Chapter Text
Chapter 6:
COMPLETE SHIFT IN CHARACTER AND PLACE
Bucky is having a conversation with Shuri, who is just sitting with him looking out at Wakanda. It starts light, but Shuri brings up that hey, at least HYDRA's mostly gone. Bucky goes quiet, looking over at a news show talking about the murdered National, and AIM announcing a security breach. He looks at Shuri, admitting that he’s almost certain there's at least one HYDRA cell left, somewhere. Shuri asks how he knows and he just says “You see the world news. There's another winter soldier out there”
Chapter 7:
Pepper focused chapter-
Pepper sees Ed come home from a mission, and musters up the courage to speak to him - which she rarely does. The conversation they have doesn’t really touch in anything important and is extremely awkward until she brings up that Peter has figured out who he is. Ed tells her that Peter needs to be convinced that he should not do the extremely Parker thing of investigating him for his own safety- arguing that if HYDRA finds out about an enhanced teenager, that teenage idiot it going to end up either dead or…. Like him. She agreed to that and he apologizes to Pepper for “not being the real deal” but Pepper tells him “No, you’re a part of the man I love, which means I love you too”. The chapter ends with pepper leaving before Vision enters to talk to Ed about his mission.
Chapter 8:
Time skip of about a month? It’s Christmas time now. Peter is on his way to the tower from school (not going on patrol today at the behest of May) and he spots Ed on top of a building and .. just kinda gets himself up there- and Ed is gone. There’s a bit of a chase but Peter eventually loses him. Frustrated but late for his “intern time” he high tails it to the tower and Tony is already there and looks as if he’s been working for a while. Peter finds this kind of amusing but doesn't comment. As the two work, Peter notices something on the floor - a USB that looks suspiciously like the one he saw Ed with when he first met him (He downloaded all of the information from AIMs computers in chapter one onto a USB drive). He grabs it while Tony is distracted and shoves it in his back pocket. He brings it to Pepper - calling May and feigning an emergency at the tower having to do with intern stuff and that he’d be home late. They put the USB in Pepper's laptop and they see that it seems like nothing but fragmented code that neither can really put together. Peter contemplated bringing it to Ned but decides against it. He’d figure it out himself.
Chapter 9:
A couple of days later, Peter is at home working on the code- he sees that some of it is binary and starts converting it. He finds chemical compounds, measurement, and - isolated from the rest of it- the letters “t r m s”. It’s not much but it’s a start. He emails the details to Pepper and talks with her over the phone as he continues to decipher - getting an address to a place in Soho. He offers to go there to investigate himself and Pepper vehemently tells him not to- but of course he’s going to.
Chapter 10:
Change in locale
Steve and Natasha are infiltrating an old HYDRA base. It’s abandoned, but they want to look into if anything dangerous was left behind. Natasha gets into the computers and finds fragmented coding that she runs through a cipher. She find chemical codes, measurements, and three letters “e x i”. Natasha and Steve can’t figure out what it’s for but take the information anyway, seeing that it’s not even HYDRAs, it’s from AIM. Steve suggests they look further into the matter
Chapter 11:
The night before Christmas Eve, Peter is at the address he deciphered in the code- a rather innocuous looking townhouse in upper Soho. He goes in through an attic window and tells Karen to use heat signatures to see if anyone is in the home. She says there is one heat signature on the ground floor. After sneaking down and seeing Ed looking around in the kitchen for something, Ed let’s Peter know that he’s aware that he’s there and asks “Do you know what the hell you're doing?”. Peter tried to explain himself but Ed is having none of it and demands the USB back. Peter demands to know what it’s being used for- if Ed even knows what it’s being used for - what orders HYDRA is giving him. Ed aggresses that he doesn’t have time for this (Vision has told him that the HYDRA operatives sending him missions are putting him on a strict time limit and he has absolutely no idea what might happen if he exceeds it - hinting at his feeling of powerlessness in his situation) and then the lights go out
Chapter 12:
Ed reasons that the house has a sort of failsafe system and that he has to hurry if he wants to get what he came for. He tells Peter to leave but of course Peter doesn’t and follows him into the basement - were he finds a computer to hack into because of course there's a computer down there (comic logic). Peters hearing picks up that there are people coming and tries to tell Ed. Ed snaps and tells him to get the hell out- calling Peter by his name. Peter feels compromised at knowing that Ed knows who he is - which again doesn’t make sense to him because Ed is supposed to be brainwashed- but doesn’t have time to address it as a bunch of AIM goons show up. Peter fights them impressively, until one manages to catch him while he’s holding another man back and kicks him square in the chest, knocking him back and causing him to gasp for lost breath- maybe break a rib. Save to say Ed is not pleased. However before Peter can get up the same guy lands a kick to his head and knocks the poor boy out. Ed starts putting that “Winter Soldier” title to good use
Chapter 13:
