Archive of Our Own ^beta

“—All men have the stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they were wealth. But all these stars are silent. You—you alone—will have the stars as no one else has them—

—What are you trying to say?

—In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night… You—only you—will have stars that can laugh!” – The Little Prince

~

Spider-Man was his guide. Spider-Man was his conscience. Spider-Man was his way out of his life and to a life where he could be who he wanted to be whenever he wanted to be without having to suffer the stupid consequences because nobody could follow him into his personal life when they didn’t know who led that life. Spider-Man was the answer. Spider-Man was his pass time. Spider-Man was his best side, as far as he was aware, at least.

Also, Spider-Man was going to make him late. Again.

Any other day, Peter would have been mildly annoyed, but otherwise okay because helping others usually tended to make him feel good enough to outweigh the bad feeling that came with disappointing people by continuously showing up too late to whatever obligations he had as Peter Parker. Maybe he was being ridiculous, actually. Maybe Peter was just so used to seeing those let-down faces that he was ignoring them. Which wasn’t good, but it wasn’t necessarily bad, either.

But this time things just sort of went out of control and he REALLY didn’t want to be late, because being late meant missing out on his first date ever, and not just ANY date, but his date with MJ, which took forever to plan out because he took his sweet time with acknowledging his crush and then in trying to come up with a way to tell her about it without making her run for the hills.

Luckily, MJ didn’t run for the hills. She didn’t run at all. Once Peter gathered the courage to talk to her without Ned around, she actually smiled a little, like she’s been waiting for him to say something already, which was stupid, but also made his heart quicken a little because God, she was unexpected in a way he wasn’t used to anymore with his spider-sense that kept on alerting him to just about everything, whether he wanted to or not.

And now he just ONE foot out the building door and suddenly a huge, swirling black hole of chaos erupted in the sky over the city, pulling everything up. It was like the universe was, for some inexplicable reason, against making Peter’s life easy by causing havoc every single time he wanted to do something for himself. And unfortunately, Peter couldn’t exactly ignore the world-breaking event so he sighed and hid in an alley to take his clothes off and reveal the suit underneath.

When he swung out into the public eye and started pulling people away from danger, Peter pulled out his phone and called MJ. She answered on the second ring. “Peter Parker, I swear, if you’re ANYWHERE near that thing in the sky I’m going to sell all of your Lego sets and comic books in an auction.” Was the first thing she said.

“Hey, MJ. I’m so glad to hear your voice, too.” He said cheerfully. She huffed. “And just so you know, I’m staying as far away from that thing in the sky because unlike Tony Stark, I don’t feel particularly suicidal today.” He attached a web to the back of someone’s shirt and pulled them towards the entrance of a building. The man glanced back at Peter and then ran inside to the safety of the inside. Peter wished he could do the same. “So I’m actually calling to ask for a raincheck on that lunch date.”

MJ snorted. “No dice. I’m holding you on to that, loser.” She said, though there was the tiniest amount of worry in her voice, like she was afraid Peter might actually not make it. “And just so you know, you’re paying. My dad took my wallet this morning – probably gambled some more and didn’t have anything left after he lost practically everything else he owned.” She grumbled.

That, for example, was one thing Spider-Man couldn’t fix. Peter wanted to do something. He wanted to help somehow, but Peter Parker had no influence and Spider-Man couldn’t stop a man from gambling his life away because that was his choice to make, not Spidey’s. Even if it meant taking everything from his family and dooming them all. It sucked, alright? He cared about MJ so much and he had to stand and watch as her life got up in smoke because her father was a jerk who didn’t appreciate anything and who couldn’t quit – or even TRY – doing something that hurt him and everyone else he cared about.

She groaned. “Stop it. I can hear your guilt crackling through the line.” She complained and then there was a slightly muffled sound as she probably adjusted her phone. Peter avoided a flying car and landed on the ground before pulling two little girls out of a motorcycle’s way. Then he shoved them into the nearest building where a confused woman just accepted them and put protective hands on their shoulders. Peter just rambled the whole time, calming both them and himself down. MJ clicked her tongue. “Nervous?”

“’Course not.” Peter replied immediately and hissed in pain when broken shards of glass cut his suit and skin on their way to the portal above. “I’m having the best time of my life. If there were aliens around I bet I would be losing my mind.” He noticed people with cameras – as in proper cameras – standing there, filming the whole thing. “News crews are the worst, did you know that? I bet you did. You just know this kind of stuff. But, I mean, here I am, trying to keep everyone safe and out of harm’s way, and these guys just show up out of nowhere, making my job twice as hard for the ratings.”

“And the money, don’t forget the money.”

Peter picked one of the cameramen and carried them into a store. “Stay here. I mean it.” He pointed at the man, knowing he would get out as soon as Peter was out of his way. So Peter webbed his shoes to the ground. It would at least stall the guy for a while. He focused back on his conversation with MJ. “Maybe they have death insurance. Like, die here – get a free pass to hell with a few benefits instead of having your entire afterlife in a blazing hot place. Maybe they get, like, an icepack or something.”

There was a brief pause on MJ’s end, like she was thinking this over. Peter ducked under a lamppost that got pulled out of the ground and into the air. There was really no use in trying to pull it back down. The people around who could get sucked into the terrifying hole in the sky were a little more desperate to get Peter’s help, so Peter swung towards them, trying to ignore the funny way gravity seemed to shift, making it all feel… different. He wasn’t exactly swinging, anymore, because gravity didn’t pull him back down with the same intensity as usual. Now he was half floating towards his targets.

Twisting in the air to avoid another car, Peter landed as quickly as possible and helped a woman with a baby and a toddler get to safety. “Right this way, ma’am, that’s right. Oh, whoa,” He reached out when the toddler stumbled down and scooped him up, making the kid giggle. “Maybe don’t faceplant on the sidewalk. Don’t you think that’s a great idea, buddy? That’s what I thought.” He added when the toddler booped his nose. “You’re gonna be fine. Stay close to your mom, okay?”

He let the boy down and then gestured towards a fancy-looking shop. The woman glanced from the phone that was still pressed against his ear to the shop and then grabbed the toddler’s hand, thanked Peter with a tight-lipped smile and hurriedly got inside, the toddler waving at Peter over his shoulder.

“Alright, I’m definitely not the person you should be talking to, right now.” MJ said dryly. “Ned’s more into chatting with you when your attention is only half on the conversation. I’m too tired to try and understand whether you’re talking to me, which is weird.” She ignored his protest. “Call Ned. And I’m gonna let you arrive two hours too late for the date. If you’re showing up one minute after that, I’m not gonna be there.”

