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Peter closed the door to his locker with a sigh. It had been a very long day and Peter knew it would be an even longer night. It had been a month since the fight, the fight that the media dubbed “Civil War”. Peter’s dad hadn’t been the same since Siberia. He came home a broken man, and over the last month Peter has tried his hardest to pick up the pieces. Tony’s physical injuries had healed for the most part, but his emotional and psychological ones still cut deep. Peter hoped someday his dad would find his way back, no matter how long it took Peter would be there waiting. Just like Tony had been there waiting for Peter to climb off that same ledge of grief when his aunt and uncle had passed away.“Hey, Peter!” Ned’s cheery voice broke through Peter’s weary thoughts. “Hey, Ned what’s up?” “What are you up to tonight? I got a new Lego set I could really use your help on!” Ned shifted the strap of his backpack. “Unless you are busy with Spiderman or something.”“No man, dad had his last check up today. He never texted me, so I know I’m going to have to go beat it out of him.” Peter grabbed his bag and headed to the doors. “Rain check?” Ned gave a solemn nod. “Yeah man, I understand. I just miss you is all. Tell Tony I hope he is feeling better.”Peter felt his chest tighten with guilt. “Thanks Ned, I promise we will hang out soon. I’ll text you later!” Ned gave a final wave to his friend before Peter spun on his heel and ran for the door.Avengers Tower~Tony stared at the medical papers in his hand, he was finally on the mend. The damage to his heart was healing but not as fast as he hoped. The doctor said with rest and minimum stress he should get back to normal. Normal for Tony Stark anyway. He wanted to be done with these doctor visits, done with his son treating him like a wounded animal, done feeling broken. Hearing the dinge of the elevator bell Tony set the papers in front of Peter’s spot at the table. He knew his son would want to see them, it would be the only way to convince his son that he wasn’t hiding anything from him.“Hey dad, I’m home!” Peter called hurrying into the kitchen. Peter eyed his father intently, trying to gauge the results of the doctors visit by his appearance.Tony noticed and smirked, pointing to the papers. “Everything you need to know is right there, champ.”Peter gave his dad a suspicious look before snatching the papers from the table. Scanning the papers quickly, Peter felt a grin spread across his face. “Dad this is great news! Why didn’t you tell me?”Tony smiled at his son. “I wanted to surprise you, besides now you can stop worrying about me so much.” Getting up Tony moved to the counter and poured himself a fresh cup of coffee.Peter glared, walking over to his dad and grabbing the cup from his hands. “I will never stop worrying about my family.” Ignoring his dads protest he dumped the coffee down the sink. “Besides who else would remind you that you are still on a strict no caffeine diet!”Tony pouted, watching the precious liquid circle the drain. “The doctor said I could have one cup!”Peter did his best to mask his amusement with annoyance. “Yeah dad, I was there when he said that.” Peter moved to dump the rest of the pot ignoring his dad’s pained groan. “But I also know you, and you’ve already had more than one today.”Tony gasped, stunned. “How could you think that of me?” Peter gave his dad an unamused look. “Really?” Tony held up his hands in defeat. “Ok, ok, that’s not the point. But come on champ, I’m feeling so much better!” “And I want you to keep feeling better. So please dad, just listen to the doctor and when you are cleared, I’ll buy you all the coffee you want.”Tony snorted. “You’ll buy me coffee with my own money. Gee, what a great offer.” Peter grinned. “And it’s the only one you’ll get.”Tony let out a laugh, his son was truly incorrigible. Pulling his son into a giant hug. “Thanks, Pete. I know this last month has been a challenge but I’m alright. We’ll be alright”Peter buried his face into his father’s shirt breathing in his comforting sent. “No matter what, you’ll always be my hero.” Tony’s breath hitched, the kid always knew just what to say to turn him into a ball of emotion. Reaching up he brushed the moisture from his eyes, pulling away. “Ok kid, enough of the emotional stuff. Let’s go watch a movie and order take out to celebrate.”Peter grinned. “Can I pick the movie?” Tony let out a fake pained groan. “I’m going to regret this, I already know it.” Tony watched as his son let out an evil whoop and sprint off to the media room. “Anything but Star Wars!” Tony called after him. Knowing that his request fell on dead ears, Tony picked up his cell phone, giving a tired chuckle he began to dial.3 hours later~Tony shifted on the couch trying to find a more comfortable position without waking the sleeping teen. Peter fell asleep as soon as they started Return of the Jedi. Tony was able to shift far enough that Peter’s head now rested on his chest and Tony was able to stretch out his legs. Peter let out a muffled sigh before snuggling further into his father’s chest. Tony’s heart melted at the sight, he really would be lost without this kid. Running his hand through Peter’s curly brown hair, his mind drifted to the last month. The physical pain had been excruciating, but the personal pain was on a completely different level. People that he thought were his friends had betrayed him, he had trusted these people with his life. And then they had been the ones to almost take it. Tony would be the first to admit that he hadn’t handled the situation the best way. But the deaths of his parents completely blindsided him, but what made it all the worse was Steve slamming his shield deep into his chest and leaving him to die. Sure, he and Cap didn’t always have the best relationship, but he had believed that they were friends. Clearly Steve had not shared that same belief. Tony’s eyes drifted to the flip phone sitting on the side table, thinking back to Cap’s note. Yeah, the Captain had apologized, but what was Tony really supposed to make of that. The super soldier had left him to die in that icy building choosing Bucky over him, allowing Peter to become and orphan once again. Deep in his heart Tony had already forgiven Bucky and Steve for his parents. Some days the wound still stung but his parents had been gone for years. What Tony hadn’t forgiven was what could have been Peter’s future should Tony died. Tony tore his gaze from the phone. It didn’t matter. Tony saw no reason to ever need the phone. What was done was done. The Avengers no longer existed and there was no threat. Tony would keep Steve Rogers secret out of respect of their old relationship. No matter what the super soldier may believe of him he was not an evil man.“Dad?”Tony gave a startled jump and looked down at his son. His hair was disheveled and sleep still filled his eyes. “What’s up kiddo?”Peter rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Are you ok? You are staring at that phone like it is going to explode.”“Yeah, Pete I’m good. You know how I get when the sun goes down.”Peter nodded. Night was always a bad time for his father. His mind would become flooded with bad memories and regrets. If those didn’t keep him up his dreams that were plagued by nightmares did.“Anything I can do to help?” Tony gave his son a soft smile, wrapping his son in his arms and pulling his closer to his chest. “You already are buddy. More than you know.”The two settled back in to finish the movie, both knowing that everything would be ok as long as they had each other to lean on.~~~~“Wake up Bambi it’s time for school!” Tony watched Peter startle awake smiling when his son almost went head first off, the couch.“What time is it?” Peter cringed when the harsh sunlight met his eyes.“It is time for school. Now hurry up, breakfast is almost ready, and you still need to change.”Peter scowled as he watched his dad whistle over the stove. The smell of bacon filling the room. “Why are you so unbelievably chipper this morning?”Tony laughed. “Can’t I be in a good mood?”“You are never this happy in the morning. Who are you and what did you do to my father?”Tony gripped his chest and let out a fake gasp of pain. “Way to wound me, you ungrateful child.” Peter continued to stare at his father until Tony let out a sigh of defeat. “If you must know, last night was the first night in over a month that I slept with no nightmares.”Peter grinned. “So, this has nothing to do with a coffee binge, thank the gods!”Tony set the bacon down on the table giving his son a disbelieving look. “You really don’t trust me do you? What have I done to deserve this?”Peter let out a muffled laugh, his mouth full of food. “You would be lost without me!” Glancing at the clock, Peter let out a curse. “Damn, I am late!”Tony sat back watching his son run out of the kitchen only to return a minute later dressed. “Have a good day Pete and stay out of trouble!” “Yeah, yeah, I think I should be saying that to you.” Peter said, before giving his dad a quick hug goodbye. “See you later dad! And no coffee, I’ll be checking with Friday!”~TonyPeter had only been gone for a few hours and Tony had found himself on his way to his workshop. “Alright Friday, what should we work on today?” Tony asked as his machines began whirling awake to his presence. As the lights all flickered on Tony noticed a dark suited figure sitting in his chair. “Friday?”The figure in the chair twisted to face Tony. “Sorry Mr. Stark, you’ll find that your AI is currently unreachable.” The suit pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his hands. “We need to talk.”“Business hours are every other Friday from 8 to 5. But for you I will make a special offer of never and go to hell.” Tony picked up a wrench and gripped it tight. “Now get out of my house.”The man chuckled as he stood. Reaching in to his pocket he pulled out his phone. “I don’t think you understand, I’m not asking. If you don’t come with me right now, your precious son won’t live to see another hour.” The man flipped the phone to show Tony the screen. It showed Peter sitting at lunch laughing with Ned.Tony felt his world stop. “Who are you? What do you want?”The man tucked the phone away, straightening his jacket. “I work for a very powerful group of people and they have some questions for you.” The man eyed the wrench in Stark’s hand. “And if you don’t come with me, I won’t hesitate to give the order to have your son executed. And who knows how many other kids will be collateral damage.”Tony’s heart raced, he knew this man meant business. He knew if he went with this man he may never come back. But if he didn’t go Peter would be killed along with countless other students. Tony clenched the wrench before dropping it with a clatter. There really was no choice, he would never put Peter in danger. “Fine, as the kids would say, take me to your leader.”The suited man grinned. “Come now Stark, you know it won’t be that simple.” Before Tony could blink a sharp pain exploded across his head and back as two men attacked him from behind. Falling to the ground the only thing Tony could do was curl into a ball. Using his arms, Tony did his best to shield his head as blows continued to rain down on him. Tony could feel his world start to shrink. “You didn’t honestly think we would take Iron man in without making certain he couldn’t fight back.” The suited man laughed, landing a kick square to Tony’s chest.Tony huffed, spitting blood onto the floor. “Your employer must really be scared if he had to send 3 men to jump an unarmed man.”“Not afraid, just smart.” Suit responded, kicking Tony onto his back. “Come on boys, load him up. And make sure he is tied up nice and tight.” Tony’s last thought was of Peter. He wishes he could apologize to him and make sure that the suits had kept their promise. But most of all he hoped that Peter would forgive him, after all no father ever wants to leave their son all alone.
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Peter couldn’t help but feel like he was on cloud nine. His dad’s doctor’s appointment went better than he could have ever hoped and last night neither of them experienced nightmares for the first time in what felt like forever. This morning gave him hope that they finally had rounded that final curve, they were going to be ok. Peter caught sight of Ned. Picking up his pace he ran over to his friend.“Ned, so I’m going to talk dad about you coming over this weekend. His really doing good and I know he would love to see you, if your down.”Ned grinned at Peter’s excited expression. “Yeah man, you know I am always down for a visit at Avengers tower.” Ned playfully punched Peter’s shoulder. “Should I bring the Lego’s?”“Of course! And if we are lucky, we can get dad to help us out.” Peter replied thinking back to the Hogwarts model that his dad had completed with them. Both he and Ned had learned a few new colorful curse words at the end of that adventure. “No matter how lame he says they are you know he secretly loves them.”Ned nodded, a serious expression crossing over his face. With Tony involved he would need to pull out the big guns. “If that’s the case, I should probably grab the new Millennium Falcon model.”Peter clapped his friend on the back, lifting his backpack to his shoulder. “Awesome! I’m really looking forward to this dude. I’ll text you tonight after I give dad the heads up!”“Sounds great Pete.” Ned replied. “Hey, send over Happy to give me a ride. I always feel like a celebrity when I have a chauffeur!”Peter laughed throwing his friend a thumbs up before exiting the school doors. He couldn’t wait to tell his dads about their new weekend plans. Ned had been right, it had been far too long since they had hung out and he was excited about the return to normalcy.~TonyTony sputtered awake when his body was assaulted by icy cold water. His shoulders and wrists ached as his body registered his position. Harsh chains encircled his wrists and kept his arms firmly locked above his head, his feet barely touching the ground. “What the fu…”Tony was interrupted by a dull voice “Good afternoon, Mr. Stark. I hope you had a pleasant trip.”Taking stock of his surroundings Tony noticed that he was in imprisoned in a dark room. A single flickering bulb provided the only light to the room. Tony could only assume he was being kept in some abandoned bunker of factory. The place smelled like mold and stagnate water. The only furnishings were a chair and a bucket. Tony wrinkled his nose at what the bucket implied.“I’m sorry Mr. Stark, am I boring you already?”The dull voice snapped, pulling Tony from his observations. “No, not at all. I just couldn’t help but be distracted by the beautiful scenery.” Tony twisted in his chains trying to locate the other man. “Don’t worry I will give you a 5 star on my Yelp review.” A small chuckle sounded from the far-right back corner causing Tony to swing his body in that direction. Squinting his eyes Tony struggled to adjust to the darkness. “If you don’t mind me asking, I would really like to know who my generous host is.”Tony stiffened when the stranger finally moved out of the shadows. Just like the others this man was dressed in a high-end suit. His eyes were a dark grey that held no empathy, black hair slicked back away from his face. The man looked like he was enjoying Tony’s predicament, a smug grin plastered to his face. “At least the stories are true, your witty banter does not disappoint.”Tony gripped his chains trying everything possible to relieve the strain on his shoulders. “Glad I met your expectations, I can die happy.”“Oh no, you aren’t dying.” Suit cackled. “Not yet, anyway. Boss, has some important questions that need answers and word on the street is you are the only that knows the answers.”Tony rolled his eyes before glaring at his captured closely. “Ok, ok since you goonies all insist on shopping at ‘Suits R Us’ try adding some color into your lives. Add a bright tie or even a handkerchief.” Tony caught the anger in the man’s eyes right before his monster hand closed around his throat cutting off his voice and air.“When they said you had a mouth, they didn’t mention how annoying you were.” Suit growled. “Don’t push your luck Stark, my boss doesn’t have near the amount of patience I do.” Giving the prisoner a final threatening squeeze, suit released his grip, returning to his station.When the pressure released Tony sucked in a haggard breath, the air stinging his freshly bruised throat. “All I was trying to say is, think about it. A splash of color could really change your life!” Tony wheezed out. His jailor threw up his hands before exiting the room, slamming the door roughly behind him. “Wait, I’m not finished! Come back!”Finally, alone Tony took the time to take stock of his injuries. His ribs ached like a bitch, his head throbbed and made his vision swim. He could tell by the crusty feeling on his face he had multiple cuts and bruises forming. The scar above his heart felt warm and achy and Tony was refusing to acknowledge the return of the abnormal heartbeat. He was fine, he would return to Peter. Sighing Tony felt exhaustion wash over him, he had found himself in jams before but this one was starting to feel different.“Well Stark, you’ve never done anything half way, why should your kidnapping be any different?” Tony grumbled to himself, testing his chains again finding that that they still held firm. The cell door abruptly flew open letting in two more suits followed closely behind by a third, shorter man. “Tony Stark, it’s a pity it had to come to this. But I did try to warn you.”Tony’s eyes widen as recognition flooded through him. His eyes finally landing on the third man, anger boiling in his gut. “Thaddeus Ross, you son of a bitch!” Tony snarled lunging as far his restraints allowed. Ross stepped into the light surveying his prisoner.“I warned you Stark, I told you if you didn’t give me all the information on Steve Rogers that I would have to resort to drastic measures.”Tony continued pulling against his bonds. The urge to murder the man in front of him burned bright. Ross had broken into his home and assaulted him. But his biggest mistake was threatening Peter, and for that Tony would kill him. “How dare you! I told you everything I know!”Pity and disappointment filled Ross’s expression. “Tony you and I both know that isn’t true. I was truly hoping that we could work together on this.”“We were working together.” Tony snapped. “But you crossed the line when you threatened my son and for that I will make you pay!”Ross sighed, sinking onto the steal metal chair. “You won’t be doing anything other than giving me Steve Rogers location. As of now you are just as guilty as he is." As Ross talked the two men drug in a metal table and began laying out different kinds of menacing instruments.Tony did his best to keep his attention on Ross, he would not allow these men to intimidate him. “I have no idea what you are talking about it. Maybe you forgot the little detail of Rogers betraying me and leaving me to die in a winter waste land.” Tony spit out.Ross still looked unconvinced, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I was hoping to do this with no more bloodshed. But due to your incompliance you are now a Rogue Avenger.” Waving his hand to his men Ross sat back and pulled out his phone to distract himself from the screaming that was to come.Peter~As soon as Peter stepped off the elevator his spider senses sent a shock over his spine. “Hey dad, are you home?” Peter called, instantly on alert. The house looked relatively in order, nothing seemed to be broken or out of place. It was a little odd that Tony wasn’t there to greet him, but every now and then he would get so caught up in a project that he would stay in the workshop.Setting his bag down with a thump, Peter headed to his dad’s lab. His heart racing, it was as if his spider senses already knew what he was going to find. Rounding the corner Peter let out a heartbroken gasp. His father’s robots where tipped over and surrounded by shattered glass. His tools and blue prints littered the floor. But the sight that made Peter’s skin crawl was the puddle of blood in the middle of the mess. Peter felt his breath increasing to the point of hyperventilation. Someone had broken in and taken his dad and judging by the amount of blood on the floor and had given him a serious injury. “Friday?!” Peter called, panic fully sinking in now.When the AI didn’t respond Peter rushed over to the nearest computer. With a few quick key strokes Peter could tell that the AI was completely shut down. It would take a powerful person to hack into Stark Industries and shut down his dad’s AI. Peter stepped back the scene around him overwhelming him. Peter buried his hands deep in his hair, his mind going crazy. What was he going to do? The police couldn’t handle this, whomever did this kidnapped Iron Man for crying out loud. Through his panic an idea struck him, rushing from the room Peter flew up the stairs. Please, please, please dad. God, I hope you left it there.Peter skidded into the living room, flinging himself at the table. There at the center sat the tiny black flip phone. Snatching it up, Peter flipped it open, highlighting the lone name. Peter paused, should he do this? His dad had been very clear to never use this phone. But could he afford not to, this was his dad’s life after all. But Peter knew that no one else would be able to help him.No, Peter had made up his mind, steeling his nerves he pushed the call button.After one ring the line picked up.“Hello?”
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~SteveSteve’s day had started like every other since the Avengers dismantling, uneventful and honestly boring. He sat at his desk looking out the window that showcased the beautiful landscape of Wakanda. No matter how many times he looked out the window the view always managed to take him by surprise with its beauty. Steve sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Beautiful or not he was seriously starting to miss New York. It wasn’t so much the scenery he missed, but the people there and the life that he had. It’s not that he regretted his decision in fact he would do it all again to save Bucky. What he regretted was how he handled the situation. After all the chaos had died down, he could see clearly now how he had let Tony down, he should have never lied to him and for that he would always be sorry.Steve was jolted out of his thoughts by a shrill ring. It couldn’t be…. Digging in his desk drawer, Steve pulled out the small flip phone. He sucked in a rough breath as Tony’s name flashed a crossed the screen. It must be dire if Tony Stark needed to speak with him. Steve answered the phone.“Hello?”“Steve Rogers?” A small voice questioned.“Yeah, who is this?”
“My name is Peter Parker and I need your help.”
Steve sat back in his chair. Was this some kind of prank? “Look kid, I don’t know who you are or how you got this phone, but this phone was given to Iron man for emergencies only.”“This is an emergency!” Peter cut him off. “Someone took him!”“Took him? Iron man?” Steve questioned, a rock forming in his gut.“Yes, and I need your help.” The boy paused. “I have no one else that can help me. And after everything you owe him.”Steve felt those last words like a punch to the face. He could tell by the boy’s tone that there was more to that statement than what he was letting on. “Where are you, kid?”
“The old Avengers tower.”
