Chapter Text
Peter slowly let go of his brothers but he held on to the memory of their touch in his mind like a comforting blanket. He continued his story carefully. “So, after we saw… Osborn, Stephen teleported us to the Sanctum, right? But we were in the basement, not here. It was like a dungeon.”
Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow and turned to Stephen, expecting a rebuttal, but Stephen just shrugged. “It was dark and stony and there were cells. Sounds like a dungeon to me.”
“I can’t believe you doubted me, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, mock offended.
“Yeah, yeah, kid, go on with the story,” Mr. Stark replied with a grin.
“Okay, so when I got there Stephen put Dr. Octavius in one of his cells, which had forcefields that let us see and talk to their occupants without them getting out. There was also a lizard guy that Stephen found and put in another cell. Well, more lizard than guy,” Peter explained.
Mr. Stark looked at Peter 2, expecting one of his introductions, but Peter 3 spoke instead.
“That guy’s mine,” Peter 3 said. “Doctor Curtis Connors, also known as the Lizard ever since he turned himself into a sentient and very large lizard and then decided that everyone else should also be a lizard. He worked with my father and then he worked with me at Oscorp.”
“Okay,” Mr. Stark said slowly, processing. “No offense to you or your father but this Connors doesn’t sound very smart. It just sounds like he really likes lizards.”
Peter 3 smiled but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. “Well, he was a genius. He was an amputee who wanted to regrow his missing forearm and he was working with cross-species genetics to do it. Dr. Connors was working with lizards because of their ability to regenerate their limbs. He was close, he just needed my father’s formula, which I foolishly provided.”
Peter 2 frowned. “You couldn’t have known he would turn himself into a lizard.”
“I know,” Peter 3 said, “but it still feels like my fault. And then he killed Gwen’s father, and…” he trailed off helplessly. “I just wish I’d been better.”
Peter thought back to earlier in their conversations. “You said you didn’t kill him, though? That's admirable.”
Peter 3 ducked his head, embarrassed. “I guess. But that was then. I’m not saying that I would kill him now, you know, but like I said, after Gwen… I got dark. I don’t feel like I’m the same friendly neighborhood Spider-Man anymore.”
Peter 2 stepped in front of Peter 3 to look him in the eyes. “That’s okay, Peter. You know it’s something to work on and you said you had a support system back in your universe. And you’ll always have us, too. Me, and Peter 1, and,” he glanced at Mr. Stark and Stephen, who both nodded, “and our Bironstrange dads.”
Peter 3 couldn’t suppress a small grin. “Thanks, Peter. Hey, if this Spider-Man thing doesn’t work out, you should be a therapist.”
Peter 2 raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know which movie you stole that from, but I am a little offended that you think my Spider-Man thing wouldn’t work out after 22 years.”
Peter 3 stared at him. After a few seconds, he said, “I feel like I should have some witty comment to shoot back at you, but what the fuck. You are so old. You’ve been Spider-Man for longer than Peter 1 was alive .”
Peter looked similarly shell-shocked. “ Dude. You’re, like, our future.”
“Is it,” Peter 3 ventured. “Is it good? Our future?”
Peter 2 thought for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Finally, he said, “Yes. I won’t say it’s easy because it isn’t, and my relationship with MJ has never been perfect, but everything is okay now. I worry about my job and endangering my students and I will always worry about endangering MJ but I’ve found a balance between everything. That’s the most important thing, I think.”
Everyone was listening with rapt attention. Peter 3 discreetly wiped his eyes and said, “That sounds like the distant future, but… ending up like you, that’s my goal in life.”
“Me too,” Peter agreed, feeling an unnameable emotion well up within him.
Mr. Stark smiled softly. Hesitantly, he said, “I don’t really know you, but I know my Peter and I can see how much you mean to each other. You give me hope for his future. Thank you.”
Peter 2 looked at him, eyes piercing but kind. “My pleasure. I’m glad Peter has you. Dead father figures are a bit of a trend for Peters, and I don’t really know how you escaped that, but I know it was for the best.”
“Oh,” Mr. Stark said, struck dumb. “Well. That’s good. Thanks.” Peter 2 nodded.
After taking a few seconds to collect himself, Mr. Stark turned to Peter 3 and said, “I don’t really know you either, but what I do know is that you are equally important to my Peter. I… appreciate that.”
Peter 3 smiled. “Thanks, man. You know, you really are such a dad.”
Chuckling, Mr. Stark said, “Yeah, I know.” Peter glanced between Mr. Stark and the other Peters. Despite the slight tension about the Civil War that still remained, they were really connecting. His dad and his older brothers. Peter knew that their family thing was a bit of a joke but he could feel it developing. He could almost see the strings that tied everyone together. Or the webs, haha, hilarious.
“We can continue the story now,” Peter 3 said after a moment. “If that’s good with everyone.”
When no one objected, Peter began to speak, “So Stephen explained, as you probably figured out by now, that there were people from other universes infiltrating our universe. More specifically, people that know Peter Parker is Spider-Man. He contained the spell that let them in before anyone else got through but he needed me to round up everyone else. I got Ned and MJ to help me too, for tracking and stuff.”
“Round up how exactly?” Mr. Stark asked.
“Oh, with magic,” Peter explained. “He put a cool gauntlet thingy on my suit that I could use to send the people I found to an empty cell.”
“And which suit was this?” Mr. Stark asked. “If the IronSpider was broken and your normal one had paint on it.”
“Uh. I just turned the one with paint on it inside out,” Peter answered.
Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow. “So the paint was touching your skin and all of the circuitry was on the outside?”
“Yes,” Peter said defensively. “I didn’t have much of a choice, okay? And it looked pretty cool, it was black with gold accents. Much better than the stealth suit that Fury gave me.”