“MJ, don’t go outside – !” He landed on the side of a building and stared at the screen of his phone when it beeped, indicating the end of the call. Peter groaned. “Great. Okay, Parker, just keep an eye out for the crazy girl who won’t cancel her plans even on the brink of extinction. No problem.” He grumbled and scanned the streets. He wasn’t exactly close to MJ’s apartment, but he was still going to be alert. Then he called Ned quickly and went back to work, pulling civilians out of harm’s way.

Ned answered after the first ring. “Dude!”

“I know.”

“Did you see the – “

“I’m currently swinging under it – “

“My mom’s car got pulled up, like straight up floated into the – “

“I feel like there’s a lesson to be learned here, somewhere – Peter Parker shouldn’t ever make plans because the universe doesn’t like it, or something. Am I crazy for – “

“And I was just walking our neighbor’s dog and suddenly she whined – Mama Bear, they call her – and I looked up and saw that the sky disappeared and there was this crack in the fabric of reality and I thought – well, maybe Thor showed up again, but it wasn’t going away and then Mama Bear started ascending and – “

“Whoa, baby floating! Wait, I’ll just… oh God, I have a baby-shaped balloon, now – “

“Like a hurricane of cats, so I pulled Mama Bear and made a run for it, so… did you just say a baby-shaped balloon?”

“Here you go, sir. No, hey, don’t let go of the web. Maybe tie it to your hand or something. Make sure the baby doesn’t float away.” He was handing over a baby to its father, actually tying the web he caught the baby with to the man’s wrist to make sure the baby doesn’t float away like a balloon from a little child. He didn’t feel like rescuing flying babies, okay? Then he turned around and left to find someone else to help. “Ned, MJ granted me two hours. If I miss the deadline, that’s it.”

His friend let out a long breath and then hummed. “Well, I mean, you’re a little messed up for liking someone who likes to make your life that much harder, don’t you think?” He asked and Peter whined in protest while webbing a bunch of kittens and three mice to a lamppost. Okay, gross. “Don’t worry, she won’t ACTUALLY drop the whole thing. She’s been texting me about what she should do or wear or whether or not to put on makeup for three days now. She’s totally bluffing.”

Okay, that was also weird. Kinda made Peter feel like the end of the world really was coming. Since when did MJ care about what others thought of her? And enough to ask for Ned’s advice, no less. She always acted so nonchalant about everything, but what if deep down she actually was nothing like that? What if she did care? No… what if she cared about what HE thought? Right, that was kind of distracting and he needed to focus on the task at hand.

Spider-Man now, Peter Parker and his existential crisis later.

So one moment he was freaking along with Ned because Peter actually came face to face – mask to mask – with an Avenger, with Tony Stark AKA Iron-Man, and the next he found himself saving a bunch of stupid people who made him actually do something he wasn’t going to do, which was get too close to the giant hole in the sky. Which ended up with Iron-Man getting the people and with Peter passing through the black hole.

“I’m being pulled in, I’m being pulled in!” Peter called alarmingly into his phone, Ned’s voice freaking out, too. “Ned, I don’t know what to do! I CAN’T do anything! My webs can’t get to anything on time. I’m going to die!” He widened his eyes at the realization and this cold feeling in his stomach made him feel about how he wasn’t going to make it to his date before his two hours come to an end, which meant MJ would be upset and would probably pull his body out of the grave, bring him back to life and then murder him all over again with her death-glare.

He could tell his friend was losing it, too, voice shrieking in his ear like he knew he should never do with Peter thanks to his enhanced senses. But right now Peter couldn’t care less because what was going to happen to his life? His friends? His aunt?? He was pretty sure he was shouting something to Ned about going over to Aunt May, to make sure she’d be okay, but he wasn’t sure. He was too busy panicking.

And then the line went dead and Ned’s voice ceased to exist. Peter, who’s been ascending previously, was now feeling the tug of gravity and his eyes widened behind the mask as he noticed that he was no longer rising, but instead falling, plummeting towards the messy street. His hands flailed around as he tried to attach a web to the nearest building but before he could do anything, something slammed into him and Peter stopped falling, instead being carried away in the wind.

Blinking furiously, Peter stared, gawking, at the person who caught him. He expected to see Iron-Man because he was the only Avenger around last time he checked. But what he saw was someone… something else. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to think, really, because the guy was seemingly engulfed in flames and emitted so much warmth, Peter was beginning to sweat. But he wasn’t burning Peter because his hands were somehow not lit on fire.

The moment they landed on top of a building, Peter scrambled away and stumbled out of the stranger’s reach. His shoulders felt tense and he glanced around quickly to try and find Iron-Man with his stupid people dangling from him, but he was nowhere in sight. The flaming person’s fire extinguished and what was left was a blond guy, a little older than Peter, in a blue suit with a symbol on it that Peter didn’t recognize. He was smirking at Peter like they were friends. Like he knew him.

“What the hell?”

He didn’t mean to say it out loud.

Apparently, flaming dude didn’t find it weird. He just shrugged. “Yeah, I know, you’re probably not used to being rescued anymore, huh, Web Head?” He was teasing him. This stranger was teasing Peter like they were old friends, if his tone was anything to go by. Peter was just staring at him blankly. The guy’s smirk dimmed a little. “Are you okay? I mean, I know you’re probably going to never hear the end of it from your parents, but you didn’t die, which is a huge deal, if you ask me. If Sue caught me here alone, she would have probably murdered me herself.”

“Sue?”

That made the guy lose his easy posture and he took a step towards Peter who stumbled back, hand raising uncertainly, just to be sure he could just try and web this guy up. Which wasn’t really going to do much if he could just light himself on fire at will because then the webs would melt, right? But the motion did make the guy halt and he stared at Peter with concern. Enough concern for Peter to almost see Ned through him, like they were best friends. Well, they weren’t. Peter had no idea who this was.

Flame dude frowned. “My sister?” He tried but Peter just shook his head a little. His eyes flitted around again. The city was a mess, just like he remembered it to be before he got sucked into the hole in the sky. But Iron-Man wasn’t around and… and the kittens and mice weren’t there. Where were they? Oh, and the black hole was gone, too, apparently. When did it close? “Okay, you’re starting to freak me out, Pete. What’s wrong with you?”

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait.” Peter’s eyes locked on a building that was definitely not there before. “Where did that come from?” He pointed at it and the guy turned to look, his expression only turning more confused by the second. Then his words registered in Peter’s brain and he stilled. “Wait, hold up, you know who I am?”

“Did you hit your head or something?”