Steve stood up moving to his closet, grabbing a travel bag, he began to throw clothes inside. “All right, Peter I’ll be there in a few hours.”“Thank you, please hurry!” Steve could hear the tremble in the boy’s voice. It was obvious that he was very scared. But there was something nagging at the back of his mind.“Hey, kid, how do you know Tony Stark.” Steve asked as he zipped the bag and hefted it over his shoulder.There was a long pause at the other end of the phone. “Tony Stark, is my father.”Steve halted, confusion washing over him. “Tony never said he had a son!”A bitter laugh came from the other side of the phone. “Yeah, it seems there is a lot that the two of you didn’t share.”Steve could feel the bitterness radiating through the phone. “Look, Peter,” He started.“It doesn’t matter right now, all I want is to find my dad.” The boy hastily cut Steve off. “Call me when you get here.” With that the line went dead. Steve pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it. Tony Stark had a secret son, a twinge of sadness flashed through him. Tony clearly hadn’t trusted the team enough to tell them, then again considering how it all turned out Steve couldn’t blame him. Recalling the bitterness in the boy’s voice Steve could only assume that Peter hated him, something more had happened since Siberia of that he was certain. Even so, the boy was right, it didn’t matter that Steve and Tony didn’t agree on the Accords, Steve would find his old friend. Sighing, Steve tucked the phone into his back pocket as he exited his room. After everything that they had been through he owed Tony that much. He was going to bring Tony Stark home.~PeterPeter sat on the cold hard floor in the middle of his father’s workshop, his knees pulled tight to his chest and his knuckles throbbing. It had been two hours since he had hung up on Steve Rogers, with nothing to do other than wait, Peter felt like he was spiraling. Where was his dad? Was he hurt? Why was he taken? All these thoughts consumed him, constricting his chest and making it hard to breathe.Peter sucked in a harsh breath trying to calm himself. Rogers promised that he would be here, Peter had to keep his head until then. After his phone call with Captain America, Peter hadn’t known what to do. What does a son do when their father had been brutally kidnapped from his own home? Peter had paced the living room a short while before finding his way to his dad’s workshop. Even without the Captain here he could at least search for clues. As he had searched the lab all he found was a piece of paper that read “The 117 remembers!”. He had spent the last few hours trying to figure out what that meant to no avail. Feeling absolutely useless, Peter had thrown his Stark tablet to the floor and punched the wall, effectively splitting his knuckles wide open. Peter looked at his knuckles, the blood was beginning to clot, and the tissue had discolored to a nasty shade of red. It was odd, logically he knew the wound hurt but yet he couldn’t emotionally register the pain. If his dad were here, he would have lectured Peter about being reckless. Not only had he put a fairly big hole in the wall, but he injured himself in the process. Peter could picture the Tony Stark rant now.
“Kid, what have I told you about letting your emotions get the better of you? Take it from a seasoned professional, too much emotion can get you killed! Besides look at my wall, what do you think that I’m made from money!”
Peter grinned as he wiped tears from his eyes. His dad was always making lame jokes like that to defuse the tension. But Tony wasn’t here this time to remind him to keep his calm, this time Peter was on his own. Taking a deep breathe through his nose Peter prepared himself to start his search again. A vibration in his pocket drew his attention. Taking the phone from his pocket Peter saw Steve’s name flash across the screen.“Are you here?” Peter questioned, avoiding pleasantries.
“Yeah, you going to let me in?”
Peter got to his feet and moved to his father’s keyboard, typing out a few quick codes. “There, the doors should be unlocked. I’m in dad’s lab, I assume you remember how to get here.”
“Got it, see you in a few.”
Peter clicked the phone shut, he only had to wait a few minutes before the one and only Captain America came striding into his father’s lab. Peter swallowed thickly as many emotions flooded his system at once. This was the first time he had seen Steve since the airport in Germany. Since he had put a shield through his father’s chest. Anger was the first emotion that Peter distinguished from the mass surrounding him. He wanted to give into it and go up to the man that had left his dad broken for over a month and punch him square in his face. He wanted to scream and rage at Steve, to make him hurt like they had hurt. The only thing that held him back was the second emotion, relief. Relief that Steve was here, that he still cared enough to come. Maybe ‘care’ wasn’t the right term, it could be guilt or a sense of duty, either way the man was here.The first thing Steve noticed when he had entered the room was the broken glass strewn around the floor. In the center of the room was a puddle of dried blood. Tony’s blood. The second thing he noticed was the young teen sitting at the mechanics desk, staring the super soldier down. Steve watched as anger flashed across the boy’s face and he tensed himself for the kids attack. He wouldn’t have blamed the kid, but he had hoped to postpone this part. Just as soon as Steve thought Peter was going to have a go at him the boy seemed to deflate right in front of him. All traces of anger melted from his face to reveal a scared and exhausted boy.“Peter,” Steve said, stepping forward to approach the boy. “Tell me what happened.”Peter looked tiredly at the man in front of him. “I came home from school and dad wasn’t upstairs waiting for me like he normally is. I came downstairs to find all this.” The boy gestured to the mess surrounding them. “Friday is offline, and dad is just gone.”Peter let out a short sob as he finished. Steve reached out to touch the kid but then thought better of it. He knew that the last thing Peter wanted right now was to be comforted by the man that betrayed his father. “Peter, did the people that took Tony, leave anything behind?”Peter nodded and handed the captain the paper. Steve read the words a ghost of a memory itching at the back of his mind. The 117, it sounded vaguely familiar but not in a good way. Folding the note, he faced the teen. “The 117, does that mean anything to you?”Peter shook his head. “I have never heard of any group by that name. And if dad did, he would have kept that from me. After everything that happened with the Avengers dismantling, he kept his work tightlipped.” Peter rubbed the tense muscles at the back of his neck. “Dad said that the politicians were out for blood and under no circumstances was I to go near that situation.”Steve felt a pang of guilt. Clearly Tony had been afraid of something, but the problem was figuring out what that was. If there was one thing that Tony Stark was good at it was keeping a secret. Steve internally cringed at the question he needed to ask the boy. “Peter, what happened after Siberia?”Hatred flashed over Peter’s brown eyes. “Why the hell are you asking that?”Steve flinched back from the venom in the young man’s voice. “I need to try and figure out what your dad was up too. I’m just trying to find him.” He said, running a hand awkwardly through his hair.Peter let out a slight crazed laugh. “Well let’s see, the first week was spent in the hospital, three of those seven days he was in a coma. Something to do with a vibranium shield piercing his chest cavity.” Steve took a stumbling step back as Peter’s words ran him over. If Peter noticed he gave him no mercy. “When he finally woke up, he wouldn’t talk, eat, or sleep. It took me breaking down in his arms begging him not to die on me. He made me a promise, ya know, that he wouldn’t die on me.” Peter swiped angrily at the tears threatening to spill over. “It got a little better after that. He left the hospital and was following his PT as instructed. But he kept getting these weird dizzy spells and chest pains. It took him passing out at a meeting for the doctors to find out that vibranium shield had caused additional trauma to his already weakened heart.”Steve swallowed against the tightening in his throat. “Peter, I’m so sorry. I never meant,”“You never meant for what? To almost kill my dad? To leave him to bleed out and freeze to death?” Peter starred at the super soldier, in that moment he seemed so small. But Peter felt no sympathy for the man in front of him. In that moment Peter wanted nothing more than for the super soldier to leave. He wanted to curl up with his dad on the sofa and watch Star Wars for the hundredth time. Steve let out a broken sigh, rubbing at the moisture collecting in his own eyes. “The Winter Soldier, Bucky, had no control over his actions. He was tortured and brainwashed. I couldn’t let him be taken in, he is my friend and all I wanted to do is help him.” Steve clasped his hands in front of him in an almost pleading gesture. “I’m not asking you to forgive me I’m just asking you to try and understand.”Peter cocked his head, absorbing what the captain said. He tried to picture if that had been Ned and what he would have done. It would suck to know that his friend was put in that kind of situation but that still didn’t explain why Steve had attacked his dad that way. Maybe he hadn’t lived enough years or maybe it was the generational difference, perhaps he was missing a big part of the story. Regardless he wasn’t about to let Rogers off the hook. “What I understand is that you were unwilling to live without your friend. You were willing to do whatever it took to get him out alive. Damn the consequences.” Peter stood from his chair and crossed the room. Stopping at the door he faced the super soldier. “But did you ever stop and consider the people that can’t live without Tony Stark?” With that he left.Closing his eyes Steve lifted his face towards the ceiling, emotions raged within him, regret, sorrow, and anger. He had been so focused on saving Bucky, that he hadn’t once considered the damage he would leave behind. Steve had counted on Tony to piece the wreckage back together. Stark had always been the best one to handle the government officials and business men. Steve had always seen Tony as a man made of iron never as just a man and there laid his mistake.Running a hand across his face, Steve moved to Tony’s desk. Tossing the note to the side Steve began rummaging through the contents of the drawer. After a few moments of finding nothing of importance Steve slammed the door closed and sank onto the chair in defeat. Drumming his fingers against his thigh Steve studied the desk it seemed like a normal desk for Tony. Papers strewn about, tools and wires also scattered the surface. Steve also noted a row of books lined against the wall. Normally he wouldn’t have found that weird but the more he starred the more he found it out of character for the mechanic. In all his years of knowing Stark, Steve had never seen him read a book. Everything was on a tablet or the man was busy building something. Leaning forward Steve studied the books, most of them were about engineering or chemistry but the last one was titled ‘Atlas of the Human Heart’.Scowling Steve grabbed the book, it was heavier than he had expected and seemed oddly disproportioned. As he inspected the book in his hands Steve noticed most of the pages were lose and folded in on themselves. When Steve opened the book, its pages fell out onto the desk in a heap. The captain froze when he realized what the pages contained. This wasn’t a book on information on the human heart it was a file on the rogue avengers. The file detailed their locations and activities. Had Tony been planning on turning this over to Ross? Steve shook that thought from his mind, of course he wouldn’t have. Looking closer Steve could see he had been tracking them for weeks, shuffling through the papers Steve noticed that there were entries of false locations and leads. Steve sat back in the chair letting the papers fall from his hands as the pieces to the puzzle fell into place. Tony Stark had been protecting them over the past month. He kept Ross of their scent, giving them a head start and keeping them out of jail. Anger coursed through Steve as he picked up a packet of papers titled “Why the Accords are Shit. How 117 countries got it wrong!” Tony had been working on an appeal for the Accords before he went missing. He was trying to bring everyone home.Slamming the packet down on the desk Steve shot to his feet. He knew who had Tony and it was time to make Thaddeus Ross pay. Even if he had to take down 117 countries to do it.
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~ TonyTony grunted barely holding back his scream, his agony mounting with each new device that Ross tested on his flesh. Between the stabbing, burning, and slicing he had last track of time. Tony huffed out a breath trying to calm the erratic beating of his heart and the fresh pain it festered in his chest.“Tony, I swear to you this will all stop if you just give me a location.” Ross smirked from his chair eyes flitting a crossed Stark’s broken body.Tony sucked in a few more harsh breaths, his bruised and broken ribs aching from the effort. He lifted his bruised face to the ceiling sighing in relief as the stale water dripped onto his face. The water helped remind him that he could still feel something other than pain. Dropping his head Tony met Ross’s cold gaze, there he found no pity, no honesty, only amusement. He really was the bastard of the of the decade. But Tony had to give the man credit; he was awfully creative with his games of torture.Even so, the team was counting on him and his strength and it was that thought that kept Tony going. It would take a lot more than this torture to break him. Tony shook his head sending water, sweat, and blood splattering on his loathsome companions’ fine dress. He grinned at their looks of disgust before he replied in typical Tony Stark fashion. “I said it once, but I’ll say it again, stick it where the sun don’t shine.”Ross raised a hand and gestured lazily to his henchmen. The man moved behind Tony and out of his eye sight. Tony shifted against his chains trying to find the man. The second man grabbed Tony’s chained wrists holding him in place. “No peeking Stark, what’s coming next is a surprise.”Tony struggled against the hold of the man, he cursed these chains and he cursed his weakened body. The crackling of fire and the smell of smoke assaulted his senses and his brow furrowed in confusion. How long had the fire been burning and why would they need it when the place clearly had electricity. It was only when the sound of searing metal greeted his ears did the panic set in. They meant to brand him. Tony renewed his struggle against his captors, but his blood weakened exhausted body couldn’t put up much of a fight. The first goon came back into view brandishing the flaming blade. Tony’s eyes flickered to the blade, chest heaving, before landing back on Ross.“Last chance Stark, I’m growing tired of this game.” Tony’s only response was to spit at the bastard. Ross sighed, bored. Clearly, he needed to go about this differently, find a new weak spot to exploit. Ross nodded to one of his goons before getting up from his chair. “Once you are done return to my office. There are matters to discuss,” Ross paused, gripping Tony roughly by the chin. “Don’t fret Stark, I’ll be back soon enough, and I will get the answers I’m looking for. I always get what I want, and this time will be no different.” Ross released Tony with a shove and exited the room the cell door snapping shut.Tony didn’t get a chance to think on Ross’s parting words before his back was met with the red-hot blade, slicing a burning path from his right shoulder to his left hip. Tony let out an agonizing scream, the knife cut so deep that even the temperature of blade couldn’t completely cauterize the wound. Thick heavy blood streamed over the angry burns irritating them further. In that moment Tony’s world centered around one thing, pain. Tears streamed down his face as he let out a sob, his vision spotting with black as he struggled to remain conscious.The man made several more cuts mapping out Tony’s back once satisfied with his work he set the blade down on his torture cart. Tony didn’t get the chance to recover before the man’s fist brutally connected with his gut. Tony’s breath left him in a whoosh his lungs struggle to regain the life-giving air.His torturer reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping his work from his hands. Tony panted while he watched the pristine fabric soon become soiled with his blood. For some reason the blood on the fabric bothered him. It echoed a hideous memory of his father. Howard never missed a chance to remind Tony that his entire existence was born of pain and blood and it was a stain on this world. When the man finished cleaning the gore from his hands, he balled the fabric up and threw it to the ground and he swiftly exited the room.Tony stared at the ruined fabric for a moment before he closed his eyes as a weak chuckle left him. It was almost to perfect; the handkerchief was ruined and now that it was tarnished it was tossed away like garbage. Tony could relate to that he had always been damaged, and he did his own far share of damaging. He wrecked a lot of things and lives in the process. Peter was his only silver lining but even, so he didn’t doubt he had set the kid up for some kind of pain and suffering.A small tear slipped from his battered eye. Tony believed he was doing this to protect his estranged friends, the world to, but there was another ugly reason behind his motives. This was his punishment, his recompense to the world. For most of his life he had made his profit from murder and war, he had thought becoming Iron man and fighting against tyranny would redeem himself. But that had been a foolish lie he told himself. Even as Iron man he caused death and destruction and worse he destroyed his friends lives by signing those cursed Accords. No matter how hard he tried Tony seemed to be a screw-up, so maybe this is how his story ended, tortured to the edge of insanity before Ross grew tired of the game and ended his miserable life. But he would do this one thing right and keep his friends safe. If there was one positive thing the great Howard Stark taught his son, it was to have a will made of metal. Tony had gone above and beyond that, he was Iron man, and he was about to prove that iron was not so easily broken.~Avengers TowerPeter sat on the living room couch picking out tiny fragmented concrete from his knuckles. The skin was red and angry, blood still slowly oozed from the shallow cuts. Peter hissed pulling the last sliver of concrete from his skin. Flexing his hand Peter ignored the sting of pain that traveled up his hand. This pain was nothing but an annoyance and he hardly felt the need to acknowledge it. The real pain was buried deep in his heart, it was the pain of not knowing where his father was or what was happening to him. It was the knowledge of having to call upon that Captain to help him. But it was also the sinking suspicion that his may not have a happy ending and that was something that Peter wasn’t sure he could live with. Peter tensed when his enhanced hearing picked up the sound of Rogers heavy footsteps. His temper was still hot from their previous conversation and Peter wasn’t sure if he was ready to go another round with the man.Peter turned just in time to see Steve enter the room. “Peter, I found something!” Steve crossed the room dropping a heavy packet onto the boy’s lap.Peter gather the papers his eyes scanning over them quickly. These were reforms to the Accords why would his father have these? “What are these?”“Those are the documents that your father has been working,” Steve paused as he caught the dark look on Peter’s face. “He was trying to bring us all home.”Peter slammed the papers down on the coffee table as he stood up and began to pace the room. Steve could hear Peter muttering under his breath as the boy ran his hands through his hair with intense agitation. Peter abruptly stopped and turned to face the Captain. “So, are you telling me my father was taken because of the Rogue Avengers? Because of you?”Steve took Peter’s abandoned spot on the couch and ran a hand over his tired face. “That is my current running theory, yes.”Peter cursed anger boiling inside him. “What else did you find?” Steve held out the note to Peter. “What of it? I already know what it says.”Steve dropped the note onto the packet. “It says “The 117remembers!” that is the number of countries that signed the Accords. If your father had been working on reforming the Accords so that we could return home, he would be going up against those 117.” Steve could see Peter’s face pale as the kid was catching up on his train of thought. “There is one person I know that would go to such lengths to stop this from happening.”Peter held up his hand. “Thaddeus Ross.” Steve jumped as Peter kicked the coffee table sending it flying through the room. “I should have seen that one sooner. There many times I would catch dad on the phone with him and they were arguing.” Peter met Steve’s concerned gaze and let out a humorless laugh. “This is rich of course dad would be taken instead of you.” Steve felt a shiver go up his spine at the boy’s cold words. “Hasn’t my dad been through enough, given enough?”“Peter, everything that has happened I know it isn’t fair and I feel bad about how everything turned out, but.” Steve tried but Peter scoffed and turned his back on the super soldier. Frustration bubbled up in Steve the kid had a right to be angry, but they were getting no where like this. Steve crossed over to Peter and grabbed him by the shoulders so he could get the boy to face him. What he didn’t expect was to be shoved so roughly away that he found himself flat on his back. He had been caught off guard sure, but fully-grown men couldn’t do what this kid just did. Steve stood cautiously eyeing the teen with a new curiosity. “This isn’t the first time we’ve met is it?” Steve asked as memories of the Germany came into focus. The voice and mannerisms of the teen were so familiar it was almost embarrassing that Steve didn't see it before. Peter looked down at his hands, his own outburst surprising him. “You are the Spiderman. I’m sure of it.”Peter clenched his hands into his fist, glaring at the man in front of him. His dad would be furious at him for letting Steve figure out his secret identity but he couldn't find it in him to care. He was too angry. “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change anything.” It was Steve’s turn to let out a fake laugh. “Kid, it changes a lot or at least explains a lot.” Steve rolled his shoulders his mind racing. “How could Tony allow his own kid to fight in something like that?”“It’s not like I gave him much of a choice after I found out what was going on.” Peter hissed out quickly defending his dad. “He was against it for the record but there was no way I was going to sit on the sidelines while you tore the Avengers apart.” Steve clenched his teeth guilt and frustration tearing at him. This kid really knew how to hit him where it hurt! “Enough Peter! I get it, you hate me and most days I hate myself too. There is nothing I can say to get you to fully understand my reasonings. What happened with your father in Siberia will always be one of my greatest regrets.” Peter opened his mouth to argue but Steve raised a hand to silence him. He crossed his arms and snapped his mouth shut as he fought against the urge to interrupt Steve.“You called me to help find Tony and that is why I'm here. I want to find him, but I can’t do that if we keep having these arguments.” Steve eyed Peter, the boy shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Please can we put this away for now so we can find your dad.” Peter clenched and unclenched his fists, angry tears stinging his eyes. Hatred still burned in his heart, but he could hear reason in the Captain’s words. If anything that pissed him off even more but now wasn't the time to fight. They needed to work together to find his dad.Peter gave a short nod and Steve let out a sigh of relief. Grabbing his phone Steve quickly punched in a number and brought the phone to his ear. Thanks to his spider hearing Peter could listen to the entire conversation. The person at the other end was Sam Wilson.
“Steve, where are you?”
“Home. It’s time for all of us to come home. We need all hands-on deck.”
“That bad?”
