ comment and cocked his head, “Mr. Stark is crying?”

“Yes, the sight of you hurt upsets him, believe it or not.”

“I’m hurt?”

Loki’s eyebrows furrowed, “Do you not remember what happened?”

Peter shook his head.

“I guess that would make sense, given the injury.”

“What injury?” Peter asked.

Loki huffed, “We do not have time for that right now, I need to get you out of here. If you want to see Stark again you need to come with me. Understand?”

Peter stopped, obviously in thought.

“Am I dead?”

“You will be if you do not-“

“Loki.” Peter snapped. “Am. I. Dead.”

Loki huffed, “Yes and no. Your soul has left your physical body. But it’s still connected and you can still be saved. Come on-“

“I can see May again? And Ben?” Peter asked, hope swirling in his eyes.

Loki deflated, seeing where this was going, “Only if you let go of the physical realm. If you do that, you will die permanently. There is no coming back. There is no Spider-Man. There is no Mr. Stark. There is no Ned or MJ.”

The hope Peter had in his eyes dimmed.

“You have to make a choice, child.”

Peter looked at the ground, or where the ground should be, and balled his hands into fists.

“It’s not fair.”

“I know.”

A few more seconds passed before Peter deflated. He looked behind him at nothing. Then back at Loki.

“I have plenty of time to see them. Mr. Stark needs me now.”

Loki forced a smile down and nodded at him. He spoke in a language Peter could have sworn wasn’t even real. A bright red portal opened up in front of him as Peter walked up.

Peter stared at it for a second before commenting, “That doesn’t look like something I want to walk through,”

Loki looked back at the portal and rolled his eyes again, “I do not choose the color of the portals I call upon. I promise it does not lead you to Hel. Now, chop chop, we must go now.”

Peter looked at Loki and then at the portal, then held out his hand toward the God.

Loki shook his head, “I cannot help you. It has to be something you do yourself.”

Peter huffed, then took a step forward and put his hand through, then his arm, then hissed and pulled back.

“Ow ow ow! What the hell!”

“You’ve been injured in the physical world. What you’re feeling when you go through are the injuries your body has sustained.”

Peter bit his lip and took a deep breath and tried again, whining as he pushed his arm in but screaming as soon as he tried a leg, and backed out.

“It hurts! I can’t!” He breathed, pulling his knees to his chest.

“I know it hurts. Believe me. Do you know how many times I have cheated death? But once you finish I can help to heal you.”

Peter sat there for a few minutes, taking steadying breaths and letting his tears dry. Finally he stood up again.

“I’m just going to run and jump.”

“I’m not so sure that’s such a good ide-”

“YEET!” Was all Loki heard before Peter disappeared into the portal.

Facepalming, Loki followed suit.

***

Peter blinked a few times, attempting to adjust to the light. Luckily, it was dimmed and wasn’t too hard on his senses.

Unluckily, he had a migraine from hell and any light was unwelcome.

“Hey there, kiddo. You with us?” Came a familiar voice.

Peter lolled his head towards the calming voice and found Tony sitting next to him.

“Dad?”

Tony chuckled, “Wow, you must really be hopped up on painkillers, huh?”

“No. Head hurts.” Peter groaned, closing his eyes.

Tony quietly cursed and pressed the call button for assistance.

“FRIDAY, dim the lights a little further.” He whispered.

The lights dimmed on command and Peter opened his eyes again.

“Better?” Tony asked, voice still a whisper.

Peter tried nodding, but the movement sent a sharp pain literally everywhere.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Do you remember what happened?”

Peter closed his eyes to try and recall why he was sitting in the all too familiar med bay, but came up blank.

“No.”

“That’s okay, we’ll explain it to ya later,” Tony let out a long sigh, “You scared the shit outta me, kid. I thought I lost you for good this time.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” Peter tried chuckling.

“This isn’t a joke, Peter.” Tony snapped, but stopped short when he saw Peter wince. He tried again in a lighter tone, “I know you like to use jokes when you’re scared or hurt as a defense mechanism. Believe me. I’m the master of deflection. But this isn’t a joke,” The older man leaned forward and ran a hand through Peter’s curls, the boy instinctively pushing into the man’s hand, “I thought… You were seizing and bleeding out in front of me. You were dead, Peter. No heartbeat. If Loki hadn’t been there-“

“Loki?” Peter perked up at the mention of his friend.

Tony scoffed, “Yeah. He saved your life. Quite literally. Pulled you from the dead or something. I don’t know how it works. He said he talked to you. You don’t remember that either?”

Peter thought for a moment, but ultimately shook his head, “No.”

Right then Dr. Cho walked in.

“Hi there Peter. It’s nice of you to join us again.” She spoke softly and smiled sweetly.

“He needs some more painkillers. Has a migraine.” Tony said for him.

The woman nodded and walked to a machine next to Peter, adjusting his medicine before asking him a few routine questions and checking him over.

“How long was I out?” Peter asked when she finished.

Cho and Tony shared a look before she answered, “Three days.”

“What!” Peter shot up, but fell back with a whine when everything felt like it was shattering inside of him.

“Your surgery took several hours. There were multiple injuries to fix and multiple injuries to refix since your body healed wrong. Your advanced healing hasn’t been working as fast as usual though, but I’d attribute that to your body focusing on keeping you alive.”

Peter turned back to Tony to see the man looking at Peter with tears streaming down his cheeks, “I’m sorry.” Peter whispered.

Tony snapped out of his trance, “Sorry? What are you sorry for?” He wiped his tears away.

“For hurting you, I-“

“Hey hey hey. None of that, okay? Let’s just focus on getting you back on your feet.” He moved his hand from Peter’s hair, which was still carding through his curls, down to his cheek where he wiped away a stray tear.

“Thanks, Dad.”

Tony smiled and his heart nearly exploded at the sight of Peter smiling at him again, and the fact that Peter now called him ‘dad’.

***

Peter woke up, looking around to gather his bearings. He was still in his room in the med bay.

He was still laying on Tony’s chest, and he could tell by the steady breaths and beat of his heart that his dad was asleep. Stranger Things was on mute on the TV.

Tony never understood why Peter loved that show so much.

“We fight aliens and monsters all the time. Why do you want to watch a show about them?” Tony asked as he stood behind the couch Peter had been planted on since season 2 was released.

“It’s interesting Mr. Stark! Now shhh!”

Out of the corner of his eye Peter saw a figure, but he was used to that figure appearing out of nowhere.

“Hey Loki.” Peter smiled, turning his head on his actual pillow.

“Peter.”

“Dad said you saved me.”

Loki raised an eyebrow, “Dad?”

Peter shrugged, the meds in his system allowing him to move easier, “I figured it was time.”

“Right, after you nearly put him in his own grave?”

Peter giggled, “At least someone will joke with me.”

“I will joke about his death. Not yours.”

Peter’s smile dropped, “Awh come on,”

“Ah, no arguments. You know how hard it is for me to be close to anyone. It is hard enough to be close to my own brother. I let you in, befriended you. Then you have the audacity to go and die on me?” By now Loki was pacing.

“I, uh,”

“No, you must be more careful. I cannot lose you. Your father cannot lose you. You are what holds this weak, spineless team together. You do not get to be reckless because your aunt is gone. There are others who still love you and cannot live without you. Do you understand?” He turned and pointed at Peter.

A smile tugged at Peter’s lips. Did Loki just admit…

“Yes, sir.”