Peter wakes up in his room at about 3 in the morning. The USB is gone, and there’s a note from Ed: “We both know it don’t have a death wish. Quit while you’re ahead. Merry Christmas- Ed”. Peter begrudgingly sleeps, and wakes up to May knocking on his door at 10 to tell him that she got a call from Pepper inviting them over for Christmas Eve. They go and it’s a lovely evening with food and jokes and gift exchanges. Tony gets Peter a custom made laptop and a Stark Watch (insert swatch joke). Peters gift to Tony and Pepper is a photo album consisting of pictures he took himself in the past few months. Tony gets emotional but completely ignores it. Overall this whole chapter is shameless fluff
Chapter 14:
About two or so weeks later, Peter is on his new laptop doing some deep web searching in an effort to perhaps find more of the mysterious code. He figures that since its incomplete and clearly important if AIM has fragmented it like so, he wants to see if any other pieces of it exist or if anyone else can help him figure it out- since he’s still refusing to contact Ned for fear of getting his guy in the chair too involved in these shady goings on. A user going by BWA1980 contacts him in the deep web chat he’s in (I know exactly nothing about the deep web so I am bullshitting this like you would not believe) and offers to trade their mutual information via private server. Peter is extremely skeptical but before he can attempt to converse further with the user, his computer abruptly shuts off and when it reloads, all of his deep web history has been erased. Relieved that the USB (he -re-backed everything up on a different USB) still has the data in it, he frustratingly contacts Ned and asks him to trace his computer for any malware remotely. Ned traces it back to Stark Tower- which doesn’t make sense to Peter since both Pepper and Tony are in Malibu right now for the opening of a donated art gallery. He thanks Ned and decides to go to the tower to further investigate. When Ned asks what's happening Peter explains that its something big and that when its safe to say, he will. Ned understandably geeks out a little.
Chapter 15:
Peter sneaks out that same night and goes to the labs in the tower, finding Vision there. The two start to converse, Vision admitting that he was the one who screwed with Peter’s computer, knowing that his curious nature would lead him back to the lab. He places the lab on lockdown and tells Peter that he has important information, but a very limited window of time to give it. He starts by telling Peter that according to what he’s gathered from the remains of Zemo’s code which gives him access to secure HYDRA servers, the men making Ed go out on these missions are looking to recreate Extremis. He doesn’t know the full motive for it, but it can’t be good. Peter begs for Vision to give him more information so he can help but Vision tells him that he cannot, as he’s told enough and he’s concerned that with Zemo’s virus still in his system they might be able to find this conversation and Peter would be in danger. Peter then asks if there is anything more he can do to help, and Vision cryptically tells him to be cautious, but to follow his curiosity wherever it may lead
Chapter 16:
Back in Wakanda - Sam and Natasha are trying to figure out what happened to the deep web search history that was deleted in chapter 14 - or even trace “IBSpidey01” to its IP address (They can’t, Ned’s firewall is fierce). Bucky enters the room and offers to take a look, but is also stumped. Steve suggests that they “Anonymously” send the corrupted code to Tony to see if he could help. Sam admits that the code originated in New York- specifically the Stark Tower. Natasha thinks that it might be Vision, but can’t figure out why. Steve recommends that perhaps one of them “Pays Tony a visit”
Chapter 17:
Peter decides that he’s going to sneak into the AIM midtown offices to try to get more information. He doesn’t tell anyone - not even Pepper - and goes on a Friday night. He gets in and out and is disappointed that he didn’t find anything. As he’s webbing home he passes the tower and is tempted to stop by. He starts climbing and sees something near one of the residential windows. When he crawls on the glass over, he sees Natasha and starts internally freaking out cause she’s hasn’t noticed him. He makes a frankly dumb decision to call out for her and grab her attention. There's some banter and she tries to hit him with her widow bites, but he dodges it and she gets into the window. He chases her in but she’s straight up disappeared. Huffing, he decides that its not worth it to chase her and leaves. He doesn’t bother telling Tony or pepper about this. (Slips his mind until chapter 20)
Chapter 18:
Peter is alone in his living room with a bunch of notes and pictures and papers strewn about on the coffee table as he tries to figure things out- and he’s actually piecing things together pretty well. He contacted Pepper and has some notes on Extremis. He makes a list of things he doesn’t know and it concludes “Where are these HYDRA agents?” and “Why did AIM still have pieces of the Extremis chemicals, and why are they hidden so sporadically?”. The questions he’s really focused on though, is about “Ed”. He’s seriously doubting how separate these two are. Something is not adding up and he can’t figure it out. Looking over the Extremis papers Pepper gave him, he comes to the conclusion that he has to tell Tony- regardless of the consequences. Tony can solve this. He’s Iron man, damn it
The next day, Peter gets out of school, says goodbye to Ned and gets up, and into the car where Happy is waiting. He starts telling Happy about his school day before his spider sense goes off, and he reaches forward to pull at the steering wheel, out of the way of an out of control car. Peter looks at the car and sees that it has no plates. He tells Happy, who presses a button on the car which puts it into “lockdown” mode and calls Tony - Pepper picks up. Happy and Peter tell her what happened and she tells them to get to the tower immediately. The two get there in record time, and Pepper hugs Peter tightly, telling the two that Tony is out and will be back soon, but that she’s messaged him. Peter asks to talk to her privately.