“Trust me Sam, this is important, and I need all your help.”There was a short pause at the other end. “Alright Steve, send us the coordinates we will be there as soon as possible.” Steve hung up the phone and noticed Peter giving him a knowing look. “What?”Peter shook his head. “You didn’t tell them.” Steve kept his face blank as the boy continued. “You didn’t tell them because if you did, they wouldn’t come.” Steve felt his stomach clench because he had in all honestly, been afraid of that.“Peter, it doesn’t matter they are coming and even if they don’t want to stay, once they see what your father’s been doing they will help.” Steve pleaded but he wasn’t entirely sure who he was trying to convince Peter or himself.Peter scoffed as he crossed his arms catching the Captain’s uncertain tone. “You hope.” Steve reached out to grasp his shoulder but dropped his arm when the boy glared at him. Peter sighed exhaustion washing over him. “You told my dad that you were a team, you tell me that your team will want to help, you tell me you will save my dad. Stop making promises that you can’t keep.”Steve studied the boy in front of him his heart aching at the pain he saw. Peter was a mess his knuckles bloody, brown curls in disarray, and eyes rimmed red. The more he looked at Peter the more desperation he could sense radiating from him. Steve remembered Peter saying that Tony promised to never leave him. If Tony were to die Peter would be all alone and that thought was starting to terrify Steve. Peter was powerful with a lot of underlying rage inside him. Without Tony, Steve could clearly see that Peter would be lost and filled with even more rage. And what Peter would do with that rage scared Steve the most. The solution was simple. Steve would save Tony and Peter would go back to the sweet teenager he had met in Germany. “For what it is worth Peter this is a promise I intend to keep.”Peter walked up to Steve until they stood a few inches apart, he looked at the man in front of him with an unwavering gaze. Steve did his best not to squirm under the kid’s eye. He felt as if Peter was trying to look into his soul and see what type of man he really was. After a moment Peter took a step back. “I can only hope that you are not lying. I pray that you can keep your word and save my dad.”Peter stepped around the man and walked to the door. There he stopped and without turning to look back at Steve, Peter added in a low dark whisper. “Because I don’t know what will happen or what I’ll do if you don’t.”
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Steve sat in Stark’s living room staring out the window at the landing base. Sam and the others should be arriving any minute now and Steve couldn’t ignore the anxious pit growing in his stomach. He had assured Peter that they would help but Steve couldn’t ignore the rage and betrayal everyone had expressed after Germany. Steve’s super hearing caught the sound of the engine before the plane came into view, he twisted his hands turning his knuckles white, it was time no turning back now.Steve stood in the entryway and watched as Sam, Natasha, Clint, and Bucky exited the aircraft. They all looked a little worse for wear, but they were here, now came the hard part, getting them to stay.Sam caught sight of Steve and he slung his duffel over his shoulder. “Alright Rogers, we’re here, what’s the big emergency?”Steve gazed at his friends and gestured for them to follow him inside. The Rogue Avengers took a seat and waited for their Captain to debrief them. Bucky studied his friend as Steve began to pace a hole into the rooms floor. Steve was flushed pale and his eyes were shadowed by dark bruises caused from lack of sleep. Whatever was going on had stressed his friend to the max. He hadn’t seen Steve this worked up since that day in Siberia when Tony found out the truth of his parents’ death. “Steve get on with it.” Bucky urged.Steve clenched his teeth and balled his hands into fists. “First I need you all to promise you will stay and hear me out. Let me finish before you cast judgment.” The team members past bewildered looks to one another before giving hesitant nods.Steve sucked in a deep breath. It was now or never. “I called you all here because Tony is in trouble and needs our help.” Steve hunched his shoulders as his ears were assaulted by protests.“You can’t be serious Steve, why on earth would we ever help him?” Sam shouted as he shot up from the couch.“I’m sorry Steve, I have to agree with Sam here. After everything that happened, after all these months on the run…” Clint trailed off with a shake of his head.Natasha studied Steve carefully, her eyes steely. “I don’t get it Steve, you of all people.”“Enough!” Steve shouted, slashing his hand through the air. “You promised to hear me out.” Sam clamped his mouth shut and sank back to his spot on the couch. “Fine, but this better be really good.” He gestured for Steve to continue.“After everything that happened in Germany and Siberia, I had given Tony a phone to use to contact me if he ever needed help. Yesterday I got a call from Tony’s son,”“Tony has a son?” Clint interrupted then held his hands up in apology at Steve’s look.“Peter found Tony’s lab ransacked with blood on the floor. There was a note that claimed vengeance on Tony.”Natasha held up her hand to stop Steve. “I am still failing to see what this has to do with us. So far this to me sounds like Tony got himself into a mess and he needs to get himself out.”“The point is that Tony has been working nonstop to bring all of us home. He went against the Accords for us! Ross took him and is doing God knows what to him. Tony needs us!” Steve shouted trying to get his point across.Natasha’s eyes flashed dangerously at Ross’s name. “What did the note say?” Steve held the note out to her. Natasha took the note and read it quickly, slamming the note onto the coffee table she stood and headed to the window. “Ross is a ruthless politician that will stop at nothing to further his cause. If he has Tony, there is no telling what he will do.”“Shit,” Clint said, tossing the note. “That crazy son of a bitch took on Thaddeus Ross by himself. He’s smart enough to know that something like this could happen.”Steve dropped Tony’s file onto the coffee table with a loud thump. “He was taking this all the way to Washington.”Sam sat forward and began shifting through the papers. “Ross and his followers will look at this as treason! What the hell was he thinking?” He cursed.Bucky clenched a specific paper in his hand his heart pounding in disbelief. “He was demanding a full pardon for me.” His eyes shot over to Steve. “Why would he do that after everything I did?”“Because he isn’t the heartless man that everyone likes to paint him out to be.” Peter stated as he entered the room.Steve turned to look at the boy. His eyes were red and his hair was a mess. Steve swore Peter looked worse every time he saw him. Peter glared at the Avengers in front of him and crossed his arms. “So, are you here to help or degrade my father even more?”Clint let out a low whistle. “Easy there pint size, we are all on the same side.”Peter flashed the archer a venomous look. “Are we? It didn’t sound that way earlier.”“Peter, please,” Steve sighed. “They just needed a moment; I promise they are here to help.”“Then answer me!” Peter hissed, pinning the Rouge Avengers down with a hateful glare. “Are you here to help?”Bucky looked from the boy to the paper in his hands. Setting it down he stood up from his seat. “I will help you.”Natasha turned from her spot at the window. “Your father doesn’t deserve anything that Ross will do to him. I will help you.”Clint moved from the couch and stood in front of Peter. Peter stood unwavering under the man’s gaze and only slightly flinched when Clint placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. “You have my bow, kid. Every son needs his father even if they are a huge pain in my ass.”Sam gave his friends a look of slight disbelief before throwing his hands up in defeat. “What the hell, if we go down, we go down together, right.”Steve let out a breath that he didn’t even know he had been holding. “Thank you, guys.”“Ok, now that the team bonding stuff is all done can we get started?” Peter huffed out shrugging out from under Clint’s hand. “When you are finished with the mushy friendship crap I’ll be in dad’s lab.”The team stared after the kid in confusion. “Damn Steve, I know his dad is missing and all but what is with the attitude?” Clint asked.Steve sighed wiping a tired hand over his face. “He was there in Germany.”“What do you mean he was there? I never saw him….” Natasha started. “The Spiderling?”Steve nodded. “He is Spiderman.”“So, he saw a rough fight, but he is acting like we are the ones that are torturing his dad.” Sam huffed out with a little indignantly.Steve pinched his nose trying to will away his growing headache. “There is more to it Sammy. Tony got real hurt in Siberia. He almost died. In Peter’s eyes we did torture his dad, we almost killed him. Now he is missing, and it is because he was trying to bring us home. If I was in his shoes, I think I would hate us too.”Bucky placed a comforting hand on Steve’s shoulder. “Then lets not keep him waiting lets go get Ironman back.”~TonyTony hung limply from his chains, his wrists and shoulders no longer felt the pain from straining to hold his weight. He no longer felt hot or cold. It was possible his body could only feel numb from all the blood loss. The only sound that filled the room was that of his ragged breathing. Tony closed his eyes and concentrated on his heartrate willing the extremely erratic rhythm to slow. Over the course of the day he could feel his heart rate accelerate and suddenly drop causing insurmountable pain. Tony had been counting the beats his heart skipped the past few hours and the number was increasing. A small tear escaped his eye when Tony's thoughts shifted to Peter he could feel himself slipping, his heart quickly giving away. He didn't want to leave his little boy alone, he had made a promise to always come home but, Tony groaned when he felt his chest tighten and his heart give a hard thump as it tried to recover from its skipped beat. Another tear leaked down his face and Tony let out a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry Peter but I don't think I can keep my promise this time."
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~SteveIt didn’t take the team long to come up with a list of suspects in Tony’s kidnapping and narrow that list down to the perpetrator. There may be a lot of people in the world that hold a grudge against Tony Stark, but Secretary Ross had a special hatred for Tony that was obvious to the whole world. Natasha only needed fifteen minutes with a keyboard to uncover Ross’s heinous plan. Pulling Tony out of the peace talks would allow Ross complete control of the committee thus effectively ruining the Avengers initiative. Steve could only wonder how far Ross would go to shut Tony up until the committees were over.Natasha pushed her chair away from the monitors a hard glint in her eyes. “I think I got him!”Steve hurried over; eyes trained on the red dot pulsing on the screen. Steve crumbled his brow. “That’s not far from here. If Ross went through all this trouble to get Tony away from the peace talks wouldn’t he get him as far away as possible?”Clint moved in to see the results of Natasha’s less than legal search. “Bastard must be very confident that he wouldn’t be found out. Bet he didn’t expect us to come looking for Stark.”Sam nodded in agreement. “We can be there in less than twenty.” Sam paused, eyes flitting to the doorway. “Are we going to tell the kid?”Bucky stood from his chair and pulled a gun from the holster at his hip. Bucky checked the magazine to make sure his weapon was fully loaded for the fight a head. “This is personal for the kid. If any of us were in his position, would you want to be kept in the dark?”Sam’s face fell flat at the soldier’s words. “Come on guys, the kid is like 16! We shouldn’t bring him along on something so dangerous as this! Besides we have no idea what we are going to find there.”That last statement held heavily over the room. Steve quickly considered his friend’s worries, but he already knew in his heart what they had to do. “The kid has already seen a lot. Peter was there in Germany and held his own against us, we know what he’s capable of.”Sam groaned in disgust at the captain’s logic. “Steve this is his dad. What if things don’t turn out the way we want. What will that do to him then?”Steve didn’t even want to consider that possibility. Before he answered Sam a photo on a bookshelf caught his attention. Looking at the photo closer Steve noticed it was a picture of Tony and Peter. Steve smirked picking up the photo to get a closer look. The first thing Steve noticed was Tony wearing a bright red shirt that read I am Irondad and Peter had on a gold shirt that read I am IronSon. The two of them looked ridiculously happy and were laughing hard at something unknown. Tony had an arm draped over Peter’s shoulders holding him close as he used him as a support from laughing so hard. In return Peter had his arm wrapped around Tony’s waist, his eyes glistening with happy tears. “Steve?” Steve gave a slight jump at Natasha’s questioning voice. Placing the picture back on the shelf Steve turned to face his team. “Peter is going.” Steve held a hand up to silent Sam’s immediate protests. “I am telling him whether you like it or not. I am not going to be the one to try and stop him.”A slight knock stopped any further augments. Peter stood in the doorway a look of curiosity on his face. “I heard some raised voices, am I interrupting something?”Steve gave a final glance at the photo on the shelf then turned to the boy. “Actually, Peter we found something.”“Steve,” Sam started giving the Captain a hard-disapproving look.Steve ignored him and continued. “We have a location. We are confident we will find your dad there. “ For the first time since Steve arrived at the tower Peter looked hopeful. He no longer had an air of mistrust and anger.“What are we waiting for,” Peter yelled running from the room. “Let’s go get my dad!”Steve picked up his Wakandan shield from the coffee table and turned to his team. “You heard the kid, time to go.”Sam shoved himself away from the wall and grabbed his duffel from the floor. “I got a bad feeling about this.” He grumbled lowly, Steve only catching the words thanks to his enhanced hearing.Steve gripped his shield tighter as he followed after Peter. “Please Tony just hold on a bit longer.” ~TonyTony sputtered as he tried to clear the blood out of his throat, he refused to die by choking on his own blood. Tony could tell Ross was quickly losing his patience with him. Honestly, Tony really couldn’t care a less, but the more aggravated Thaddeus became he resorted to more creative and painful measures. Ross’s henchmen had successfully turned his body into nothing but a mass of blood and pain. All his joint’s ached and burned, his breathing had turned to shallow raspy gasps, and his heart stuttered unevenly, struggling to keep the beat. Through all the pain Tony could only register exhaustion. He no longer cared when Ross returned for another round of questioning. When the pain started Tony could now feel himself begin to float away. After the latest round, Tony was finding it hard to ground himself and return to his body. Could pain cause hallucinations? Or maybe he was finally dying, either way he just wanted this to be over. Tony felt slight vibrations in the walls causing dust to rain down. Tony tried to lift his head as shouts and blasts reverberated through his cell, but pain raced down his spine causing him to groan.Maybe if he allowed himself to float a bit farther, he wouldn’t have to feel anymore. He had done his job; he had kept quiet. His team was safe and Peter, God Peter, his son would be sad, but he knew he would be safe with Rhodey and Pepper.Another vibration rocked Tony’s cell sending violent waves of pain through his body. Tony gasped as he struggled to catch his breath his vision darkening at the corners. It was too much, the pain was overwhelming, and he had to let go. Tony smiled as he thought of Peter, a violent shiver wracking his body. It was so easy to let go. ~Peter Peter grunted as he sent an enemy flying with a powerful kick. He felt no pity as the man’s body cracked against a wall and crumpled to the ground. Peter was like a madman decking and weaving around oncoming attacks. He attacked his enemies quickly and without mercy, each blow he landed filled him with satisfaction. He smiled at the pain he was causing; he took great pleasure knowing he was repaying the pain that they had inflicted on his dad. His actions were justified.Peter ignored the looks of concern that the Avengers were sending his way. Nothing was going to stop him from reaching his dad. He was prepared to destroy anything and anyone that got in his way. Peter flipped through the air grabbing the gun from his new opponent’s hands. The poor soul barely had a moment to register what happened before Peter brutally smashed the butt of the gun against his face sending him roughly to the ground. Peter sneered under his mask as he unloaded the weapon before throwing it roughly to the floor. He was quickly growing agitated, he wanted this to be over with.“Steve I’m moving on a head.” Peter yelled over his shoulder.“Peter wait! We should stick together!” Steve called, landing a punch to his opponent’s jaw.Peter ignored him, they were the Avengers and didn’t need him to take care of these gnats. Swinging himself over the rest of the fight Peter’s gaze landed on a suspicious looking door. Not taking the time to see if the door was unlocked, Peter gripped the handle and swiftly ripped the door from its hinges.Peter was met with a cold dark hallway, throwing caution to the wind, he rushed inside. ~SteveSteve growled in annoyance as he watched Spiderman disobey him and swing away from the battle and out of the room. It didn’t take him and the rest of the team long to finish taking out Ross’s men, but he didn’t like the idea of the kid going off alone.Steve had just retrieved his shield when a heartbroken cry echoed through the room. His blood turn to ice as he quickly ran towards the source of the cry. The team burst into the darken cell to find Peter on his knees, his father hanging limply in front of him.“Oh God,” Steve whispered as he took in the sight of Tony Stark. The man in front of him was a mess of cuts and burns, his skin was ghostly pale as if he had been drained completely of blood.Sam pressed his fingers to Tony’s neck. “I can’t find a pulse. We need to get him down.”Natasha and Bucky made fast work of removing Tony’s restraints and lowering him to the ground. Sam quickly maneuvered around them to start CPR. Steve felt frozen to the ground but the sight of Peter quaking on the ground forced him forward.As he got closer to the boy, he could hear him whispering in time with Sam’s administrations.“You promised, you promised me.” A breath.“Stark men are made of iron.” 30 compressions.“You are my hero.” A breath.“You can’t leave me alone.” 30 compressions.Sam gave a sad look to his friends losing hope. Steve could feel his chest tighten unable to comprehend what was happening.A tear rolled down Peter’s cheek. “You are earth’s greatest defender.” A breath.~~~~ For those who want the happy ending stop here and go to A Time For Healing~“Come on, come on Tony don’t do this!” Sam shouted as he roughly applied 30 more compressions. Natasha placed a calm hand on Sam’s shoulder gently pulling him away from Tony.“Sam it’s to late. You did everything you could.” Natasha whispered, silent tears racing down her cheeks.Steve collapsed to his knees, grief tearing through him. They had failed, they had failed their friend and now Tony would never know how sorry Steve was. More importantly Steve had failed Peter and the kid would never be the same.Steve watched as Peter made his way to his father. Peter gently cradled Tony’s head in his lap carefully wiping blood from his face. Steve felt cold at the calm icy demeanor Peter was radiating off. The kid looked hallowed of all emotions and for the first time since the two had met Steve was afraid of what the boy might do.“Peter…” Steve tried.Peter met Steve’s gaze; eyes filled with fury.“Earth just lost its greatest defender. Who will protect her from me now?”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
~SteveIt had been one month since that horrible night that Tony Stark died in his son’s arms. One month since Peter went off the reservations. Steve could see the exact moment Peter had broken clearly in his mind’s eyes. When Sam called it and Tony Stark drew breath no more Peter had instantly withdrew from the world and buried deep within himself. The kid embraced his darkness and rage that had been clawing at him since his dad’s disappearance. Steve tried to pull him back from that ledge, offer him support and guidance, but Peter would have none of it. He threw off any hand that tried to comfort him and had spit in all the Avengers faces when they tried to talk to him. “Why should I listen to murders?" The teen had screamed. "This would have never happened if you people wouldn’t have betrayed him! Some team you are, you put my father in a grave!” Steve shudders at the memory of those words that have plagued him and the memory of the last time he had seen the boy. ~Flashback Steve had been making another attempt to speak with Peter. He had made a promise to himself to look after the kid. After all that was the least he could do for Tony. Today was Tony’s funeral and the church was packed full of mourners. The Rogue Avengers had stayed in the background even though the government had pardoned them in the memory of Tony Stark, they knew they weren’t necessarily wanted. Steve had watched Peter; the kid had given a moving eulogy that had been laced with venom towards his father’s murders. The part that worried Steve the most was that the boy didn’t cry, he just stood there devoid of all emotion. Only his eyes betrayed the anger and darkness raging within. After the speech Steve approached the young Stark to offer him a place among the Avengers and Peter just laughed in his face. “You and the world consider the Avengers heroes, but I refuse to be a part of that lie.” Steve sighed, sadness and pain clawing at his heart. “Peter what happened to Tony will haunt me for the rest of my life, but he believed in this team and our mission. I think he would be proud to see you a part of it.” Peter stepped back from the captain as if he had been slapped in the face. “Don’t you ever try and use my father to manipulate me! I will never be an Avenger or whatever you people consider yourselves!” Peter moved to walk away but Steve reached out and gripped the boy’s shoulder. He could feel Peter trembling with grief and rage. “Peter please, we just want to help you!”
Peter yanked his shoulder out of Steve’s hand. “The best thing you can do for me is leave me be. Better yet don’t get in my way.” Before Steve had the chance to ask the teen what he had meant Peter melted into the crowd. Two days later Steve had his answer to his unasked question. Forty-eight hours after the funeral a new vigilante made their way onto the streets of New York. This vigilante had a striking resemblance to Spiderman except for two very important details. One the suit was different and two, this vigilante had no problem with being reckless and dangerous. The vigilante had made a big statement that night and the only person that knew what happened was a young woman named Kayla. Flashback within a Flashback~ It was late when Kayla was walking home from work. She was rounding a street corner when three intoxicated men pushed her into an alley and preceded to pin her against a wall and rip at her clothing. Kayla begged them to stop while calling for anyone to come to her aid. The men’s maniacal laughter echoed through the alley creating a sickening pit in Kayla’s stomach. She squeezed her eyes shut when she heard the sound of a belt clinking as it was unbuckled. Just as Kayla had given up hope and prepared for the worst there was a loud whooshing sound followed by a few grunts and then an eerie silence. Opening her eyes Kayla found herself alone in the alley save for one person. This person was knelt not too far away watching her closely. The individual was hard to see in the dark alley, squinting Kayla could see her savior was dressed in a full body black suit. Slight silver coloring crisscrossed the suit like a spider’s web, a deep dark gold colored the boots and the fabric under the suit’s arms and down the torso. In the center of the black chest sat a hot rod red spider encircled by what looked like a pale blue arc reactor.
