Chapter Text
The first thing Peter remembers is dying.
He was on Titan, fighting some big purple alien dude named Thanos before everything went to hell.
Struggling to stand, Peter winced and silently wined at the pain coursing through his body before his Spider-Sense went off, sending every one of his senses into a panic.
“Quill?” He heard the big blue alien guy say before he watched as he and the strange antenna alien slowly faded into dust and ash. Then it was the Starlord guy and finally, Dr. Strange, who just looked at Tony and said, “It was the only way.” before fading into dust and ash himself.
That’s when his body went haywire, gasping as he looked at his hands, feeling parts of him start to flake off.
“Mr. Stark?” Peter called, feeling like his stomach was simultaneously trying to eat itself and expel whatever breakfast he had left in it. “I don’t feel so good.”
He heard Tony mutter, “You’re okay.” as he stumbled toward his mentor, before feeling his leg, he wasn’t sure which one, fade away, causing him to fall into Tony’s arms.
“I don’t wanna go, please, I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go.” He begged, feeling tears well in his eyes before his other leg faded and he fell back, Tony cradling him as they fell to the harsh floor of the dead planet.
Taking one last look at Tony as he felt the rest of his body fade away, Peter remembered what Tony had told him after the ferry accident.
If anything happens to them, that’s on you. But if anything happens to you, that’s on me.
“I’m sorry,” Peter whispered before he felt his head grow slack as his vision faded to black, the last image of Tony being the look of horror and grief etched on his face.
Peter woke up multiple times. He wasn’t exactly sure how many, he just knew that he woke up in some green, viscous liquid. The first time he woke up, he thrashed around, in blind panic as he tried to figure out what was going on, before fading back into the inky blackness of his mind, and each time a flash of green caused him to wake up again. This cycle repeated until he was finally able to see his surroundings.
He was inside a glass tube, and whatever liquid he was in wasn’t letting him breathe.
It took a couple of tries, but, soon, his muscles started working again, his enhanced strength making quick work of the plexiglass that contained him, allowing him to spill out and take a deep breath, his lungs burning as he gasped, trying to will oxygen into his tired body. It made him glad the spider bite got rid of his asthma, otherwise, he’d probably be dead from an asthma attack right about now.
Looking down at himself, he noticed with some embarrassment that he wasn't in his suit anymore, instead, he wore a white tank top and boxers, both now tinged green from the strange liquid. Looking around again, he seemed to be in a kind of abandoned lab, a newspaper titled "Gotham Gazette" crumpled on one of the desks.
Pushing himself to his feet, he searched in one of the lockers and was surprised to find a pair of jeans and a shirt that would fit him, if a little baggy. Slipping them on, he made his way out of the lab and into the cloudy, rainy streets of what he assumed to be Gotham. But, according to his memory of geography, Gotham wasn't a place anywhere in the world.
If you ever find yourself lost, look for a library. They have computers that you can use to find out the best way to get home. He remembered his Uncle Ben telling him when they were on a road trip one summer.
Nodding to himself, he made his way out of the strange lab, and into the cold, rainy streets of this strange new city.
Staring up at the ornate building, Peter was slightly intimidated, the large, bold letters of Gotham Public Library rested on the edge of the roof’s overhang, with several pillars and columns wrapping around the building, the steps leading up to the entrance even felt imposing.
Making his way inside, he was immediately thankful for the warmth of the Library, shivering as he huddled closer to himself. He hated not being able to thermoregulate properly, but, that was just one of the many things the spider bite had changed about him.
Walking up to the woman behind the desk, he smiled shyly at her. She had fiery orange hair that cascaded down her shoulders, ending in soft curls while framing her face. She wore a pair of dark oval glasses that seemed to magnify her emerald green eyes slightly. Her lips, which were coated with a soft layer of dark red makeup, stretched into a soft smile upon seeing him.
“Hi there!” She greeted cheerily. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Peter nodded before hesitantly asking, “...Do you have any public computers I can use?”
Smiling at him she nodded before motioning behind her. “They’re up those stairs and to the right.” She directed.
Thanking her he made his way up the ornate spiral staircase, finding the group of computers right where she said they would be. Smiling to himself now, he sat at one of the open computers and opened up the search engine. Bing. Where was Google? As far as he knew, Google should still be around.
Shaking his head, he typed in his first search.
Tony Stark.
No Results
Captain America
No Results
Avengers
An old TV Show
Iron Man
Excersize competition
Battle of New York
No Results
Battle of Manhattan
No Results
Manhattan, New York
No Results
Queens, New York
No Results
The more Peter searched, the more panicked he felt, the edges of his vision starting to tinge with green. He hated the color green, as nothing ever good came from that color; Green Goblin, Doctor Connors’ Lizard, Doc Oc’s battle suit, Gene Clenser.
The green kept building in his vision until finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore. Pushing up from the table, he didn’t even flinch at the sound of the chair clattering loudly to the ground, making his way quickly down the steps before brushing past the librarian from earlier, not even hearing her call out to him as he left the Library.
Barbara was usually very intuitive when it came to new guests in the Library. So when she saw a teenage boy walk inside and noticed the streak of white in his hair and the neon green in his eyes, her heart hurt. To see someone so young having to go through death only to be forcefully revived was just unfair.
After directing him to the computers, Barbara looked at her computer and watched what he was searching for. The search terms were strange, especially the last two, as she’d never heard of a Manhattan or a Queens in New York. But, what was most startling to her, as she watched the security monitors under her desk, was the young boy becoming more and more agitated and panicked until he eventually got up and left the Library, his eyes glowing green.
Bat Chat:
Babs: There was a teenager at the Library today. Maybe about fourteen, and it looked like he’d been in the pits recently.
Dick: Shit. Did anything happen?
Babs: It looked like he was having a Pit Episode as he left.
Jason: Did you see where he went?
Babs: It looked like he was headed towards Crime Alley on the street cams.
Jason: I’ll keep an eye out, and see if I can talk to him.
Cass: 😟🧱👀
Jason: I should be fine. I’ll radio in if I need help.
Bruce: Be careful. We don’t know what he’s capable of yet.
Cass: 😲😱
Dick: Jeez, jumpscare, Bruce. Didn’t know you actually checked this chat that often.
Jason: I’ll be fine. I’ll let you know when I find him. Suiting up now.