“What the hell…”

Peter shook his head and started pacing, his legs shaking. His phone was gone, probably fell out of his grasp when he passed through the portal. He considered trying to find it to call Ned and find out what was going on but then he remembered that whatever this portal did, it ended the call. What if he couldn’t contact Ned again? Or MJ? Or his aunt? And who the heck was this person who didn’t seem to care about the added, giant building in New York and who looked at Peter like HE was the crazy one?!

“This is a prank, right?” He asked. The guy’s lips twisted and he glanced back at the must-be-fake building before staring at the sky and at Peter with a combination or apprehension and worry. “I mean, it’s gotta be a prank. Or a dream. A terrible dream. Am I in hell? Because if I am, then I take it all back, cameramen and news crews and all of them? They’re not ALL destined to hell, you know? I mean, they probably have a reason to be nosy and annoying, right? Just… I take it all back – just send me to the good place and I’ll be okay.”

The guy stared at him. “Definitely hit your head.”

He tried to reach out to Peter but the boy stumbled back unsteadily, his legs shaking. “Hey hands off, Flame Brain!”

There was a weird expression on the stranger’s face but he still pulled his hand back and stopped advancing. “Wait, you don’t remember me?”

“I don’t KNOW you.” Peter gestured around frantically. “I don’t know you, I don’t know why there’s a new building that popped out in the middle of the city and no one seems to care,” He glared at the offending building in the distance. “And I didn’t hit my head. I did pull a Tony Stark and flew right through the stupid rip in the fabric of reality, thank you for asking. And then Iron-Man disappeared and you showed up and since when is there a human lighter in the city? I could have used you, like, ages ago.”

They stood in front of each other, both of them just staring at one another like they didn’t know what to do or say. Eventually the guy lifted his hands in surrender. “Okay, look. You’re freaked out and I’m not sure what’s going on but I’ll try and explain things the best I can if you don’t call me Human Lighter ever again.”

Peter pursed his lips. “That sounds fair, I guess…” He narrowed his eyes a little. “So what do I call you? Barbeque Man? Match Stick? Fire Hazard?”

“Stop, stop, stop!” He waved his hands in annoyance and there was a spark of actual confusion and hurt in his gaze that made Peter really quiet down. “My name’s Johnny.” He waited but Peter had no idea what he was waiting for. The guy’s eyebrows furrowed further. “Johnny Storm. Human Torch? Nothing?” He pressed.

“Wait, Human Torch is better than Human Lighter and Fire Hazard?” Peter snorted.

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Pick your battles, Spidey.” He warned. Peter just huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, I’m part of the Fantastic Four,” Who? “Who I’m assuming you don’t remember for some reason. And we’re, like, friends. Best friends if you only regard your supernatural friends. And because we’re ignoring your mortal, boring best friends, I’m counting that as best friend.”

For a second Peter just stared at him, feeling thoroughly confused. This was his best friend? From the supernatural friends? What the heck did that even mean?? “What about Ned?”

“Oh, so you remember Ned but not me?”

“Ned’s my best friend. I’ve never met YOU in my life.” Peter objected, feeling more and more annoyed. He didn’t know what he did to piss off the universe, but someone decided he deserved to go through this bullshit and Peter was sick of it already. “Maybe you hit your head? Thought of that? Maybe you just made me up? Maybe you just got your freaky powers, saw me, thought I was so cool and then decided to pretend like I was the crazy one instead of you. Solid plan. Ten out of ten. Only problem is that I’m not crazy, so I’m just gonna go… maybe call someone to take you back to wherever you came from – “

Johnny frowned again. “Okay, no need to joke about how we met, dude.” He cut him off and Peter tilted his head to the side. “God, you’re a piece of work, Stark.”

“Where?” Peter turned his head around to try and spot Iron-Man or Tony Stark because the guy had to still be there. He couldn’t just disappear like that all of a sudden, right? What if he got sucked into the portal, too? What if he was hallucinating all of it and now Iron-Man was suffering from imagining a blond guy who lied about knowing him, too? There was no Iron-Man or billionaire behind Peter, though. He turned back to Johnny, lenses narrowed. “What are you playing at, Johnny Storm? If that even is your actual name?”

Huffing, the guy threw his hands in the air. He looked frustrated. “God, why did I have to save you? I should have let you fall and then your dad would have probably taken this shit instead of me.” Johnny complained.

Peter’s hands balled into fists. “Stop that!” He glared at the guy who gave him an exaggerated look. “That’s the second time you mentioned my parents and it’s not funny, okay?” He pointed at himself. “I can joke about it – you can’t. And now, I’m gonna leave because stranger danger and all that jazz. Should’ve done that from the moment you started blurting out nonsense.” He turned towards the edge of the rooftop and then glanced back at Johnny. “Have you seen Mr. Stark?”

That made the guy to splutter. “’Mr. Stark’? Since when do you call him that? It sounds ridiculous.” Peter tried to object but Johnny just talked over him, effectively making Peter shut up. “Look, I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but if I let you go when you’re clearly not yourself, your dad’s gonna kill me and I don’t feel like being targeted by Iron-man right now.” He paused and Peter’s mind screeched to a halt. “Did you call for backup?” He asked.

“Iron-Man…?” It was the only thing Peter could mumble because this sentence didn’t make sense but it almost sounded like this guy thought Tony Stark was Peter’s father, which was ridiculous. He felt a little lightheaded, actually.

Johnny ignored the whisper. “Oh, my God. You WANT to get in trouble, don’t you? And I’m pretty sure you said yesterday that you were grounded because you burned the curtains in the common room of the tower, so you being here is probably enough trouble. Wow, I wouldn’t wanna be you once your dad gets here.”

“Who – “

“Oh, too late.” Johnny noted and jerked his head in the direction of the sound of a familiar whine. Peter turned around and saw Iron-Man flying towards them. He looked like he was just showing up to the scene, which made no sense but apparently nothing made sense today. Peter just had to understand how to fix everything and then find MJ and apologize for wasting so much time on arguing with a burning lunatic. “Hey, Tony! I found him. Saved him. No need to thank me.”

Peter opened his mouth to protest and claim that he was going to be fine but then Iron-Man landed right next to Johnny, which seemed to surprise the other guy more than it surprised Peter. The faceplate of his mask lifted to reveal Tony Stark and Peter gawked. Earlier he didn’t really have the time to fanboy, but now he was standing in front of Tony Freaking Stark! That was amazing!

Only the man had this weird expression on his face, like he was trying to swallow something sour. “That’s not Peter.” He said and Peter widened his eyes, a little offended.