Kayla stumbled away from the brick wall clutching at her ripped clothes. “You saved me.” She stuttered out. “You’re a hero, thank you!” The black spider snorted and stood to look down over the woman. A cold aura surrounded the stranger creating a tense atmosphere Kayla take a staggering step back growing more uncertain by the second. “Lady, I’m no hero. I’m here to clean up this city, to finally make the change the Avenger’s never could.” Breaking the tense moment, the masked man shot a web and swung out of Kayla’s site. “Wait, who are you?!” She shouted after him, but her question disappeared unanswered into the night just like the stranger. Pulling her tattered clothes closer to her body Kayla took a few steps back towards the street. She had only made it a few feet before stepping into what she assumed was a puddle. She didn’t think much of it until a wet drop hit her cheek. Reaching up Kayla touched the drop, her fingers meeting a warm and sticky substance. Her heart set off into a gallop as she withdrew her fingers and was met with the sight of blood. Kayla slowly raised her head as more blood dripped onto her face and let out a horrified scream. There trapped in a tangle of webs were her attackers, all three of them dead. Their bodies were contorted, and their necks clearly broken. The man above her had a look of terror on his face, blood leaking from a gash across his abdomen. Kayla tripped backwards trying to get away from the gruesome scene in front of her. Pulling her phone out Kayla dialed 911 all the while wondering what kind of sick justice this new vigilante had in mind for the city of New York. ~End of Flashback ~Peter Peter pulled the mask from his face sucking in fresh air before hopping from his window to the floor. It had been a long but productive night; he had been able to rid the city of many undesirable characters. Peter closed the window and began removing his suit as he walked through the tower to the bathroom where he dropped the mask to the floor.
Peter gripped the edge of the sink as he took in his reflection from the mirror. The image that met him was a stranger from the person he was just a month ago. That person was a young teen that had little to no cares in the world. That Peter had a father that was also his best friend. He had a bright future, love, and security. This Peter had only money, rage, revenge, and blood. This new Peter was forced to grow up too fast with only one purpose kill the enemy before they kill you. Peter ran a bloody hand through his unruly hair. He didn’t know whose blood it was that coated his body and new suit not that it really mattered anyway. Peter raised a hand and studied the blood, but he couldn't feel much other than a sick satisfaction that this hand was responsible for taking the lives of many despicable criminals. He remembered the moment that the value of life no longer mattered to him; it was the moment his father’s heart stopped beating. Why were worthless criminals allowed to live when his dad’s life had to be cut short? After everything Tony had sacrificed why did the world decide he didn’t deserve to have a future. It was then Peter decided he could no longer stand by and let this injustice continue.
Peter turned the facet on, running warm water over his dirt and blood-soaked hands. He watched with a faint interest as the water turned red before swirling down the drain. Peter knew his father would be sadden by his choice, he knew Tony wouldn’t want his son to be a murderer, but Peter couldn’t stop. The memory of Tony growing cold in his arms had driven him to take this path, to seek out the justice that no one had the courage to take. The media had dubbed him with names like the Black-Arachnid, Iron Spider, Venom, or the Black Recluse. The majority of the media seemed to be stuck on the name Venom, Peter had only rolled his eyes at their stupidity; he couldn’t care a less about having a nickname. All he cared about was spilling the blood of the criminals that dare cross his path. Peter shut off the water running a damp cloth over his neck and face and throwing it in the corner with his soiled suit once he was clean enough. Walking out of the bathroom, Peter made his way through his cold dark tower. The only good thing to happen to him after Tony’s death was receiving his emancipation. But that didn’t help with the loneliness or the endless aching in his heart. Ned had reached out to him, but Peter wasn’t able to bring himself to submit Ned to his new cruel and bloody existence. After all his mission was to protect the innocent even if that means protecting them from himself. Peter entered his dreary bedroom heading for his bed when a blinking light caught his attention. Frowning Peter picked his phone up from the desk and saw 5 missed messages. A few texts from Ned asking the usual questions of ‘where he was or what he was doing’. Swiping them away Peter was about to put his phone down when he noticed a different message. Curiosity momentarily peeked Peter clicked on the notification.
Peter,
I know you are hurting but you are taking things too far. We really need to talk before things get any more out of hand. If you won’t do it for me do it for your dad. Please don’t make us have to come for you.
Steve.
Peter quirked an eyebrow while a tiny smirk crossed his face. Snorting he reread the message before typing a quick reply. Peter had been wondering how long it would take before the Avengers decided to get involved. He honestly was surprised that they had waited this long before contacting him. He assumed it was out of guilt or disbelief but either way it didn’t matter. Peter punched the send button before tossing the phone back on the desk and flopping down on his bed. He had a feeling tomorrow was going to be an interesting day. Peter tossed the thought from his mind as he succumbed to his dreams where he knew his dad was waiting for him. ~Steve
Steve quickly pulled out his phone as it dinged. He could feel himself go pale and the room went cold as he read the message from Peter.
Catch me if you can!
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
2 Years Later~PeterPeter scratched at the back of his neck as he quickly crossed the street careful to avoid the traffic. Digging for his key’s Peter unlocked the door and stepped inside, shutting out the buzz of the city. Peter grunted in annoyance as the itch returned, he couldn’t shake the nervous tingle that had been racing up his spine since he had woken up that morning. Peter shrugged out of his coat throwing it on the hanger, gritting his teeth when his skin crawled again. The nervous tick was seriously starting to put him on edge. Maybe it had something to do with him being back in New York for the first time in over a year. Peter had grown sick of the cat and mouse game with the Avengers; besides it had been well past the time to set his eyes on bigger crime bosses.Since he had left the city Peter had traveled all over the country and even abroad. His Vigilante, now officially named Venom, has been accredited for massive criminal take downs. The only snag was given Peter’s unorthodox methods this means that he was wanted in many countries for murder, kidnapping, destruction of properties and so on. None of this truly bothered Peter, he had enough money to keep himself off any governments radar. Scratching his neck again Peter dumped his keys on the kitchen table before crossing into the living room. Peter flopped down into his chair, turning the TV on he began to flip through channels trying to find anything to alleviate his boredom. He had just landed on the local news when a strong wave of nervous energy shot through his body. Peter hissed dropping the remote. “What the hell!?” Not much made Peter edgy like this, not since that day he watched his father die. Peter prided himself on being fearless and its not like he had anything to lose. But this, this was something different. His spider senses were trying to tell him something was coming, something big. Peter gasped as the irritating tingle doubled to a painful level and dropped him to his knees. Not a second later the window in the room shattered sending shards of glass raining into the room. Peter covered his head as the glass pelted him, cutting into his clothes and skin. Outside people were screaming as buildings quaked around them, debris pouring down around them.Peter rose to his feet ignoring the sting of cuts littering his arms and face. His eyes were trained on the TV in front of him, there in the center of the screen on the morning news was a giant circular spaceship. This would explain his spider senses being in overdrive, they were trying to warn him about an alien invasion.Ignoring the chaos going on around him Peter returned to his seat, eyes not leaving the screen. He didn’t have to wait long for the Avengers to show up. Sam Wilson could be flying around the large donut shaped ship while Steve Rogers was directing the ground support. Peter sat back watching the battle unfold in front of him it was hard to make sense of the mayhem. From what he could tell the Squidward looking alien seemed to be after a wizard in a red cape. Natasha, Steve, and another wizard were trying to protect the Red Cape.Peter winced when Squidward sent a car flying at the Captain the impact catapulting him into Bruce Banner. Peter was surprised to see the wayward doctor, his interest momentarily peeked as he wondered where the doctor had been. The thought was interrupted when the screen flashed back to Squidward flying away with Red Cape wizard, Sam carrying Clint right on his tail.Peter sat on the edge of his seat watching the screen as if it was the best movie he has ever seen. The camera stayed trained on the spaceship until it disappeared from Earth’s atmosphere taking the two Avengers and mysterious wizard with it.“Huh,” Peter mumbled. “I didn’t see that one coming.” Peter walked to his window broken glass crunching beneath his feet. Looking out Peter could see people stumbling around the wreckage, children calling out for their missing parents. Peter felt a trickle of sympathy run through his heart it wasn’t pleasant to see his city attacked again by the extraterrestrial.A vibration in his pocket drew his attention from the damaged city. Peter’s eyebrows shot upward as a forgotten number flashed across the screen. Peter weighed his options, if he let the number go to voice mail he could forget and move on with his life. On the other hand, he could answer it and finally have something new to do other than the daily mundane.Peter hit the button raising the phone to his ear. “You must be truly desperate if you called me.”
“If you know why I’m calling then you know the answer to your question.”
Peter chuckled at Steve Roger’s tired voice. “I saw you get your ass royally handed to you, if that’s what you mean. If it was under different circumstances, I would have found it rather satisfying.”Peter heard Steve sigh on the other side of the phone. “Peter this is serious, this isn’t your normally run of the mill aliens.”Peter picked absently at a shard of glass embedded in his shirt. I’m sure it is absolutely terrifying, what can I do for you Mr. America?” He questioned, flicking the shard to the floor, not all that interested.
“Come to the compound…..”
Peter cut the man off. “Woah, woah no can do. I’m not showing up there to get my ass arrested.”“Arresting you is the last thing on my mind right now. If you just listen to Bruce, I know you will want in on this.” Peter bit his lip, this was all sounding way to easy. “I don’t see how Venom would be of any use to you. We’ve agreed that we handle business completely differently.”Steve was silent for a moment as if choosing his next words very carefully. “This thing we are going up against he is responsible for it all, Loki and New York. I’m not asking for Venom; I’m asking for Spider-Man.”Peter gripped the phone tightly in his hand refusing to acknowledge this stinging in his eyes. A photo of himself and his father staring back at him. “You think I’m still Spider-Man after everything I’ve done? For all you know that side of me died along with my father.”“I think when push comes to shove, you’ll be the hero that we all know you are. I don’t believe Spider-Man died that day.”Peter didn’t answer still gazing at the photo. His father was laughing at something long forgotten, the skin around his eyes crinkled his smile wide. Tony had his arms around Peter while his son held two fingers behind his father’s head giving him bunny ears. They both looked so young and carefree back then. “Peter, you still there?”Peter cleared his throat; he would not let his emotions betray him. “I guess we will see then, won’t we?” He hung up the phone and grabbed his suit and changed quickly. A flash of red in his closet caused him to pause. There were it had sat forgotten for almost three years was his Spider-Man suit. Steve’s words echoed through his mind, but Peter quickly shook the thoughts away and pulled the black mask over his face. Peter jumped out of the window and swung through the broken city. He was Venom and there was nothing more too it, Spider-Man had been buried with his father. Yet as Peter glided over the city, for the first time in three years, he himself, wasn’t completely convinced of that truth.
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Steve could feel the tension in the room like a ticking time bomb. The other members kept casting him looks of disbelief, clearly questioning his sanity. He knew he was taking a huge gamble calling Peter. The young man was right when he called Steve desperate, hopefully his desperation would pay off.“So,” Peter started kicking his feet up on the desk, lazily leaning back in his chair. “Are we going to talk business or did you all just want to keep staring me like I slapped your grandmas?”The Avengers exploded with angry shots and curses, Peter only leaned further back and grinned at the chaos he caused. A voice rose above the rest. “You can’t seriously be asking this lunatic for help,Steve.” Clint narrowed his eyes at Peter and the kid waved and blew a kiss. “He lost all his marbles the day his dad died.” “Aw, I missed you too Tweety Bird.” Peter’s grin grew impossibly wider when Clint lunged over the table. Steve rushed forward and caught his friend around the torso, holding him tightly as the man struggled to reach the kid.Steve grunted when an elbow collided with his face. “Stop it now!” Clint froze and Steve took his chance to talk some sense into the archer. “I know there is many unresolved issues here. but we have bigger problems now.” Clint sagged in Steve’s hold know that the soldier was right. Steve slowly released his hold and once he was sure that Clint wasn’t going to go for Peter he looked to Bruce and nodded. Clint brushed past Steve and took a seat as for from Peter as possible.The scientist slowly stood from his seat and shuffled to the head of the conference table, wringing his hands nervously. “Hello everyone, as you know I have been missing for quite a while. Long story short the ship I was in crash landed on an alien planet and left me stranded.” Bruce cast an apologetic look at Natasha before he continued. “I ended up meeting Thor and we escaped on another ship. We were on our way back here when we were attacked by a mad titan, Thanos."Peter sat forward as Bruce pushed a button and a hologram of six multicolored stones flashed above the table. “Thanos is after these infinity stones.” Bruce explained gesturing to the hologram. “These stones hold the power of the galaxy inside them, and he already posses two of them, maybe three.”Bruce’s voice started to drift off into the background as Peter stared at the stones hovering above him. His skin warmed as an unworldly attraction flowed into his veins. Something about these stones was calling to him, like they were calling his name and welcoming him home.“Peter? Peter!”“Huh, What? I didn’t do it!” Peter blinked whipping his head towards the sound of his name.“Did you hear what Bruce said?” The captain asked brow furrowed with annoyance and a touch of concern.“Pfft,” Peter puffed, turning his chair away from the stones. “Every word.” “Oh yeah,” Natasha challenged, crossing her arms over her chest. “What did he say then?”Peter waved his hand nonchalantly. “Something about the something with the angry purple guy and his need to accessorize. Do I get an A+?”Bruce slammed a fist into the table causing everyone to jump. Peter half expected him to Hulk out with the anger radiating off the man. “This isn’t a joke, Thor’s gone, and this madman intends to wipe out half of all living things!” Peter sobered at that. He also thought of Thor as the strongest Avenger, and if he was easily killed, this was no ordinary villain. “Ok, I’m listening. What do we need to do?” Steve stood to stand next to Bruce pushing another button. A picture of Vision and Wanda appeared. “We need to get a beat on Vision, both he and Wanda missed their last scheduled check in.”“You let my dad’s superbot wander off and then lose him!” Peter scoffed in disbelief. “He could be anywhere by now!”“And that’s why you are here.” Steve quipped without looking at the young man. “You knew Tony better than anyone, you know how his brain worked.”Peter crossed his arms, the urge to punch the soldier in his perfect teeth rising. Peter didn’t like people mentioning his father especially when they wanted something from him. “Tread carefully Spangles.”The other heroes in the room tensed noticing the change in Peter’s demeanor. Peter’s spider-senses sent him a warning of the potential danger that he ignored. He was focused on the captain, Steve’s next words deciding on how the next events would play out.Steve slowly raised his eyes, Peter sat on the edge of his seat, a balled fist sitting on the table. The kid was ready to attack and that made Steve sad. Sighing Steve flicked another webpage into the center of the table. “This is a tracking algorithm your dad made in case Vision ever went missing.” Steve explained. “Your dad being who he was heavily encrypted this and none of us can figure out how to crack it. You’re the only one smart enough to find Wanda and Vision.”Peter studied the code running across the screen, patterns popping out here and there. Peter stood and pushed Steve aside as he muttered to himself. Back before Tony had been kidnapped, he and Peter would create computer codes. The contest was to see who could hack the others the quickest. Peter discovered his dad was an amazing hacker, but Peter was a quick learner and soon he was a capable hacker in his own right.Steve and the other’s watched as Peter’s fingers flew across the keyboard. Soon other screens popped up, different codes running over them. To Steve it was nothing but gibberish, a mix of letters and numbers, he never would have understood it.A loud ping shattered the silence in the room. “There!” Peter said, with a crack of his knuckles. “Your missing bot looks to be in Scotland.”Steve let out a sigh of relief, he knew Peter would do it. “Alright team we have the coordinates, suit up!” The sound of chairs scuffling against the floor echoed through the room as the members shot up to follow the orders.Peter watched them go with little interest, he wasn’t expecting a thank you, but some acknowledgment would be nice. A shadow fell over him and he turned to see Steve standing over him. “Am I done here now?”“Do you want to be?” Steve asked, studying the boy carefully.Peter smirked, of course the captain would want to play this game. “I’m no hero. I don’t play by your rules.” Peter crossed his arms to match Steve’s stance. “Are you sure you can bend your righteous morals to have me around?”Steve pretended to think for a moment before answering. “I don’t think at this point we have much of a choice in this. The only thing I ask is for you not to put innocent people in unnecessary harm.”Peter rolled his eyes slightly offended. “If you hadn’t notice I only hurt the bad guys.”“Trust me I noticed. That is my offer take it or leave it.”Peter was close to telling Steve to shove his offer where the sun doesn’t shine. Then he thought back to the infinity stones and the strange power that was calling to him. He needed to know what that was, and why he needed to be a part of it. “Fine, but you don’t tell me what to do, I refuse to be one of your groupies. I’m not an Avenger.”With that Peter brushed past Steve and headed towards the boarding bay. Steve sighed softly and ran a hand over his beard. This had gone a lot better than he had hoped. Peter was here and he was willing to help. The young man was still impossible and lost in a lot of ways, but this meeting had shown that his goodness wasn’t completely gone. If Steve played his cards right hopefully he could help Peter unbury Spiderman and become the hero Tony knew the kid was meant to be.
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The past few days had been interesting to say the least. Peter had been suffering from acute boredom, but the space war had efficiently alleviated that problem. It hadn’t taken long for Peter to pinpoint Wanda and Vision; the young couple were hiding in Edinburgh Scotland and had more or less eloped. Peter couldn’t help but think that was very odd but who was he to judge. Anyway, the team had arrived at the Greenwich station just in time to stop Vision from being de-jeweled and whisked the wayward lovers back to the safety of the compound. Now when the discussion of what to do with the stone came about Peter had been on the same page as Vision and was more than willing to help him destroy it. It would have been a win-win situation, big ugly wouldn’t be able to collect all the stones and Peter would be able to stop the annoying siren song the stupid stones gave off. Unfortunately, the team had to have their bonding and pep-talk moment so now here they were in Wakanda fighting to keep Thanos’s goons from Vision.Steve had done a good job in instilling hope and courage into the team and Wakanda warriors, but Peter could see the situation for what it really was, a losing battle. The Outriders that surrounded them were nothing short of psychotic. They were completely mindless and had no problem killing themselves in their desperation to reach their targets. Peter had cursed everything under the sun when the shields were dropped, and the Outriders were free to charge them. He had thrown up his hands in acceptance and joined the charge, it was to late to turn back now.~Present Peter released a cry of pain as his back was shoved roughly into the ground. He only had a second to recover before he threw up his hands to block the Outrider that sprang on top of him. The Outrider pinned him violently to the ground aiming for the hero’s throat. Peter turned his head desperate to put more distance between his face and the aliens snapping jaws. The smell of the alien’s breath caused Peter to gag, honestly did proper oral hygiene only exist on earth. The Outrider dug its claws into Peter’s legs as it scrambled to finish off its foe, its teeth inching closer by the second. Peter’s eyes watered at the pain and his arms were growing tired. Peter had no problem with dying but he had standards and those didn’t include being ripped to shreds by rabid aliens.Peter felt his arms give a bit; he smashed his eyes shut not wanting to see the next part. The part where he got eaten. Needless to say Peter was surprised that instead of feeling the pain of his face getting ripped off he felt the whoosh of air and heard the alien yip in pain as it was torn off him. Not stopping to question his luck Peter quickly scrambled up to his feet and squinted his eyes in the direction of his savior. “Awesome!” Through the colorful Bifrost Peter was able to see Thor wielding a kick ass axe.“Bring me Thanos!”There was another clap of thunder and intense power flooded into the air. Peter’s spider sense screamed at him to grab no shoes or nothing and run for his life! He desperately wanted to listen to it but there was a more powerful force telling him to not only stay but to move closer. The hair on the back of Peter’s neck stood straight up and that tiny annoying voice, that Peter was really starting to hate, was telling him that Thanos had arrived. Peter looked at the battle that surrounded him and then to a nearby canopy of trees. The song playing through his head was leading him there, he was sure of it. An explosion went off and Peter had to flip out of the way to avoid it. Rocks and dirt rained down as another bomb went off. “What the hell, I’m going to die anyway.” Peter took off at a run, dodging Outrider’s and jumping over fallen soldiers. Once he was near enough to the trees, he shot a web and swung through the canopy following the song.He didn’t go far when the song reached a deafening level, Peter landed on an overhanging branch and ripped his mask off. He gripped his head between his hands certain that it was about to explode but just as quick as it came the song disappeared. “What the…?”“Get the hell off our planet!”The sound of the captain’s voice drew Peter’s attention to the scene below him. Thanos was making work of Rodgers, Natasha, and Bruce. The stones in his gauntlet would glow each time he used them to manipulate time, space, and matter. No one could land a solid punch because Thanos would manipulate the space around them. Natasha was pinned in a cage of rocks while Bruce was sent flying. It was fascinating as well as brutal. Not far from where Steve was getting his face punched in, Peter noticed Wanda destroying her boyfriend. She was crying and apologizing while Vision was muttering his reassurances. It was heartbreaking to watch and for the first time in a long time Peter felt genuine pity for someone. Peter could see Thanos deliver a brutal punch to Steve and the soldier didn’t move to get up. The alien turned his sight on Wanda. Shit. Peter sighed deeply as he stood up on his branch. “Might as well jump in.” He muttered.Peter had no sooner touched the ground when an unseen force threw him back and he let out a yelp as his back and head collided with a rock and everything went black. Peter blinked and his vision swam, he wrinkled his nose as the taste of iron filled his mouth. Oh, crap, did I pass out? Peter coughed and spit out a glob of blood before he rolled to his side and shakily pushed himself to his feet. Unfortunately, he was too late, so much for his daring rescue. Peter could only watch as Thanos ripped the Mind stone from Vision’s skull. Double shit.Peter couldn’t move, he could only watch in frozen horror as the Titan added the mind stone to the gauntlet, completing his set. As soon as the stone touched the metal Thanos groaned out, the power of the universe coursed through his veins, tendrils of the power could be seen shooting off him. Peter found himself hypnotized but not from the Titan. The enchanting music that had been plaguing him transformed into something new. They were now voices, and these voices were desperate to tell him something, something that could change everything.