Loki nodded, “Good. I’ll be going now. I don’t want to be in here when your father wakes.”

And with that, Loki was gone.

Peter smiled brighter, eyes locked on the place Loki had just been standing a little longer before he sunk back down into his father’s hold, and nuzzled into his chest.

Maybe, he would be okay.

***

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[dollop-o-dalsy]

Remember

okay, so this is my first fic on this site, and the spacing might be weird and this might be really choppy and bad, but I hope some of y’all enjoy if you find this :)

also warning, this is a depressing (ish) fic

I finished it after a forever of working on it guys!!

@keep-a-bucket-full-of-stars

@the-great-escapism

———————————————————————

It was weeks before Peter even came out of his room after it all happened.

All he could remember was the vibrant orange hues of a messed up spaceship planet and a pain, an unbelievable pain, as he faded away into nothingness. And yet- almost as soon as he had disappeared, he was back. Back in Queens, sitting on his twin bed like nothing had ever even happened.

Aunt May had come bursting in, looking like a distressed mess. It had been on the news everywhere, half of the universe coming back in an instant. May had inspected Peter, looked him up and down, hugging him so tightly that he couldn’t even breathe.

When Peter had asked May what had happened, how he had even made it back, what happened, an immediate frown formed on her face. The first thing that she had told him after muttering grateful thanks over and over again was something that sounded rather ominous and concerning.

The world had changed since he had been gone.

That was all anyone would tell him after that. Ned, May, MJ, Happy.... that was all that they would say, some even swallowing tears back as they tried to conceal their pain from the teenager. After pressing and pressing and pressing for days, that was all that anyone would tell Peter.

The world had changed.

The world had changed.

And it wasn’t until Peter opened his beat up computer he had made from dumpster diving that he realized what had happened, that Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, they had all died. They had sacrificed themselves for the greater good, to make sure that the next generation could make a difference, make an impact even if they weren’t around anymore.

Every news channel, any credible source at all, that was all that they would cover. Stories and stories of how heroic the ex-Avengers were, even if one was a criminal and the other a billionaire who had gone missing in space and never came back. They would talk about Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, all as heroes. Now dead, their families mourning at their buried bodies and burnt ash.

It broke Peter. Tony, who he had considered his only father figure who would guide his way after Uncle Ben and his actual father had died was dead. Everyone he ever cared about- save May- was dead, any hopes of ever having an almost family gone.

Peter hadn’t done anything. He had sat in his room, staring at the screen of the computer over and over again, trying to process everything. And when he finally did, all Peter wanted to do was cry.

But he couldn’t. He was stuck, stuck in shock, unable to move, speak, eat- he couldn’t do anything. Tony was gone, and there was nothing that the boy could do about it. The man had sacrificed himself for them, and he wasn’t even able to say goodbye.

He would never be able to say goodbye.

The day that the whole world was to mourn the Avengers’ death, Peter didn’t even move a muscle. May has come in to try and get him into a suit to attend the open funeral, but Peter couldn't even bear to try and attempt to tie a tie. He didn’t even want to attempt to try and put on a brave face, instead opting to stare blankly at the wall, unsure of what to do.

Tony Stark was gone.

Mister Stark was gone.

His father figure was gone.

The whole funeral had been broadcasted across every news station, the only damn thing anyone with any brain cells was covering. Multitudes of people showed up from around the world, from close friends of the heroes to people that they had never met, but impacted and inspired to do better in life.

Peter stayed by May on the couch as they watched the broadcasts, May having dragged him out of his mess of a room with the notion that he shouldn’t be alone, not at a time like this. Burying his head into her shoulder, Peter tried to look away as the first of many Memorial speeches were said of the day.

First was Clint Barton’s family.

An estranged brother, his wife he had left behind, and the kids he had abandoned too soon to save the world and make sure they could grow up in an environment that would be positive and peaceful. All people who gave teary eyed speeches about the man they would miss.

Next was Natasha Romanoff.

There were speeches from associates at S.H.I.E.L.D. , one from the newly risen from the dead Maria Hill, and one from a man whose life was saved by the woman during a mission of hers. Accounts of how a woman with a bloodied past was truly a hero in the end.

Then was Bruce Banner.

Countless scientists had spoken on his theories, and his magnificent work in his science field. No one even cared to mention the other green guy that caused so much damage, the people speaking offering some mercy in remembering the heroes.

Next was Thor.

People from New Asgard in Norway came to talk, and many of the New Asgardians were there in respect, the people filling up countless rows. There were talks from an ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster, and some, as Thor called them, “earthling” friends that had made his life ever so different.

Then was Steve Rogers.

Sharon Carter spoke first, remembering a man her aunt spoke of too fondly in her day. Next was his best friend from this age Sam Wilson, then Bucky Barnes, both friends that were mourning the loss of their rock in their lives.

And then the time came to remember Tony Stark.

The world stood still as the first person to talk came up, Tony Stark’s friend fondly called his Forehead of Security, Happy Hogan.

Peter looked away when Happy walked up, not wanting to face the television in fear of what the man would say. May just wrapped his head in a gentle hug, kissing the crown of his head as to say everything was alright.

Happy talked about the times of when Iron Man was new, and the adventures the man had set him on being his chauffeur and head of security. The man mentioned briefly when he was placed to watch a local hero, and how it was that hero that helped Tony become a better person.

Tears started to fall when Happy began to speak about him, Peter unable to hear anything else but the words of the man who had been assigned to watch over him when Tony was away. Burying his face deeper into May’s embrace, Peter couldn’t watch anymore.

Yet the broadcast kept going.

Rhodey went next, talking about times when they were young at MIT, stories that Tony had told Peter himself whenever Tony needed to reassure the young boy that whatever he was doing wasn’t even anything in comparison to his young teenage days. The colonel went on about how Tony was always there to pick him back up when he fell and how he wouldn’t trade their friendship for the world.

The stories brought Peter out of May’s embrace, his red tear stained eyes trained back on the television, watching for the next part in something that he wanted so desperately to be over with already.

When the colonel finished, tears forming at the edge of his eyes, there was a shuffling of papers before the next person spoke.

And that person was Pepper Potts.

Her black dress did nothing but show her ever growing baby bump, evidence of a perfect life that she would of had if Tony Stark had just stayed alive. Hair dangled in almost careless waves, Pepper looked rather put together for losing her fiancé- husband- Peter wasn’t sure.

Pepper stood up there for a moment, taking in a shuddering breath before talking about the man that she loved, Tony Stark. No one dared interrupt her as she talked about the memories of her time as a personal assistant to the man, and how much she had loved the man with a suit of armor but a heart of gold.

But what was the worst was when Pepper began talking about Tony’s greatest pride, his greatest achievement of all was mentoring a young hero named Spider-Man. With teary eyes, the woman talked about how Tony would go to whatever lengths for the boy to make sure he was safe and okay. To make sure that the boy would grow up right, and be a hero like Tony could never be.

Peter couldn’t take it. He needed to turn off the TV, get some air, leave the room, do something other than watch whatever else would show up on that screen.

But somehow, he couldn’t.

He was frozen in his place, trying to figure out what to do, invisible roads of tears paving their way down his face as he continued to watch Pepper talk about the dynamic that he and Tony had. And when the widow of Tony Stark finally finished, tears leaking from her eyes and her voice breaking, Peter finally rose from his seat.

