Work Text:
Video One:
“a Film by Peter Parker” popped up on screen. A voice could be heard.
“New York. Queens. It’s a rough borough, but hey, it’s home,” a purposefully deeper voice spoke as someone recorded from inside of a car. Peter explained how he was having fun to the driver, Happy, before the video cut to them boarding a Stark Industries plane. Peter Parker’s face was visible before he started filming Happy closely.
“No one has actually told me why I’m in Berlin,” Peter explained, showing clips of him in the city. “Or what I’m doing. Something about Captain America going crazy.”
Peter filmed himself wearing his first suit, giving himself a pep talk before Happy was shown. He showed Peter the case with a brand-new Spiderman suit with the note, ‘a minor upgrade.’ Peter’s filmed himself excitedly.
The video cut to Peter at the airport, flipping into the shot after grabbing Captain America’ shield. Spiderman was filming now, but it was still unmistakably Peter’s voice. The fight was filmed.
The video cut to him in the car with Tony Stark, Tony telling him to make an alibi video. Peter just smiled at the camera as Tony spoke to the camera.
Comments:
“This is the nerdiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“This doesn’t prove anything. He still fought against Captain America. If anything, this just confirms his status as a criminal.”
“So this definitely proves that the Peter kid is Spiderman, good to know.”
“This was from a long time ago. It couldn’t have been faked.”
“Whether or not it was faked, it doesn’t mean he couldn’t have changed.”
Video Two:
“Hey Karen?” A voice the viewer couldn’t see rang out. It was unmistakably one of a young boy. The screen showed him to be on top of a building. Within just a few second, he was making a running leap off of the roof. Instead of falling, it looked like he was flying. A wrist came into view, showing a line of webbing shoot from it. It was Spiderman. No, it was Peter Parker.
“Yes, Peter?” A female voice responded.
“Do you know if there’s any trouble around?” Peter asked innocently.
“I wouldn’t recommend engaging in a conflict at this time,” Karen said fondly. “It’s almost your curfew—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Peter interrupted, still swinging. He landed on another roof and looked around. “I have time for one more thing. One more small thing.”
“There appears to be a nearby conflict occurring at the drug store on ninety-fifth and—”
“Oh, I know where that is,” Peter said, already swinging off towards the closest drug store on ninety-fifth. Peter scouted out the small store from outside, seeing a man pull out a weapon. “Oh, come on man. That’s not cool.”
“He appears to be armed,” Karen added helpfully.
“Thanks, Karen,” Peter deadpanned. “Can you zoom in?” The video zooms in as Peter requested. “Oh, he has cool sunglasses.” The footage zoomed back out as Peter swung down to the store. He walked in causally, pretending to be shopping for some items as the cashier nervously handed over some money. Peter circled around until he was on the other side of the robber. “Hey,” Peter called out. The robber jumped, turning sharply until the gun was pointed at Peter. “That’s not cool, man.”
“Oh, hell,” the robber said in annoyance when he realized who he was dealing with.
“Have we met before?” Peter said casually. The robber sneered. “No, you wouldn’t be here if we had,” Peter laughed. The robber tensed. Before he could shoot, Peter shot a web to grab the weapon from his hand. “Yoink!” The robber didn’t wait, immediately running after Peter. Peter gasped a bit before flipping back, making the man run into the shelves. Peter took a shot when he got a chance, webbing the robber to the floor. Peter breathed out in relief and turned to the cashier. “Call the police.”
The shaken cashier slowly pointed out the door where Peter could see red and blue flashing lights getting brighter.
“Oh, no,” Peter mumbled, bursting out the door to get onto a roof before they could get here. “Karen—”
“You’ve broken curfew, Peter,” Karen informed him. “You have a message from May, informing you that you are grounded.”
“Aw, man,” Peter mumbled, swinging away. The video cuts off.
Comments:
“He’s twelve.”
“He’s clearly still a good guy. The Mysterio video was fake.”
“He has a curfew. We really think this is the kid that’s suddenly a murderer?”
“He actually got grounded.”
“Who’s the woman speaking?”
“It’s clearly an AI. He probably has one imbedded in the suit since Stark made it.”