“Sorry, what?” Peter demanded and Johnny looked from Peter to the man in the tin can, suddenly looking a lot more cautious. He seemed to trust what Mr. Stark had to say and the man… well, he seemed to know who Johnny was even though Peter’s never heard of him. “I AM Peter. How do you know who I am, by the way? I don’t think we ever had a conversation before today.” He gasped. “Have you been stalking me? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure that’s not cool. Not cool at all.”

“Tony.” Johnny said urgently, widening his eyes at Mr. Stark.

The man sighed and ran a metal-cladded hand down his face tiredly. “He’s from an alternate universe.” He said and Peter snickered before he realized the guy was dead serious. And Johnny seemed to believe him. Peter blanched. “That portal in the sky? Yeah, I analyzed it and it definitely led to a different universe.” He turned from Johnny – who looked like he was finally understanding things a lot better – to Peter, who took a step back and nearly fell off the rooftop. “Did you happen to go through the portal?”

Peter nodded numbly. “An alternate universe? The multiverse is real?”

“You don’t know about it?” Johnny asked, sounding almost amused. He seemed to relax now that he knew why Peter was acting to strange. Peter’s eyes flitted from him to the offending building in the horizon and gulped.

“B-but that’s crazy! I can’t be in another universe!” He looked from the man to Johnny and back over and over again. They didn’t seem to understand how distressed he was. “Y-you have to send me back. My aunt is gonna lose her mind. I have to get back to her before she completely freaks out! And-and MJ’s gonna kill me for missing my two hours. And Ned is probably trying to call me but if I’m in a different universe his calls are never gonna make it, which sucks because he’s gonna be clueless as to what happened and – “

“No, no, this has to still be Peter.” Johnny cut him off and pointed at him, though his eyes were on the pained expression on Mr. Stark’s face who didn’t take his eyes off Peter, like he was hurt by something. “No one rambled as much as he does. I don’t care if he’s from a different universe – he’s still Peter Stark.”

Pause, rewind, play again. “Okay, now I KNOW I died. See, there is no universe in which I’m related to Tony Stark, okay? This just makes less and less sense the longer I’m here. So I’m just gonna go find my aunt and – “ He bit his lip and tried to imagine showing up at May’s house only for her to not recognize him. “A-are you sure this is a different universe and not just, like, a weird hallucination?” They nodded slowly and Peter decided it wasn’t worth it and pulled his mask off his face. They didn’t look surprised to see it was him. “Okay. Okay, my name IS Peter. But my last name is Parker. Not-not-not Stark.”

The man frowned a little and then pointed at Avengers Tower. “We need to run some tests, kid.” He said and Peter wasn’t sure whether he could even argue with him, so he just nodded dumbly. Then Mr. Stark turned to Johnny who still looked at Peter like he was seeing a ghost. “You, try and find Peter – our Peter. And when you find him tell him he’s in so much trouble for sneaking out, he’s never gonna see the light of day again until he’s at least twenty-five.”

Johnny saluted and flames leaked over his entire body again. Peter gasped a little and the guy smirked. “Will do. But I think I’m gonna let you deal with the whole punishment thing. I’m more into trying to make him react to how weird his counterpart is.” He winked and flew away before Peter could protest. “HEY SPIDEY!” Johnny shouted, cupping both hands over his mouth as he scanned the streets below. “HERE, ARACHNID BOY! PST, PST, PST!”

“Is he always like this?” Peter asked, staring at the weird sight that was Johnny Storm.

Mr. Stark sniffed. “You know, I’m pretty sure my kid’s weirder.” His faceplate fell back into place and he activated his repulsor to fly back up. “Stick to me, kid. Let’s go.”

He felt a little like an animal in a zoo exhibit, being watched by everyone. Mr. Stark took him to a back alley where Peter found a backpack webbed to a wall behind a dumpster and told Peter to change his clothes. For a moment Mr. Stark just stayed there and expected Peter to change WHILE he was there, but then he coughed and seemed to realize that Peter didn’t actually know him nor did he feel safe enough around the guy, even if he was his hero.

Once Peter changed his clothes – which weren’t really much different than the ones he had back home (he had the same shirt. He loved it) – Peter and Tony both went to Avengers Tower and got into the lobby. And from that moment on, Peter felt like all of the eyes were on him. Not on Mr. Stark – though he received enough stares, too – but on Peter. Right, because he was related to that man. According to Mr. Stark, in this universe Peter was his son, which was weird but okay. So Peter’s face was probably famous, which meant eyes automatically flew towards him.

Luckily, they quickly took an elevator to a different floor and Peter ducked his head and kept it down to avoid everyone else. Though he did chance a few glances around to see the inside of the tower. He’s never been inside Avengers Tower before but he always wanted to. Ever since he was a kid he adored Tony Stark’s work. Not as Iron-Man – though that was cool, too – but as Tony Stark, the mechanic. He was the smartest person Peter’s ever heard of and his work was incredible. Especially after he gave up making weapons.

So the moment Peter got his powers and donned the persona of Spider-Man, he always kept an eye out to see if an Avenger – preferably Mr. Stark – came to talk to him. He didn’t do anything too big and he kept mostly to himself, but he still liked the idea of getting noticed by the Avengers. They were amazing and awesome and his heroes (everyone’s heroes). How could he not want them to notice him?

But no one ever approached him. The best thing he got was this Nick Fury guy who showed up out of the shadows, just lurking there like a pedophile or something, and claimed he was from SHIELD and that he had questions and needed Peter to go with him. Peter was so freaked out that he webbed him to the ground and swung away. The guy never tried to contact him again.

And now Peter was in a different universe, walking casually next to Tony Stark in Avengers Tower in a world that looked at him and saw the billionaire’s son. That was crazy, alright. He was pretty sure his actual body was in a dark alley, hidden from sight and with a drug in his body, making him dream about all of this after a fight he must have lost because there was just no way any of this was actually REAL. No way.

The elevator took them to the floor where Mr. Stark the medbay was and they got off and walked between the busy nurses and doctors, all of them glancing over at them but not stopping to chat after seeing that they were both mostly alright. Peter could still feel a faint itch where the glass shards earlier grazed him, but it was healing alright. Soon he probably won’t feel a thing.

Weaving through the people and room, Mr. Stark took Peter into a room with a white bed. On the door was his name, a spider drawn inside the P. He stared at it for a moment and then took in the inside of the room. Apart from the bed, the place didn’t look much like a hospital room. The walls were a shade of blue that Peter really liked and there was even a carpet on the floor. A closet in the corner was half open, revealing clothes that fit his style (MJ would have mocked him for having no style, at this point) and there was a box on a nightstand next to the bed, though Peter had no idea what was inside.