May tried to pull him back down, to try and make sure that he wouldn’t do anything irrational, but she failed, the boy breaking away from her grasp. In her attempts to try and call him back, May told him that this wasn’t the way to mourn the ones he had lost, to mourn Tony.

But quite frankly, Peter didn’t care.

He couldn’t stand by and watch as the world mourned a man that they had barely known, save for the gossip articles and tabloid stories that were told by journalists who had no regard for the life that Tony had lived. He couldn’t watch as the world got to grieve a man who they only saw a glimpse of, not when Peter had known him so much more.

Running into his room, trying to wipe the tears from his face, Peter searched for the thing that would give him the freedom to mourn and for people to leave him alone- his suit. Finding the original one that Tony had made for him, Peter tried to hide back his sobs as he slipped on the suit, pressing the insignia in the center with a shaky hand as it locked onto his body.

Pulling his mask into place, Peter slipped out into the night, the cold and chilling air of New York rather fitting for the kind of day that it had been so far. Peter jumped off his fire escape, letting his webs take him wherever his mind wanted to wander.

The rhythmic swinging of his webs and the bright white lights of the city welcomed Peter back into reality when he realized where he was, the boy’s mind taking him to the heart of Manhattan. He was so close to the place where Tony’s empire had stood tall as a beacon to New York City, before changing to the beacon of hope that was the Avengers Tower before fading away into the skyline like the rest of the Avengers.

Launching himself from building to building, Peter eventually landed upon the balcony of Avenger’s Tower, the once bright blue logo of an A now faded, the building a hollow shell of what it once was. The boy could still recall watching the Avengers fight Loki on this balcony, watching with wide eyes what was happening in the center of his city on the news, remembering how Iron Man had saved his life just a few years before. If he was able to stop that villain, then surely they could stop the aliens raining out of the sky, right?

Peter still remembered that, and how Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers kept saving the day, again and again.. until they didn’t. Until none of them came home. Kicking a stray rock from the battered down building, Peter let out a sniffle, walking to the edge of the building, looking down at the view down below.

Maybe the view wouldn’t be so bad from down there.

He almost considered it. For a split second, Peter really did. It was an idea that came and went as quickly as it was formed in his head. Because he knew that there wasn’t much to live for at the moment, but then, something told him no.

Something told him that this wouldn’t be what Tony wanted. That this wouldn’t be the right way to remember him, to join him in death. So Peter didn’t.

Instead, he settled into a comfortable position on the edge of the balcony, his feet dangling in the cold and frigid air, and sat-

Remembering the man who had mentored him like a teacher and loved him like a son.

word count: 2,149

[futurewriter2000]

Schemes ~ EPILOGUE

A/N: GUYS, YOU THOUGHT I FORGOT ABOUT THIS? Yeah, I couldn’t leave it like this and there are is another three parts coming out. Letter to James, Letter to Remus and Letter to Sirius and I really can’t wait to write those. I hope you like this <3<3

xx

The end? It’s never the end. This story has so much more to prove because you encountered dying. You knew that at some point in life you would die and when things got so complicated, you knew that the person you would die in the arms of, were Mulcibers.

You knew. You have always known he wasn’t the person you ever saw yourself with and the unbreakable bond you made with his father so recklessly, you needed to get out of it and you had the perfect person to help you with.

---

You were dead. It flew around the school the second it happened and students were completely horrified. A student has died and there is a murderer on the loose.

“ Who do you think it was?” said one of the boys to the other as they walked to their breakfast table.

Sirius shrugged and sat down next to Remus. “ I just know it was a Slytherin.” he said and nibbled on the almond in front of him.

“ Any shock?” James added and they all looked up at him.

“ What do you mean?” Remus quirked an eyebrow as Sirius only smirked.

He would have said something. Something arrogant and ignorant as he always did but he couldn’t. He couldn’t say a bloody thing because since last night he has felt empty. Empty and with a hole in his stomach. He knew something was wrong, something was deeply wrong and it could be connected to the murder or not but he felt wrong. He felt like a switch inside of him flipped and everything happening from last night is wrong.

He couldn’t place it. He just knew something was wrong.

“ Slytherin? A victim and the murderer is probably a Slytherin as well.”

And there it was again. The wrong feeling bubbling inside of him, resembling something else...anger perhaps?

“ What? You think it was my brother?” Sirius somehow snapped through the wrong feeling seemingly didn’t go away as he thought it would.

James and Remus as well as Peter looked his way, shocked.

Sirius glared at all three of them and the feeling inside his stomach was still bothering him. Why didn’t he feel right?!

He glanced at the Slytherin table, noticing his brother staring at his toast, empty-headed.

He knew!

Sirius didn’t know what he was doing but all he knew was that Regulus knew and that he needs to find out what exactly he knew.

Regulus noticed his brother getting up with his eyes focused on him. He got up as well and left for his dorm, avoiding his brother. Sirius started running, chasing his brother and catching up to him right before he entered the Slytherin common room.

“ Regulus!” he grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around.

“ What!?!” he shouted and Sirius backed away. He saw his brother crying multiple times but he never has seen him this hurt in a long time.

“ Did you kill him?” he blurted out all of a sudden but his brother only laughed.

“ Him?! It was her, SIRIUS! (y/n)! “ he spoke through tears and swollen eyes, his vision completely blurred but to be honest, he didn’t want to have a clear sight of his brother at the moment.

(y/n). It rings a bell. It made the feeling go away for a second. For a small second before making it grow even bigger inside of him.

“ Who is that (y/n)? Was she your friend?” Sirius seemed to spit out nonsense when all Regulus did was stare at him, perplexed.

“ Wha- What the hell are you talking about?” Regulus asked and caused Sirius wheels to work faster. “ (y/n).” he spoke. “ (y/n) was my best friend. She was my James and as soon as you realized that you wanted to take her away from me. And you did. You took her away from me and then you broke her and gave it back to me and now, NOW! Now you pretend you don’t know who she is?!” he started to rage but Sirius only stared.

What was he brother talking about? Why did everything make sense and nonsense in his head?

Regulus stared, his mind clearing up as he noticed the confused look on his brother. “ Of course.” he suddenly spoke out loud, smiling to himself. “ OF COURSE!” he shouted and sprinted away from Sirius so quick, Sirius had to think three times before realizing what had happened.

“ What?” he turned around and stared at the distance where his brother disappeared.

Now he definitely knows something.

He prepared himself to leave when all of a sudden voices started echoing behind him. He turned around and professor Slughorn with Dumbledore, Professor Sprout, and McGonagall exited the Slytherin common room, all whispering, and worrying. There were four or five more men in tight uniforms, two of them carrying two bodies through the door.

Their gaze all fell on the boy with grey eyes. They stared at him with a blaze while his focus was taken not on the first body that came out, but the second as a female hand slipped from the white sheet and a bling shone directly at Sirius’ eyes. A bling from a ring.

A golden ring. His golden ring.

And he broke.

---

He stumbled over his own two feet, barely climbing the stairs to his doors. His lungs were killing him, not letting any air in them as he tried to breathe it in. He couldn’t. There was an only blurred vision of beds and red color. He saw figures, James and Remus, later Peter and he got on his knees, gripping his shirt and barely breathing.

“ Pads!” James shouted while Remus followed.

“ Sirius!”

But Sirius couldn’t hear them. He grabbed the tie around his collar and started loosening it, throwing it away from him. His hands started scratching his shirt, wanting to crawl his lungs out of his chest. He wanted to breathe.

