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Part One: The Reveal
“Spider-man’s real name is Peter Parker!”
His heart plummeted, hands on his head as he expressed his shock.
“What the FUCK?!”
He could feel his throat closing up, his heart thumping in his ears, and the cries of confusion all across Madison Square Garden, the whole of New York even, at the revelation of his name and face.
One thing stood out among it all, and it was a sound Peter had heard one too many times to be able to substitute it for something else.
It was the sound of multiple guns being cocked and aimed directly at him.
“Spider-man! Unmask yourself and come down from there with your hands up!”
He could easily run, he had his web-shooters and the whole “flying squirrel” gimmick in this new suit… But would that say about him if he ran?
He took a look at MJ, who looked more clueless and dumbfounded than he had ever seen her. He looked back at the armed cops who were willing to shoot him without a moment’s hesitation.
Peter reached for his mask and tugged it off, wincing at the gasps.
‘Spider-man is a child?!’
‘Who’s Peter Parker?’
‘Mysterio was right!’
‘Murderer!’
Peter slowly climbed down the pole as the police began to close in on him. He put his hands up and dropped to his knees without a single word.
Guns surrounded him from every angle, and he could feel the shame and defeat filling him from head to toe.
The metal slid over his wrists effortlessly, and he was taken on a walk of shame to stain his name for a lifetime.
|-|-|
Pepper Potts was pissed.
Natasha had told her about the broadcast the second it aired, and she sounded just as angry if not angrier than she was.
The second Pepper saw Quentin Beck’s face on her television screen, she knew she was going to have to sit down for the rest of the broadcast.
She gently shooed Morgan out the room and had Friday turn up the volume on the tv.
“Tony? Tony get in here!”
‘Our top story today: Resident Queens-based superhero Spider-man, has been outed by up and coming superhero, Mysterio, as Peter Parker, seventeen-year-old high school sophomore at Midtown School of Science and Technology. Our source, The Daily Bugle-.’
“Turn it off.”
“Tony as much as you don’t want to see it or hear it, we have to get some perspective of what’s going on!”
Tony plopped on the couch, visibly disheveled, “Damn… How the hell was I supposed to know he was going to go completely psycho after I fired him?! That was like seven years ago! That’s my kid he’s fucking-.”
“Language!”
“-Sorry honey, but that’s my kid he’s going after!”
“Calm down! The Daily Bugle is full of crap anyways! Who’s to say they even have any evidence!”
“Promptly after being unmasked, Peter Parker did it himself in the middle of Madison Square Garden after being ordered to by armed policemen. He was promptly handcuffed and brought to the local precinct.”
Pepper stood up so quickly she almost gave herself whiplash, “Son of a bitch! We have to go, and we have to go NOW, Tony! Friday, call Happy!”
‘Now calling: Happy Hogan, also known as ‘Doki Doki is not Oki Doki’’
Happy picked up after the first ring, “We saw the news, I have May now and-.”
“Don’t. He’s at the station. He turned himself into the cops! It’s only a matter of time before the government gets ahold of him, and even worse, Ross might get ahold of him ad put him in the Raft!”
The sound of tires squeeing filled the house, “Happy?”
“Sorry, I made a very sharp and unexpected U-turn.”
Tony sighed in relief, “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Is that Pepper?”
“Yeah, she’s with Tony.”
“Tony’s ALIVE?!”
“Yeah, look, Pep and Tony do you have a plan?”
“Absolutely not!” “Yes, we do, see you thirty-five, Happy!”
And then Happy hung up.
“Pep, we have a plan?”
“Yeah, do you trust me?”
“Of course I do-.”
“We’re going to get Peter out.”
Tony was silent, his facial expressions changing several times before finally replying with, “… I’m sorry, run that by me one more time?”
“I know it sounds crazy-.”
“You know, you would expect to hear this type of thing out of me, Pep, but I never woulda thought-.”
“Not now, Tony. Listen, you’re staying he-.”
“What?!”
“Not NOW, Tony. Natasha is already here, I know that to be a fact, Rhodey is going to be here to keep you company since you made him uncle, Happy and May are going because that’s practically her son, and I’m thinking about bringing that Ned kid into this, he can hack, he’s good-.”