On a hospital chair, sitting and staring at the screen of a tablet, was Pepper Potts. Peter’s mouth fell open and he gasped a little, which alerted the woman. She looked up, noted Mr. Stark’s presence and then her eyes trailed over to Peter. She dropped the tablet on the chair as she stood up and slowly walked towards him, eyes looking worried and hesitant.

“You’re…” She bit her lip and glanced at Mr. Stark who shook his head. Ms. Potts sighed and smiled sadly at Peter. “You look just like my son.”

What was he supposed to say in response to that? “Well, you don’t look anything like my mom.” He replied automatically and then cringed. That was a little blunt, wasn’t it? “Um… sorry?” He chanced a peek back at Mr. Stark but the man didn’t look like he bothered Peter’s words. Ms. Potts’ smile widened. “Sorry. I-I never… I never met you before.” He shrugged. “I’m half convinced this is just my mind playing tricks of me and I’m actually dying.”

She brought her hand up, as if to touch his face. Peter didn’t move. He wasn’t sure how to act around these people but he could still recognize the concern in their gazes when they looked at him. Mr. Stark sent Johnny to look for his actual son but there was nothing, yet. They were still looking. So when they looked at Peter, he was the closest thing to their son they had right now. Maybe he didn’t know them, but they knew a version of himself. If he could help them feel better, he would.

So when Ms. Potts saw Peter didn’t pull away, she gently brushed her fingers across his cheek and then her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, I heard the distress signal from Pete going off and I just panicked and then your dad told me you weren’t really you and…” She shook her head. “You must be so confused by all of this, honey.”

Peter opened and closed his mouth a few times and eventually shrugged. “I-I guess? Yeah, a little bit.” He relented and let her lead him to the bed. Mr. Stark kept on standing even after Ms. Potts and Peter sat on the edge of the bed. “I, uh, I’m sorry I’m not him. But if you need to go out there and look for him – your son, I mean – then just go. I mean, I’ll be fine.”

The couple looked at each other and then Mr. Stark snorted. “Yeah, no.” He said and Ms. Potts nodded. “You might not be our Peter, but you’re a Peter and we’re not leaving you alone to fare for yourself in an unknown world.” Mr. Stark waved his hand dismissively. “Besides, the kid’s been through some shit – “

“Tony!”

“And I’m sure he’s fine. He can take care of himself. Can’t you?” He asked with a smirk and Peter squirmed next to Ms. Potts. He tried to imagine himself just accidentally running into another version of himself and shuddered. That would be so confusing. He was actually lucky Johnny caught him instead of his counterpart from this universe, as confusing as Johnny was. “And don’t worry. We’ll figure out a way to send you back home to your family in no time.”

Ms. Potts pursed her lips. “But you can’t work tonight, Tony. Remember? The gala?” She seemed to try and stare into his soul. “You promised you’d be there.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, Peter did, too.” She stared out the window longingly, probably thinking about her actual child, who wasn’t Peter. Currently Peter felt almost like an imposter, trying to act like someone he wasn’t.

He blinked. “They’re dead, by the way.” He noted and the two adults turned to look at him. There was a flicker of fear in their eyes, like he just told them their friends were dead. He backtracked quickly. “Not-not someone from this universe! I meant my parents. In my universe.” He gulped. “They, uh, died when I was little. I live with my aunt since my uncle, uh… died, too.” He frowned. “I don’t have the best track record of being related to people who stay alive for long.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, honey.” Ms. Potts said, putting her hand on top of his. He stared at her a little, feeling awestruck. This was surreal. It was all so surreal. Then the three of them turned to look at the door when there was a familiar knock on it, like the music of the Universal logo. Peter perked up and Ms. Potts smiled. “You know Ned?”

“He’s my best friend in my universe.” Peter confirmed and got up to open the door before he remembered to look at Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts to see if they were okay with him letting his friend in.

“Talk to your friends, kid.” Mr. Stark nodded at the door. “They’ve been calling me for ages about you. Well, about the other Peter. Maybe explain that to them.” He helped Ms. Potts up and the two walked towards the door, passing by Peter. “We’re going to the penthouse. Just call us if you need anything, or tell FRIDAY to call us. I’m gonna get a doctor to check on you in a while, make sure you’re alright. Got it?”

Peter nodded and the moment Mr. Stark opened the door, Ned and MJ burst into the room and looked at the bed before their eyes locked on Peter, who stood to the side, feeling both excited and awkward. Those were his friends. But they also… weren’t his friends. Yet when they flung themselves at him – ignoring the click of the door when Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts got out – Peter hugged them right back, not caring for a second about the differences between the person they knew and the person he actually was.

“I TOLD you it was a bad idea – “

“What were you thinking – “

“You could have DIED! Man, I would have let you – “

“For a genius kid, you sure are pretty stupid sometimes, loser – “

“There was this dog and it barked at me but I had to move past because I needed to get here because Flash livestreamed you getting sucked into the sky and, I mean, you had to come back, and then you’d end up in the medbay like always so – “

“I’m starting to side with your parents. As overbearing as they might be, at least they somehow end up each day with you alive. And I didn’t know how hard this task would be until I saw you flinging yourself INTO a black hole, you idiot – “

“And then aliens would probably dance around and Jack Black would become the new king of the earth and rule us all. We’ll learn Kung Fu and train every day – “

Peter and MJ both untangled themselves from the hug to stare at Ned who sheepishly shut his mouth. MJ shook her head and pointed at Ned while looking at Peter with a dry expression. “This is your fault. I only stand all of this nonsense because of you.” She declared and Ned squawked in protest. “Your. Fault.” She stabbed Peter in the chest and then narrowed her eyes a little, her eyes taking him in. “Did you get hurt?”

He looked down at himself, as if to make sure. “Uh, no.”

“Good.” And then she was suddenly leaning in to kiss him and Peter widened his eyes and sidestepped her, making her stumble a little. MJ righted herself quickly and narrowed her eyes at him. Peter bit his lip nervously and started twisting his fingers when both of them just looked at him like he fell from the sky right before their eyes. “Okay, you’re not fine. What’s wrong with you?”

His mind was racing. He thought back to his MJ. She wouldn’t have tried to kiss him. She and him were still too distant for that. They didn’t even have their first date yet because reality itself decided to intervene and pull Peter away from her. God, what if he was going to get stuck here and he would never see MJ again? What if he never saw Ned again? Or Aunt May?? Heck, he was even willing to want to see Flash if it meant going back home.