“Are we sure this is still the same Peter?”
Video Three:
“Are you recording this?” A young teen’s face was being shown on the camera. He had brown eyes with slightly curled brown hair, a nerdy science t-shirt on, and a backpack to finish the look of an average American high schooler. The world had come to know the face of Peter Parker.
“Of course. I’m sending it to May too. Also, you have to change,” Tony Stark’s voice could be heard until he came into frame, winking at the camera as he did. The teenage boy pouted. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You should be honored to have this recorded.”
“It’s really embarrassing.”
“More embarrassing than the little video diary you decided to record yourself when you went to Germany?” Tony said, smiling at the boy teasingly. The boy blushed.
“We agreed not to bring that up!” The boy protested in a higher pitched voice, clearly embarrassed. “I don’t see why we have to record when you’re just handing me a frame!”
“Shut up, and put the jacket on, Pete,” Tony said, flicking the boy’s forehead.
The video cut to Tony and Peter standing in front of a small group of people. Tony was saying something that was muffled. The camera kept shifting and get blocked as the camera holder moved. Those who knew him would recognize Happy Hogan as the cameraman, familiar with his unskilled work. Tony was speaking to their small audience with a wide smile on his face, clasping a hand on Peter’s shoulders as he handed over the acknowledgement of Peter as a Stark Industries intern.
“Did you get it all, Happy?” Tony asked when they were finished. “All you had to do was press a button.”
“Yes, Tony. I’m not an idiot,” Happy sighed.
“Did you stop the video?”
“How do you stop the video?” Happy asked, fumbling with the phone.
“Did you press the button again?”
“Oh, my god, Happy,” Peter’s voice rang out, amused by the entire situation.
“Hey, shut it, kid. We can’t all be tech professionals with Stark Internships.”
“Are you proud of me, Happy?” Peter teased. Happy didn’t respond. The viewers wouldn’t get to see the blank stare he gave to Peter.
“Just press the button Hap—”
Comments:
“He clearly has the approval of Tony Stark. You think Iron Man would really make a murderer an Avenger?”
“He might not have been a murderer yet”
“Why does he have an internship? They don’t hire people that young”
“He’s embarrassed. That’s adorable.”
“We still think this nerd with the science tees is the killer of Mysterio? I don’t even think he’s the real Spiderman.”
Video Four:
It was another awkward angle, similar to that recorded from the Spiderman suit. It provided a clear view of some sort of alien. The viewers were likely to assume this was another Spiderman video until the kid himself popped into view, saving the recorder from being smashed.
“Hey, man. What’s up, Mr. Stark?” Peter said, turning to greet Tony. The viewers now knew it was the Iron Man’s suit recording. Peter started to say something else, but he was thrown out of view. Tony explained the situation to Peter, telling him to go after the “wizard” when he came into view.
The video cut to Tony flying after the flying donut ready to leave Earth’s atmosphere. He asked for a boost, and things got blurry as the Iron Man suit sped up.
“Unlock 17A,” Tony commanded. Tony got a visual confirmation. “Pete, you gotta let go. I’m going to catch you,” Tony reassured him.
“You said save the wizard!” Peter responded.
“You’re too high up. You’re running out of air.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Peter gasped. A suit flew past Tony in the air. From afar, Tony could see Peter fall before the Iron Spider suit caught him. “Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!” Peter said enthusiastically.
“Happy trails kid,” Tony said fondly. “FRIDAY, send him home.”
“Yep,” FRIDAY said as Tony flew off.
“Oh, come on!” The viewers could hear Peter’s complaints. The video showed Tony cutting into the side of the ship and climbing in. The heartbreaking conversation between him and Pepper was heard as he looked around, slowly fading away.
The video cut to Tony viewing a man being tortured with unexplainably floating needles that started to pierce his skin. Tony jumped, and the camera moved to see a floating piece of clothing. Tony spoke to it before turning around at a voice now familiar to the viewers.
“Speaking of loyalty…” Spiderman flipped into view, his mask receding to show Peter’s young face.
“What the…” Tony started to say.