“Peter!”
“Savior!”
“Destiny!”
“Home!”
“Love!”
“We have what you need!”
Peter clenched his teeth he felt an indescribable need to fight for them, to possess them, he had never wanted something so bad in his life. Without thinking of the consequences Peter charged the Titan. Using his webbing he encircled the gauntlet and pulled. Thanos felt a tiny tug on his left hand like a child pulling on their father’s hand to gain their attention.The Titan couldn’t help but smirk when he saw the source of the annoyance. “Ah, Stark’s son.”“How do you know me and my father?” Thanos chuckled darkly. “Tony Stark was a nuisance; it was a relief to learn of his passing. It saved me the trouble of having to kill him myself.”Peter roared in rage and flung himself at the Titan. Thanos rolled his eyes, it was hardly worth the effort. Extending his fingers, Thanos easily broke the webbing and with a twist of his wrist he grabbed the webbing and yanked the boy to him, catching Peter around the throat.Peter gasped as cool metal wrapped around his neck and squeezed. He grasped the hand that held him and desperately tried to pull them off him. He kicked at his captor but Thanos ignored it, the Titan was too busy studying his new toy. The young man in his hand wasn’t very remarkable, he had met much more powerful beings in his travels. Yet he could sense the connection between theInfinity Stones and Peter Parker-Stark. “Intriguing, I wonder what Stark saw in you. What they see in you.”Dark spots danced in Peter’s vision as he pulled at the vice like grip around his throat. “It doesn’t matter I suppose,” Thanos mused, lifting Peter higher in the air. “You’ll never get the chance.” Peter chocked when the fingers locked tighter around his neck. He kicked out violently and punched at Thanos’s arms, trying anything to be released from the death grip. Thanos watched the boy in a bored fashion, it was almost like killing young people was something he did daily.A trickle of blood leaked from Peter’s nose as his vision tunneled. Why are you struggling? What reason do you have to stay? If you gave up now you could see him now. Peter froze at that; it was true he could give up and die. He would be with his dad, but would he be able to rest? If his dad taught him anything is, you never give up when you have even an ounce of fight left. Drawing on his last remaining strength Peter raised an arm up and with a flick of his wrist he shot a web, effectively covering the Titan’s face.Thanos dropped Peter with a surprised cry as he stumbled back a step and angrily clawed at the web covering his face. He no sooner removed the web when Thor came flying through the jungle and smashed into him. Peter sat on the jungle floor clutching at his abused throat, the air feeling like razors as he greedily gulped down as much oxygen as he could. Thor didn’t give his adversary any time to recover. He smashed his fist into the titan’s face sending the giant flying. Summoning his lightening Thor flattened Thanos onto the jungle floor. Peter yelped and dove for cover as a stray lightning bolt broke and split the tree above him. Peter stared at the scorched earth where he had just been sitting, he couldn’t believe it, Thor was putting up a decent fight, in fact it looked like he was winning.Thanos let out a scream as Thor sunk his ax deep into his chest, but the brief moment of relief was shattered as Thanos raised a shaky hand. “You…should have went for the head.”“No!” Thor shouted but it was to late. Thanos snapped his fingers and a tidal wave of unimaginable power washed over the galaxy. Thor looked around the battlefield, everything looked the same, but he knew the Titan didn’t go through all that trouble for nothing. He turned back to his enemy but Thanos had disappeared. Peter painfully got to his feet. His body was aching horribly from the brutal beatings it had received, the only positive was the voices in his head had quieted back into a gentle background melody that he could ignore. The air was filled with dust and debris causing Peter to cough as he limped over to Thor. “What happened?” He asked, rubbing his sore neck. “Oh no,”The two turned in time to see Steve holding Wanda. It was as if her body was turning into ashes that were being carried away on a gentle breeze. Wanda didn’t say anything she only cast a sad look to where Vision laid lifeless on the ground. A tiny tear escaped her eye before she titled her head up and crumbled into the wind.“Steve?” Natasha whispered. “What just happened?” Steve couldn’t bear to look at his teammate. All around him he could hear the sound of soldiers calling out to their friends and comrades as they faded into oblivion. Steve thought they had a chance, they fought as hard as they always did but it wasn’t enough. Half of the galaxy’s population now was gone because of their failure. His thoughts briefly wandered to Bucky and Sam; did they make it? "What do they do now? Steve hung his head staring at the ashes of his fallen friend that clung to his hands.“We lost.” ~ 3 Years LaterPeter hit the end call button on his phone and tossed it onto his desk. He stood from his chair and stretched, wincing slightly when his joints snapped from sitting to long. That’s what he gets though for deciding to start his own business and leaving the streets. The snap had changed a lot of people’s perspectives on the type of work he did. Many still called him a vigilante or a mob boss but Peter didn’t care, he had his people to manage and new jobs to scope out.Peter yawned and considered the idea of a nap when a vibration in his pocket alerted him. Pulling out his second phone Peter tapped on the screen to see a text from Clint or Rowan as he went by now. Cartel taken care of, where to next?Peter raised an eyebrow, slightly amused. He typed out Japan then tucked the phone away. Peter loosened his tie and stood by the massive window that overlooked his city, deep in thought. Ever since Clint’s family fell victim to the snap the man lost his sense of identity. Clint eventually had found his way to Peter, his own loss enlightening him to Peter’s way of thinking. In the past 2 years Rowan became Peter’s best employee. He took every job without complaint and finished them quickly and efficiently. At this point Rowan had just as much blood on his hands as Venom. The two didn’t trust each other, they would be idiots if they did, but they respected each other, and that was enough in this business.Far below in the city two police cars rushed through the deserted streets off to some unknown emergency their flashing lights catching Peter’s attention. He flashed back to Wakanda, the Infinity Stones flooding the battlefield with their power. Peter hissed, grabbing at his head and stumbling back from the window as the mysterious melody rang through his head. The episode didn’t last long or cause him pain. All it left him with was a deep sense of longing and anger. Peter ripped his tie off and threw it on the floor, his suit jacket soon following. It made sense when the Infinity Stones still existed that Peter’s head would be filled with the song, but he had been there the day that Thanos confessed to destroying them before Thor had chopped his head off.It had happened two days ago during a business meeting with the city’s police commissioner. Peter was in the middle of discussion a contract that laid out the terms of a partnership with police department when his head had been filled with the song. He was left frozen as an unbearable longing pulled at him. Only the yelling of the police commissioner pulled him from the enchantment, and it took Peter over an hour to reconvince the old man to sign the contract.Peter rubbed at his temples trying to work out the tension. He was so tired of this unknown in his life, he wished he could go back in time and kick his past self for agreeing to help Rodgers in the first place. A buzz from Peter’s secretary flowed over the dark room.“Mr. Stark, a captain Rodgers, Ms. Romanoff, and Mr. Lange are here to see you.” Peter hesitated, why on earth would Steve Rodgers be here to see him? What a coincidence that the Avengers would show up around the same time the song came back. Unfortunately, Peter didn’t believe in coincidences and he let out a humorless laugh. He was tempted to buzz his secretary and tell them to take a long hike off a short pier but that wouldn’t get rid of the annoying siren song. Peter had a feeling his life was about to get a lot harder.He collapsed in his chair with a deep sigh and ran a tired hand through his unruly curly hair. They weren’t even here yet and he was already exhausted. “Ok, Lydia, send them in.” Peter sat up and unrolled his sleeves, he had just finished buttoning them at his wrists when Steve, Natasha and Scott entered the room. Peter’s eyes flicked to Steve and he smirked, he could tell the man was uncomfortable as if he would rather be running from enemy gunfire than here in Peter’s office. “Hello, friends what can I do for you this time?”Scott Lange stepped to the front of his desk and offered his hand. “Hi, I’m Scott Lange, otherwise known as…”“Antman, I know.” Peter interrupted, staring at Scott’s hand in boredom. “Why are you here?”Scott slowly curled his fingers into his palm and dropped his hand to his side awkwardly. “Alright, straight to the point.” Steve rubbed his hands and cleared his throat. “There’s a chance to fix this, to set things right.”“What?” Peter’s eyes narrowed. Natasha moved forward placing her hands on the front of his desk. “There’s a chance to get everyone back.”Peter leaned back further in his chair and laced his fingers together. “And how pray tell, do you suggest we do that?”“By using the technology in Scott’s suit, we can travel in time to collect the stones and…”“Woah!” Peter cut Steve off with a raised hand. “Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?” The three heroes stared at him as if he had grown a second head. Peter rolled his eyes. “In other words, you won’t be coming home.”“I did!” Scott argued.Peter sighed and pinched his nose. “No, you accidently survived. It’s a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you want to do,” Peter paused. “What is it you call it a...”Scott lowered his head. “Time Heist.”“A Time Heist, of course.” Peter could feel his irritation growing and he stood up from his desk. He paced back and forth before turning back. “And why didn’t we think of this before? Oh, because its laughable, because it’s a pipe dream!”“Peter, the stones are in the past, we can go back and get them.” Steve reasoned.“We can snap our own fingers.” Natasha added. “We can bring everyone back.”“Or screw it up more than it already is.”“I don’t think we would!” Steve countered.Peter laughed. “I got to say, I missed that giddy optimism of yours. However, this won’t work if there is no logical, tangible, or safe way for me to orchestrate this said Time Heist.”“Peter, we have to take a stand.” Natasha tried to reason.“We did take a stand and we lost.” Peter hit his hip with his fist in agitation. “Even if I could build what your asking, why should I?”“Why wouldn’t you?” Nat growled.Peter spread his arms gesturing to the office around them. “As you can see, I’ve been doing just fine the way things are.”“You’re unbelievable! What about the rest of the people of the world?” Scott hissed. “I lost someone really important to me!”Peter dropped his arms, his eyes hardening. “And when has the rest of the world ever given a damn about me?”Natasha stalked forward and raised her head to meet Peter’s gaze. Standing toe-to-toe with Peter she was about a head shorter; she didn’t let that intimidate her though. Peter eyes held so much grief and rage in them and he looked so much older than his twenty-one years. It made her sad to see how the boy had changed from such a fun-loving kid to a man filled with hatred. “Your father would be so ashamed of you. He gave his life protecting us so we could protect the world.” She stabbed a finger into his chest. “Take a step back from your self-obsessed mirror and look at the damage you’re leaving behind.”Peter felt his anger rising at Natasha’s words. How dare they judge him after everything that happened! They still use his father to manipulate him into getting what they wanted. Peter had the urge to grab Natasha and throw her out the window but no matter how much he wanted too he couldn’t ignore the truth in her words. Tony would be ashamed if he chose not to at least try and right the world and to figure out his connection with the stones.“Damn you,” Peter growled, roughly turning away from the red head. “Fine, I’ll help you but if this goes south that’s it, I’m done. No more favors and no more guilt trips.”Natasha sighed in relief but nodded her head in agreement. Peter stalked over to where he had thrown his jacket. He snatched it from the floor and threw it over his shoulder before turning back to his unwanted teammates. “Just so you know, we are all probably going to die.”Steve put a hand on Peter’s shoulder and ignored the angry glare he received. “Then we do that together too.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Peter had left the Avengers with the promise he would try his best to make the time heist a reality. He had gone straight home and to his lab pulling out long forgotten notebooks that he had stashed in an old dented workbench. Leafing through the pages Peter took a moment to run a somber hand over his dad’s faded handwriting. His dad had been a genius with this type of science and even though Peter was no slouch himself this wasn’t exactly in his wheelhouse. Who better to learn from than his old man. Peter smiled as his eyes scanned over the aged paper and the dots began to connect. Snapping the book shut Peter walked over to his hologram projector and tapped the screen to wake the machine up. The room was filled with the sound of his fingers tapping against the monitor as he typed in his dad’s formula. “Even in death you are still taking me to school.” ~ 1 Hour Later“Ok Karen, run one last simulation in the shape of a mobius strip inverted.” He flipped the model calculating the data in his head. Peter scrubbed a weary hand over his tired face as he stared at the holographic model hanging above him. “Processing…”So far so good. Peter grabbed for his fifth cup needing the sweet relief of caffeine to perk up his lethargic brain. He sipped at the liquid as he watched the processing model when an idea popped into his mind. “Ok, I can value that particle factoring in spectral decomposition.”Karen evaluated his suggestion and reported in a happy voice. “Model rendered. Model Successful.”Peter dropped his coffee to the table and collapsed in his chair. “Shit!” He honestly hadn’t expected this to work and if he was being honest with himself, he was banking on it to not work. Peter leaned on his knees as he buried his hands in his hair, indecision flowing through him. He could bury this research in a box and sink it into the ocean. No one needed to know that he had created time travel. If no one knew nothing needed to change. Right? He had a good thing going, he had money, a career, and a purpose, he couldn’t think of much more that he needed. “ I shouldn’t be alive, unless it was for a reason, I know what I have to do, and I know it is right.” Tony’s voice echoed through Peter’s head, drawn up from a long-repressed memory. Peter had heard the stories from Pepper many times. His father had finally decided to take actions against his corrupt company and those words had convinced her that being Iron Man was something he had to do. The first time he had heard that story it had stirred up his own desire to be a hero and give his life a greater purpose. Somewhere he had lost that desire to fight for really anyone but himself but now that annoying little voice was telling him otherwise.Peter groaned and sat up straight in his chair, his eyes finding the framed photo of his dad that sat on his desk. Grabbing the photo, he ran a gentle finger over Tony’s face. Time had done little to ease the lonely ache in his heart. He couldn’t help but wonder what his dad would say and do or how he would have handled Thanos. “This is all your fault you know; I could turn back now and never look back if it wouldn’t be for you.” Peter could practically hear his dad’s amused snort followed by some kind of witty retort. “I know, I know.” Peter conceded, setting the frame down and pulling out his phone. He scrolled through his contacts until he found the Captain’s number and sighed. “You’d never let me rest until I did.”He hit call.~Natasha sat in the observation room deep in thought, her eyes trained on Clint as he prepared for the first-time travel run. Natasha could see the misery that shrouded her friend and how his grief had practically transformed him into entirely new person. She had heard the chattering and seen the reports, Clint was working outside the law and killing criminals. At first Natasha had been angry, she couldn’t understand how Clint could follow in Peter’s footsteps. She didn’t want to believe her friend had that kind of darkness inside him, but the evidence was impossible to ignore.“I see you found him.”Natasha jumped at the unexpected voice behind her. Peter stood in the doorway holding a bundle of wiring with a slight smirk on his face. “You knew where he was the entire time, didn’t you?”Peter shrugged before he tossed the wires aside and picked up his computer. “Of course, I did. I know where all my employees are at any given time.“Then why didn’t you say anything?”Peter blinked. “Cause you didn’t ask.” He stated as if it was obvious.Natasha gaped at the man’s indifference. “Do you take anything serious anymore?”Peter paused for a moment as if he was considering her question a finger pressed to his lips. “Nope!” He announced with a pop to the p. Natasha crossed her arms and hugged herself. She needed to tuck her hands away to resist the urge to punch the man in front of her. “Sometimes I swear you are more monster than human.”Peter cocked his head as his eyes pinned the assassin where she stood. It was true that not much in the world could make Peter feel anymore. He took pride in having very little emotional connections, it made life easier. Logically he knew that Natasha’s words should make him angry but all he felt was acceptance. “I am a product of my environment, it’s as simple as that.”The assassin shook her head. “You kill because you can and with no remorse. How can you be so nonchalant about that?” Peter blinked slightly irritated. “You call me inhuman, yet I agreed to help you, I didn’t have too. Don’t forget that there is nothing really in this for me, I have no one waiting for me.” Natasha’s face tightened but Peter pretended not to notice. He grabbed his forgotten USB cord and held it up. “Can’t time travel without this.”“Peter wait…”Peter held up a hand to stop a half-hearted apology, he really hated those. “A little advice, don’t kick the psychopath that’s helping you. It’s a little counterproductive don’t you think?” With a quick wink Peter stepped lightly out of the room and closed the door, leaving Natasha to contemplate his words.~Peter heard the click of the observation rooms door but didn’t bother to acknowledge Natasha’s arrival. He had a job to do and the sooner it was finished the sooner he could leave these annoyances in his rearview mirror.“Alright Clint, I will be sending you back four years. You’ll be gone approximately five seconds here, but it’ll feel longer to you.” Peter tapped on his tablet as he explained. Clint walked into the center of the humming platform pulling at the neck of his tight red and white suit. “Get in, get out, gotcha.” Pressing the button behind his ear allowing his mask to crawl over his face. Clint flashed Peter a thumbs up when he was ready, and Peter began the countdown.“5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”The room flashed bright forcing the heroes to cover their eyes. “He’s gone!” Steve announced in awe. Peter ignored him instead counting the seconds in his head.“Preparing for return in 3, 2, 1.” Pressing the button his time machine rumbled back to life and a second later Clint flashed back into the room. Cool it actually worked! Steve and Natasha instantly ran to their kneeling friend. “It worked.” Clint huffed out. Peter could see him clutching a child’s baseball mitt to his chest. Peter recognized the mitt from a family photo Clint carried. It belonged to his daughter. Crap. He had only been about 50% sure this would work and now there was the proof staring him directly in the face. This was real now; they were actually going to do this. Peter’s thoughts drifted to the stones the music instantly surging to the forefront of his mind. The only good thing with this working out would be getting rid of the stupid music box in his head. Fine, I’ll answer your stupid call.~After much discussion and a few mental breakdowns, the team was able to pinpoint what time period they needed to return to. Peter was part of the recon team that was headed to the tower, Natasha and Clint were headed to Vormir, Rocket and Thor would collect the Ether, Rhodey and Nebula would find the Power Stone, and Bruce would retrieve the Time Stone. No problem, it would be totally easy.Peter stood with the others in a large circle and pulled at the neck of his suit, wishing to be wearing anything else. The other members wore the exact same suit, Peter really hated the matching game, but Scott had insisted saying it will protect them during the time travel. Whatever, he felt ridiculous. “Alright, we’ve went over the plan. We’ve got one shot.” Peter rolled his eyes. Oh, great here comes the pep talk. “Really Cap? You’re laying it on a bit thick.”Rocket nudged Scott excitedly. “Hey you were right! He’s amazing at this!”“I know right!”Steve ignored all of them and stuck his fist out into the middle of the circle. “Whatever it takes.”The other members followed his lead. “Whatever it takes.”Peter had long since spaced from the group and was startled back when Thor nudged him. “What?!” All eyes were on him and he noticed the fists in the center of the circle. “You need to put your fist in the circle.” Thor whispered unhelpfully.“Oh, you’re serious. We’re really doing this.” Peter sighed and halfheartedly flung his fist out and completed the circle. “Whatever, let’s just get this over with.” They stood there for about thirty seconds, which was thirty seconds to long for Peter. “Are we waiting for the dramatic music to play or can we go now.”Rocket snorted as the rest of the team groaned, the moment was effectively killed. The heroes split into their teams as the machine began to whirl to life. “See you all in a minute!” Natasha smiled before her mask flowed over her face.Peter’s sarcastic retort died in his throat when he looked at her. The space around Natasha glowed, golden tendrils danced of her skin like sun rays. She was almost blinding to look at but what bothered him the most was no one seemed to notice her shining like a star. “3, 2…” Peter panicked and lunged forward as he tried to stop her. Unfortunately, he never got the chance because in the next second they were zapped away. His vision snapped to black and his gut tightened into a massive knot. Just when Peter thought for certain he was dead the world around him exploded into color. Before he had time to take in his surroundings Peter felt himself get yanked harshly to the side.“Hey!”A large chunk of concrete pummeled the spot where he had just been standing. Steve eyed him pointedly as he released his arm. “You’re welcome.”Steve walked away to join the other’s leaving Peter to take in his surroundings. The sound of terrified people and screaming aliens echoed throughout the city. The air was heavy with the smell of blood and dust from the collapsing buildings. Peter remembered watching this battle from the safety of the airplane. He had been so young and terrified. He remembered gripping Pepper’s hand like it was a lifeline as he sobbed in terror when Tony had flown the bomb into the wormhole. Standing in the streets and experiencing the battle was completely different than watching it on T.V. but he wasn’t a little kid anymore and death wasn’t a foreign concept anymore.“Peter, did you get all that?” Cap called, pulling Peter from his thoughts.“Of course, good to go.”~“Alright Cap, things look to be wrapped up.”“Ok, I’m headed to the elevator now.Peter let go of his web and gently tiptoed through the broken glass window of the tower. Casting a quick look around he darted behind the pillared wall so he would be out of sight from the past Avengers.“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll have that drink now.” Peter heard Loki say quietly. He could see the Avengers standing over the beaten and bruised demigod. He had heard about this battle so many times, but it was surreal to know be a witness to it.“Alright, get him to his feet. We can all stand around posing up a storm later.” Tony smirked, turning away from the demigod. Peter felt his heart drop to the floor, there was his dad in the flesh, alive and well. He wanted nothing more than to rush forward and gather him into a hug, he wanted the man to run his hand through his hair while singing his favorite Italian lullaby, and tell him it was over and there was nothing more to be afraid of. But he couldn’t do that, this Tony didn’t know this Peter, his Peter was currently on a jet with Pepper. Peter swallowed thickly and blinked rapidly against the tears that were threatening to spill.