This was like a reality check. The universe had to remind Peter that he didn’t belong here by sending him an MJ that was clearly closer to him than his MJ was. Well, it did kind of suck to think that whoever his counterpart was – he was already clearly dating MJ. They were at least past the first date. Was Peter really this slow? Ugh, this wasn’t fair. All he wanted to do was start the day over and try not to get pulled away from his plans and friends and family, okay? Was that too much to ask?

“I’m not Peter Stark.” Peter said. Ned and MJ looked at each other and then at him before Ned took a step back, eyes wide. MJ just narrowed her eyes even more. “I’m-I’m from an alternate universe, apparently.” He shrugged helplessly and Ned’s eyes almost bugged out. He looked excited. “I’m sorry. I should have started with that. It’s just… you’re the first people I’ve seen since getting here that I actually know.”

Ned opened his mouth but MJ cut him to it. “So who are you, then?”

“Peter Parker.” He turned to Ned who bounced in his place enthusiastically, eyes gleaming. “Did you say Flash caught that other Peter passing through that portal??” He asked.

The boy nodded. “Yeah, it was crazy!”

Ignoring MJ’s suspicion, Peter winced. “Okay, so… that means that he’s probably in my universe.” He said thoughtfully. MJ and Ned looked concerned. “No, don’t worry. He’s probably fine. I mean, Mr. Stark was there so maybe he found him. He’s gonna be okay. Hopefully.” He saw the strange looks on their faces at his mention of Tony Stark and chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, funny story, I’m not… Tony Stark’s son? Or Pepper Potts. Just met the guy today for the first time.”

For a moment they were both quiet, just staring at Peter, and then Ned beamed. “So you’re a different Peter?” Peter nodded. “And we’re still best friends??” He nodded again. “That’s so cool! Do you still go to Midtown? Do we hang out all the time? I mean, when you’re not Spider-Man. Because then I just let you do your thing and – “

“Actually, we talk over the phone when I’m in the suit.” Peter said.

Ned’s expression lit up. “Really??? Here I let you be because you have this whole group of superhero friends you like to hang out with. We met. It was fine.” He looked like he was trying not to geek out. Peter quirked an eyebrow. “Wait, you don’t know them here?” Peter shrugged and mentioned meeting Johnny Storm for the first time that day. Ned gawked. “But he’s, like, the first person you befriended as Spider-Man! And he found out about who you were before everyone else! Dude!! And what about Miss Marvel? And Nova? And Iron Fist? And – “

“Ned, stop overwhelming him.” MJ commented.

Peter turned to look at her when she just stared at him, looking thoughtful. He twitched. “So the thing is… we had this first date planned out today, right?” He said hesitantly. Her eyes glinted and she hummed. “But then the sky opened up and tried to swallow the city so I HAD to help before people got sucked into it and MJ – my MJ – said I had two hours to get to her but obviously I’m not gonna make it in time.” He scratched the back of his neck a little. “Parker Luck strikes again.”

His friends looked at each other. “Peter Luck.” They said together. He scrunched up his nose.

Apparently, because Peter Stark wasn’t around to parade in the gala, Ms. Potts made Peter go instead. Which was ridiculous because he’s never done anything like this. She promised he would be fine and she let MJ tag along because apparently she was used to the other Peter asking her to accompany him to make those events less boring and she didn’t mind trying to help him act like his counterpart would. Which meant that every time he said something that sounded unlike their Peter, MJ stepped on him. And she had heels, so it wasn’t the most pleasant experience.

Another person that Peter recognized at the event was Johnny Storm. He was standing next to a blond woman and… her much older husband? Peter had no idea who they were but he assumed the woman was that Sue Johnny’s mentioned – his sister. And when Johnny noticed Peter he nodded at him and even though Peter had no idea who this person was, at least he was one of the few who knew Peter wasn’t really Peter.

Obviously, no one could find Peter Stark which led everyone to believe that he ended up in Peter’s universes. It was probably right, but it also meant they had to find a way to switch the two of them back and as much as Peter wanted to figure out a solution right away, Ms. Potts made Mr. Stark and him get dressed and walk down to this gala instead of getting her son back. Maybe Peter used too much confidence in telling her that her son would be okay because Mr. Stark was there in the other universe, aware of Spider-Man being sucked upwards.

As it turns out, attending a gala was seriously one of the most boring things Peter has ever done. He walked around with MJ – which was probably the highlight of the entire evening – and tried to keep up small talk with people who knew him but that he didn’t know. Everyone was so boring, and even though Peter could keep up with the science talk – which impressed Mr. Stark once he remembered Peter wasn’t actually his son but a random kid from Queens – Peter just wanted to get out of there and ignore everyone.

And then his spider-sense started tingling lightly in the back of his neck, like a warning about something, something, something. He didn’t know what and he knew nothing bad was going to happen just yet because it wasn’t strong enough or sharp enough. But his senses wanted him to stay on high alert, so he did. When MJ noticed his eyes flitting around, he told her to keep an eye out for anything suspicious so she sighed and stopped walking, making Peter halt, too.

“I know what’s going on.” She announced, sounding a little tired. When Peter just cocked his head at her, she shook her head. “You – I mean, Peter… He always had a bad feeling about someone who never did anything. One of the guests at these formal events.”

“Who?”

He looked around quickly but then MJ just pointed him in the right direction and his breath caught in his throat. He hasn’t seen this face for years now. Not since he was eight. Even so, he could never forget the light hair and quirky grin or the bright eyes that once seemed so warm until they turned cold as ice. He felt all of the color draining from his face and leaned on MJ for support. She furrowed her brows at him and led him toward a nearby table, giving him this look, like she wasn’t going to just let him keep whatever he knew to himself.

He tried to talk but his tongue was dead in his mouth, just sitting there and his thoughts were too wild for him to control. How could he talk about it? How could he bring it up after so many years?? How could he have been brought to a world where this person was still around him?! He thought he’d never have to see him again! He thought he’d never have to feel this helpless again because he was freaking Spider-Man! He had superpowers!

At some point Johnny must have noticed something was wrong because he sat down on Peter’s other side, looking concerned. Peter was vaguely aware of MJ and Johnny talking about him right in front of him, but he wasn’t really listening. He couldn’t concentrate. All he could do was follow the man walking around the room in his suit and tie and this little, entitles smirk. He felt sick for his stomach. What has he done to this world’s Peter? What has he done to others in this universe??

