Work Text:
Peter looked over to where this universe's Peter and MJ were talking and eventually fell into each other, their foreheads touching. It was fair to say he'd had a lot to process during the past few hours. Sure, it was absolutely amazing that there was a multiverse, that he'd crossed into an actual different universe where magic was real and he'd met not one, but two different versions of himself - which they should really do something about because calling everyone Peter was confusing as hell.
There were also a bunch of villains running around the city, but he didn't really feel as worried about that. Maybe because he'd already faced against two of them in the past. Maybe because they were actually working to help them all this time. Maybe because unlike what he'd been used to, he wasn't doing it alone this time.
All of that should supersede his current emotional turmoil. Was 'current' the right word? Sometimes he felt fine, others like he'd never really been himself after the night he lost Gwen. The fact that he was living through the weirdest experience of his life - and he'd already been bitten by a radioactive spider, the bar was pretty high - and all he could think about was, am I destined to live alone forever? was not sitting well with him.
And then the other Peter, the older one, the one that kind of reminded him of a youth pastor to be honest, was asking him if he had someone. He'd already told them about Gwen, trying to avert younger Peter from going down the same path he did. It seemed like the Peter Parkers of any universe were just destined to lose people they loved no matter what, which was actually cruel to even consider.
What had the Peter Parkers of this world - and any world - ever done to the universe? They didn't ask to get bitten by a spider, they didn't ask to get superpowers and they definitely didn't ask to suddenly have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Uncle Ben had said that with great power, comes great responsibility and he was right. Spider-Man had the power to help the people who needed it, to protect others from having to feel the same kind of pain he had when he'd lost his parents, his uncle... In Peter's case his girlfriend too.
He didn't think love was really in the cards for Spider-Man. It was too complicated and too risky to even think about going back there. But then he was seeing every other version of himself being somewhat happy. He looked at this universe's Peter with his MJ and saw himself years ago with his Gwen. And then he heard the other Peter talking about his MJ and he saw a possible version that could have been him. Maybe in a different life.
Older Peter was telling him not to give up. Peter didn't think he could really just roll with that. Part of him had given up long ago and he didn't know how to just get back to who he used to be. He was trying to do better. Be better. Be a good Spider-Man, a good nephew, a good friend to the scarcely few people he'd surrounded himself with. Be the person Gwen thought he was. It was the least he could do.
But seeing other versions of himself be happy with someone, an MJ in both cases, was really making him wonder. Was he supposed to find an MJ too? Would he have broken up with Gwen had things been different? Was he getting too much into his head? Was he-
"Dude! You're with us?" he was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice. His head snapped up from where he was staring at the counter in front of him to find Peter staring at him. The younger Peter. They really needed to find a way to tell everyone apart.
"Yeah, what's up?" he asked, letting all the other thoughts fade away.
"You, uh, kind of spaced out over there," younger Peter said.
Peter shook his head, trying to dismiss it. They had more important matters at hand than his ongoing existential crisis. "Just processing everything, you know? It's not every day you cross into a different universe and meet other versions of yourself. Totally cool, don't get me wrong," he hurried to add. Because sure, maybe he was internally freaking out about his personal life, but this was the coolest thing that had ever happened to him.
"Oh yeah, I get that," younger Peter agreed with him. "I mean, it doesn't feel as crazy as I thought it would? I guess after the Blip and that whole mess nothing will ever feel too weird, you know?"
"The Blip?" Peter questioned, confused.
"Yeah, don't even ask about it. It's a long story, we should leave it for another time. When the multiverse is not collapsing into itself? Yeah, that sounds good."
Peter let out a little laugh. He was essentially talking to himself, but also wasn't? He didn't know how to explain it. He could recognize parts of himself in both the other Peters, but they were also in different stages of life, had had different experiences. What he was certain about was that they could understand each other. Maybe they were the only people that could understand each other.
Older Peter approached them from the bench he was working on a few feet away, taking off his goggles. Ned and MJ were working on something on the other side of the room, quietly whispering to each other and leaving the room to the three of them. It was a nice gesture. Peter longed for friendships like that. People in his life that knew him - the real him and not just part of who Peter Parker was.
"Dr. Osborn's cure should be ready in a few minutes," he said.
Peter noticed their younger self stiffening up at the mention of his name, but didn't say anything. Not that Peter could blame him, not after what happened. The fact that he'd agreed to that whole plan was just... commendable. The right thing to do. The responsible thing to do. Ben and May were far wiser than any Peter could ever be.
"You're okay?" Older Peter was staring at him inquisitively.
"Okay, you should both stop looking at me like that. I mean up until yesterday the weirdest thing I'd seen was Dr. Connors becoming a literal lizard. Who talked. And I know you have apparently grown up surrounded by superheroes," he said, glancing at younger Peter and turning back to the other one, "but you can't tell me this is just another Thursday for you." Was he lying? Sure. But they didn't really need to get into it right now.