“What’s the status Peter?” Steve buzzed through the coms.Peter cleared his throat. “Nothing other than I just realized that suit did nothing for your ass, Cap.”Peter could practically feel Steve blush through the coms. “Well no one asked you to look.” He said almost defensively.Scott laughed from Peter’s shoulder. “You look great Cap, as far as I’m concerned that is America’s ass!” The tiny man said with a salute to the Captain.The elevator ding alerted Peter to more incoming. He could see Rumlow and other hydra agents exit and head over to Natasha. “I’ll take that for you.” Rumlow offered. Natasha smiled and handed over the scepter gladly. “Be my guest.”Peter clenched a fist to control his anger; he had almost forgotten that Hydra was still under the disguise of Shield. It was hard to see the team be so buddy-buddy with this people when he knew the trouble that they would cause them. The agent took the scepter and swiftly placed it into a sliver briefcase. He continued to watch as the team gathered up what they needed and headed to the elevator. “You ready Scott?”The tiny man on his shoulder was bouncing from foot to foot. “Oh yeah, I was born ready! Give me your best shot!”“You asked for it.” Peter grinned as he lined up his hand and flicked Scott as hard as he could. The Ant Man soared over the room and appeared to land squarely on the briefcase that his father was currently sitting on.“Made it!” Scott called over the coms allowing Peter to take a breath of relief. One down and one to go.Peter put a hand to his ear. “Ok Cap, Scott is in position. They are in the elevator headed down. Be aware that the hulk is taking the stairs. I’m going after the Mind Stone.”“Copy that, be careful.”Peter rolled his eyes at that. “Thanks mom, I’ll do my best.”Peter glanced at the elevator to check the floor numbers and mentally calculated the best floor to meet the hydra agents on. Great now he would have to take the stairs too. Ripping the door open Peter sprinted down 6 flights conscious of the fact that if he missed this elevator, he would miss his best chance at the stone. As soon as his foot hit the landing Peter flew through the door and skidded to a stop at the elevator door and punched the button.He closed his eyes and waited. Peter focused to slow his breathing and find his calm. He allowed his mind to travel to its peaceful place, the place he always went to distract himself from the horrible things he was about to do. He curled and uncurled his fingers and shook out his legs. This fight would be quick the hardest part would be to walk away without killing them.The elevator chimed and his eyes flew open. The agents didn’t know what hit them, as soon as the doors slide open Peter was on top of them. His webs pinned the front to agents to the wall and a quick kick to their faces left them unconscious. Peter roundhouse kicked Rumlow and sent him flying into the wall denting it in the process. He grabbed the tazer that he had lifted off Nat and stuck it to the fourth man’s throat leaving him a shaking mess on the floor. The man with case struggled to pull out his weapon but Peter was on him before he could so much as remove it from his holster. Peter grabbed his arm and twisted until the bones in the man’s wrist snapped. The man howled in pain the sound bringing a grin to Peter’s face. Grabbing the suitcase, he viciously swung it up clocking the man in the chin. The man crumpled to the ground along with his unconscious teammates. The elevator came to a stop and Peter exited. He turned to survey his opponents and snorted when he saw them in a crumpled heap. “Hail Hydra.” Gripping the case Peter took off at a run to the designated rendezvous. “Cap, I have the scepter and I’m on my way.”“Copy that, we will meet you as soon as possible. Hold tight.”Peter continued down the block until he saw the white car. He quickly glanced over his shoulder to make sure that he wasn’t followed, once he was satisfied that he wasn’t Peter hurried to the car and climbed inside. He sat for a moment and drummed his fingers on the side of the case. The melody in his head was louder than before and he knew the stone was calling to him. What would it hurt if he opened the case and look at the stone? He was by himself so now would be the perfect chance to try and understand what this song was about.“Don’t bitch out now Stark.” Peter grumbled to himself. Gripping the buckles Peter swiftly unlatched the locks and popped open the lid. There it was ,the Mind Stone. Peter gasped at the beauty of the stone. It glowed with an ethereal light that matched the mystic melody playing in his head. An instinctual urge commanded Peter’s shaky hand to reach out and touch it but as soon as he did his mind was plucked out of this reality and shoved into another.~Peter sucked in a harsh breath to ease his screaming lungs as he opened his eyes, he noticed the surroundings were clear and bright. He was back in the tower, but it wasn’t the tower he remembered. Everything was overly defined and obnoxiously bright. “Well Toto, I don’t think he are in Kansas anymore.” Peter muttered the hair on his arms standing straight up. He walked down the hallway that would lead to the living room as he rounded the corner his stomach dropped to the floor.“Peter, what are you doing?! Peter stop!” Tony yelled.Peter could see his dad yelling at another Peter. That version of himself was dressed in a venom suit that was smeared with blood and gore. The dark Peter had Tony on his knees Tony’s face covered in blood and bruises while Peter was smiling clearly enjoying this moment.That Peter reached out gripping Tony by the hair cranking his head to the side. “I won’t stop, I won’t ever stop, not until my job is finished.” Tony whimpered as another punch cracked against his cheek. “What’s wrong daddy-o, are you to weak to fight me?”“Stop it! What are you doing?” Peter yelled as he tried to rush forward but his limbs were frozen in place. He couldn’t move to intervene and neither that Peter nor Tony turned to acknowledge him. He was just a witness to this vision and Peter was terrified to see what it had in store.Tony spit out a glob of blood before turning his large sorrowful brown eyes to his son. “I guess I am. I’m just sorry I couldn’t protect you.”Peter let out a deep laugh. “Can’t you see I don’t need any protection. I am more powerful than I have ever been! I have everything I could ever need!”Tony sighed as a tear tracked down his abused face. “And that’s how I know I failed you.” Peter’s eyes narrowed and he kneed his father in the chest. “What do you mean by that old man?”Tony wheezed as his chest tightened, he could feel his heart stutter at the abuse. “It doesn’t matter anymore; I know what you came here to do, and I won’t stop you. Just do it but no matter what happens know that I love you.”For a moment Tony could see the mask on Peter’s face falter but he wasn’t foolish to think his son would change his mind. Peter raised his fist and Tony locked his eyes with Peter’s. “What is it you say? Hail Hydra.” Peter shrieked as he watched the other version of himself bury his fist deep in his father’s chest and rip out his dad’s heart. The blood dripped steadily from his hands as the organ stuttered out a few last weak beats before stopping all together. Dark Peter released his dad and Tony slumped lifelessly to the floor. “Did you like the show?”Peter raised his horrified eyes to see his evil twin grinning at him. “You killed him! How could you?”The other Peter shrugged before carelessly dropping the heart to the floor. “He was a means to an end. His death secured my position of power, no one will dare question my loyalty now.”“You’re loyalty? Are you insane?” Peter screamed in rage.Other Peter raised a questioning eyebrow wiping his hands on his suit. “Oh please, you can’t be this surprised. You kill people for a living, you and I aren’t that different. You run your organization and I am a head of Hydra; you could make the argument that we are the same person.” Peter wanted to vomit as the other version of himself laughed darkly. “You’re a liar, this is nothing more than a horrible vision and I want no part of it!” Dark Peter’s laughter cut off and before Peter could blink, he was thrown roughly to the floor with his doppelgangers foot planted painfully on top of his chest. “You’re wrong! I am you; I am the version of you that you have been flirting with for years. You could easily become me if you don’t listen!”Peter struggled under his dark twin’s weight. “I don’t know what you are talking about! You killed him!”Dark Peter removed his foot and pulled Peter to his feet. “No Peter you are killing him. You are killing him every day you ignore me.” Peter’s mind whirled in confusion and he was just about to deny his crazy twin when he felt sticky moisture on his hands. He screamed as he saw his bloody hands gripping his father’s heart that had been torn in two. He quickly dropped the heart and vomited.“Stop fighting your true nature Peter Stark or all of this.” The doppelganger lifted his hands and motioned to the blood and gore in front of them. “Will come to pass. Our own anger creates our own worst fears.” Peter stood and brought his fist back to punch the other Peter but before he could Dark Peter clapped his hands together. Thunder rolled and when Peter opened his eyes again, he was seated in the back of the abandoned car again. He cursed and dropped the mind stone back in the case and snapped the lid shut. His heart hammered as he rubbed at his hands trying to erase the feeling of his father’s blood dripping from them. Fuck the stones and fuck the music in his head, he was never living through that kind of hell again.~As soon as Peter’s feet hit solid ground, he ripped his helmet off and bolted down the stairs. He was desperate to put as much distance between himself and those accursed Stones. He couldn’t shake that vision of himself murdering his father of his hands buried deep in his father’s chest. He remembered the feeling id his father’s still beating heart in his bloody palms that would haunt him forever. If that is what the stones wanted to tell him they could go stick it. Peter wanted no part of it.Before Peter could make it all they way out of the room a sad question stopped him in his tracks. “Clint, where’s Nat?” Clint knelt on the metal floor his shoulder quaking with unspoken grief. “She’s gone. She traded her life for the stone.” Clint uncurled his fingers to reveal the bright yellow stone. Tiny rays of luminescent light danced within the orb giving it an ethereal presence. “A soul for a soul.” Peter whispered to himself. He thought back to right before they left, and he saw Natasha glowing in gold. That must have been a warning of her upcoming sacrifice.Clint stood on shaky legs. “This better work or she died for nothing.” He tossed the stone to Peter. “Time to make our own gauntlet.”Peter’s reflexes reacted before his brain could scream at him to stop. As soon as the stone landed in his hand his body was flooded with warmth. Visions of Natasha and a green woman, Gamora, and other people he didn’t recognize but he knew all their names, flashed through his mind. It was like all these people were in his mind, he could feel their presence, no that wasn’t right, he could feel their souls. Each soul pulsated within in the stone, eager to share their story with Peter. Images of their deaths crowded his mind; he couldn’t handle all the pain and betrayal. The immensity of their emotions felt like a ten thousand weight that was crushing.Peter pulled back from the vision with all his strength. Snapping his eyes open he found Bruce and quickly tossed him the stone. “Here take this.” Bruce easily caught the stone tossed his way. “Peter are you ok?” You look a bit pale.”“I’m fine.” He quickly reassured. “I’ll see you in the lab.” The team watched Peter rush out of the room with slight confusion. “What’s with him?” Scott asked.Steve shrugged. “We ran into Tony during the mission. He didn’t say much but I know it affected him.”“Maybe you all can better understand what he’s going through. You’ve all lost loved ones and you are doing whatever you can to get them back. He’s not as crazy as you all make him out to be.” The archer left the room leaving the rest to ponder his words.
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Peter rotated his hologram of the gauntlet mentally calculating the different variables in hopes of avoiding a massive explosion when the stones were set. Let’s be honest that would suck. “How’s it looking?” Bruce asked nervously as he watched the young man study his algorithm. Peter swiped away the hologram and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I think we are playing with fire but the only way to know is to just do it.” Bruce nodded in agreement. Peter said a tiny prayer before sliding a finger over his tablet that controlled the robot. The robot’s hands expertly picked up the six stones and slowly deposited them into their respective slots. Once placed the gauntlet hummed to life the air around them vibrated with power. Peter winced as the song in his head exploded, it cried out to him as if were desperate for him to possess it. Fear surged inside him and he took a step back, he couldn’t do it not after what he saw. The Mind and Soul stones had showed him indescribable pain and suffering. Their visions had torn him completely apart and if two stones did that, he couldn’t fathom the idea what all six had in store.“Did it work?” Peter jumped at Steve’s question. He had been unaware that the others had entered the lab. Fumbling with his tablet he quickly checked the data. “Everything seems to be holding steady.”Steve nodded as he walked closer inspecting the chamber containing the gauntlet. “I wouldn’t do that.” Peter cautioned when Steve reached out a hand to open the chamber.“Someone has too.” Steve stated eyes never leaving the stones.“Not that I’m disagreeing but even your super strength can’t handle the strength of the stones. One snap.” Peter snapped his own fingers. “You’re dead.” The room was silent, Peter had a point now that they had the stones who was going to risk their life to bring everyone back. “I’ll do it.” Bruce stepped forward pushing Thor back. “I’m the only one that has a chance of walking away alive.” Peter wouldn’t disagree with that logic; he swiftly unlocked the chamber before moving to stand by Clint. He allowed the arm of his suit to expand into a shield to protect himself and the archer. “Whenever you’re ready Bruce.”Bruce gazed over his friends with unspoken emotion. He looked as though he was trying to memorize their faces so he could revisit them in the afterlife. Peter recognized the look on the doctor’s face it was one of a man that has accepted death. Guilt blossomed deep in his gut. Instinct told him that he was the one to wield the Stones, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop Banner.Bruce gave a small smile. “Here goes nothing.” Everyone watched with bated breath as Bruce lowered his large green arm into the gauntlet, the metal quickly expanded to fit around the massive width of the doctor’s arm. As soon as the gauntlet secured itself Bruce howled in pain, burns instantly began to etch themselves into the green flesh.“Bruce!” Steve yelled. Bruce held up his good hand and stopped the Captain’s advance.“I’m fine! I can do this!”The whole room stood in tense silence as Bruce raised his glowing arm and snapped his fingers. Peter let out a small yelp as he was once again sent flying through the air. “Is everyone alright!” Scott asked.Peter moaned as he rolled onto his back, his head and ribs ached in a synchronized rhythm, but he could tell it was nothing critical. “Never better bug dude. Just a few more bruises to add to collection.” Peter groaned lightly as he slowly rose to his feet. Broken glass and metal scattered the floor and Peter could see Rhodey and Steve were busy examining Bruce’s blackened arm. The charred skin smoked from the severity of the burns and Bruce’s face was clouded in pain.“Did it work?” Bruce asked through gritted teeth.A buzzing sound caught Peter’s attention and he noticed Clint’s hand’s fly to his pocket. The archer’s face lite up when he saw the screen. “It’s my wife!” Clint quickly answered the phone, but no one ever got the chance to hear what Laura had to say because at that same time the room erupted in chaos around them.~Peter felt warm a light like he was drifting amongst the clouds on a warm lazy summers’ day. Cracking an eye open he noticed that he was laying on his living room sofa. The same one that he andTony had spent many a night on watching movies and playing video games. After his dad had died Peter couldn’t bear to look at it let alone sit on it. It was only a piece of furniture, but it represented someone that was forever lost to him, so he had to let it go. Peter dug his fingers into the soft material and closed his eyes letting himself momentarily sink back into those comfortable memories.“There you are! You sure are a hard one to get a hold one!” Peter’s eyes flew open in surprise before springing over the back of the sofa arms raised to fend off an attack. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Peter’s gaze settled on a little girl seated on the other end of the sofa. She looked to be about eight years old and had brown hair that fell slightly past her shoulders. Her eyes were also a deep brown, but they were flecked with many colors. Those eyes made Peter uncomfortable they held an aura of wisdom that was far beyond her eight years but there was a familiarity that made Peter feel that he knew this girl, like they were old friends meeting after many years apart.“Who are you?” Peter asked wearily.The girl laughed, her tiny shoulders bouncing with amusement. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind an ear the girl patted the cushion beside her in invitation. Peter didn’t budge and she sighed. “I have many names, but you can call me Morgan, I prefer that one.” Peter crossed his arms his suspicion growing. “Ok, Morgan, who are you and where am I?”The girl looked at him with a curious smile as she swung her legs back and forth. “We’re inside your head silly.” She exclaimed happily.Peter dropped his arms in surprise. “My head? What do you mean?”Morgan laughed her amusement echoing over the empty plane. “So many questions!” She patted the cushion again. “Come sit! I promise I will answer as many as I can.” Peter hesitated a few seconds longer while Morgan hummed happily. He was convinced this wasn’t going to be a fun conversation but as he looked around the desolate plane around him, he figured this was his only option for escape.“Fine, lets talk.” Morgan clapped her hands happily and cheered while Peter jumped back over the sofa and settled into his designated spot. “Ok missy, you said we are in my head, explain.”“The explosion knocked you unconscious.” Morgan said easily, tucking her feet underneath her. Peter’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “The explosion?” Peter wondered before his eyes went wide in realization. “Thanos!” Morgan nodded her face sad. “He found us.”“Yes, he found the Avengers.” Morgan lowered her head tracing a small finger over the cushion. “And yet you still haven’t accepted me.” Peter reeled back as if he had been slapped in the face. Did this little girl just say what he thought she said? There was no way because if she did that meant she was…no, that was to insane. Peter placed his fists on his knees his muscles tense. “Who are you Morgan?”Morgan twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “I am the Infinity Stones and I’ve waited a long time to meet you.”Fear clapped down on Peter and he scrambled away to put distance between himself and the girl. “Get away from me, I want nothing to do with you, not after what you have shown me!”Morgan sighed sadly her face pinching with disappointment. “Peter, when you touched the Soul and Mind stone you only caught glimpses into who and what I am.” Peter shook his head as he refused to accept that response. “If that is only a part of you, I want nothing to do with the rest of you!” Morgan’s face changed from sadness to one of anger and annoyance. I understand that the vision you saw of your father has marked you, but you need to understand the reason behind it.” Peter’s eyes watered as he stood and turned his back on Morgan. “There is no need!”“Yes, there is!” The plan around them swirled and the sofa disappeared. Peter raised a hand to shield his eyes as the wind picked up. “The visions you saw was one that you fear most. You are afraid that you are the cause of your father’s death. In your darkest moments you have considered crossing that line that puts you in the ‘villain’ category.” Peter was violently shaking now as her words were ringing true. “I showed you that because you needed to see what you were creating. You need to understand what is at stake. There is a bigger purpose for you.”Peter whirled around and towered over the girl. “Who gives you the right to decide my future!” Morgan’s eyes darkened dangerously, she raised her hands slowly and clapped her hands three times each one roaring like a clap of thunder. As her hands separated for the last the space around them morphed into a burning city. The streets were filled with crumbled buildings and abandoned cars. The sky was blackened with ominous clouds that rained pebbles and ash. Peter coughed as the poisonous air reached his lungs. Morgan could see the horror fill the boy’s face, his eyes reflecting the burning city like mirrors. “This is what the galaxy will become if you don’t accept your destiny.”Peter’s face burned where the ash touched it and he gagged on the putrid smell of death and decay. There was nothing left. There were no animals or people, there was only fire and ruin. Morgan clapped her hands and the vision changed to a lakeside view.Peter could hear the gently waves lap against the shore while a seagull called faintly in the distance. Peter sucked in a deep breath and his lungs cheered at the fresh clean air. The sun hung high in the sky with only a few spare clouds floating in the clear blue sky. Birds sang happily in the tall green trees. Behind him stood a large wooden cabin. Peter gazed at it longingly and it tugged at a buried memory and his heart called to him to go inside. In that moment all he wanted was to run inside and hide away and forget all of this.“Let me guess this is what I need to protect.” Peter questioned quietly and closed his eyes when Morgan gave an affirmative nod. Yet again fate had decided to make Peter its whipping boy. It required him to sacrifice while others prospered. “Why me? What makes me so special?”“I’m not the one to answer that.” Peter’s shoulders tensed, this game had run its course and he was tired of being given the run around. “If I’m the one to fulfill a destiny that I don’t even know what it is, why should I listen?”Morgan sighed, running her hand along the long grass blowing blissfully in the breeze. “There is another that has to answer those questions. Deep down you know what I am asking of you.” The girl dropped her hand and pinned Peter with her strange brown eyes. Peter realized the flecks of color matched those of the Infinity Stones. “What you are really worried about is what comes after.”Peter swallowed and shifted uncomfortably. That hadn’t been the answer he was expecting. Morgan moved closer to Peter only a few inches separated them. Peter didn’t move back or flinch away for the first time since their meeting. Now that she was in his space, he felt oddly comforted and at peace. “We know who you are Peter Parker-Stark.” Morgan offered up her hand her expression filled with warmth and understanding. “The real question is, do you?”The question stirred up a deep sense of unease in Peter and his eyes snapped down to hers. He hadn’t known the answer to that since his father died. He had always wanted to be a hero but that had all changed when his heart was poisoned by grief and loss. His sole purpose had been driven by revenge and blood. “I don’t know the answer to that anymore.”Morgan smiled sadly. “I guess it is time too find out.” She extended her offered hand again and this time Peter didn’t hesitate to take it. The warmth of her skin engulfed him and when he closed his eyes, he could see the colors of the universe dance beneath his lids. Morgan took a small step back as the young man in front of her faded away back to the battle that awaited him. She could only hope that he was ready to meet the destiny that he had spent so much time running from. Morgan cocked her head at the sound of the cabin door squeaking followed by the soft thuds of footsteps. “Was that him?” A soft female voice asked. Morgan nodded. “Will he do it?” Morgan turned and smiled at her guest. “Yes, I think he will.” The woman clasped her hands together and brought them to her chest. “I’ll go tell the others; they’ve been so worried.”Morgan watched a robin fly from a tree and settle on the dock where it chirped happily. “We’re not in the clear yet but I think things are finally looking up.” Morgan nodded, yes for the first time in years she was feeling confident. Bringing her hand up to watch green tendrils weave around her fingers. “Only time will tell.”