“I already know what you’re going to say—” Peter started to defend himself like a teen coming home later than curfew. “I was gonna go home—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” Tony said.
“But it was such a long way down—”
“And now I gotta hear it,” Tony sighed like a peeved parent.
“This suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So, if anything, it’s kind of your fault that I’m here.” The camera movement froze as Tony did, and the viewers could clearly see the panic that appeared on Peter’s face.
“What did you just say?”
“I-I take that back,” Peter stuttered. “And, now I’m here in space—”
“Yeah, right where I didn’t want you to be,” the camera caught the panic in Tony’s voice. “This is a one-way ticket. Do you hear me? Don’t pretend you thought this through—” The two of them talked over each over for a moment, strikingly familiar to a child arguing with their parent.
“You can’t be a friendly neighborhood Spiderman if there’s not neighborhood,” Peter said softly. The video cut, “Okay, you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?”
The man being tortured was screaming now. From the Iron Man suit, the viewers could see an alien talking to him. The conversation came to a pause when he fell silent and turned around, seeing Tony prepared to attack.
“I could end your friend’s life in an instant,” the alien said.
“I gotta tell you. He’s not really my friend. Saving his butt is more of a professional curtesy.” The alien started to use its power to gather materials around himself.
“You’ve saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine.”
“Yeah, but the kid’s seen more movies—” Tony blasted a hole into the side of the ship, effectively carrying out Peter’s plan. Tony got a clear view of Peter saving the man being tortured before he closed the hole.
The video cut to Tony looking at Peter as he lowered himself upside down from the ceiling.
“Let me just say, if aliens end up implanting eggs in my chest or something and I eat one of you, I’m sorry,” Peter said.
“I do not want to understand,” Tony responded in an annoyed tone.
“I’m trying to say that something is coming.”
Tony’s footage caught as they were attack by a group of aliens, fighting for a moment before one of them spoke up. Tony’s heavy breathing was being picked up as he recorded a man holding Peter while pointing a gun at him. The conversation with this group was recorded as they came to understand that they were on the same team.
“We’re the Avengers, man,” Peter said, retracting his mask.
The video cut again to show a purple giant, undoubtedly the figure known as Thanos. The group from earlier had teamed up, all restraining him in some way. Tony called out to Peter for help, both of them pulling with all their might to get the gauntlet off. Tony was yelling desperately at the man from earlier. The suit filmed as they lost the gauntlet to Thanos. It filmed as Tony was smashed by a moon. It filmed as Tony was stabbed, with Strange giving up the stone to save his life.
The video cut again as they regrouped. Tony’s increasing heartbeat was being picked up by his suit as the group started to disappear. From out of view, the viewers could hear Peter Parker.
“Mr. Stark?” Tony turned around. “I don’t feel so good.”
“You’re alright,” Tony said. The camera was covered as Peter collapsed onto Tony, crying and holding on.
“Please, I don’t wanna go…” Peter came back into view when he was on the ground, apologizing to Tony before fading away.
Comments:
“I think that was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“He went to space to save people. I can’t believe people thought this guy was a villain.”
“Iron Man tried to send him home too…”
“Did we seriously die because that guy couldn’t get himself under control?”
“Is no one going to talk about the fact that Iron Man got stabbed. He almost died before he could die saving us.”
“He’s just a kid. That was heartbreaking.”
“Peter Parker is not a villain.”
“Is that his actual kid?”
Video Five:
The footage was moving in a weird way. It was more footage from a suit, Spiderman’s suit. It had to be, based entirely on the fact that he was facing the infamous Mysterio. Suddenly, Spiderman was firing his webs at him, but he disappeared. He turned around and tried attacking, only for that Mysterio to be a column. What was happening? Spiderman crashed through a door and stopped before toppling over an edge.
“Peter?” Spiderman’s head turned to see footage of a scared teenage girl. “What’s going on?”
“I know this isn’t real!” Peter cried out.
“Do you?” Mysterio asked, appearing to pick the girl up by her neck.
“MJ!” Peter cried out, already running towards her. Without mercy, Mysterio tossed her over the edge, Spiderman quickly following her. He was disoriented, and everything started to move. This couldn’t be real. He was in front of a building labeled Queens, where a giant fist popped out to punch him until he was breaking through glass and falling.