"No, this is crazy, one hundred percent, but this feels different," older Peter said.
Peter snorted. "It does?"
"Yeah, I have a sixth sense for this kind of things," he said with a smirk. Peter didn't really think their whole spidey sense worked like this, but then again danger was subjective, wasn't it?
Peter just shrugged. "It's nothing. It's just weird seeing how things could be."
"You mean... your life?" younger Peter asked, a bit confused, trying to figure out what he meant.
"It's one thing knowing you can't have something because you're Spider-Man and another realizing that you can't because you're the wrong Peter Parker," he said, shrugging once again, trying to move past the subject. There were three Peters in the room, but he was the only one who’d lost Gwen. He was the one who’d made the wrong call back then.
"Peter…" Older Peter was giving him a sympathetic smile. "You’re too young to be thinking like that." And yeah, maybe his late twenties was too young, but the way the other two talked about their MJs screamed soulmates, it was overwhelming.
"I think we all had to grow up faster than normal people," he said. "And that’s fine in the long run because we chose to become Spider-Man knowing what that would bring along. It's just that… Seeing you both have an MJ makes me wonder. Are soulmates really a thing?" There was a question going around in his head for a while now, but he’d been too afraid to ask. He just needed someone to tell him he was wrong. "Did I lose mine or never even found them?"
He didn't like either option. He either had to accept he'd found the one person he was destined to be with and he couldn't save her or he and Gwen were just not supposed to stay together in the first place. And that definitely didn't sit well with him either. He knew what he'd felt back then and he knew it was real. No universe mandate was gonna change that.
"I don't think I really believe in soulmates," older Peter said. "I mean one and only one person you're supposed to be with forever? It sounds kind of constricting. People fall in love and they fall in love again. It doesn't make each time any less important."
It made sense, of course. And deep down Peter knew as much and he wanted to move forward with his life, but it just... It wasn't easy. There'd never been someone... Anyone else he thought he could feel as strong for as he did for Gwen.
"Was there ever anyone else? Other than your MJ?" younger Peter asked him.
"Uhm... Not really, no," older Peter said. "We weren't always together, but we'd known each other for a long time and we managed to work things out in the end. I'm not saying it was easy, Spider-Man brings a lot of risks with him."
"Yeah, that's true. I dated a girl before MJ for like half a second, but then her dad turned out to be a flying supervillain who was trying to steal Mr. Stark's technology and repeatedly tried to kill me, so... It didn't work out," younger Peter said.
Both the others stared at him for a couple of seconds. "That would also qualify as hard, yes," older Peter eventually said.
"We can only hope we get as wise as you when we're your age," Peter said, making younger Peter laugh alongside him as the other rolled his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips. Peter had never really had many close friends and especially after becoming Spider-Man. But these two right here, they were... friends? He'd only known them for a few hours, but they felt more like family.
Peter ran down the street, squeezing through the crowd and apologizing to the people on his way. He was late. Of course he was. It was times like this he considered just swinging to his job every morning and just finding an alley somewhere close to change. Could he really risk being seen though?
It was better he was a little late.
And honestly? It wasn't even his fault. He'd been back to his universe for four hours at best, had slept for like three of them and had to figure out a good enough excuse to explain why he went missing for one whole day and didn't even answer his phone. He was not great at lying. The fact that he'd kept Spider-Man a secret for so long was honestly admirable.
He wasn't exactly paying attention who he was bumping into, trying to not be even more late and think of a lie that wouldn't totally scream I'm lying when he suddenly collided with something and went crashing down on the sidewalk. What good was a sixth sense if it didn't even work when he was exhausted and lost into his head?
"What the hell?" he heard a groan as he turned around, slowly trying to sit up. He was still banged up from yesterday's fight and no quick healing was quick enough to fix him that fast.
He finally raised his head to see who he'd collided with, only to find a guy around his age, picking up his things from the ground and shoving them back inside his backpack.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going, are you okay?" Peter asked, all in one breath as he reached for a phone, handing it back to him.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," the guy said, looking up at him. He had light brown hair with a reddish hue, bright green eyes staring back at him as he took over the phone. "Thanks," he added and started to get up, Peter following. "Are you okay?"
Peter must have stared for a second longer than necessary because the question was left hanging in the air unanswered when it suddenly dawned on him that he should answer and not be creepy, staring at handsome strangers.
"I- uh, yeah! Yeah, yeah, sure, great," he stammered through his response because in the end of the day he was still Peter Parker and Peter Parker was the quiet guy who got flustered when pretty people talked to him.
"Great," the guy said, giving him a little smile in return.