Chapter 19
Peter spends a good long time trying to convince Pepper that they need to tell Tony about Ed, while also trying to tell her his theory that Ed and Tony aren’t as separate as they like to think he might be. Pepper argues back that Tony might be put in further danger if HYDRA ever becomes aware that he knows he’s been brainwashed. Peter argues that if his theory is correct, Tony might already be aware but Pepper doesn’t want to hear it. Peter asks her further about Extremis’ dangers because he wants to know what they might be up against before the tower very suddenly goes on lockdown. Vision contacts them to let them know that there is an intruder and he is going to apprehend them. Peter, trying to divide his focus asks Pepper how long Tony has been gone and she says about 3 hours. She also admits that she’s not sure if it’s Ed related. Peter starts expressing his intense annoyance at the lack of transparency and communication, and his frustration with trying so hard to help but being sidelined gets her to at least understand his side of the argument and agree to talk about a way to perhaps tell Tony about Ed. its not a solid yes but Peter seems relieved he’s being listened to. Vision comes up with the culprit as the talk finishes up… its Black Widow!
Chapter 20:
Pepper is shocked that Natasha is there, though Peter isn’t (See Chapter 17). Natasha interrupts Pepper’s startled sputtering to ask who Peter is, but before Peter can give himself away Pepper states that he’s “My Cousin’s Kid” before asking “What do you think you’re doing here?” Natasha continues to be evasive in her back and forth, and as the conversation continues, Peter outs himself as “IBSpidey”. But before Nat can start interrogating that poor boy, Pepper threatens her with arrest if she keeps trying to talk to him, and that she needs to get to the point before she calls the police anyway. She ends up confirming Visions theory from earlier with her Data, and they agree to a truce and descend into Tony’s lab
Chapter 21:
Peter takes over the computers (He’s the only one with actual access as Pepper and Natasha are barred by FRIDAY). Natasha gives her information, and Peter gives his and they see that it's the code for recreating Extremis but is incomplete. Peter says that they should destroy all of their data Natasha agrees. Peter recalls that “Ed” took back the original USB earlier and wants to mention it but knows that Natasha doesn’t know about “Ed”. Before he an think about it further his phone goes off and its Tony, asking if he’s okay and that he’s on his way to the tower. Natasha bids her goodbye and tells them that they know how to reach her - and to destroy their own copies for the sake of safety. Pepper tells Peter that while she doesn’t really like Natasha for… reasons, she tells Peter that she agrees that they should destroy and get rid of that data. Peter agrees and takes the USB with his copy, taking one of the lasers that are used for cutting sheet metal and cutting it up before Tony arrives. Peter notes to himself that he has memorized his portion of the code anyway (ooh foreshadowing) .