“What about you? You’re not supposed to be here! You’re supposed to be in Barcelona for a conference.”
“And you’re supposed to be dead, but I don’t bring that up every five seconds, by the way, I really hate that cover story, Tony-.”
Tony kissed Pepper on her forehead, “Promise me you’ll be safe?”
Pepper grinned, “It’s funny how the tables have turned, huh?” she kissed him in return, “Tell you what, I can hear Rhodey in the Iron Patriot suit now, you can come only on the condition that you stay completely out of sight, do you hear me?”
“Oh, I love how you compromise…”
The sound of thrusters became even louder, “That’s Rhodey. We have no time to spend on formalities, let’s GO.”
|-|-|
Pepper did the driving, Tony in the backseat. Natasha was close behind on her motorbike.
“Ok, Ned is at a Defending Spider-man rally in Queens, Happy and May are at a café a few blocks from where Peter is being held, and there is a rally/ fight between officers, spidey-supporters, and people who are absolutely sure he’s a serial killer right outside of Midtown Precinct South. That’s probably where they’re holding Peter.”
“Affirmative,” Natasha said from her coms.
“Friday, take me to the Queens rally.”
“You got it, Lady Boss. Head South-.”
|-|-|
The last thing Ned expected was for his best friend’s secret identity to get leaked.
The only thing was, he didn’t expect things to get even weirder.
Such as him being tugged from the crowd by the Black Widow herself.
“Oh my god-.”
“Save it. Listen, there’s not that much time-.”
“Wait, what’s going on?”
Natasha smirked, and said with no hesitation, “We’re breaking Peter out of jail.”
|-|-|
The plan was simple, Pepper would be waiting outside with a car, watching everything through Natasha’s eyes. Natasha was going to pose as a government agent, coming to take Peter to The Raft on Government Orders. While May had a screaming match with some officers, Happy by her side, Natasha would slip by with a registered lanyard and ID card and head back to the interrogation room where Peter was. When May said the code word, Tony and Ned would shut down security cameras within a 3-mile radius for about 6 minutes, giving Natasha a window of time to smuggle Peter out the facility without being captured by cameras. There was a 4-minute transition period between security guards, which meant Natasha had to be in and out without a single stop.
They would never even know what hit them.
Natasha would bring Peter to the car where Pepper was, and Natasha would get on her bike. May and Happy would leave, and they would all meet back at the lake house.
It would have to go perfectly, no mistakes, no do-overs, no hold-ups.
“Nat, are you in?”
Natasha held her briefcase, pushing some decoy glasses up her nose, “I am, just scanned my ID at the door. I can hear May tearing those cops a new one from here.”
“Alright, Peter’s a hallway down, third door to the left. A cop is outside the door to verify your identity. Wait about 3 minutes before making your move. I’ll give the signal to Tony and Ned afterward.”
“Copy that.”
Natasha walked through the precinct, eyes ahead, a blank look on her face, and a slight Irish accent on the tip of her tongue.
“Two minutes, Nat.”
Natasha turned the corner and walked down the hallway, locking eyes with the many cops in the hallway. She stopped in front of Peter’s door and flashed her badge, “Julia Andrews with The Department of Defense. I’m here for one Peter Parker.”
“Did Ross send you?”
“He did. ‘Wants me to take the kid to The Raft.”
The officer made a grunting noise, “Man works fast, can’t say I’m surprised though. Especially after what happened with the Avengers.”
He took her badge and quickly looked over it, “Checks out, right this way ma’am.”
“Happy has made contact… Tony, Ned, hit the cameras!”
Within seconds, the security cameras were completely shot. Natasha kept the same pace as the officer let her into Peter’s holding cell.
“Yell if that… THING tries to attack you or anything,” he said with a grim look, “I’ll be back here on the double.”
“Thank you, sir, but I think I got things from here.”
The door shut behind Natasha and she slid in her seat across from Peter and took out a blade, taking off his handcuffs in the blink of an eye.
“N-Natasha?”
“Yeah, it’s me, kid. We’re gonna get you out of here.”