“ She-she-” he barely let out, tears unwillingly streaming down his face. “ She’s DEAD!” he finally let out bending over and continuing to grip his shirt, losing any strength from his hands and fingers.

---

After a while, he finally calmed down.

He was exhausted though. The whole panic attack drained all of his energy away but enough for him to spend it thinking of you.

‘ He fell asleep after reading a book. A book that he didn’t even bother to read, he just pretended so that Remus wouldn’t be bugging him but he loved his cozy sweaters as they had a wonderful smell of vanilla. But as he dreamt of nothing else but running through the woods in his Animagnus form, something heavy jumped on top of him and he flinched, awakening from the nap. His hands followed up to your waist and he immediately recognized your perfume. “ I’d get used to this.” he smiled and the book was immediately removed from his face.

He saw your adorable and furious (y/e/c) glare and couldn’t help himself but to tighten his hold around you. “ Sirius.”

“ It’s the sweater, isn’t it?” he grinned and continued to hold you.

There was something strange about holding you. You gave this wonderful warmth and energy that he found it quite comfortable. Your perfume was calming, the fumes making him sleepy again.

“Let go of me, Black.” You tried to get out of his grip but he only tightened his strong arms around you and pulled you back down on his chest.

“Let me tell you a story first.” He started and you huffed, placing your arms on his chest and looking at his gorgeous eyes. “ A week ago I had the oddest experience. I met my twin. ”

“Fascinating.” You rolled your eyes and saw James sit on the armchair beside you, eating his apple and smirking.

“That imposter tried to ruin my friendship with Jamie.”

“Oh, you mean your “relationship” with your “boyfriend”.” You grinned and tried to get out of his grip once again, but he only pulled you back down to his chest.

You had a wonderful kind of grin, something he could remember forever.

“At first I thought it was a he but then a little birdie told me that it was a she.”

“That  little birdie will soon meet his end.”

“So as revenge, to all the slaps I got this past week and the detention from professors and Filch may I add. I decided for some taste of your own medicine.” He let his hands slide to your lower back and his fingers brushing on your exposed skin, causing you to freeze and blush in front of the boy. A corner of his lips lift up at the sight of your blush strengthening its color and he leaned forward to brush his lips against your cheek. “Welcome to hell, darling.” his voice was low and daring, sending a shiver down your spine at the touch of his breath on your neck. But as soon as you heard someone clear his throat a few feet away, that moment between you and Sirius was soon over.

The two of you continued to stare at each other's eyes until Sirius finally broke his gaze away from you to look at the boy standing few feet away. “Oh, hey Moony.” He smiled and you immediately widened your eyes and rolled yourself off Sirius, landing harshly on the floor.

“Fuck!” You cursed as you felt the pain spread all over your back.

Sirius looked down at you and smirked. “ I think I’ll wear your sweater more often, Moony.” He smiled at his friend before standing up and offering you a hand.

Glaring at him, you pushed his hand away and stood up by yourself. “ So you transformed into me, huh?” You pushed Sirius in the chest. “You kissed, James? I’m glad you finally admit your feelings towards him.” You spoke sharply through your teeth.

“ Same goes for you. I didn’t know you felt towards Lilly like that.” He replied back. “I was a bit disappointed to find out I’m not your type. Those are some nice melons to be wasted for a woman.” He winked.

“ Well, I feel sorry for your boyfriend. I thought your cock would at least be somewhat as big as your ego.” And with that you left the Gryffindor tower, James laughter echoing all the way until you were a finally out. ‘

That was the day he started to evolve feelings for you because you were the most fascinating and the most beautiful girl he has ever met. He was in love with you since that day. The joking, the teasing, the glances he managed to get from you. Later when he was finally able to kiss you, love you like he always wanted to and the day-the day he found out you slept with his best friend, was the day everything crushed his lungs all over again.

But now he knew everything, he remembered everything when you tried to obliviate him. He tried to bring the memories back to all James and Remus and being a great wizard himself, he managed to do that.

So they were here, sitting in their dorm and thinking about you...thinking about your death.

“ She...she obliviated us because she knew?” James looked up at Sirius and Sirius nodded.

“ There was no chance she knew she would die.” Remus puzzled, furrowing his eyebrows at them. “ She’s smart, Sirius.” Remus started to think a bit harder about everything. “ She’s too smart for her own good.” he jumped on his feet and started pacing around the room, rubbing his chin.

Sirius looked up at his best friend and immediately realized that Remus knew something he didn’t. “ What are you thinking, Moony?”

“ She was one of the most brill students in every class. She knew her way around everything. She was resourceful, she was clever and quick-witted. She always had a plan for everything and never ever went wrong for her. Everything always turned out the way she wanted it to...so what if?” he stopped, gripping the sides of his hair and widening his eyes.

“ What if what?!” both James and Sirius shouted impatiently.

“ If she knew she was about to die, why would she obliviate everybody’s memories? Why would she not want to be remembered? Why wouldn’t she want others to look for her killer? Don’t you think she would always have a plan even after her death?” Remus spilled everything out, looking widely at them as they stared back.

“ MOONY! HOLY SHIT!”James now shouted, gripping his hair as well.

“ What!” Now Remus and Sirius spoke in unison.

“ When we were getting drunk on the bleachers she told me that death was never a one-way ticket for her or something- I don’t know I can’t remember that night really clearly but what I do remember is she said she had a plan after death. She said she always has a plan for everything.” he looked up at them and started pacing around just like Remus before him. “ So what if she wanted to be dead, for all of us but really she turned out to be alive and well.”

“ But I saw the ring. My ring.” Sirius cut in and they both looked at him. “ I gave her that family ring when I wanted to throw it in the lake. I didn’t want to have it anymore but she was with me and she said I’d regret it later. So I gave it to her, in case if I ever did regret giving it away. She said that this ring might have a had an ugly past but could have a wonderful future. “ he drifted off.

“ She could easily put it on the other girl.” James spoke and everybody looked at each other for a moment. A moment before they finally stormed out the door and down where your body was taken.

They ran down to where the body was supposed to be laid but instead of a body, there was only a table, covered with wide coverage. They all ran to it and pulled the white cover off the table.

Empty.

The Headmaster, the Head of the houses and the Ministry walked in the same room, finding four students and a missing body in front of them.

Before Sirius could say anything, he blurted out the first thing that came out. “ Is she alive?”

Dumbledore and the others just stared at him, at his friends behind him and at the empty table.

“ Where is she?” Sirius continued but saw the same perplexed look at their faces.

“ What are you four doing here and where is the body of (y/n)(y/l/n).” spoke Professor McGonagall sternly.

“ We’d like to ask you the same thing?”

---

What happened that day was the oddest experience Hogwarts had. A missing dead body. A lot of thought you could have turned into an Inferno but you didn’t.

You were standing in the owlery, three letters in your hand as you stroked your dark owl. You had a tight ponytail and a cap on, a hood over as you gazed into the beautiful green color of your owl's eyes.

“ Here.” you spoke softly, giving all three letters to your owl and stroking it one last time. “ You know where to fly.” you smiled. “ See you soon, Demeter.” you let her fly off into the night and turn to the boy next to you.

“ I knew it.” he grinned and walked with you from the owlery.

“ Yeah, sure. You cried like a baby. (y/n)! (y/n)! Why did you leave me!” you overdramatized while he laughed.

“ I was shocked. I really was but the moment I found out you obliviated Sirius’ mind I knew you were up to something. Obliviating his but not mine. Come on, how foolish do you think I am.”