Peter stood up, and, for a moment, he was back in reality with nothing attacking him. He looked up to see bots, and then he was surrounded my glass shards that fell towards him. He cried out, flinching as they surrounded him. He looked up to see his own hesitant reflection staring back at him.
“I mean, look at yourself,” Mysterio’s voice rang out. The reflections came to life, beating him until he couldn’t stand. “You are just a scared little kid in a sweat suit! I can give the world something to believe in. I can tell the truth. Mysterio is the truth!” Spiderman was flipping every which way to avoid Mysterio’s nonexistent attacks. Another fist smashed down on him before he was able to reorient himself. The footage stabled enough for them to see the grave.
“If you were good enough…maybe Tony would still be alive…” A gauntlet sprung out of the ground. Peter was crying out in panic as he tried to crawl away from the zombie-like Iron Man suit crawled its way towards him, eventually trying to fly. Peter tried to run away, but he fell into snow. Then he became encased in a snow globe.
Everything disappeared at the sound of a gunshot, and the footage showed Quinten Beck a distance away in a suit, falling to the ground.
“Fury!” Peter cried out in relief, trying to get up. A man immediately started to interrogate him, asking him over and over again who he told. Peter got flustered. “Just Ned and MJ from my class. But that’s it!” The man started laughing. “What?”
“You…are so dumb,” the man said. “You’re smarter than you look, just a sucker.” The man disappeared and was replaced with Quinten Beck. Peter began to back up. “And now all your friends have to die.” The building was back, and the footage got shaky as Peter tried to avoid falling objects. “It’s easy to fool people when they’re already fooling themselves. For what it’s worth, Peter, I really am sorry.” Reality came back. The camera only got a split second look at the head of the train before Spiderman was being hit with it. The footage ended.
Comments:
“He got hit by a train!!!”
“How did he do all of that?”
“Holy shit, and people really thought Spiderman was a bad guy”
“Tony Stark’s grave. That’s a low blow”
“Did anyone else start crying?”
“Poor Peter! He’s just a kid, he didn’t deserve all of this!”
“The Iron Man suit! I’ve never been so shocked in my life!”
“Who was that girl?”
“Is he okay? He got hit by an actual train.”
“This after all those videos with Stark in them? That hurted.”
“Mysterio made it all up!”
Peter was hiding out with Happy and May, constantly worrying about Ned and MJ. Happy refused to let either of them do anything that my compromise their position, including getting on the internet. Peter had no way of contacting them to make sure that they were okay, even though Happy constantly reassured him that they were.
He felt like crying all the time. Even though he remembered Beck dying, he still felt like everything was unreal. It was all another one of his tricks. The video wasn’t real. The world didn’t know his identity. Beck was just messing around with him. Then Peter would look at the solemn looks on Happy and May’s faces and want to crawl away and hide until it was all over. If it was ever over.
Peter was sitting around like he did every day for a week since hiding away when the front door open. It was strange because no one had left the house since they had come, since it was fully stocked. Peter immediately stood to see who was there, unsure of what to feel when he saw Pepper Potts standing there.
“Miss Potts?” May said, recognizing the woman.
“Hi,” Pepper said, shaking May’s hand. May still looked disoriented.
“Pepper?” Happy said, coming into the room. Pepper looked a bit relieved to see Happy, sharing a hug with him. Pepper then turned to Peter. Peter couldn’t tell how disheveled and melancholy he looked. He had been crying not too long ago, so his eyes were still red. His hair was a mess because he saw no point in brushing it. He still wore the same clothes from days ago because he didn’t see a point in changing out of them. Despite all of this, Pepper couldn’t help but wrap her arms around him.
“Hey, Peter,” Pepper said softly. Peter didn’t say anything back. “Are you doing okay?” Peter shrugged.
“He thinks everything is over,” May said softly, bringing Pepper’s attention back to her. “Spiderman. His future. Everything.”
“Oh, that’s never an option,” Pepper said.