She opened her briefcase and tossed at him some civilian clothes along with some of the same face masking tech she was using.
“Hurry up, we got…” she took a glance at her watch, “Five minutes and 25 seconds.”
Peter’s eyes widened in realization, and his body threw itself into action, tugging off the Spider suit and making sure to tug on his new clothes with the utmost urgency.
“We’re going through that vent, there. Leave the suit and put on the gloves. They’ll think you voluntarily escaped if they find any bit of DNA anywhere else but this table.”
And thus, the countdown began.
Peter leaped onto the ceiling, tugging the vent door open and tossing it to Natasha, who was locking the door shut. Natasha picked up on any unwanted DNA they didn’t want lying around before flowing into the vents with simple agility and strength alone.
She could hear the chaos inside, some officers trying to get some of their security working again, others trying to get into the room Natasha had locked shut.
“Good job, Nat. Next, Ned is going to influence both supporters and protestors to storm the bastille in three… two-.”
Even more yelling resounded from underneath them, and Peter seemed to wince at all the noise.
“We’re almost there, Pete. Just hold on for just a little longer, ok?”
Peter nodded, and Pepper led the pair out the vents and into an alleyway.
“Go right. Natasha, your bike is a couple of streets down. Peter is going to get in the car with me, Happy, and May.”
“Copy that, Pep. Alright, kid, I’ll tell you exactly what I told Cap. First rule of going on the run: Don’t run, walk.”
Peter nodded, “Right, Right.”
It was silent between the two before Peter let out something akin to a whimper.
“I di’n kill ‘im, Мама Паук… I swear, I di’n-.”
“I know, kid. That’s why we’re getting you out of here. Pepper isn’t going to let part of Tony’s legacy be accused of a crime he didn’t commit, not while she’s still alive.”
A black Audi pulled up next to them once Peter and Natasha had walked a few streets down. Natasha loaded him inside and shut the door, retreating to hop onto her motorcycle.
“H-Hey, Ms. Pepper…” Peter mumbled softly, recognizing that blonde hair in the driver’s seat anywhere.
“Good to see Natasha got you back safe… Thank goodness.”
Pepper drove off, “Why’d you give yourself up?”
Peter looked down on his lap, tearing off that mask on his face, “I woulda looked even more guilty if I ran off. ‘m innocent, Pepper, I know I am!”
“We all know, Peter. You think I wouldn’t have noticed when you handed off a piece of Stark Tech to someone else?”
Peter seemed to visibly shrink in on himself, sounding already on the verge of tears next time he opened his mouth, “I-I thought…. Nick Fury trusted him! How was I not supposed to trust him too?!”
Pepper sighed, “Some things aren’t as they seem. Especially now more than ever.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Peter remarked with a little more venom than intended.”
“That…” Pepper sighed, “How do I say this… That wasn’t Nick Fury.”
Peter was silent for an estimated 15 seconds before throwing his hands in the air, “Great! Just GREAT! My whole life is a lie! What’s next, Tony isn’t dead?!”
Pepper made a face in the rear-view mirror and Peter went completely silent.
“Y-You’re joking, right? You’re kidding… You HAVE to be kidding-.” Peter laughed between his words before throwing his whole body into a grief-stricken cackle, one hand over his eyes and his back completely arched.
Slowly, the laughter delved into sobs, and then desperate calls for help.
‘C-Can’t breathe-.’
Pepper's hands gripped the steering wheel before pulling over to the side of the road.
‘M-Ms. Potts, I can’t- Oh god-.’
Pepper pulled the car over as quickly as possible, climbing into the backseat in an attempt to wake Peter from his own hellscape.
Peter had almost passed out once, but eventually, he was calm enough to somewhat argue with Pepper.
“I need a lawyer…”
“And we can get you one!” Pepper exclaimed, “You have the entirety of SI’s legal team at your disposal-.”
Peter shook his head, “There’s this guy in Hell’s Kitchen who owes me… Kind of.”
|-|-|
After several minutes, Pepper pulled into a parking space in front of a law office.
A few police sirens blared in the distance and Peter immediately slid down in his seat. The cars sped by and Peter closed his eyes in fear.