“ I don’t know Reg, but I’m just glad I don’t have that stupid unbreakable vow on my hands. “ you tugged your hands into your pockets and finally stepped from the school grounds.

“ New start, huh?” he stopped and you wrapped your arms around him, pulling him into a hug.

“ Take care, okay? Don’t do anything stupid and find me after we graduate. Say thanks to Severus for me, okay.” you smiled and pulled away, disapparating the moment you were far enough from Regulus.

This sure was a ride and you definitely ready to plan a new one.

[indecember]

Colors | p.p x reader

Pairing: Peter Parker/Spiderman x reader

Summary: When (Y/N) find out her best friend's identity, she would have never imagined what he was hiding from her all this time. She doesn't just feel betrayed, she can't forgive him.

Warnings: angst, sorry

Word count: 1276

A/N: felt inspired by the song Colours (stripped version) by Halsey and wrote a little short fic-song about it. Let me know what you think about it. Ps : french girl here, sorry if you any mistakes ♡

‘Everything is blue

His pills, his hands, his jeans’

“Oh, sweetheart!”

The woman immediately wrapped her arms as she saw your face. Her warmth embrace spread in your whole body. A weak smile crossed your face, even if your clothes were completely wet, while she squeezed you a little more.

“God, you must be freezing!” She said before letting you go. “Come on in.”

You entered the house you knew well while May closed the door. She hooked your coat and offered you a towel to dry the water soaking from your hair. 

"Here, take this." She added, handing you a clean sweater, before disappearing in the kitchen. "Your dad's going to kill me if you get back sick !"

"It was definitely warmer in Prague." 

Your eyes laid down on the large clothing which didn't belong to her, judging by the nerdy graphics written on it. 

"I didn't know you were coming over!" May hissed from the other room as you put the sweater on.

"I wanted to surprise you." You responded.

She then returned to the living room with two cups of tea. It will definitely help your frozen body.

"Thank you, May."

She always knew how to treat her guests. That’s the reason why you never felt like a stranger at the Parker’s and spent a lot of time here. Especially after the accident.

"Oh, stop." She smiled before sitting next to you. "So, how was Croatia?"

"It was incredible. The islands are incredibly beautiful and full of history." 

"Tell me about it, I read Hvar had lavender fields. Did you saw them?" She excitedly asked.

"No, we stayed only for a few hours there." 

She silently nodded before taking a sip of the hot beverage and you cleared your throat. One question was on your mind since you entered, but the answer seemed obvious.

"May? Um, his Pete here?"

"No... No, he went out with Ned."

Your hands clung firmly to the hot cup.

“But he’s going to be so happy you’re here, you know.” She said.

"Really?" 

"Of course, really. Why not?"

May frowned and you turned at the stormy sky. It was the worst day to be outside but realized you ran all the way from your house, under the smashing rain, to be here. You've landed an hour ago and your first thought was to be with them.

“Did something happen between you guys?”

Your eyes met May’s again.

“It’s- I just think there’s something different about Peter.” You finally confessed. 

May slightly sighed and put her tea down on the table.

“You’ve known each other since primary school and you’re in high school, now... You've been going through a lot of changes."

“No, that’s not it.”

It was subtle at first, so you didn’t see the point of talking about it. Peter seemed busy until he started to forget things: movie nights with Ned and MJ, Sunday’s breakfast at your place… Then, he missed your texts and calls. That’s when you started to get worried. However, his absence wasn’t the most painful above all.

The fact that he might keep something away from you was.

“It’s been months, May… He's changed.” Your voice slowly broke. “He's not the same person anymore."

‘And now I’m covered in the colors

Pull apart at the seams’

Peter was the very first friend you had; the shoulder you could cry on, the little boy who gave you is lunch after two kids bullying you throw yours in the toilets. He just didn’t propose to share his but offered you all of it. Peter was that kind of friend. Your family watched you grow up as your friendship became stronger. You remembered how happy you were.

Until your whole world fell apart, seven years ago.

Your mother’s death made you feel like nothing else matters. Everything became abruptly surrounded by darkness. You let yourself sink while your father was battling with his grief too. Your family tried to help you, just like May and Peter. You couldn’t find a way to support your own weight anymore and stayed in bed, for weeks. It took you months to see some hope at the end of the tunnel.

You fought and couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who constantly left you up. May and Peter represented such a big part of your life now. Nevertheless, you could feel it slipping away from you and wanted to be there for your best friend. He never let you down.

Not once.

“Do you know when he'll be back? I just need to speak with–“

But you were interrupted by a terrible noise.

“What was that?” You mumbled, surprised.

“Um, probably the thunder…”

“The thunder?”

You suspiciously looked at the women you considered yourself the closest to after your dad. 

What was going on? 

“Is there someone else with you?”

May opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

He was here.

And before she could find another excuse, you jumped from the couch and ran to the stairs. You urged to your best friend’s room, May right behind you.

“Wait, Y/N!” you heard before opening the door.

‘And it’s blue

And it’s blue’

You instantly noticed a slim figure standing near the open windows and recognized the young adolescent.

“Y/N…”

Peter looked like a mess, his face was covered with bruises and cuts. However, all your attention was focused on the costume he was wearing.

“I– I can explain everything, okay?” He muttered.

But you were confused by the blue and red mask Peter was holding in his hands.

It was him.

Your thoughts started to spin fast. Too fast.

“Honey–“

“This is what you were hiding from me. The entire time.” You difficultly spoke before glancing at May, trying to hold back your tears. “Both of you.”

It didn’t just hurt.

You felt betrayed as if you weren’t worth their trust.

“May doesn’t have anything to do with this… It was my decision.” Peter admitted.

You were now staring at each other.

“Please, just hear me out…” He insisted. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t want you to find out this way.”

‘Everything is gray

His hair, his smoke, his dreams’

He looked sincere, but you remained silent to his distress, heavily breathing. Why did it look like the walls were getting smaller? You reached the door’s handle in time as your vision blurred for a brief moment.

"Y/N, hey!"

Peter was suddenly in front of you while you were reaching for some air. His lips were moving, but no sound came to your ears. You sensed May's perfume, but couldn't see her. It was so dark. 

"Let's get her to the bed..."

You had to blink a few times and reality hit you back.  

"Don't, don't-"

"Are you okay?" 

He was worried. 

"No, don't... Touch me." 

"You need to sit down for a minute." He insisted.

"I said, stay away from me!"

He suddenly stopped when your scream resonated in the room. You were just as shock as him. It was the first time you've been yelling at him. It never happened. Not once. 

‘And now he’s so devoid of color

He don’t know what it means’

He suddenly stopped when your scream resonated in the room. You were just as shock as him. It was the first time you've been yelling at him. It never happened. Not once. 

“I- I need to get out of here.” 

You were crying. Staying was only making things worse. 

"Please, I didn't want you to get involved in all of this." Your best friend whispered.

How could you believe him?

"I can't stay here." You said between your sobs. 

All you think about was them lying to you as the last words left your mouth.

"I can't be around you anymore."

‘And he’s blue

And he’s blue’

[irondadgroupie]

Whumptober: “Stay”

A/N: I ACTUALLY WROTE FLUFF!!!! Or maybe not fluff, but this story should not make you all depressed and wait for death to release you from pain so that is a big step up for me :D

“Sir, there is an alert about a house fire.”

Tony pressed a pillow against his ear and groaned. “Not my case.”