“What am I going to do?” Peter croaked out, earning a pitiful look from all the adults in the room. “They all know who I am. They could always find me no matter where I go. May will never be safe. I can’t go back to school. It’s all ruined.”
“That’s what I thought when Tony told the world he was Iron Man,” Pepper breathed out, her eyes looking up like she was remembering it. “I thought that we would be dead within a week. I was so scared that everything would change, and everything did change, but not in the way I imagined. Instead of hiding away for the rest of my life, I got to see him become a hero,” Pepper said in a watery tone, forcing a smile through.
“I’m not like Tony. I screwed everything up,” Peter sniffled, already on the verge of crying again. “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault. I gave him EDITH when Tony wanted them for me, and I—”
“We can’t change what was, Peter,” Pepper cut him off. “But we can control what will be.”
“Do you have something in mind?” May asked in a hopeful tone. Pepper smiled and turned back to Peter.
“Your identity is a big part of you. I understand that. I can’t change that, but I can make sure that it’s not ruined. Beck painted you as a villain, but the rest of the world thinks you’re a hero.” Everyone stared at her quizzically.
“What? No they don’t. You didn’t see them when I had to get away. They were trying to get me—”
“I’m guessing Happy hasn’t let you online?” Pepper asked. Happy shook his head.
“Of course not. What am I, an amateur?” Happy scoffed. Pepper smiled before pulling at tablet out of her bag.
“We had a leak,” Pepper explained casually. Everyone in the room gasped.
“What? A leak? What kind?” Peter rambled question after question.
“The FRIDAY and Karen kind,” Pepper said. Peter frowned before he recognized what those names had in common. Tony Stark’s one of a kind AI’s. “They took matters into their own hands to clear your name.”
“But…how?” Peter said. Pepper showed her what was on her tablet. A YouTube video posted three days ago had already accumulated 50 million views.
“Camera footage from the suits Tony made. You know there’s a camera imbedded, right?” Peter nodded, remembering his Thor impression from all that time ago. “That along with a little extra, thanks to Happy.” Peter watched, recognizing every single thing that was happening. He flinched back when he saw the footage from Iron Man’s suit, seeing himself getting dusted away was a jolting.
“I don’t understand…” Peter whispered. Pepper scrolled down to some of the comments, most of which were overwhelmingly positive.
“People realize that you were framed with this and my word as proof.” Peter looked up at her.
“Your word?”
“Did you really think I was just going to let them get away with this?” Pepper scoffed. “I’ve worked my butt off making sure that this was all cleared up. FRIDAY and Karen took a load off my back with the internet side of things.”
“This doesn’t change the fact that I killed him,” Peter whispered. Peter felt her arm around his shoulders again.
“You’re young, and you don’t deserve this. However, you do deserve to defend your own life, Peter, especially after saving everyone else’s.” Peter teared up, not responding since his voice would be too wavery to speak. “No one thinks you’re a villain. If they do, they’re in the same league as flat-earthers.” Peter snorted a bit, gaining a smile from Pepper.
“All it took was a video,” Peter muttered.
“Well, not one video.” Pepper started to cue up another. Peter thought he felt his heart stop when Tony appeared on screen. "I'm sorry I didn't find it earlier."
“I’m making this video along with the other, because I feel like you’re going to need a special one,” Tony said. “Of course, if nothing else happens, I’m still expecting you to come back. I just don’t know if I’ll be there when you do…” Tony looked down silently for a second before looking back at the camera. “Either way, I just wanted to reiterate: Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. And definitely don’t do anything I would do. That being said, refer to Pepper and Happy, because they’re the reason I’ve made it this far.”
Peter was already crying, getting a cajoling rub on his shoulders from May. Pepper was hiding it well, but, despite having watched the video before, she was tearing up as well. Happy couldn’t keep it in, losing it when Tony referred to him and Pepper.
“You’re a really smart kid, probably smarter than me, so you won’t need me to fix up your suits anymore. Maybe one day you’ll be telling some snot-nosed kid to stay out of trouble like you never could,” Tony smiled, his eyes crinkling as he did. “All the ‘be safe’ messages aside, I wanted to tell you that I do love you, Pete. I wish I could have said it before you…disappeared,” Tony sniffled a bit, “but I’m saying it now for when you come back. I hope you don’t hold it against me, because the world needs you. And I know you’ll do better than me. Stay safe, spidey boy.”