“You had a black suit?” Peter 2 asked with a hint of concern.
“Yes,” Peter replied hesitantly. “Why?”
Peter 2 shook his head. “It’s nothing, really. It’s just that I had a black-suit phase and it was not good. Technically that was because my suit merged with an alien symbiote but still.”
“Oh, well, you have nothing to worry about. Aunt May,” Peter paused at her name, but pressed on, “got the stain out soon enough.” It almost sounded symbolic, her removing the darkness of the black suit from his superhero life, but it hadn’t been that dark until he lost her.
Peter 3’s voice interrupted Peter’s thoughts. “It’s nice that she could wash the suit for you,” he said gently, “once I tried washing mine and I turned everything red and blue. I told her I washed the American flag but apparently, no one does that.”
Peter latched on to the distraction. “That’s such a weird excuse,” he said, laughing.
“Honestly, I think it was pretty quick thinking. I just turned my own laundry red and blue in a laundromat so no one asked, but I don’t know if I’d have thought of anything nearly as plausible,” Peter 2 said.
Peter considered that. “Maybe you’re right, but it’s still weird."
“I’ll take it,” Peter 3 said with a grin. “So, you went to go find the multiversal visitors?”
“Yeah,” Peter said, picking up the story. “I managed to find an electricity guy in the woods and he tried to attack me but a sand guy helped me cut the power lines that electricity guy was taking power from and then he was just a normal guy. Then I sent both the electricity guy and the sand guy to the Sanctum.”
Mr. Stark rubbed his temples. “Now there’s an electricity guy and a sand guy? What happened to the elf guy?”
Ignoring the second question, Peter 2 answered part of the first question. “The ‘sand guy’ is Flint Marko, also known as Sandman. After he fell into a supercollider his body was molecularly bound to sand. Since he could control the sand that made up his body, he could effectively shapeshift.”
Peter 3 took the end of Peter 2’s sentence as his cue. “The ‘electricity guy’ is Max Dillon or Electro. Basically, he fell into a vat of electric eels and got the ability to control electricity. His skin turned blue and electric as well but I guess that went away when he materialized in your universe and Peter cut the power.” Peter nodded in confirmation.
“Okay,” Mr. Stark said. “I’ll make a note not to fall into anything anytime soon. And the elf guy? Osborn?”
Peter flinched at the name but he couldn’t shy away from it any longer. “Well, turns out he managed to find Aunt May at FEAST, where she was volunteering.”
Peter 2’s eyes widened. “Was that when—”
“No,” Peter quickly cut him off, not wanting to hear it. “No, he was himself. Norman Osborn, I mean, not the Green Goblin.”
“Okay,” Peter 2 said carefully, “because when he found out my identity he attacked my Aunt May. She survived, but she was hurt.”
“Oh,” Peter felt a sharp stab of guilt, “Sorry, I almost forgot he hurt you, too.” He’d been so caught up in his own grief that—
“It’s okay,” Peter 2 said softly, “I’ve had years to think about it and he didn’t kill anyone close to me. Your loss and anger were fresh.”
Peter sighed. “I guess you’re right. Since he was himself again, he asked my Aunt for help, he was really freaked out to be in a universe without his son or his company.”
“Harry?” Peter 3 asked.
“You had a Harry Osborn too?” Peter 2 asked tentatively. “Is he… is he okay?” He seemed afraid of the answer.
Peter 3 winced. “He’s in prison. It’s also kind of an insane asylum.”
“Oh,” Peter 2 said, lowering his eyes momentarily. “Mine died.”
“From the Goblin disease?” Peter 3 guessed. “I always wondered if my blood would have really saved him.”
Peter 2 furrowed his brow. “No, I don’t think any ‘Goblin disease’ existed in my universe. It was just the serum that made him evil, like his father. It didn’t help that he thought I murdered Norman. Harry managed to overcome it but he died saving my life.” He sighed. “I almost wish he had come to this universe so we could save him, too, but that could have easily backfired.”
“Is that why Ned promised me he would never become a villain and try to kill me?” Peter asked carefully, seeing Peter 2’s sadness.
“Yeah,” Peter 2 cracked a small smile, “Ned asked about my best friend, so I told him. He was good when it mattered, though. At the end.” A tear welled up in his eye and he wiped it away. “I miss him.”
“Harry was one of my best friends, too,” Peter 3 explained. “We were close when we were young and then reconnected when he returned from boarding school. Unfortunately, the Osborn family had a genetic disease that slowly turned its victims into angry, goblin-like creatures. Harry thought my blood could cure him but I didn’t want to risk it. He found venom from the spiders that bit me but they sped up the disease, turning him into the Green Goblin. Then he was sent to Ravencroft.”
“Maybe we could try and figure out a cure together?” Peter asked, watching Peter 3’s face for his reaction. “If your Harry is still alive. We could cure everyone else, why not him?”
Peter 3 looked at him with wide eyes. “Really? Thank you.”
“Do you mind if I help too?” Peter 2 asked tentatively. “I know he’s not my Harry, but… it feels like a way to thank him. He taught me that you always have a choice to be good. I’ll never be able to repay him for that.”
“I get it,” Peter 3 said. “Saving Peter 1’s MJ… it helped me. I would be happy to give that to you, too. Besides, we could use your expertise.”
“Thanks,” Peter 2 said, lost for words. “I’m really glad I figured out how to find you guys again.”
“I’m going to hug you now,” Peter 3 warned and then he stepped forward to do just that. Peter joined them, wrapping his arms around both of them.
“I’m sorry your best friend died,” Peter whispered to Peter 2.
“Thanks, Peter,” Peter 2 whispered back. “I love you guys.”