“Boss, it is Parkers’ home.”

What?

Tony snapped awake and sat up.

“Show me!”

He had expected a status report to appear on the television but no, FRIDAY turned into news station which was on LIVE feed about a block of flats. The upper floors were engulfed in flames and smoke floated thickly up to the night sky.

Peter lived in the highest floor…

Tony knew he had no time to waste.

“Is there a reading on Peter?” He grabbed a pair of jeans from the chair he had thrown them on last night.

“I can sense nothing.”

“Location?”

“All the trackers point to the apartment.”

Tony wanted to scream but he tried to calm down as he pulled on a sweatshirt; it still had oil stains from working on his suit.

“According to the information released fire spread quickly. Maybe Mr Parker did not have time to grab his phone or watch.”

“How many fucking times have I told him to keep it on?” Tony engulfed himself into the suit just as Pepper began to stir on the bed. He bolted out the window, he knew FRIDAY would inform her of the reason for his sudden disappearance.

Route to Queens was familiar and he kept his eyes locked on ahead. His sensors detected the smoke.

“Any news on victims?”

“None so far but they are expecting casualties.”

Of course, with that kind of a disaster it would be a miracle if lives were not lost.

His heart was ready to leap out of his chest as he arrived at Queens Boulevard. Large mass was staring at the burning building, most had on night clothes, some did not even have jackets or shoes. Several ambulances and fire trucks jammed the road as Tony rocketed down and spotted the closest fireman.

“Is everyone out?” He asked immediately and the officer shook his head.

“Most made it out their own but the people in the apartment the fire started from are still unaccounted for. It’s most likely a body recovery mission, no need for IronMan.”

Tony wouldn’t have even volunteered if they asked him.

“Did you see a young boy?” The words stumbled out of his mouth and Tony set his hand by his jaw. “He is about this tall, brown hair, brown eyes, skinny, most likely tried to run back to the building after being rescued-”

“Mr Stark?”

Tony froze at the name but the voice talking was wrong. He turned around and nearly cried in relief as he saw May.

“You’re okay,” He called off the suit and embraced the woman. May’s face was pale, with ash covering it in places, her hair in tangles and a bathrobe over her nightgown and slippers.

For once, May accepted Tony’s approach, it was clear the accident had shaken her to the core. She sniffed and forced herself to pull back.

“Peter is here,” She answered the most important question and Tony’s knees nearly gave out as a smile spread on his face. May took his hand and pulled him along. “He breathed in a bit smoke so he is being taken care off, otherwise he would have ran to you when we saw your armor.”

If Tony was to list the best moments of his life, finding Peter sitting on the back of the ambulance, with a blanket over his shoulders and holding an oxygen mask to his face would definitely make top ten. He ran the last few feet and crouched to gather the boy into his arms.

“Thank God!” A hand cradled the boy’s head against his own. “Thank God you’re safe! I was so worried when FRIDAY informed me- Oh kiddo!”

Tony planted a kiss on Peter’s temple and pulled back to gather the boy’s face against his hands. He wiped at the now dried tears as Peter tried to hold himself together.

“You were terrified, weren’t you?”

Peter nodded frantically and let out a hiccuping breath. Tony cooed and pressed their foreheads together.

“I know, Petey, but you’re safe now.”

“I-” The boy sobbed and buried his face into his mentor’s shoulder. “I’m sorry-”

The man pulled him closer and set the now discarded oxygen mask to the side.

“The suit,” Peter’s mumbled explanation was quiet so the people around them wouldn’t hear. “I tried to grab it but there was smoke.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Tony felt the need to impart some common sense to the kid, toying the line between mentor and father figure once more. He grabbed Peter’s shoulders and pulled back so he could look at the boy’s eyes through his lowered eyelashes. “It was just material, I can make more of them, but I can’t get another Peter.”

“But- it was expensive-”

“Yes, it was but your life is more precious to everyone,” The man lifted the boy’s chin. “Peter, I don’t ever want to hear of you risking your life just to save some dumb costume or gadget or whatever that can be remanufactured.”

Peter still did not fully take in his point but Tony knew he had to be patient. The boy was still in shock and reasoning with him was pointless. Who knew how much Peter was going to remember of tonight?

“Do you know where the fire started?” He turned to May who had watched the exchange.

“Our next door neighbors. I have no idea what happened, since I only woke to the sound of fire alarm-”

“See, I told you,” Tony gave a grim smile. Last time he and Pepper had been visiting the Parkers (dinner and baby videos of Peter), their fire alarm had started to die. He had deemed the product unsalvageable and had started gathering up the other alarms only to his great shock find the two bedroom flat had only one. The next day he had bought and installed alarms to every room and even the hallway.

Just think, if he had not been there that day- Tony rubbed Peter’s knuckles with his thumb.

“I woke Peter up, there was already some smoke in his room and we ran out.”

“Didn’t get any shoes,” Peter whispered and looked at his bare feet. “There was no time.”

Tony took them into his hands and tried to rub some warmth into the veins.

“You have plenty of clothes in the Tower,” He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way. “As soon as the nurse clears you, we’ll tuck you into warm bed, okay?”

A sudden explosion forced them to turn their heads to the building. Windows were shattering as fire reacted with oxygen and gas pipes. Tony watched as Peter’s window broke and firemen called people to pull back to avoid injuries from falling debris.

May gave a shuddering breath as she watched her home burn. Tony got up and offered his comfort to her; the woman pressed herself closer to his chest and shook. He looked up and did not need genius brains to figure out nothing could be spared. Everything would be turned to dust.

Books, Pictures, Clothes, Memories- everything gone in an hour.

Sun began to shine through the clouds as they finally made it to the Tower, neither May nor Peter had slept on the ride. Pepper was waiting for them with tea and sandwiches. May refused the food but gladly took the sleeping pills Tony offered from his cabinet. He knew prescription drugs should not be passed around but May had checked the label, deemed it suitable and taken only one. Peter could manage one sandwich and a cup of hot chocolate before becoming motionless and staring at a wall. Tony took him to his bedroom, tucked him in and stroked his hair until Peter’s breathing evened out and his eyes closed.

“Try to get some sleep, buddy. You need rest to recover.”

He made sure the covers were tightly wrapped and Peter’s position was comfortable. The nurse had instructed them to keep an eye on coughing  and wheezing breathing. For now, the boy was breathing in and out but he occasionally let in a quick breath that sounded like a sob.

“FRIDAY, monitor him for me, alright?”

He left the door open and the light on.

Pepper was sitting on the couch, already working on her StarkPad. Tony took his own and started arranging housing for the victims of the fire. They all needed so much, he had to make calls if his business associates were willing to donate either money or material to cover basic needs.

“It’s incredible,” He shook his head as he started to make a list to local organization. “100 people lost their homes for good. Other 150 can go and gather their belonging but Peter and May- they have nothing but the clothes on their backs.”

“It’s a huge shock,” Pepper affirmed. “We need to be sensitive, they’re going to need lots of support.”

“Thanks for reminding,” Tony lifted a finger as he checked a page. “We need crisis services to everyone involved in the fire.”

“Maybe even a psychologist for May, she lost all tangible memorabilia about Ben, you saw the pictures and his clothes May kept around.”

Tony shook his head and laughed bitterly: “It’s so ironic. You remember when our Malibu Home was destroyed, we were on our feet practically immediately.”