He leaned his elbows on the table and buried his face in both hands, his eyes closing. Both MJ and Johnny turned to look at him by the tingly feeling in the back of his head. Peter sighed and looked at them. This universe’s Peter wasn’t here. He was. And if something was happening to him and nobody knew about it, then the least Peter could do was to… tell someone, right? He was tempted to just let it go because it was a different world and maybe here things were different. Maybe the man wasn’t bad here. But his spider-sense insisted that it wasn’t the case.

So he relented.

“When I was little in my universe I lived with my aunt and uncle because my parents died,” He said and looked up to see the attention of both teens on him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and then let his eyes focus on the man on the other side of the hall, to make sure he wasn’t doing anything wrong. “And sometimes they were busy so they needed to leave me alone. They got this babysitter to look after me – he was a high schooler and he was really nice to all of us. May and Ben absolutely loved him and I had fun with him, too.” He swallowed. “Until he insisted we had to play his kind of games, too.”

He tried to explain what that meant but nothing came out and he watched as MJ realized what he meant by that first. Her eyes widened and she snapped her head in the man’s direction before she looked back at Johnny whose expression remained confused for a few more seconds before he gasped and smoke seemed to sip out of him. When it looked like he was going to get up and punch the guy in the face – or maybe burn him alive – Peter grabbed his hand and made him sit back down.

“He’s name’s Skip.” Peter said. “And as much as I’d love to see you beating him up right now, we don’t know if he actually did something here. It’s just a feeling.” He insisted.

MJ looked down at her hands. “A-actually… it, uh, it makes sense.” She said and when Peter gave her a distressed look, she shook her head quickly. “He didn’t hurt me, I swear. But the first time you – “ She exhaled slowly. “Peter and I met him, I left for a moment to get something to eat and then I came back and they were both gone until Peter came out of the bathroom and said he wasn’t feeling well and wanted to leave early.” She turned pale. “He looked sick so I never even questioned it.”

There was definitely a spark in Johnny’s eyes. A dangerous one that Peter was wary of. He watched as the guy glared at Skip from his seat for a moment and then he turned his eyes to Peter, looking desperate. “Come on, I’m just gonna burn his hair, or something. Nothing big. Just humiliate him and then tell Tony about it.” He grumbled when Peter just levelled him with a flat look. “You’re no fun.”

“Hey, if anyone gets to take revenge on him, that’s me.” Peter said and then sent one more look towards Skip only to find the guy looking right back at him. He swore he could feel every single cell in his body shuddering at the look in the blue eyes that were trained on him. He quickly looked away, his cheeks burning up. “But I don’t think I can do it.”

“You have superpowers!”

Peter shook his head. “I can’t do it.” He got up and looked around. “Mr. Stark’s probably around here somewhere. I just need to find him or Ms. Potts and tell them to deal with it. I don’t want this creep to be here when your Peter gets back.” He got up and left before they could protest, weaving through the sea of guests. He smiled and nodded at a few of them when they called for him. Peter had no idea how someone like him could ever deal with this much attention from snobby people, but he decided to just let it slide and kept on looking for Mr. Stark or Ms. Potts.

And then his spider-sense alerted him and Peter turned around just in time to see Skip wrapping his arm around his shoulders. Peter tensed immediately and his eyes widened as he tried to look for someone, anyone. Why did he leave the table without Johnny and MJ, again? He was just asking for this, wasn’t he? Well, he was panicking, so he obviously wasn’t thinking clearly.

“Hey, Einstein.” Skip greeted smoothly.

Peter exhaled shakily and flexed his fingers. He could feel the power in his body, letting him know he could stop Skip at any moment if he wanted to. He just didn’t want to make a scene because that would be bad, especially when he wasn’t even the real Peter Stark. He had to keep the attention in the room away from himself. Meaning he couldn’t just dramatically shove Skip away. Which sucked.

A smile was stretched on Skip’s face as he tugged Peter along with him towards God knows where. Peter looked around frantically, trying to spot someone, anyone, that would be able to help him. Save him. “Saw you talking to those little friends of yours. Wanna share with the group?”

“Already did.” Peter snarked back. Skip’s grip tightened and Peter fought the urge to just throw the guy over his shoulder. He had a secret identity in this universe, too. He couldn’t just do something like that and risk the identity of Spider-Man of this universe. He had to play it cool. “What do you want, Skip? I’m feeling kinda ill, so I don’t really have time for whatever it is you’ve got planned for tonight – “

The smile on Skip’s face was as cold as his eyes. Almost calculated – there for the audience and not Peter’s sake. “You know that if you told anyone, I’d just tell your little girlfriend everything, Einstein.” He said and Peter thought about how scared he was to tell the truth to his aunt and uncle back when he was little. In this universe he had a girlfriend. Maybe under any other circumstances he would have been terrified of her knowing about this, but… well… he didn’t even think of that. He just told her. She already knew. That was now an empty threat. “And that would be a shame, wouldn’t it?” He started tugging Peter towards the bathroom. “Come on,”

“Dad!” Peter called when he finally spotted the man chatting with someone not too far away.

Mr. Stark turned at the sound of his voice and locked his eyes with Peter. He looked confused but mumbled something to the man he was with and started marching towards Peter and Skip. The guy hissed at Peter but he just masterfully squirmed out of his grip and ran into Mr. Stark. It was awkward – probably mostly for him – because Peter didn’t really know the man too well, but Mr. Stark just hugged him back, albeit very confused about the entire situation.

Looking from Skip to Peter, Mr. Stark looked more and more suspicious, like he understood that if Peter – despite not being his son – was clinging to him like that, it probably meant something. Honestly, Peter didn’t even mean to stick to him like he did, but his heart was still beating loudly in his chest and this man was supposedly his father. He was going to take the comfort, okay?

“What’s going on, kiddo?” Mr. Stark asked when Peter loosened his hold but didn’t pull back yet. He could see from the corner of his eye the way Skip squirmed in place, expression carefully blank. “Something happened? What’s wrong?” When Peter didn’t say anything, Mr. Stark leaned his head closer to him, allowing his words to be heard only by him. “What is it?”

Peter glanced around and noticed MJ and Johnny watching from their table. They nodded at him so Peter took in a deep breath. Time to help himself. Sort of. “This man? I know him.” He whispered. “You have to kick him out or something. He… I don’t know exactly what he did to your son, but he’s definitely a rapist, Mr. Stark.” He saw the way the man’s eyes widened and then quickly added, “I can’t testify against him but he was definitely going to take me away from here just now. I know him. He’s a bad person.”