“Are you okay?” Pepper whispered to Peter when the video had ended. Peter shook his head, not showing his blotchy, red face covered in tears. His shoulders were shaking as he let everything come down on him. “Tony would never let you go without making sure you were okay. You know that? He really loved you.” Peter nodded, still not lifting his head up.
“I think I’ll be okay,” Peter whispered. Pepper smiled slightly.
“Now, let’s see about making you a normal teenager again, okay?”
“Just yesterday, Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts made a big statement when releasing a video of the late Tony Stark that addresses the recently infamous Peter Parker or, as we know him better, Spiderman,” the news anchor spoke. The screen cut away from her as the brief video played where Tony clearly speaks about Peter as Spiderman. “From this video, we can infer that Stark was not only on friendly terms with Spiderman, but personally knew Peter Parker to be his secret identity. It also clues that Stark knew he was going to die when he and the Avengers successfully brought back the deceased population.”
Peter kept his eyes firmly trained on the ground as he walked into the school, pretending every whisper wasn’t about him. With the summer and his identity outing, it felt like so long since he had stepped foot in school. Still, without looking up, he could make his way to his locker.
When he opened it, he was finally able to look up without fear of making eye contact with somebody. The feeling of knowing that everyone knew was an enormous pressure pushing down on his shoulders and lungs, making his breath shorter and faster. He tried to pretend that he was just a normal kid going to school again, but that was hard to do when no one believed you.
A pair of arms wrapped around him, and Peter flinched hard before realizing how gentle they work. Peter relaxed when he realized who it was. MJ rested her head against his back, holding him tighter.
“Are you okay?” MJ asked. It was the most affectionate Peter had ever seen her. From the way her hands were shaking around his belly, he could tell that she was nervous.
“I will be,” Peter whispered back, letting himself out of her grip so he could turn around and look at her. She tried to compose herself, but the worry in her eyes was more than evident. It was only then that Peter could see Ned standing closely behind her. Ned smiled and put out a hand to do their handshake. Peter knocked it aside, throwing his arms around his best friend.
“Hey, man,” Ned whispered.
“Hey,” Peter mumbled into his shoulder.
“Dude, you’re so famous now,” Ned said. That sentence made his stomach drop, but he couldn’t help but laugh and nod into his shoulder, sniffling a little bit.
“Yeah. You are too, man, Spiderman’s best friend,” Peter said in a watery tone.
“Yeah,” Ned said when they finally pulled back. Peter tried to ignore the stares on him, focusing on MJ and Ned instead. “We saw the videos…”
“I think everyone saw the videos,” MJ muttered, looking around with a glare to anyone she made eye contact with. Peter bit his lip and looked at his shoes.
“Yeah…”
“It came out when we were in school,” MJ started to tell him. “Everyone was watching on their phones, but some teachers put it up for everyone to see in class.”
“Oh…” Peter said, frowning.
“The other videos really helped but hearing Tony Stark tell everyone that he loves you really tipped the scales…” Ned added. Peter couldn’t help but flush red, realizing that everyone had heard the personal message. Ned snorted. “Don’t look so embarrassed, dude. Everyone’s so jealous.”
“Probably not the time, Ned,” MJ muttered. “Also, you went to space!” MJ whispered, nudging him a bit. Peter frowned, rubbing the spot on his ribs where she hit.
“Yeah?”
“You could have died!” MJ said in a worried whisper.
“MJ, that was forever ago,” Peter said, rolling his eyes. “And I did die. We all died because I fucked up.” Ned snorted.
“Dude, you didn’t fuck up. We all saw it. You got the gauntlet off!” MJ and Peter both shushed Ned, since he was talking loudly enough for everyone to lean in and whisper. Ned looked around sheepishly. “Sorry, but seriously. You got to meet real aliens!”
“Did it hurt?” MJ whispered. Peter blinked at her. “When you dusted.”