“Of course, we have money and nothing of emotional value was lost,” Pepper saw the point. “Plus you were able to retrieve your bots, we lost practically nothing but cars, furniture and clothes.”

“But May and Peter have worked harder for everything they owned. You saw their home, so warm and cozy and filled with life. Their apartment was like its own person.”

“But didn’t they have to move?” Pepper confirmed and Tony shrugged: “Yes, I met Peter at their old place but they moved to a smaller flat a month later. Basically the same but a mirror picture.”

“May and Ben’s wedding picture, Peter’s memorabilia of his parents,” Pepper felt tears in her eyes as she thought about the pain the two would be in. Both were still in deep shock and it would take a long time to get back on their feet.

Peter slept for three hours until he woke up to a nightmare. It was not one with a clear motif but a sensation of dread and darkness. He stumbled out of bed and trudged to the living room. Tony had helped him change clothes earlier and even given him the MIT sweatshirt he admired from afar. It was warm and soft and smelled comforting.

“Hey, kiddo,” Tony’s greeting was bright and he opened his arms, Peter sank into them immediately. They did not usually hug so often but he welcomed the expressions of affection.

“Did you sleep well, sweetie?” Pepper smiled gently.

“No,” Peter shook his head and sank onto the couch and crawled until his head rested on Tony’s feet.

“Aww, that’s too bad. If you want, we can give you something the next time you want to go to bed.”

The boy shrugged and played with the material of Tony’s jeans. The man’s hand came down to caress his cheek.

“I called your school and told what happened. You are given permission to take your time to recover and the school curator and psychologist are willing to help you. They also said something about organizing a fundraising to help you and your aunt.”

“Okay,” Peter nodded. Tony frowned at the lack of response, usually Peter would be saying others did not need bother for him but now all the fight had been drained.

“Crisis worker is coming here in the afternoon to talk to you and May. You don’t have to partake in it but it might help in going over what happened and how it feels.”

“Sure.”

Tony grabbed Peter’s shoulder and a ran a thumb over it comfortably. He looked at Pepper who seemed just as lost as he felt.

“You can talk to us too, if you want, Peter.”

The boy shook his head.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to, sweetie,” Pepper placated and moved some hair away from his eyes. “Just take your time, you are still in shock.”

“But we are here for you both,” Tony felt the need to add. “Whenever you feel like you need anyone, be it during the day or night, just call for me.”

The session with crisis worker helped Peter’s condition tremendously, even though it made Peter cry to remember how he had woken up to smoke invading his room.

“You can say anything, it is all confidential. No feeling is ever wrong.”

And so Peter cried about losing his things, the watch Mr Stark had given him, his school books (how could they ever afford new ones?), Tales of Peter Rabbit his Mom had read to him and the baby book that had his parent’s writing about his milestones for the first four years of his life.

“And the videos,” The boy whined. “I can’t remember their voices without them!”

May was quieter but she listed what she lost: Ben’s clothes that still had his scent on them, their wedding album, her wedding dress and little gifts he brought her over the years, the things that made home theirs. They have gathered all the books, movies and furniture over their long years together and now it was all gone.

Tony and Pepper stayed out during the talk, both trying to work on their tasks but finding it hard to concentrate. Pepper had called off all her meetings for the day and the next, she knew May and Peter needed people around.

The door finally opened, Peter walked out first, eyes puffy and face red. He walked to Tony and then whispered: “I want Mom and Dad.”

Tony understood; it had been years and he still longed for his mother in times of grief and joy.

“Oh, kiddo,” He stood up and pulled the boy close. Peter’s arms wrapped around his middle and Tony watched as the worker started talking to Pepper and May left for her own room. He wanted to follow her but he had a priority in his hands.

“How about I find some pictures of them online, would that help?”

Besides, maybe May was like him and wanted to grieve alone.

A week passed in haze. Peter’s resilience was once again shown as after three days, he was eating normally again and even managed to smile a little. May however, retreated into herself and showed clear signs of depression. She spent her days in bed, either sleeping or watching television. Pepper had given her some clothes but she preferred the spare pajamas. FRIDAY informed them she had not showered since the first day and that was a worrying sign. May Parker was a woman who took care of her looks even when working all the time and raising a teenager.

“Maybe she needs something familiar,” Peter suggested while Tony placed more eggs and bacon onto his plate. “Like, she has not spent nights here and it can be a bit overwhelming how rich you guys are.”

“We don’t wave our money around,” The man scoffed and sat down to finish his coffee.

“Maybe not consciously but c’mon, have you even checked the labels you keep in the bathroom? It took me months to learn what each one was for. We are used to economy packs, less quality,” Peter blushed, money was always a sore issue and the started of many arguments between him and his mentor.

Pepper thought about the point and nodded: “It actually makes sense.”

Tony had to take their word for it. He had been born with inheritance while Pepper and Peter were from lower-middle class families that had to learn the ways of the rich and fabulous.

“Okay, so, she needs new stuff, that can be easily arranged.”

After breakfast, Tony knocked on May’s door and opened it slightly.

“We’re going to the store, do you need anything special?”

May shook her head and  buried deeper into her pillow.

“I’m taking care of Peter for now so you can rest. You’re free to take whatever you want from the fridge, ask FRIDAY if there are any issues. You have my number, call me if anything comes up.”

The trip to the mall was a rare chance for normalcy and they made the most of it. Tony and Pepper bought Peter some more new clothes, a pair of sensible shoes (the boy’s foot had grown) and they bought little decorative items to make both rooms feel more like home. Pepper led them to the women’s stores where they selected clothes for May (with Peter being the ultimate judge, Tony’s choice of a little black dress was immediately vetoed) and luxury make up.

“She needs a little spoiling after all she has been through,” Pepper commented at Peter’s suspicious look. “Besides, these are way better for skin than cheap market products.”

Tony was in the charge of choosing lipstick and concealer colors for May (he had impeccable eye for makeup).

“We’re home!” Peter called and set down three large bags of soaps, towels, shampoos, anything they usually got from supermarkets. Tony had gone all out and bought anything Peter recalled seeing at home, but he had set the limit at fairy liquid (“Mr Stark, seriously!”). Pepper and Tony followed with paper bags that were a jarring contrast to the plastic bags.

“May!” Peter opened the door and ran to his aunt. “May, look what we bought!”

Pepper stepped in and set on the light. She eyed the form on the bed sadly. Tony stepped in right after and shared her sentiment and worry.

“Look,” Peter showed her a bottle of shampoo. “It’s the same as in home!”

May nodded but did not take the item. Peter frowned at the lack of eagerness from his usually so lively aunt.

“Um, we bought some new clothes too,” He took a bag from Pepper and opened it to reveal a beautiful dark red blouse. “I tried to think what you would like. I know it’s all a bit more expensive than usual but the mall really didn’t have cheap stores.”

“It’s great, sweetie,” May tried to smile but it did not reach her eyes.  Peter’s expression fell into anxiety and he looked at his mentor.

Tony cleared his throat.

“I am beat from all that walking. How about we go out to eat tonight? I’m feeling for some Chinese. May, is that okay?”

The woman shook her head: “I’m not really hungry, Tony.”

“May,” Peter’s worry grew. “What is wrong with you? Are you sick?”

“I don’t know, Peter,” May whispered and Tony was dreadfully reminded of the scene of Littlefoot’s Mother dying (he had been a freaking mess during and after the scene, Peter had had to pause the movie).

“But you have to eat,” The boy tried. “You can’t just lie here and sleep! You’ll die!”