Chapter 22:
(Rising action to the final climax)
Tony arrives looking a bit scrambled and asks if everyone is okay. Peter and Pepper assure him that they are, and that they need to talk to him in private - (super private) - and he places the lab on lockdown. Pepper starts with an attempt to smooth over the point but Peter doesn’t bother, asking him if he knows about “Ed”. HIs expression gives away the answer, and they learn the truth: That “Ed” … doesn’t really exist. Its all Tony, enacting a state of “brainwashing” and doing the bidding of HYDRA in a bid to find a way to meet and dispose of them. Peter feels both vindicated and betrayed and Pepper only just feels betrayed before Tony explains that he did this because if the brainwashing failed, they would have just killed him and perhaps gone after her, or Happy, or anyone else with connections to his company that they would have also tried to psychologically torture, But with this he also tells them that he thinks the gig is up - that they know he’s faking it. And that its about time he finally ended it. Both Peter and Pepper beg to help but - of course, he refuses. The argument escalates until Tony screams at them and it abruptly ends with no solution. The lab lockdown is released and Tony tells Peter to put on his suit and go home some back way for his own safety
Chapter 23:
(Final Climax part 1)
Peter, on his way home (he didn’t follow Tony’s advice to go home in the suit. He’s just walking), can’t just leave things there. He texts Vision and asks to meet him for coffee or something of the like to talk with him - maybe to see if there’s someway Peter can help in tracing the HYDRA cell. Unfortunately for Peter, that last HYDRA cell has compromised Vision's systems and has started going into meltdown mode. Peter ends up lured to an abandoned building that was once a café in Greenwich Village and overwhelmed by the HYDRA guys and captured. While captured, his super hearing picks up on their plan - lure Tony, get the remaining USB, finish Extremis - which means that they do know that Tony isn’t brainwashed which is definitely not good news. But they don’t know that Peter is Spider-man, which is definitely good news. He also hears them talk about how they need to test their first round of it, and maybe they’ll try it on Peter. That’s a definite no, so, Peter breaks out relatively easy- since they weren’t exactly expecting this puny looking kid to be able to escape. He’s fighting them off when Tony arrives, decked out winter soldier style to get peter, and that's when shit gets really crazy- ending with a solid right hook from Tony, and some badass quip I’m sure I’ll think of at some point
Chapter 24:
(final climax part 2)
The fighting continues and the HYDRA men are certainly loosing, until one of them gets the brilliant idea of taking their unfinished Extremis and while Tony is holding down one of the men to knock him out, injects Tony, who immediately starts feeling its effects. Peter is now in full blown panic mode, goes over to Tony and trying to see if he needs help. He gets knocked back, and the HYDRA agent (in typical villain fashion) gives away that he might be hallucinating due to one of the chemicals found in the early drafts of the drug. Peter tries to call for Tony, but the man has a dazed look about him, and his eyes start to glow with the Extremis energy before lunging at him.
Chapter 25:
(Final Climax Part 3)
The HYDRA cell goes to escape while Peter is occupied with fighting a much more experienced and now stronger than him Tony, constantly trying to snap him out of it while Tony keeps asking “Where is he, what did you do to him?” and the like, his mind not connecting that the boy he was looking for was the one he was fighting. Peter, for his part is terrified because he doesn’t want to hurt Tony, but is feeling like he might have no choice if he can’t break free- he’s burning him and it hurts, But he remembers when they first met, how Tony had dismissed his willingness not to kill as a pie in the sky ideal. He figures now is as good a time as any to test that principle.
Their fighting continues, and while Peter is clearly loosing, he keeps fighting, trying to break Tony out of it. He knows that if he stresses him out too bad he might explode. During Tony’s hallucinatory ramblings he reveals how Peter is like family, and how he won’t let HYDRA take his family from him - not again, never again. Peter is so touched by this it catches him off guard and Tony grabs at his neck, the Extremis in his body burning hotly though his gloves and starting to burn Peters skin. He boy knows that he has to make a choice now and says sorry to Tony, with tears streaming down his face before leveling a solid kick to the center of Tony’s chest causing the man to let go of Peter and go flying into the next wall, knocking Tony out. Peter is terrified that he killed him but goes over and feels a pulse. He still sees the signs of Extremis and knows he has to get Tony out of here. That's when he starts hearing someone call his name. Its Pepper! Who has been outside with Natasha, Sam (lmao where did he come from??), Happy and Rhodey apprehending the HYDRA operatives (of course Tony would have a contingency should they get away. His main priority was Peter after all). She comes inside and Peter tells her what happened, his guilt eating at him and his worry evident in every word. She assures him that he’ll be okay. They just have to get him to the compound. She also tells him that she called his aunt and that she’s find with him coming. She’ll call him out of school. They share a hug and she thanks him for stopping Tony before he hurt himself or anyone else - and that Tony would be proud of him.