“They’re out for my head oh my god, oh my god-.” Peter mumbled to himself, “Do you have a pen and paper I can borrow?”
Pepper passed a notepad and pen back and Peter began on his letter to one Matthew Murdock.
‘Dear, DD. If you saw the news, you would know I’m now a wanted terrorist and serial killer. Yay-.’
‘But I need your help. You’re the only one I can trust to find the truth.’
‘Ms. Potts knows… So maybe you’ll hopefully be in contact I hope-.’
‘My girlfriend, Michelle Jones, and my best friend, Ned Leeds know that I was Spider-man. They were in Europe when the drones attacked. I trust them with my life to help set the record straight.’
‘My life is in your hands and I would REALLY like to not go to The Raft please and thank you.’
- Webs
Peter folded the note and made a mad dash for the door. He pushed the paper under the door and ran back into the car, Pepper practically putting the pedal to the metal to get to the lake house.
“May, Happy, Nat, and To-.” Pepper bit her tongue and backtracked, “They’ve probably beat us to the lake house already. So, I guess it’s just you and me until then.”
Peter acknowledged that sentence with a nod but said nothing. Pepper turned on some calming music in response and they began the long drive back.
|-|-|
The first thing Peter did when he saw Tony was punch him directly in his face. A warranted reaction considering everything, but Tony was caught off guard.
“You’ve been alive this whole time?!” Peter yelled hands wrung through his hair in visible distress, “And you-you-.”
“Pete-.”
Peter wrapped his arms around Tony, “I heard your heart stop, Mr. Stark… You died right in front of me!”
Tony hugged him back, “I know kid, I know… But Fury being the paranoid pirate he is said no.”
Peter clutched the cloth of Tony’s red sweater in his hands, “I missed you, Tony.”
“I missed you too, kid.”
Pepper stood up, “As much as I love this, we have business to take care of. Friday, pull up everything about Midtown South.”
“Of course, Pepper.”
Many articles popped up about the mysterious disappearance of Spider-man. Some thought he broke out, other thought this was the work of some convert government conspiracy, but all-in-all no one believed any of them had done any sort of meddling.
Peter frowned as his eyes scanned over the many different articles, “But what about when I go to trial? I am going to have to go to trial, right?”
“Don’t worry, we already have a plan for that. You’re to say someone posing as a government agent and then we’re going to have to do a LOT of staging to ensure no government suspicion.
Peter stared at the floor, “And… And you’re doing this for me?”
“Yes, Peter,” Pepper kneeled in front of the boy and cupped his cheek, “We all want you to be safe. We won’t let him get away with any of this, even if he is dead.”
May walked through the door to the living room and immediately found herself a place next to Peter. She wrapped her arms around him, “It’ll be ok, Peter.”
Peter looked in May's eyes and smiled at her, a weak one at that, but it was the best he could muster at that time. Looking at her and seeing her eyes filled with so much love and being surrounded by people who support him…
It made him feel like he was home.
|-|-|
It was late at night in the Nelson & Murdock Law Offices, and there was only one of them inside.
He leaned back in his seat, “So are you willing to come out and help me?”
“This case sounds interesting, but I don’t know if my boss will let me out of the country for this one-.”
“Your boss is the same guy that put his life on the line for an eleven-year-old kid in a country that wants all lawyer’s dead. I’m sure he’ll let you out the country for a murder case… Especially since he’s done it himself.”
A laugh was heard on the other line, “Alright, Murdock, you’ve got yourself a deal! I’ll help out with the investigation on the foreign side while you get witness statements from Peter’s peers, ok?”
“Are you going to bring along that little supercomputer of yours?”
“You know I don’t go anywhere without him!”
A sigh was heard on the other line, “You know, he reminds me of myself, you know?”
“Yeah… I had a feeling this case would hit you personally. Especially with what happened after your mom and your coworkers’ best friend.”
“I don’t want him to go to jail for a crime he didn’t commit, especially with all the bias against enhanced individuals. I don’t want him to fall into the same trap Simon did.”
He nodded, “Of course, thank you for your cooperation. Tell Wright I said Hello.”
“Will do! Goodbye!”
And the line went dead.