“I won’t die, Peter,” May tried to reason her nephew. “I’m just tired and sad.”

“May,” Pepper stepped forward and sat on the bed. “Would it help if we called someone?”

“Peter,” Tony saw it as a cue to leave; if May was going to open up, she would not do so with Peter present. Even in her depressed state, she was still trying to protect the boy. That was why she was not around, she did not want to tamper Peter’s grieving and recovery with her more serious issues. “C’mon, let’s go put your stuff to your room.”

Peter stood up reluctantly, it was only Pepper’s hard but soft look that made him drop the paper bag and walk away. As soon as they got into Peter’s room, the boy sank to the floor and started crying.

“She won’t even try!” Peter banged the floor and sobbed. “Why won’t she try?”

“Kiddo,” Tony got to his knees and hugged the boy, the gesture had become a second nature during the week. “She is trying but she needs a little extra help.”

“I know she is depressed, she was before but now-” Peter whined.

“It was the breaking point. A person can only take so much before their mind and body start working against them.”

“I know, I-” Peter quieted.

“I have depression, Peter,” Tony offered. “I have had since before I can remember, that is why I drank so much. I take medication now and it truly helps, stops my brain from focusing on the bad thoughts.”

The boy gulped and gathered courage: “I might sometimes have depressive episodes.”

Tony nodded, he had suspected as much. “Okay, we need to work on that. Sadness is normal but prolonged depression is not. Would you mind if I arranged you a meeting with a psychologist?”

“So I can talk about myself?” Peter grinned, Tony had often described therapy as fun since it was nothing but talking about yourself for an hour.

“Yes, exactly,” Tony rolled his eyes bemusedly.

Tony hired a psychologist to talk with May five times a week. The meetings were done at the Tower and slowly progress was done. The first day May willingly got out of her room, Peter nearly tackled her into a hug and did not let go for the rest of the day.

She was described antidepressants which at first caused her mild nausea for the first week.

“I had the same reaction,” Tony told when she complained she dared not eat anything. “But it goes away very quickly, you don’t starve if you eat poorly for a few days.”

Tony also encouraged Peter to talk to a professional, firstly about the apartment fire but then about anything else that came to mind.

After a month, life began to flow again. The quartet had formed their own routines and they became even more of a makeshift family. Peter enjoyed having more people around and Tony and Pepper created clear schedule to follow. They had meal times, ate breakfast and dinner together and on weekends took outings to get much needed fresh air. Peter and Tony started jogging at Central Park (where Peter spent half the time chasing dogs).

Finally, Peter asked to go back to school. He had not dared because May was so sad and even Tony could not be present all the time to take care of her. But May was getting her energy back although she was still on undetermined sick leave.

“You shouldn’t have done this,” Peter said as he read his new school books. Tony and him had gone shopping earlier that day and for once in his life, Peter had gotten every book brand new and also three backpacks, pencils, calculator, a mountain of notebooks, journal, laptop, wallet (Tony had taken care of renewing all his and May’s cards) and anything else a student could dream of.

“Hey, we can’t have our star pupil failing high school,” Tony smirked while leafing through the math book. He took a notebook and began to solve the problems on paper. Peter looked at his mentor’s fast handwriting and snorted: “So that is your idea of a good time?”

“Says the boy building Legos.”

“My hobby is at least somewhat normal,” Peter argued. “Yours is just- weird.”

“You don’t become a billionaire by being ordinary, kid.”

“I thought your father and Pepper made you all the money.”

“Ah, my Padawan, you wound me,” Tony jested, he loved a good banter.

The morning Peter left for school, May sat down and began to search to for a suitable apartment. The choices were limited, they had very little assets plus the place had to be within good public transport to get them to school and work.

“This is hopeless,” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “There is nothing on New York in our wealth category.”

Tony frowned and looked at the screen.

“How about that one?” He pointed at a two bedroom flat near Queens. “Looks suitable.”

“Rent is too high,” May shook her head. “I’m not getting fully paid during my sick leave and we had little savings to begin with.”

“I could give you-”

“No,” May shook her head and Tony sighed: what was with these people and money? He would gladly give them half of his fortune if they only allowed it.

“I appreciate the offer but we can manage it.”

“May, I don’t doubt your guts but it will be difficult. Let me at least call my realtor-”

“Tony, I doubt he deals with low-income housing.”

“He was the one who managed to get all the others some emergency housing,” Tony pointed out and May raised an eyebrow.

“Emergency- there was emergency housing? Why was I not told about this?”

“Because you had- and have- a place here for as long as you want and need.”

May still looked a little hurt and sceptical.

“Besides, it was better for Peter to be in a familiar environment.”

“True,” May nodded and Tony was relieved; even if they disagreed on some accounts, they always were on the same page when it was a question of Peter’s well-being and happiness.

May checked the pages for some minutes more until she spoke up: “There is always the chance of moving away.”

Tony’s stomach turned to ice.

“What?”

“Leaving New York for some place smaller. My pay would be about the same but the living expenses would be much lower. Maybe we could even get a house with a yard, Peter would like that. He has always wanted a dog but we can’t get one here.”

No, Tony felt like crying. Peter couldn’t leave. What would he do without the chance of seeing the boy everyday? If Peter left, they would only be in contact through phone and video chats and meet maybe once a month. It would not be enough.

They wouldn’t have time to meet because Tony would die of a broken heart before it.

“But what about Peter’s school?”

“I don’t want to leave and neither does Peter but if we can’t find an apartment here-”

“You can stay here!”

The words were out before he even thought about them. Then Tony thought them over: Peter and May staying in the Tower.

Yes. It could work.

“Tony,” May let out a disbelieving laughter. “I don’t know-”

“No, hush,” Tony waved his hand as he began to pace. “It- it actually makes sense! Think about it! You can live here rent free, all expenses are covered: you don’t have to pay water, heating, electricity, cable, nothing! You both have privacy, hell, I can modify one of the floors into an apartment for you two! Peter’s school is close and you can get to work through subway, or Happy can drive you depending on your shifts. Meanwhile, you can save your paychecks and still keep looking for apartment.”

The man was elated, over the moon as the plans began to form in his head. He could just picture it all: Peter being there everyday for breakfast, game nights, fighting about who left dirty dishes in the sink, the kind of domesticity you don’t get from staying over just occasionally.

“It’s foolproof!”

May was silent for a moment as she suspiciously recalled everything Tony had said.

“You would let us stay?”

Tony nodded before answering: “Of course! This Tower is too big for two people!”

“SI headquarters is located downstairs-”

“You know what I mean,” Tony waved his hand impatiently and May’s smile grew.

“Would Pepper be okay with it?”

“She is thrilled with anything that keeps from drowning work. She loves both of you! Besides, she used to live with the Avengers, we are both used to lots of noise and action.”

May seemed to warm up to the idea.

“I don’t feel good about staying here for free.”

“Then we can settle a small compensation so that your conscience is quieted but you can still save up for the future.”

“I don’t think a billionaire would put any value on what I can pay,” May smiled slightly but Tony was for once in his life serious.

“May, the money you can give me has more value than anything I have on my bank account.”

Tears burned her eyes as she looked at the benefactor.

“You won’t regret this?”

Tony shook his head: “If I do, I’ll move out and you can stay here.”

May wiped at her eyes and felt like a heavy load had been lifted from her heart.

“Peter is going to be so thrilled when he hears.”

Tony offered his phone: “Which one of us tells him?”