Chapter 26:
(Falling Action but still important)
Tony has been restrained in the Medbay at the compound and Peter hasn’t really been told what’s going on. Pepper assures him that she’ll tell him what's going on soon, but that he just needs to wait. Sam sits with him and they have a slightly awkward chat, saying that Cap told him to come see what the hell Nat was doing. Peter asks if Caps coming and Sam says he doesn’t know. Pepper returns and sees them. Her eyes don’t linger on Sam for very long and she goes back to Peter, telling him that they’re stuck on how to stabilize Tony because they don’t have all of the Extremis notes. Peter shoots up, mentioning that he’d memorized the chemical mixtures and compounds from his USB, and this garners a hug from Pepper. Peter relays his information and they see the Extremis code in all its “glory”. FRIDAY then brings up Tony’s notes from when Pepper had been injected, and lo and behold, they have their stabilizing agent. Helen Cho assures them that Tony will be fine once they get the stabilizer into him, and Pepper and Peter end up staying by his bedside, Peter telling Pepper about how Tony said he thinks of Peter and family, and Pepper affirming this with her version of “... Duh”. Natasha and Sam say their goodbyes, promising to come whenever Tony decides to call Steve. And that Cap says hi.
Chapter 27:
Tony wakes up from his drug induced sleep to Pepper looking at him, and Peter passed on a cot at the other side of the room. Pepper explains that he’d been injected with the butchered Extremis, but that he was fine, and they’d fixed him - pointing out that Peter had been the one to save them both without seriously hurting them. Tony has only vague memories of the fight, but he remembers holding Peter down by the neck and nearly choking the life out of him. Pepper scolds his line of thinking and they share a kiss before she goes to wake up Peter, who comically scrambles to see Tony and asks him a bunch of questions. Tony stops Peters rambling and apologizes for all of the bullshit he’s put the kid through. Peter almost laughs cause he sees part of this as his fault (because he’s Peter Parker and his guilt complex is the size of a small country). This chapter is about 2/3rds Pepper and Tony talking about what happened and Pepper getting the explanation she’s needed. The other third is tooth rotting fluff with the three of them talking about how Tony is going to be recovering for a while but that he’ll be okay in the end. Ends with the three of them ordering food and Peter remembering that he had to call May.
Chapter 28:
A few weeks later, Tony invites Peter over to talk to him. They’re chilling out in the penthouse and Tony bluntly asks him how badly Tony hurt him in the fight, and how he feels about the whole ordeal. Peter tries to skirt around the situation, but Tony presses and he admits that he’d gotten first degree burns on his neck from when Tony grabbed him, but that - as Tony can see - they didn’t even scar. He also says that he knew why Tony did what he did, but he didn’t understand why he thought he had to keep it a secret. He also asked where Vision was, since he hadn’t heard from the android since before the shitstorm. Tony explains that he’s going through a thorough de-bugging with a “personal friend”- avoiding the first question, making Peter mad. Peter just kind of unloads on Tony, going on about how he’s been through so much shit but everyone talks to him like he’s a damn child and Tony interrupts with a very definite “You ARE a child!” but concedes that he shouldn’t be talked down to or excluded. Tony then finally says what he meant to at the beginning of the meeting. He thanks Peter for helping him, for being there. He thanks him for saving his life and just barely skirts the line of telling Peter that he loves him like family. Peter can read between the lines though, and appreciates Tony’s effort, giving the billionaire a hug. He takes a moment, but returns it with fervor. Peter cracks a “I was just reaching for the door” joke.
Chapter 29:
AKA the fluffiest damn thing I have ever written
It’s Peter’s 16th birthday! Everything is pretty damn good overall, with this taking place at a sort of quiet party in Stark Tower. Peter and Pepper are currently playing a very intense game of chess, with Rhodey and May watching. Vision is in the kitchen, finishing up the icing on Peter’s cake and then, just before Peter is about to declare checkmate, Tony barges in and scares the poor boy so bad he causes the chess board to knock over. Tony teases, but offers his gift - a Nikon DSLR The boy nearly has heart palpitations because his interest is photography is fairly new, but Tony has none of it, stating that he’d earned it. Pepper tells Peter to check on the status of his cake with vision while the “adults talk” and Peter chats with Vision a bit, asking him how his “thing in Edinburgh” is going, causing the robot to get flustered and tell him to keep his mouth shut in as polite a way as possible. The cake is done and all of the adults join in - Rhodes commenting that he kinda feels like he’s the plus one but Peter assures him that he’ll make a great uncle if he comes around more. He takes that as a challenge. They sing him happy birthday and Peter’s wish comes at the end of the chapter, with the boy wishing that things only get better from here.
Epilogue:
Strictly Tony-centric, talking about how the man has taken up jogging as a form of exercise and overall wellness after everything that happens. Its a recommendation from Rhodey, and most of the chapter is the different experiences he has when he jogs with others as opposed to jogging by himself. Peter leaves him absolutely exhausted but almost always with a grin, Peppers is filled mostly with funny arguments neither take seriously, Rhodey’s always feels like a coffee date, and while alone Tony uses the time to reflect and feel positive.. That is until one day, while on a jog with Pepper… (leads in A:IW)