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~Peter’s senses came back to him in a heavy rush as he sucked in a desperate breath. His lungs protested the action with rough hacks as dust and blood invaded his air way. Eyes clearing Peter was able to survey his surroundings. Red flashing lights penetrated the cracks of the rubble from the compound that surrounded him as water cascaded down from broken pipes. Great, buried alive once again.Peter hissed as he struggled to his feet. His head throbbed in protest at the action. Bringing his hand to his head Peter wasn’t surprised to pull it away and find it coated with red. The situation was looking more spectacular by the second. It appeared that he was buried by a building, sporting a beautiful concussion, while his mind still echoed with Morgan’s cryptic words. A rumble from the ground above sent more dust raining down on Peter causing him to squint. Above loud voices and blasts vibrated the concrete around him. Cocking his head Peter Listened carefully. At first all he could hear was Thor and Steve talking. After a few seconds he changed his analysis. Threatening. Yeah, they were definitely threatening someone. And naturally he was being kept from the action.Eyes quickly scanning around Peter noticed that the shaking had shifted a slab of rubble just enough that he might be able to squeeze through. Ignoring his aches and pains Peter quickly crawled through the makeshift hole before the fighting above caused a cave in.“Karen, you still with me?”“Of course, Sir, what can I do to assist you?”“Find me away out of this hellish tomb for starters.”Karen was quite for a moment. “Keep moving straight for the next twenty feet, then to your right you should be able to find an uncompromised path to your friends.”“They are not my friends.” Peter grumbled. He knew that if Karen could roll her eyes the A.I would have. “To your teammates.”Ignoring the snarky response Peter followed her directions. As predicted, he found a lightly damaged fire escape door. Shoving the rocks and scattered lumber aside Peter yanked the door open and entered the dim hall.“Where are the stones?” Steve mumbled.“Somewhere under all this.” Thor responded.“Good, he doesn’t know. Let’s keep it that way.” They must be talking to Thanos, Peter thought in frustration. They may not be friends, but Peter didn’t want anyone to face Thanos alone.
“You could not live with your own failure and where did that bring you? Back to me. I thought that by eliminating half of life the other half would thrive, but you have shown me that is impossible. Andas long as there are those that remember what was there will always be those that can’t accept what can be. They will resist.”
“Yup, we are stubborn.” Peter heard Steve sneer.
“I’m thankful because now I know what I must do. I will shred this universe down to its last atom and with the stones you have collected for me rebuild a new one, teaming with life. It knows not what it has lost but only with what it has been given.”
“A universe built of blood.” Steve countered.
“They will never know. You won’t be around to tell them.”
Peter heard Thor give a thunderous scream followed by the clanking of metal. The fight had begun, and Peter had yet to make it to the surface. He wanted to be there, he needed to help end this war, growling he picked up his speed. Jumping over scattered debris Peter rounded a corner and was halted dead in his tracks. He gasped and clutched at his temple as the annoying mystical song sounded in his head. Morgan’s words reverberated through his mind. “We know who you are Peter Parker-Stark. Do you?” More explosions trembled through the earth as the fight above continued. Peter desperately wanted to join them, but his heart shouted at him, for once in his life to listen to it. “Son of a bitch! Fine, you win!”Whirling around Peter ran back through the door to follow the mystical song. His heart pounded in rhythm with his racing feet. The earth rumbled above him causing rocks and debris to rain down upon him. Peter barely paused when a slab of concrete fell in front of him. He vaulted his body over and continued to chase his siren and blinked rapidly as more dust rained down. He could hear more rumblings and shouts from above the ground, it was clear that more reinforcements had arrived. Peter could only hope they were on the Avengers side.Morgan had said he would know what to do when the time came but Peter still wasn’t sure what she had meant. Right now, he was literally running on blind faith and that action alone was stirring up feelings of anxiety and rage. Peter Parker-Stark trusted no living being, not after everything that happened with his father. It was easier to not be close to anyone. If he pushed them away, they couldn’t get close and he wouldn’t have to feel the pain when they inevitably left.Peter ducked under a leaking pipe just as the song reached its crescendo. Growling he whirled around looking for the source of his migraine. Under a small pile of rubble, a familiar red finger was sticking out. Peter moved cautiously over and grabbed the red metal and pulled. Instantly the dull space was filled with the iridescent glow of the Infinity Stones. Peter’s mouth fell into a flat line, there was a part of him that wanted to take the gauntlet and drop it into the darkest pit that he could find. Then there was the other part of him, the bigger part that wanted to put the gauntlet on and finally receive his destiny. He hated that part of himself, he hated that he wanted it so bad. He had spent most of his life throwing the middle finger to destiny. He was the man that made his own destiny and it kills him that it was finally time to stop running. Peter grinds his teeth as he shifts the iron gauntlet in his hands. “Alright you fucking rocks, what’s next?”No sooner had those words left his mouth the Time Stone flared to life and bathed Peter in a veil of emerald green. Peter let out a startled cry and rushed to shield his eyes. The sounds of the battle faded away and the dusty air was instantly cleansed. Peter lowered his arm as the emerald light waned and he found himself standing in his old bedroom back in Queens. Peter felt his heart twist painfully, it had been many years since he had thought of his life before Aunt May had died. He let his eyes wander over his old science posters, the pieces of computers he had found in dumpsters, and his plastic Iron Man helmet. Each item brought up a repressed memory of a life that Peter wanted to forget. They were happy memories, but that happiness brought along pain that made him feel like he was suffocating. Peter Parker was dead. Venom had killed him so Peter Parker-Stark could live.“I’m not dead.” Peter felt his blood freeze at the familiar voice. Clutching the gauntlet close to his chest Peter slowly turned towards the voice. There sitting on the small twin mattress sat fifteen-year-old Peter Parker. His younger self was dressed in the first suit Tony had ever made him, the Spider-Man mask in his hands. Anger bubbled up deep in Peter’s chest. He didn’t understand why the time stone was showing him this, not when Thanos was currently trying to kill the Avengers.“Who the hell are you?” Peter growled.Young Peter picked nervously at the mask in his hands. “I’m not Morgan, if that’s what you mean. I’m you.”Peter scowled and pinched the bridge of his nose as confusion and anger filled him. “You can’t be me because I’m me.”“I’m the you that Venom failed to kill and I am here now to remind you of who you are.”Peter dropped his hand and stared hard at the boy. “You’re wrong. I am Venom, he makes us strong. Spider-Man made me weak. He wasn’t strong enough to protect Uncle Ben, Aunt May, not even dad.”Young Peter stood and walked over to his adult self until they were almost nose to nose. “You’re a liar. Venom has brought you nothing but pain and loneliness. You tell yourself that it is to keep you and the people you care about safe.”“That’s because it’s true.” Peter objected.Young Peter rolled his eyes and jammed his index finger into the adult man’s chest. “Then why are you more miserable now than you have ever been before. MJ, Ned, the Avengers they all wanted to help you and you pushed them away. You became the thing that dad worked so hard to get rid of. Wake up Peter and come home!”Peter’s eyes stung as he looked down at his younger self and the anger and desperation that filled his brown eyes. He remembered all the dreams he had when he was fifteen. He was going to go to college, get married, have kids, and be the best hero he could be. Every dream involved his friends and the Avengers but when his dad died those dreams had died too. He would give anything to be fifteen again and have those dreams, but he couldn’t and he was alone now.“It’s to late for that kid.” Peter’s eyes traveled to the pictures on the wall. He saw his younger self giving Tony rabbit ears as he held a certificate from his Stark internship. He saw another with him and Ned holding up their Lego Death Star with MJ laughing at them in the background. Lord he missed them. “I’ve done unforgivable things; all my friends and family are gone.” He looked back to Young Peter and despite himself smiled at the sight of himself in the Spider-Man suit. “Besides after everything I have done; I could never disgrace the Spider-Man suit by putting it back on.”“Oh, screw that!” Young Peter muttered before pulling back and punching his adult self straight on the nose.“Ow! What the hell?!” Peter yelped, dropping the gauntlet, and pinching his nose to staunch the blood pouring from the nostrils.Young Peter bent down and picked up the gauntlet. “You disgrace the suit everyday by not wearing it. You disgrace me everyday that you don’t go by the name Spider-Man. You say that you are too far gone to come back to the life you once had. I know that Steve let you down but if we are being honest with ourselves it’s not the Avengers we blame for what happened, we blame ourselves.”Peter spit out a glob of blood as he stared at himself. “You don’t know what you are talking about, so you better shut up!”Young Peter chucked the gauntlet back at himself which Adult Peter caught easily. “Yes, I do, we couldn’t save Ben, May, or dad! We weren’t there and you think we let them down!”Peter couldn’t stop the angry tears from spilling from his eyes and he hated the words coming from the kid’s mouth. “I did! I wasn’t strong enough to save them!” Young Peter watched his adult self drop to his knees as sobs wracked his body. He carefully walked over and wrapped his arms around Peter and hugged him hard. “It wasn’t your fault. It could never have been your fault!”Peter let out a half-chocked sob. Young Peter had finally said the words that he never knew he desperately needed to hear. He hugged Young Peter as if his life depended on it.“I forgive you Peter. I know dad forgives you.” Peter trembled at those words. Slowly he pulled from the hug and studied the face of Spider-Man. The look of hope and forgiveness in his expression was a wonder. Young Peter put his hand on the gauntlet between them. The red of his suit matched perfectly with the metal of the gauntlet. “Do you know what you need to do now?”Peter gently reached out and ran his hand over the gloved hand. The suits material felt exactly as he remembered; soft yet strong. It felt like home. Removing his hand, he took the gauntlet and returned to his feet. He looked at Young Peter and smiled, feeling peace for the first time in a long time. “Yes, I do.”Peter stuck his hand into the gauntlet and smiled as the metal constricted around his right arm. It was a perfect fit. Peter grunted as the power of the Stones surged through his body. It did not hurt; it was comforting yet electrifying. Tendrils of power danced and waved around his body. They wrapped around him almost like a hug as if they had waited an eternity for him.When the power surging through his body finally calmed Peter looked to his young self. “Thanks, kid!” Then he blinked from the room.Young Peter picked up his mask and smiled before pulling it on. He opened his window and hoped onto the windowsill “He’s almost there, Morgan.” Peter shot a web and jumped. He smiled when he heard Morgan’s voice echoed in the breeze.“Thank you, Peter. You put him on the path to home.”
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Son of a bitch! Steve had had it with this purple monster. It was nearly impossible to get the drop on him. He felt like he was spending most of this fight flying through the air to end up with his face in the dirt. Even still there was no way he was backing down. Standing on shaky legs Steve spit out a glob of dirt and blood. He pitched forward slightly, and his ears rung from the force of the blow to his head. Steve couldn’t remember the last time he took a beating this bad, but it wasn’t in his nature to give up. He would hold out until the other Avengers arrived. Deep inside he knew they were coming. Until then he would fight.Picking up Mjolnir the Captain turned to his adversary. “Is that the best you can do?” Steve chuckled lightly as Thanos quirked an eyebrow at the taunt. Thanos raised his weapon and inspected the blood that shone crimson on the blade. “I must admit Captain you have given me a moment of amusement. It is a pity that all of existence needs to be erased. Like Stark, I would have hoped they would remember you.”Steve froze at the sound of his old friend’s name. How did Thanos even know about Tony? Rage thawed him and summoned lightning that blasted the Titan off his feet.“You have no right to speak his name! Tony was a true hero that would have fought by our side to defeat you!”Thanos laughed deeply. “I am certain he would. His early demise was something I couldn’t have planned better myself.” Thanos thought he heard the ant scream something back at him, but his ears were still ringing. He shook his head to clear his them, the lightening was becoming a nuisance. He caught movement from the corner of his eye. Rolling to his side Thanos threw out an arm and caught Thor by the throat. Slamming the demigod to the ground Thanos ripped a knife from his belt and ducked in time to avoid the Captain’s shield from drilling into his head. “Give Asgard my best.” The Titan sneered. Thor refused to close his eyes. Even in his last moments he would not show this monster fear and defeat. He saw the knife come down and Thor stilled himself to feel the icy kiss of steal penetrate his flesh. Instead of a flash of pain there was one of light. In one moment, Thor was in the grasp of his would-be murderer and in the next he was standing next to Steve.“What the…?” Steve gripped Thor’s arm, a look of relief on his face.Thanos blinked and scowled when he saw his knife buried in the ground beneath him. His scowl deepened when he raised his head and his gaze fell upon a figure in front of him. Slowly he reached a hand to his commlink and pressed the button. His true advisory had arrived, and he would need reinforcements. Steve noticed Thanos’s glare and followed his line of sight. His face split into a wide grin.“You’re late!”Peter noticed Steve’s grin and returned it with one of his one. For the first time in years the sight of the Captain didn’t set Peter on edge. In fact, a small part of Peter was relieved to see the man. This new emotion unsettled Peter. Was this what forgiveness felt like? Unfortunately, Peter didn’t have time to dwell on his confusion. There was a war to be won and time was of the essence. “Come on Captain, you know me, I am never late. Everyone else is early.” Peter shot a web and swung over to the two battered Avenger’s. Steve’s eyes widened when he noticed the metal gauntlet fastened to the young man’s hand. He could make out the tendrils of power winding and curling around the black suit on Peter’s arm. On closer inspection he could see the magic infusing itself in Peter’s veins.“Peter…” Steve started.Peter waved him off and continued as if Steve hadn’t spoken. “Besides, I wanted to bring along some friends. I figured Grape-Man wouldn’t mind.”Before Steve could ask a familiar voice echoed in his ear. A voice that Steve hadn’t thought he would ever hear again.
“Steve, can you hear me? On your left.”