The expression on Mr. Stark’s face was filled with anger, but it was cold and controlled. He squeezed Peter’s shoulder and nodded. “I’ve got this.” He gestured with his head towards MJ and Johnny. “You can go back to the tower if you want. I’ll take it from here, kid.” He said and before Peter could get too far away, Mr. Stark spoke up again. “Thanks.”

A smile spread on Peter’s face and he glanced at Skip, taking in his worried features. That was definitely worth it. He hoped Peter Stark wouldn’t be too upset that Peter just sort of saved him from ever having to face this creep. Peter certainly would have been a little annoyed at being saved by someone.

He couldn’t sleep. First, the bed was unfamiliar and it was annoyingly obvious when all he could think about was how much he just wanted to see his aunt right now because he missed her terrible food and her jokes whenever he felt like he was losing his mind or the fact that she didn’t know about Spider-Man, which meant that she was much easier to talk to since Peter didn’t need to talk to her about anything beyond normal teenage stuff.

But he didn’t have Aunt May with him. All he had were Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts and the other Avengers who all gave him those odd looks, like they didn’t know how to act around him, so he just avoided them and went to the room Mr. Stark said belonged to him. To Peter Stark, that is. Not to Peter. Peter didn’t belong here. He didn’t belong with these people, in this place. He belonged back at his apartment with May and on his stupid date with MJ that shouldn’t have been this hard to get to. But it was, because everything in his life was unconventional.

Peter usually had trouble sleeping when he was miserable. Like when his parents died or when Uncle Ben did. When he got his powers and didn’t want to use them or when he messed up and the Green Goblin almost took out, like, forty people who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yeah, that day sucked but luckily Peter managed to take the guy down. Unfortunately, he also couldn’t sleep for a month after that, those yellow eyes haunting his dreams.

So he tossed and turned, trying to somehow fall asleep already. He wanted Aunt May to be there to talk to him about nonsense until everything felt better. Or his parents to come back from the grave and be there with him. Didn’t he deserve something good going for him, after all? Didn’t he??

“FRIDAY?” He asked hesitantly.

And then a robotic woman answered, voice coming from all around him, but soft and quiet. “Peter, would you like to switch to FRIDAY?”

He stared at the ceiling, confused. “Um… who is it now?”

“Karen.” The voice answered, sounding almost amused. When Peter still stared up in confusion, Karen pitched in again. “Are you alright, Peter? Would you like me to switch to FRIDAY?”

Shaking his head hesitantly, Peter blinked upwards, unsure. “Who are… who are you, again?”

He was lucky she was an AI because she obviously couldn’t really judge him. “You and your dad worked together to create me to help you as Spider-Man.” She said plainly and Peter decided he had to do the same back in his universe. An AI to help him? Ned would love this. “How can I be of assistance, Peter?”

“Can you check somehow if there are any… Richard and Mary Parker in New York? Queens, to be exact?” He asked and Karen replied positively before becoming silent for a moment. Then she confirmed that yes, there was a couple with that name. Peter sat up in the bed, his thoughts racing. “What’s the address?”

So instead of trying to sleep, Peter found himself sitting in the hallway of the apartment building of his parents. It was quiet and empty and Peter felt like he was driving himself insane, just sitting there, not sure about what to do. His leg kept on bouncing up and down and he knew his aunt would have told him to stop moving so much already and just DO something.

But he wasn’t sure what to do. On the one hand, he could knock on the front door and tell them who he was and why he just showed up out of nowhere on their doorstep in the middle of the night. On the other hand, he was definitely scared. Because what if they were alive but didn’t want to hear him out or didn’t believe him? What if they did and then Peter had to leave them all over again? Would he really be able to turn his back on them after all this time? After finally meeting them again, even if they weren’t really his parents?

And so, Peter just sat there and stared at the wall before him, curled into a ball on the floor and feeling indecisive and helpless, a bit like a little kid who didn’t know what to do without someone to tell him what the correct answer was. What the right thing to do was. He felt… he felt stupid, actually. And desperate to just forget about his doubts, get up and talk to them. At least see their faces, hear their voices. God, he missed them.

Apparently he’s been there for quite some time because eventually the elevator dinged and out came Mr. Stark along with a girl Peter didn’t recognize and… himself? He stared and then blinked a few times only to realize there were tears in his eyes. He wipe them away quickly and watched as the three walked towards him, the girl lingering behind a little, like she wasn’t a part of their trio.

“Hey, kid.” Mr. Stark greeted.

The other Peter smiled like it all made sense. “Hi.” He waved and then sent the door of the apartment a confused look before just turning back to Peter. “I just came back from your universe.” Peter said. Peter Stark said, that is. Peter stared at him. “I, uh, found a way back. I mean, America can travel between universes so I called her and she took me back. And she can take you back, too!”

He said it all with a smile but Peter couldn’t smile back. He couldn’t. He just sent the door a look and felt like his heart was plummeting. “I don’t…” He gave Mr. Stark a desperate look. “I don’t wanna go.” He pleaded. “Please, I don’t wanna leave them again.” He said, the tears back in his eyes.

Peter Stark looked surprised but Mr. Stark just glanced up at the door, clearly not realizing what it meant, before he bent down in front of Peter, his kneecaps popping loudly. He winced a little but then put his hand on Peter’s shoulder like nothing happened. “Kid, you have your friends back there, and I bet they’re worried sick about where you are right now.” He said. Peter averted his eyes. “And your aunt, right?”

“But my parents are HERE.” He pressed.

“No.” Peter Stark said and Peter turned to look at him, apprehension swirling around in his brain. This kid had it good. He may have looked like him, but he still had his family with him. He had more friends, more family members. He had everything. What could he possibly say that would make Peter relate to him? Apart from a first name, they didn’t share anything. “I just spent hours with a person that looked just like Dad, but he wasn’t the same.” He pointed at the door. “They may look like your parents, but they’re not them. They don’t know you. But there are people back in your world who miss you and want you back.”

He could picture Aunt May crying hysterically, not sure where her nephew was because she didn’t even know he was Spider-Man. He could see Ned frantically looking everywhere to try and find a way to bring Peter back. He could imagine MJ glaring at the seat opposite hers in the restaurant they were going to go to yesterday, mumbling under her breath about two hours and how late Peter was to their date, yet how she was going to wait just to tell him that to his face.

But… his parents.

Peter stared at the open portal and felt like he had to go now unless he wanted to allow his brain time to change its mind and get him to sit back on the floor next to the door. He could feel the smiles of America, Mr. Stark and Peter Stark as he took a cautious step through the portal. That was it. He was going back home. He was going back home without seeing his parents after all.

He closed his eyes and passed. Behind the portal closed. His chance was gone. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.