Before Peter could stand there like an awkward idiot a second longer, his phone started buzzing in his pocket and he took it out only to remember that he was running late and he still had no idea how to justify yesterday's absence.
"Shit," he muttered and turned back to the stranger. "I have to run, I'm so sorry again," he called out, already backing away, this time focusing better on his surroundings because he simply couldn't afford crashing into anyone else, no matter how cute they were. He also couldn't afford getting fired. Apparently being a broke genius was also a Peter Parker quality he shared with Peter 1 and Peter 2. The universe really didn't give a shit for them, did it?
"Bye," the guy said with a little wave, making Peter blush and trip over the uneven sidewalk. This. This was why he'd kept being Spider-Man a secret for so long. Because he could shout it from the rooftops and no one would believe that that awkward, clumsy guy was also a superhero in his free time. And non free time. Peter didn't really have any free time.
He answered his phone, making up an excuse as to why he wasn't already there and tried to pick up his step. Family trouble seemed like the best way to go here. It wasn't a complete lie and if he just kept the interdimensional travel and Spidermaning and supervillains and that wizard to himself, maybe he could actually spin it. Sure. He could just say he had a cousin. Very distant cousin. Who needed some help with something. Right. Keeping it vague.
He let out a sigh. This was going to be a disaster. Why would anything in his life go right?
Soon enough he was rushing into the lab, slipping on a coat and trying to act normal. Was he also working on a way to enable traveling in between universes again in the back of his head? Obviously. He'd found two brothers, he wasn't just going to let them go. He was willing to bet Peter 1 would be doing the same.
He started looking through his notes and a few samples, waiting for the inevitable call from his boss who would chew him out and probably stuck him with even more work, but until then he could just pretend. And then he would go over to aunt May's that night and try and convince her that he was alive and fine because she'd made sure to let him know that his phone call that morning wasn't enough after dropping off the face of the Earth for a day. She honestly had a point. And after everything that'd happened... He just really needed to see her and make sure she was okay.
"Peter," he heard his name and looked up to find his boss' assistant hovering by the door. "Jones, the new researcher, is here. Show him the ropes, okay? And you have a lot of explaining to do for yesterday."
"It was a family emergency," Peter hurried to say although he knew she wasn't the one who needed to hear it.
"How big is your family?" she wondered out loud. Okay, maybe Peter had used that excuse a few times before. It was just hard to show up at work sometimes when he'd broken four ribs the night before during patrol.
"So big..." he trailed off awkwardly.
"Right," she said unimpressed. "I'm sending him in."
Peter gave her a tired smile as she disappeared down the hallway. Well, if he didn't lose his job today he was probably set for life. He went back to taking notes when he heard a soft knock on the door.
"Hey, I'm Pet-" he started to say when he raised his head to look at Jones and forgot the rest of his sentence.
The guy he'd crashed into earlier stared back at him, a smile growing on his face. "It's you!" he said, surprised and much more coherent than Peter.
"It is me," he eventually said. Which was definitely a full sentence, so good for him.
"So... I'm guessing you have a name?" the guy asked, still smiling, probably amused by Peter's lack of any kind of grace.
"Uhm, yeah, sorry." Peter tuned back into reality. "Peter Parker, hi, welcome" he said. "You're Jones, right?"
"No need to be formal," he said with a snort as he came closer, sitting on the stool next to him, taking his backpack off. "I'm Michael." Peter nodded, taking a sip from his coffee, buying himself some time before he could say something weird again, when Michael continued, "But nobody really calls me that, just call me MJ."
And so Peter just choked on his coffee.
"You're okay?" Michael - MJ - asked him, worried, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Fine," Peter choked out, still coughing violently.
"Are you sure?" MJ asked him again, not exactly convinced by his feeble attempt to reassure him.
"Yeah," Peter said again in between coughs, trying to calm down. "Great name."
MJ chuckled. "Thanks? Are you just having a day or are you really accident prone?"
Peter was finally able to breathe in properly and smiled too at the question. "I wanna say the first one, but we'll be working together and I fear I may be proven wrong," he said, making him laugh.
Part of him was definitely freaking out, but part of him was also completely calm. He certainly felt more awake than he did a few minutes ago. And sure, he didn't want to assume anything just because of what he'd learned, but then again he'd thought the guy was cute from the second he'd sent him falling to the sidewalk.
"I'm really sorry about earlier by the way," Peter said.
MJ shrugged. "It's fine, no harm done," he dismissed it. "We both got here in one piece."
Peter let out a little laugh, looking back down at his notes in front of him, not really reading anything.
"Right," MJ said, turning back around to the counter in front of them. "So, what are we doing?"
"Right!" Peter's head snapped up. "Yeah, okay, sorry, so..." he started talking, trying to ignore the fond smile MJ had on while listening to him.
Maybe the universe still cared about the Peter Parkers of the world sometimes.