Slowly Steve turned to his left. It was almost more than he could hope for. There behind him a giant gold circle spun other small ones appearing along side it. From the center of the circles appeared his friends. T’challa, Wanda, Sam, Strange, Bucky, Pepper, and armies from Asgard, and Wakanda all appeared.Steve and Thor gave smiles of relief and hope, but Peter kept his eyes trained on Thanos. He could see the Titan had summoned his own army. He needed to act quickly to avoid mass casualties. Steve caught Peter’s eye and gave a short nod. Summoning Mjolnir Steve sunk into a crouch. “Avengers, assemble!”Thor let out a blood curdling yell that was soon joined by the others. The Avengers charged the awaiting enemy and were met halfway on the battlefield. Peter shot a web at the Chitauri Leviathan and flung himself over the fighting mass. He would have one chance at this, one chance to make them all see. Eyes scanning the hordes of fighting beings Peter quickly zeroed onto his target. Releasing his web Peter dropped and landed a kick to the Titan’s head.“I would say you would feel that in the morning but unfortunately you won’t be alive that long.”Thanos laughed as he raised a hand to wipe at the blood trickling from his nose. “Your rather cocky but I shouldn’t expect anything less from Stark’s son.” Peter’s face remained impassive and the Titan grinned. Something in the boy had changed since their last encounter. Good. “I have to thank you for delivering the stones to me. You have made my job a whole lot easier.”Peter raised his gauntlet clad fist and summoned the power of the stones. “These stone will never be in your hands again. The only reason I haven’t snapped you from existence is because they have asked me not to.”Thanos laughed at the ridiculousness of the boy’s words. “You speak as if they have a conscious of their own. They are power and nothing more.”Peter’s mouth curved into a hard and humorless smile. “The words of true ignorance.”“Enough of this! Give me the stones and I will make your death quick!” Thanos snapped all humor vanishing from his face.“Come get them!” Thanos charged with a wild scream of rage. Peter easily dodged the punch thrown his way and ducked underneath the Titan’s thick arm. Kicking out his leg Peter swept Thanos’s feet from under him and the alien crashed to the ground.Peter danced to the side his amusement only detected by the small upward curve on his lips. Thanos surged to his feet, blinded by rage he blindly struck out with his fist. Peter grabbed the Titan’s fist and twisted the arm roughly to the side. With the gauntlet covered hand he punched Thanos on the jaw.Thanos stumbled back as the blow landed his vision flickering to a young girl with dark green standing in the middle of a red painted plain. Thanos gripped his head as pain flashed through his skull and his vision flashed back to the present. Peter didn’t give his adversary time to recover. Spinning he flexed his arm and summoned upon the Soul stone and delivered another blow to Thanos’s head.Thanos gasped as his sight flashed back to the red plain. The child this time turned. Her beautiful face was drawn into an expression of profound misery and sadness. Thanos’s heart clenched as he recognized the girl. Gamora.“Was it worth it?” Her small lip trembled.Thanos reached for his daughter but she took a quick step back. Silent tears streamed down her face. “I don’t know, child?”“Isn’t the galaxy made to your liking?”Thanos shook his head. “It was unmade, my daughter.”A sob escaped Gamora. Thanos moved towards his daughter but she melted in front of him. “Gamora!”“You murdered me in vain, father?”Thanos whirled around to see the child form of Gamora replaced with her adult self. He let out a horrified gasp as he noticed the blood that coated his child’s body. Her hair was tangled and matted with blood and pieces of her shattered skull. Blood ran from her mouth and nose to mix with the tears that streamed from her eyes.“I did it for the greater good!” Thanos sobbed.“The greater good? Then why am I dead and you are still fighting a war that you will never win!?” Gamora shrieked. “Was this,” She motioned to herself. “worth it?!”Thanos screamed and shielded his face as Gamora charged him. He gasped as he was roughly pulled from the vision and violently slammed to the ground. His chest heaved and his heart thudded rapidly in his chest. The sound of battle told him he was back in the present. His eyes found Peter standing above him. The boy’s eyes held no emotion and the slight tilt to his head set Thanos’s blood on fire. “What sorcery are you pulling boy!?”Peter blinked slowly as if he was considering the question. “No sorcery, I am only showing you the soul of your daughter that you left in the Soul Stone plain. There she will wander for all eternity in pain and isolation that you have bestowed upon her. Thanos gasped from the pain that those words drilled into his heart. Peter had to be lying. Gamora was at peace. “You’re lying!”Peter eyes darkened before he lunged forward and kicked the Titan in the gut. “A Soul for a Soul, that was the price you paid! You are playing with forces you never fully understood.” Peter sneered as the being under him coughed and wretched. He felt no pity for him and instead continued to rain down blows. “Who gave you the right to play God with all the galaxies?”Voices clouded in Thanos’s head. Scream’s of pain and pleas for mercy. Most of the voices he didn’t recognize but a few were familiar. They were of mother’s begging for the lives of their children. Father’s telling their wives to run. Brother’s and sister’s weeping over the deaths of their families while their villages burned. They were the voices of the people Thanos had killed.Thanos had never enjoyed the murder of all those people. He had saw it as a necessary evil to bring about a better galaxy. He still believed that, and he wouldn’t let one lowly human make him question his decisions. The pain of Gamora would haunt him until the day he died but he would make sure her eternal sacrifice would mean something.Peter jumped as Thanos lunged up with a roar. He gripped Peter by the throat and threw him up against a boulder. Peter gasped and clawed at the massive hand that restricted his airway.“I don’t expect you to understand my reasoning. My sole purpose for being alive is to restore balance and remove any obstacles that try and divert me from my purpose.” Thanos sneered. With his free hand he grabbed the gauntlet around Peter’s arm and yanked it free. Clutching his fist tighter around Peter’s throat he raised the boy up and threw him violently to the side. He would make sure Peter would be alive to see his demise.Finally, his victory was in hand. Thanos grinned as the metal of the gauntlet moved to fix itself around his hand. The Avengers were defeated, Gamora would be at peace, and the galaxy would be saved! Peter groaned and drew the Titan’s attention back to him. “As I told your friends,” Thanos laughed, raising his hand fingers ready to snap. “I am inevitable.” Snap!Nothing. Thanos face fell. Nothing happened. He turned his hand over and saw there were stones, but no ethereal glow came from them. His eyes flew to Peter in a panic. There the boy sat on his knees; hand raised in the air with the stones embedded in his glowing suit. Before his eyes Thanos watched as the tendrils of power removed any essence of Venom from Peter’s body leaving behind the red and blue suit that had been long forgotten. It was if the battle came to a standstill. From the corner of his eye Peter could see Steve and the others come running over. This was it. It was time to end the war and fulfill his destiny. Peter felt the stones hum in agreement.His next words spoken were the truest that he had said and he gave a painful smile. “And I am Spider-Man!”Peter snapped his fingers, and his vision went white.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Whomever said that dying was easy clearly had never died before. Peter had felt every second of his body shutting down. Every pain he had ever experienced in life, every laugh, every moment of pleasure, and every tear. All of it was poured over him simultaneously. The feelings were so overwhelming Peter wasn’t sure if he was drowning or on the verge of spontaneously combusting.Peter vaguely wondered if this is what it meant to have your life flash before your eyes. Except all Peter could see was a never-ending blinding white light. Normally his sensitive eyes would have bulked at this offense but the assault on his emotions demanded all of his attention. Peter groaned and tried to clutch at his pounding head only to find that he had no body. Great. Clearly this was hell, and his spirit was being tortured. Not that he was surprised, after everything he had done as Venom, he deserved this and probably much worse.An ethereal chuckle ripped Peter from his brooding. “Eternal damnation is not your destiny Peter. Open your heart young hero and meet your destiny. This is not the ending of your story.”Irritation flooded through Peter. He was beyond tired of cosmic beings messing around his life and supposed destiny. He was tired and wanted to be left alone. Wasn’t it about time for some other poor sucker to have to save the world? Still what other choice did he have? Pushing his irritation to the back of his mind Peter focused on centering himself and focus on anything but the pain and guilt cascading through his soul.“Release your anger and guilt Peter. Remember what it was like to be happy.”Images of times and people long buried sprouted to the forefront of his mind. Bright smiles and the sound of laughter warmed Peter. They made him feel solid and whole. So much so that Peter could swear that he was laying on a warm surface while a cool gently breeze tickled his face. Instead of laughter the rustle of leaves and the songs of birds filled his ears.Peter held his breath as he cracked an eye and was surprised to find he had a body. What was more surprising was that he was in his sixteen-year-old body. He squinted as the bright rays of the sun met his eyes instead of the blinding white void. Raising a hand to shield his eyes Peter studied his surroundings. It appeared that he was laying in the middle of some woods. Tall, beautiful trees encircled him. Bright colorful flowers sprouted among the long grass that danced around him in the gentle breeze. Glancing back down at his body Peter was surprised to see that the right side of his body barred no burns or scars from the snap. Confused Peter pulled at the red sweater that clothed his body to reveal his abdomen. The scar that he had earned from his first fight with Vulture was no where to be found. On further inspection Peter couldn’t find any of his old scars. It was as if his entire body had been wiped clean of any previous injury.“You finally made it! It’s about time!”Started, Peter dropped his sweater and jumped to his feet. His eyes went wide, and his jaw dropped when he saw the owner of the voice. “How’s this possible? You died!”Natasha smirked and fisted her hands on her hips. “I did genius and so did you.” Nat’s piercing blue eyes flicked up and down his body. “You should be glad too, those stones roasted you. You would have needed your own Darth Vader suit to have survived that.”Peter shook his head and snorted at the Star Wars reference. He fell silent for a moment and watched a Blue Jay flit from one tree to another: the rays of the sun dancing among its colorful feathers. Tranquility flowed from every inch of the woods. “Where are we Nat? Is this heaven?”Nat turned her face to the sky and sucked in a deep breath, a smile on her face. “Of sorts.” Closing the space between them Natasha wrapped her arm around Peter’s shoulders and guided him. “It’s peaceful here and I know that soon you will find your peace too.”Natasha felt the boy’s shoulders sag. He seemed so much more vulnerable now that he was back to his sixteen-year-old self. “Do I deserve peace?” Peter asked glumly.Natasha squeezed his shoulders. “I believe you do, and I know the others do too. Besides,” Natasha said as she stopped in front of a tall rustic cabin. “if an ex-assassin can be forgiven than so can a vigilante.”Peter gaped at the cabin. He had seen it before in the vision Morgan showed him. Natasha noticed his surprised recognition and her lips quirked into a small smile. “Yes, you’ve been here before.”“How?” Peter breathed; eyes still glued to the cabin.Nat shrugged. “The stones.”Peter slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Of course. Morgan said this is what he needed to protect. He remembered how his heart had called to this place just as it did now. Natasha dropped her arm and gripped Peter’s hand. “Peter, I know we have had our differences but please believe that I am sorry for my part in your pain.” Peter moved his eyes to the woman standing next to him. He could feel tears sting his eyes as her words sunk in. She had apologized. God, he had waited so long for someone to say these words. The sight of her no longer caused his heart to ache and fill with resentment. Instead, he saw a friend that suffered her own tragedies. They were two people that the world had taken zero pity on. Peter squeezed her hand. “Thank you, I hope you can forgive me too.”Natasha smiled and let out a watery laugh. “We are free now.”Pain crawled across the teens face and he dropped his eyes to the ground. “How can I deserve to be free after everything I’ve done?”Nat sighed and tugged on Peter’s hand until he followed her up the porch to the front of the door. “If you won’t take my word for it maybe you will take theirs.”Confusion painted his face then morphed into joyous shock when Nat opened the door to reveal a spacious living room. A large couch sat in front of a welcoming brick fireplace. Two large reading chairs sat on either side of the couch and there sat in the corner char was Aunt May. She looked just as she had the day, she had been taken from him. Her long brown hair sat in a messy bun a top her head. Her reading glasses sat on the edge of her nose as her kind brown eyes scanned the pages of the book in her hands.Peter let out a soft gasp that drew May from her book. Peering over her glasses May was surprised to see her wayward nephew standing in the doorway just as he was when he was sixteen. May glanced at Natasha as she sat her book on the table next to her. Natasha nodded and that was all it took before May rushed up from her seat to crush Peter to her chest in a fierce hug.Peter returned the hug just as enthusiastically as sobs tore through his body. May ran her hand through his unruly curls as she tried to shush him. “Peter, I have missed you so much!”“I’m so sorry May, I’m so very sorry!” Peter sobbed, burying his face into his aunt’s shoulder. “You have nothing to be sorry for dear. You were lost but you found your way home. Just like I knew you would.”Peter shook his head, unable to believe her words. “You taught me to always be kind and respect others.” Peter hiccupped and clutched his aunt closer, afraid his next words would make her push him away and curse him. “I killed people, Aunt May.”May sighed and eased her nephew back. Peter cried louder as he prepared himself for her rejection. May gripped his chin and forced Peter to meet her eyes. Her heart broke when she saw the guilt and fear that swam in his brown eyes. Peter looked so broken and lost. “I can never condone taking another’s life.” She gripped his chin tighter when he tried to pull away. “But I understand why you did it. You were so lost, but you found a way back to save everyone. And because of that I couldn’t be prouder of you.”Peter let out a chocked cry as relief rushed through him. May had forgiven him and had even said she was proud. The feeling didn’t last long though as the thought of his father flashed across his mind. May saw the look on his face and sighed again. Reaching a hand to his cheek she gently wiped away a tear. “Peter you need to head to the back porch.” Young brown eyes searched hers and she gave a gentle smile. “He’s been waiting for you there every day since he got here.”Peter held his breath at the implication of May’s words. It couldn’t be possible. It shouldn’t be possible. He didn’t deserve to see him again. Not after everything. Yet he couldn’t stop the longing in his heart and his feet moved on their own accord.Before he could talk himself out of it, Peter found himself standing in front of a door that led to the back porch. The porch wrapped itself around the house and contained comfortable looking chairs and swings that offered the promise of a relaxing day outside. Inside one of the chairs that faced the crystal-clear lake sat a man with a familiar head of brown hair.Peter reached out a shaky hand and pushed the door open. The man’s head tilted at the sound of the door creaking open. Before Peter could speak or even blink the man shot of his chair and had Peter crushed against his chest.“I knew you would come!”Peter sobbed. He would know that voice anywhere.It was the voice of Tony Stark. His father’s voice.Peter latched onto his father and buried his face into the older man’s chest. His father’s familiar scent comforted him as Peter’s emotions threatened to drown him. Guilt, fear, rage, happiness, and relief tore at him at the same time. “I’m sorry, dad. I’m so sorry!”Tony gripped his son tighter as he ran a hand over Peter’s brown curls. He knew exactly what the boy was apologizing for. Morgan had allowed him to see it all. His heart ached when Peter had lost himself, but he was overjoyed when he came back to the person Tony always knew he could be. “It’s ok, Peter. I understand.” Tony shushed.Those were not the words Peter had been expecting to hear. Obviously, his dad didn’t know how far Peter had fallen. If he had, Tony would not still be clinging to Peter happy to see him.Peter shook his head. “You don’t understand, I killed people. I was…”“I know everything that happened!” Tony cut Peter off. He stepped back slightly so he could see his son’s face. “I know you were Venom and I know you used the Infinity Stones.” Tony’s heart broke a bit when Peter’s face fell. “What I also know is that you saved the world. You saved the world as Spider-Man.”Peter lifted his brown tear-filled eyes to his father’s face. Tony didn’t look mad, in fact he looked proud and understanding. Peter had never felt more confused.“I don’t understand. I did so many bad things. I let you down. I disregarded Spider-Man and the Avengers.”Tony sighed. Grabbing Peter’s hand, he led him over to one of the oversized benches and sat him down. “Peter I never expected you to be the perfect hero or even the perfect person. All I ever wanted was for you to live up to the potential I saw in you every single day.”Tony raised a hand as Peter began to object. “I know you were in darkness after I died, and it took you a long time to find yourself. I’m so sorry I left you Bambino.”Peter let out a broken sob. “I just feel like I let you down.”Tony swiped a tear from his son’s cheek. “Every hero has a touch of darkness in them, Peter. It’s what they choose to do with it that separates them from other people.” Tony paused to consider his next words. He thought back to all his friends that were still living. He thought of their defining moments that lead them to live the life they were living. He even considered his own origin story. It was filled with pain and regret but even more it was one filled with determination to set things right. Tony gripped Peter’s hand and stared into his son’s watery eyes. “No hero lives a truly happy life won, if they did, they wouldn’t be a hero. Furthermore, most don’t get to live a whole life. You, Nat, and I are a perfect example of that. You didn’t let me down son.”Peter turned his head and stared numbly at the grass dancing in the breeze as he considered his father’s words. It was true, his father was held captive and tortured for months before he could escape. In those caves Iron Man was born. Steve lost two good friends and the love of his life to Hydra. His entire live went by him while he was frozen only to be reawaken to a new war. Nat was born into the life of violence, deemed an assassin as soon as she was old enough to hold a weapon. Even himself, Peter Parker-Stark, found his own life as a hero when Uncle Ben was killed in front him all those years back. Two fresh tears leaked from the corners as Peter closed his eyes. He understood what Tony was trying to tell them. Still, none of their friends went AWOL like he did. They didn’t choose their own selfish grief over the needs of others.Peter removed his hand from his father’s grip and wrapped his arms around himself. “I don’t feel like sacrificing myself on the battlefield was enough to erase all the bad I did in my life.” Peter mumbled brokenly.Tony sighed sadly. “Maybe not but what of everything you did as Spiderman before that. Even the things you did as Venom. You saved a lot of people from human trafficking, drugs, and assassinations.”Peter wanted so badly to believe what he was hearing. He truly wanted to believe he hadn’t destroyed his life and that he was deep down a good person. “But I did all those things to benefit my own agenda.”Tony could sense the thoughts swirling in Peter’s mind. He had truly hoped that Peter wouldn’t have picked up on his own personal fatal flaw.Self-deprecation.“Peter we all love and forgive you. Now it is time for your biggest battle of all.”Peter’s head whipped up. Battle? Hadn’t he fought enough? Hadn’t he just died?Tony grinned at his son’s bewildered expression. “It is time to forgive yourself.” His smile grew only wider when his son sputtered in confusion, but he drove on before Peter could interrupt. “You say you only stopped all those criminals to further your own agenda. Yet the only thing you gained was fear from other mob bosses and a healthy respect from the citizens in your city. You never took any money from the people, you gave Clint a safe place to fall after the snap, and you joined the Avengers when they needed you.”Tony took a breath. He really wished the kid could see himself through Tony’s eyes. “Pete you hid behind a truly impressive mask as Venom but you and I both know you’ve always been Peter Parker-Stark.”Peter looked up at his dad with sad watery eyes. His chest felt like a vice was gripping his heart. He felt panicky and scared. Could what his dad be saying really be that easy? Peter wanted nothing more than to find peace. Standing from the swing Peter walked down from the porch and headed across the yard out onto the fishing dock. Standing at the edge, Peter gazed the crystal-clear water lost in his own head. For years he had dreamed of this moment. He was at the most beautiful lake house and finally reunited with family long lost. He had gotten the forgiveness his soul craved; yet he felt deeply uneasy. Peter rubbed his hands together nervously as painful memories of arguments, death, and war flashed across his mind. It was so much; too much for one person to carry. Yet he had done it. Peter had taken the pain and handled in the best way he could. He had fought criminals, aliens, and himself and come out on the other side as the victor. True he had been lost in a dark void of grief and bitterness, but he never failed to answer the World’s cry for help. The price had been steep but as Peter looked around and the beautiful mountains and lake before him, he finally felt it.Peace.Peter’s hand flew to his mouth as he let out a sob. His shoulder’s trembled as the vice around his heart finally released its strangling grip. He could feel the fear, anger, and regret seep from his body leaving his muscles feeling weak and unstable. Peter felt himself sway dangerously to the side and he briefly wondered if he would fall in. Not a second to soon iron strong hands gripped his shoulders and steadied him.“Are you ok, Pete?” Tony’s piercing brown eyes scrutinized the youngers face looking for any signs of distress. To his surprise and great delight, he found relief. Peter gripped his dad’s arms tightly and gasped out. “I’m ok! We’re all going to be ok!”Tony nodded, tears filling his own eyes. “Yeah, Pete we made it! We’re all home now!”Peter laughed and gripped Tony into a crushing hug before pulling back and giving his dad a devious grin. Tony didn’t have much time to decipher his son’s intentions before he was sent sailing off the edge of the dock into the warm lake water below. Tony came to the surface sputtering indignantly just in time to see Peter cannonball in after him.Finally, they were at peace.~Back on EarthSteve stood underneath the newly erected statues of Earth’s greatest defenders. It had not taken much to convince the city to fund the statues of Tony, Peter, and Natasha. Much to his delight he had seen pictures from cities all over the world putting up similar memorials. To Steve that was the least the world could do for his fallen friends.Steve still carried a sense of sadness around their deaths. In some ways he felt that he had failed to protect them. Especially Tony and Peter. Only recently had he found some inner peace. Two nights ago, he had a dream of a beautiful cabin out by a big lake surrounded by gorgeous mountains. Steve had found himself standing on the cabin’s sprawling porch and when he had turned around, he saw Tony, Nat, and a teenaged Peter sitting on a swing talking and laughing. Tony had noticed him first and waved him over with the largest smile on his face. As Steve approached Peter had gotten up and gave him a hug which Steve had returned with surprise. Nat gave him a small kiss on the cheek before leading him over to the open spot on her swing.Steve had wished to stay in that dream forever. His heart rejoiced to see his friends so happy and healthy but dreams never lasted. After catching up Peter had told Steve that he had one more job to do. Steve needed to return the stones and then find his own peaceful ending. Tony and Nat agreed. It was time for Steve Rogers to move on from being Captain America. Steve had awoken from his dream in a peaceful daze to find his right hand encased in a new gauntlet; the infinity stones winking at him in the dim morning light. Turning from the memorial Steve clenched his hand, feeling the cool metal against his skin. He knew what his friends were asking of him and he was more than happy to carry out their final wishes. Steve also knew what ending was waiting for him. The soldier chuckled and slightly shook his head at the memory. Tony had been very specific.Sighing Steve started down the walk away from the statue, away from his old life. He raised his hand; he knew his friends would understand.It was time for a new beginning.Time for the new Avengers to defend the Earth.He brought his thumb and middle finger together. Snap~ ~ ~Steve held Peggy close as they danced slowly around their living room. He smiled gently into his wife’s’ hair and let the soothing Jazz music wash over him. He thought back to his 3 friends sitting outside on their cabin porch and hoped that they knew he had found it. Steve had found peace and one day he knew he would share it with them.The End