“W-what…” Peter hesitated. “Did it hurt for you?”
“No,” MJ admitted. “I don’t think I noticed until the very end, but you have abilities…”
“Oh, yeah,” Ned said. “You didn’t look so good in the video.” Peter banged his head against his locker. MJ pulled him away before he could do it again.
“I’m sorry that everyone had to see,” MJ apologized. “We could stop talking—”
“No, it’s fine,” Peter muttered. “It did hurt.” MJ was blinking tearfully at him. “It was forever ago. You don’t have to feel bad. Let’s just get to class.”
The three of them started to walk down the hallway. Peter could tell that many of them had listened in on their conversations and were now starting to spread what they had heard. Peter realized that details was going to get out sooner or later. He was just going to have to accept that things had to get worse before they got better.
“You never told us about the Mysterio thing!” Ned said like he had an epiphany when they all sat down in first period. The infamous name brought a lot of eyes their way, making MJ and Peter give Ned looks of displeasure. Ned wasn’t paying attention to them. “That has to be the most amazing choreography of technology I have ever seen—”
“Now is not the time to nerd out, Ned—” MJ started to say.
“Also, you got hit by a train!”
“I told you that!” Peter scoffed.
“Yeah, but you didn’t say it was going that fast!”
“I shouldn’t have to,” Peter whispered. “It was a fucking train.”
“Why did you try to save MJ and not me?” Ned complained. Both MJ and Peter blushed on command.
“You weren’t there!” Peter whispered harshly.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, Ned! I couldn’t exactly control what I was seeing!” Peter let his head drop when he realized he had said that too loudly.
“If you three are done, we are going to start class.” All three of them turned in their seats when their teacher called out to them with a sickly-sweet smile on her face.
“Hey, man. I’m sorry about your whole identity thing.” Peter blinked at the third person during their lunch period that had come up to apologize to him.
“Thanks?” Peter stuttered out to the kid whose name he didn’t know.
“This is weird,” Ned muttered, taking another bite of his sandwich.
“You think this is weird? Imagine how I feel?” Peter muttered.
“You know what’s really weird?” Ned said, snorting as the thought came to him. “So many people here had a crush on you.”
“What?” Peter choked on his water.
“Yeah, you know, Spiderman,” Ned said like it was obvious. Ned looked at MJ to back him up, so she nodded.
“How do you know that?”
“I assumed you knew, so I didn’t bring it up, especially after Liz…” Ned admitted with an awkward chuckle. “I thought you’d be too embarrassed.”
“I am!” Peter said, covering up his red cheeks with his hands. “That’s so embarrassing.”
“It’s kind of cool, but you decided you were too good to be an American bachelor,” Ned said, giving a heatless glare to MJ, who flipped him off and threw an arm around Peter’s shoulders. “Now they all have crushes on Peter Parker.”
“That’s even worse!” Peter shrunk in on himself.
“It is! The guy in the chair gets no love,” Ned complained. As if to prove Ned’s point, a senior girl whose name Peter never bothered to learn walked up to him, telling him that she was sorry for the entire ordeal and wondering if he needed someone to talk to.
“He has his girlfriend,” MJ snarked, making her presence known. “Move along.” The two exchanged a glare before the other girl walked off. “Girls are idiots.”
“Boys too,” Ned said, showing them his phone where Twitter was up. “I love thirst tweets.”
“Ned, why!” Peter said, taking the phone from his grasp. MJ and Peter hunched over it as Peter scrolled through the tweets that mentioned his name. They had photos of him that Peter had never seen before. “This is even worse than I thought.”
“Yeah, you’re the new Tony Stark,” Ned snorted. Peter stopped scrolling and blinked at him. “What?”
“I’m the new what?”
“Tony Stark. You know… He was famous and all when he was young. He saved some people then revealed he was Iron Man.”
“He wasn’t in high school when that happened,” Peter croaked out. Ned shrugged.
“Yeah, but you’re still a hero. Not everyone liked Iron Man. Not everyone’s a fan of Spiderman. If MJ dyed her hair red, you’d be exactly like Pepper Potts.”
“Never going to happen,” MJ deadpanned. “But I do appreciate the comparison.”
