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“Mommy, can we go see Petey? I miss him.”
They’re at home, the lake house, Pepper reading and Morgan sitting on the floor with her blocks and an army of stuffed animals.
“Who's that, honey?”
“He's my favorite! Let's go see him, Mommy!”
“Your favorite? How come you haven't mentioned him before? Tell me about your favorite.”
“But Mommy you know all about him! He's really strong and sticky! He takes me on the ceiling!”
“Takes you on the ceiling?” Pepper’s first assumption had been that Morgan was talking about an imaginary friend, or maybe a cartoon character but now she was confused and a little concerned, closing her book.
“Yeah! We go upside down! It's so fun! Can we go to uncle Happy's and visit him?”
“Now you wanna go see Happy?”
“No, I don't wanna see Happy! I wanna see Petey!”
“Well, how'd you meet Petey?”
“When we said bye to daddy. You said when daddy went away he brought Petey home. Then we all had cheeseburgers. But you already know all that, mommy.” Someone at the funeral, then? And someone who’d blipped. But Pepper had known everyone who’d attended it, and she definitely did not recall any 'Petey's being there.
“I do?”
“You were there. You told me. Don't you remember, mommy?”
“But I don't know who Petey is, sweetheart.”
“Yes, you do! He lives with uncle Happy and aunt May!”
“He does?”
“Mommy stop pretending you don't know Petey. I don't like this game. I want Petey!” Morgan was getting upset, eyes watering.
“Okay, Morgan, okay. Come here, sweetie. I'm sorry, it's okay. We'll go look for Petey.” Pepper swept her girl up in her arms, the need to comfort her daughter outweighing her confusion.
-
Pepper takes Morgan to Happy’s and Morgan asks him about ‘Petey’ right away.
“Who?”
“Petey!”
“I don’t know a Petey, kiddo.” His tone is gruff, as it always is, but gentle because it’s Morgan.
“But he lives here!”
“What, you mean one of my neighbors?”
“No! He lives here ! May and Petey needed a place to stay and they stayed here . We had to say bye to May, so where’s Petey now? If he isn’t staying here then he needs help!”
“Is Petey someone May helped?” Pepper asks, thinking maybe it could be someone at the shelter May worked at.
“May and Petey are family! Where is he?”
-
Happy joins their quest and the adults decide to try asking around at the F.E.A.S.T. shelter. It’s not far from Happy’s apartment building, so they walk, Morgan holding both their hands while she walks between them.
Along the way, Morgan shouts before grabbing their hands tighter and taking off running, pulling them along with all her childish might into the café they’d been about to pass. Once inside, she lets go of their hands and scurries up to the counter.
“MJ! MJ! We’re looking for Petey, do you know where he is?”
The girl at the counter is a little startled but can tell how important this is to the kid, so takes it seriously, “Petey? Wait, there was a Peter Parker in here the other day, is that who you mean?” That exchange had been pretty memorable.
“Yes! Is he okay?” Pepper and Happy exchanged a look, latching on to a third party now corroborating something about this strange situation.
“He was weird. I mean he seemed okay, but I think he was sad about something.”
“Where is he?”
“I- I don’t know. He just came in for some coffee.”
“But- but you’re his best friend…”
“What? No, I’m…” MJ looked down at the counter in confusion, having a distinct tip-of-the-tongue feeling but having no clue what it was she’d wanted to say. She reached to fiddle with her necklace, eyebrows knitted in thought.
Morgan looked away from MJ, frustrated and upset. She realized Ned was here too, sitting at the next counter a little deeper into the café and she felt one last burst of hope.
“Ned! Do you know where Petey is?”
The boy looked up from a packet of paper, utterly confused at being addressed by name by some little girl, “Who?”
At that, Morgan Stark burst into tears.
Pepper and Happy were immediately at her side, hands rubbing her shoulders and desperate to comfort her but neither really had any idea how. MJ and Ned drew slightly closer in sympathy but didn’t know what to do to help either.
She bawled and hiccoughed and wailed, “W-why does n-no one remember my big brother?”
Pepper was baffled. She pulled Morgan into her arms, “Morgan, honey, I don’t understand. Your brother? Can you explain this to me?”
“My big brother, Peter Parker. Where is he, mommy? Why does no one know who he is? He needs us, he needs all of us so much now that May is gone. Like I needed everyone when d-daddy went away.”
Confusion was still the prevailing air for all present, but there was no doubt about how serious this was for her and Pepper was determined to support Morgan.
“Okay, honey. We’ll find him. We’re gonna find him and we’ll figure this out, okay? I promise.”
Morgan nodded against her mother’s shoulder, reaching up to wipe the moisture from her eyes and blinking. Then the motion of the tv screen drew her attention. She gasped, “Petey!” and pointed at the news. Everyone turned to look.
It was muted, a clip playing of Spider-man swooping into frame to catch falling pieces of wood and metal in a rapidly deployed web. The caption read SPIDER-MAN SAVES PEDESTRIANS, WORKERS. NO INJURIES IN SCAFFOLDING COLLAPSE.
MJ started saying, “The guy in here the other day was Spider-man?” at the exact same time Ned started saying “You know who Spider-man is?”
Except neither of them finished their full sentence. They got as far as “The guy in here the other d-” and “You know who Spi-” respectively before being interrupted by the bell jingling as someone entered the café.
Peter Parker stopped short as he looked up, the door closing behind him the only movement and the only sound at all as he was unexpectedly met with all of the most important people (no longer) in his life staring right at him. He stared back in shock. He’d expected to see MJ, perhaps Ned, but he had not been mentally or emotionally prepared for Happy or Pepper or Morgan . His eyes began to prickle with tears as he took in the sight and his jaw clenched as he fought them back.
“Um…” Peter started, feeling the need to say something with everyone just staring at him but having no clue what.
“You were the kid at May’s-”
“Petey!” Morgan broke out of Pepper’s hold and ran and jumped at Peter, who effortlessly caught her by sheer reflex as she clung to his torso with arms and legs.
“H-hey, Spider Monkey.” Peter said, using the old nickname out of habit as he started to realize that Morgan knew who he was .
“That’s me!” she looked up at him, chin on his chest, expression turning playfully accusatory, “I’ve been missing you Petey, where have you been?”
“I… You r-remember me?” Peter's lip wobbled and he couldn’t hold back tears any more. Morgan knew him. He’d stayed away for weeks, had finally come by the café thinking he’d tell MJ like he promised. But he'd realized Ned and MJ were better off without him, were happy and safe without him. He’d told himself he’d stay away. But it turned out he couldn’t keep that promise either because here he was.
He thought he’d started to get used to it, but with an armful of Morgan he was suddenly overwhelmed by just how much he missed everyone. He hadn’t had a hug in weeks .
“Of course I remember my big brother. You’re my favorite, Petey. What happened? Why did everyone else forget you?”
Peter couldn’t bring himself to answer yet as he sank to his knees, cradled his sister and sobbed.