Chapter Text
Peter was going to kill Harley. He just knew it was somehow the other boy’s fault that Midtown was touring Stark Industries. His friend? brother? lived in a completely different part of the country, but was constantly finding ways to make Peter’s life difficult.
And Peter knew it was because of Flash. He never should have admitted to Harley how much Flash taunted him about “not really being an intern for SI” because why would Peter know the Avengers? But there was a reason that Peter kept his two lives separate. And as he looked up at the familiar building through the eyes of a Midtown student, he was full of the uncomfortable sensation that he would not be able to do so for much longer. (Again. And he doubted he would get a chance at another do-over.)
—
“Welcome, Midtown! Thank you so much for joining us. We would ask that everyone please surrender their cell phones, as absolutely no recording or messaging of any kind is allowed. We take corporate espionage very seriously at Stark Industries. They will be kept safe, and you can have them at the end of the day.”
Peter was not sure whether to be pleased or distressed to find that Darcy was going to be their tour guide. The woman was basically his older sister at this point, and she often treated him as such. Still, he hoped that she would rein it in while in front of his classmates.
As he got to the front of the line where Darcy was supervising everyone dropping their phones into a state-of-the-art lockbox, he was surprised (but not shocked) when she stopped him from adding his.
“You know you don’t have to do that, Pete,” she said in a low voice. He was last in line, the others having gone ahead to where Bailey, another SI employee from HR, was giving them a lecture on further policies.
“It’s not fair if I don’t.”
“And what do you think your dad will do if he can’t reach you?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Peter was not even fazed at this point to hear Tony referred to as his dad, though he hoped that no one else was hearing this.
“He knows where I am,” Peter hissed back.
“Keep. The phone.” Darcy pushed his phone back into his hand, and Peter sighed, shoving it deep into his pocket. It didn’t look like anyone had noticed their exchange—except Ned and MJ, who were carefully looking-but-not-looking. They had met Darcy before, but thankfully they did not say anything.
Perhaps Peter really could do this.
—
Peter could not do this.
The thing was, a large part of him wanted to put Flash in his place—to prove he had not been lying about working with SI. But it was one thing to show a little bit of proof, and it was another thing entirely to have his badge prompt FRIDAY to declare he had platinum clearance, something that had been explained as reserved for Avengers and affiliated staff.
Then there was the fact that every other employee they ran into was someone familiar with Peter. Some of them merely smiled and nodded knowingly, but others were enthusiastic in ways that Peter would have felt awkward without reciprocating according to his usual standard.
Peter was so tense throughout the entire tour, it was almost a relief when the aliens came.
—
They were sitting in the cafeteria, which was normally one of Peter’s favorite places because he had a great rapport with all of the workers there. Unfortunately, this meant that his classmates once again got more evidence of how integrated Peter was into Stark Industries. At this point, Peter was resigned to it and he was not about to be rude to people he enjoyed spending time with just because he did not want to feel weird in front of his class.
Still, he could not stifle his surprise when Rhodey approached him while they were eating lunch and slid into the seat next to him. Whispers rose up around them. Is that War Machine? And Peter did his best to ignore them.
“Hey, Pete.” Rhodey smiled, but it didn’t meet his eyes.
“Hey, Rhodey.” Peter probably should have used a more formal title if he were going to keep up the farce for his class, but Rhodey looked stressed enough that Peter completely forgot. “What’s going on?”
“There’s a situation. I know you’re technically at school right now, but it’s all hands on deck. We could use your expertise.” Rhodey was speaking in a low voice, but there were many curious eyes on them.
“Of course. Da— Tony has everything I need in the workshop, right?” Peter barely caught himself as he scrambled to collect his lunch tray and make sure that nothing was loose from his bag.
“Of course.” Rhodey clapped his shoulder. “I admit, I was hesitant to have a kid on board, but we really need everyone for this. And they asked for you specifically.” Rhodey redirected his attention to Mr. Harrington. “I’m afraid that I have to borrow your student Mr. Parker here. I’ll be sure to return him in one piece.”
They did not leave time for more than a stuttered reply from Mr. Harrington and Peter giving rushed assurances to MJ and Ned, who were the only ones to hear all of his and Rhodey’s conversation. Once they reached the hallway, their paces quickened; and Rhodey took the time to explain the situation in more detail.
“You know that Dr. Strange and Wong monitor the multiverse, of course?” Rhodey’s voice was casual but Peter felt the weight behind the question. It was not too long ago that Peter had been revealed to the world as Spider-Man. Tony’s PR team did what they could, but Spider-Man had enemies, and Aunt May had paid the price. Peter had begged Stephen to help him, and they nearly tore a hole in the multiverse in the process. Wong fixed it for them… but Stephen nearly had his magic stripped from him, and Peter nearly had his own self wiped from the memories of everyone in the universe.
It was why he lived with Tony and Rhodey now, and would do so until he moved to Massachusetts for MIT in the fall. So yeah, he knew that Stephen and Wong monitored the multiverse. “What happened?” Peter asked with dread.
“A girl appeared. She has the power to travel through the multiverse, but she can’t control it. She was traveling with an alternate version of Strange who tried to kill her and an alien who calls herself the Doctor.” Rhodey paused.
“The Doctor? Like Doctor Who?” Peter asked with disbelief.
“Yes, like Doctor Who. And she looks a lot like the actress they had cast to play her before the Snap.”
“You’re seriously not kidding me.” Peter had actually stopped walking and was staring open-mouthed at Rhodey.
“No, I’m not. Which is why we need you there. Doctor Who has been your nonstop obsession—”
“It’s not an obsession,” Peter muttered.
“—since I met you and as our resident expert… If this person really is the Doctor and not just some pretender who is a fan of the show, if anyone can pick them out? It’s you.”
Peter hummed, getting his focus back under control. “So you don’t want Spider-Man at all then. You really do want me to just be Peter the high school intern.” Peter smiled and winked. “I can do that just fine. Let me figure out where I put my glasses.”
—
The Doctor might have landed herself in more trouble than she had bargained for with this one. All she had wanted to do was help a scared kid who was confronting a monster on her own—which was not out of the ordinary for her, honestly—but the problem was that the kid was in deeper trouble than she could have possibly expected.
When the Doctor went to take America’s hand, she found herself pulled into what she immediately knew wasn’t her universe. And then another. And another. And another.
The worst part was that the Doctor was certain that, given time, she could understand America’s power more, and help her discover how to hone it. But everywhere they went was the monster. Eventually they ran into a sorcerer who was also a doctor, and the three of them banded together.
Still, the Doctor didn’t fully trust him and warned America the same. Which turned out to be for the best, considering he tried to kill them both. Rude.
Landing in yet another universe had the Doctor weary. It had been months. America was a great kid, but she missed her fam. Missed the TARDIS. Missed Yaz especially. She knew that the woman must be frantic. They had only just begun exploring this… whatever it was they had, and now the Doctor was in a parallel universe(s) far away from her.
And of course, when they got there, it was to be confronted by another Dr. Strange. Hopefully this one would not try to kill them.