“That makes me War Machine,” Ned said with a smirk, nodding his head thoughtfully. Peter narrowed his eyes.
“No, I think that would make you Happy.”
“The guy in love with your aunt?” Ned said, scrunching up his nose. Peter groaned.
“Don’t remind me.”
“He kind of helped save our lives. I can dig,” Ned said with a shrug. “I got your back.” Peter’s lips twitched into a smile.
“Thanks, Ned.”
“But, since you have access to his tech and all, you could still totally make me a War Machine suit.” Peter laughed.
“Maybe I’ll think about it.”
“Hey, Parker!” Peter stopped dead in his tracks, already sighing at having to face another student eager to talk to him now that his secret was out. He turned to face his doom, not expecting to see the face of Flash.
“Flash?” Peter frowned. He looked sheepish and reluctant o even be speaking to Peter, making Peter wonder why he was even bothering.
“I’m sorry, alright?” Flash spat out. Peter blinked at him.
“You’re sorry?”
“For all the comments and shit over the years,” Flash said, rolling his eyes.
“You’re only saying that because you know I’m Spiderman…” Peter pointed out awkwardly.
“Yeah, what of it?” Flash snorted.
“Do you think I’m going to beat you up or something?” Peter trailed off. Flash snorted, but he was looking at Peter with wide eyes.
“No, I don’t—”
“Because I told could,” Peter said, pretending to think about it.
“Parker, I—”
“But I don’t do that kind of stuff, so…” Peter said with a shrug, making Flash let out a big sigh. “Your comments weren’t cool.”
“In my defense, you sounded like a total dork,” Flash said with a snot. Peter scoffed.
“But I wasn’t making it up! I did have an internship, and I do know Spiderman!” Peter defended. Flash waved him off.
“It doesn’t matter now. What matters is this photo I have to get for Twitter.” Peter opened his mouth to ask Flash what he meant, but he was already standing next to Peter, taking a photo of the two of them. Peter glared at him as Flash typed away on his phone.
“You’re still an asshole,” Peter complained.
“Yup. See you later, Penis Parker,” Flash called as he walked away. Peter watched as he walked away, barely noticing MJ walk up beside him.
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that to change,” MJ said with a snort. “He’s going to pretend he didn’t have a massive crush on you.”
“On me?” Peter sputtered.
“On Spiderman,” MJ clarified.
“Same thing!”
“He didn’t know that.”
Peter and MJ walked to Peter’s apartment together, not that surprised to see Happy when he opened the door. He barely gave the man a second glance.
“Hey, Happy,” Peter greeted, waving. The man took his eyes off the TV for a split second before waving. “Hey, May.” May turned at her position in front of the sink, smiling at Peter before her eyes landed on MJ.
“Oh, hey, Peter,” May greeted, wiping her hands off on a towel. “MJ.” MJ smiled at her. “How was school?” She asked, biting her lip nervously. Peter smiled to help her relax.
“It was fine. I’m going to be fine.”
“Oh good. Happy was worried sick.” Happy frowned at her when he heard his name. “Seriously, people are acting like you’re the world’s first superhero just because they know who you are. It’s Iron Man all over again!” Peter gaped at her. “Anyway, you know the rules. Door open.”
“May!” Peter blushed, guiding MJ towards his room. Peter immediately collapsed on his bed, running his hands over his face. “I’m going to die.”
“You’ll be fine,” MJ muttered, studying the Iron Spider suit in its casing. “Just ask yourself, ‘what would Tony Stark do?’” Peter sat up and frowned at her.
“Really?”
“No, that’s a terrible idea,” MJ snorted. She sat next to Peter on his bed. “Though, I don’t think he would have accidentally killed a kid on the bus.”
“You know that was an accident,” Peter mumbled, narrowing his eyes at her.
“He made mistakes too. We know all about them,” MJ reminded him. “He already thought you were better than he was, and you’re not even out of high school yet. Trust me, you’re doing fine.”
“I think that was the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Peter mumbled. “Right after you telling me I looked pretty.” MJ blushed and shoved his pillow into his face.
“Shut up, dork!”