Chapter Text
They lost.
Over fourteen million possible futures, and they got the one where they lost. Peter is rightly terrified. He can feel his body disintegrating and tries to knit itself back together. He's only sixteen, almost seventeen. Too young for this to be his end. He wants to go home. He wants Ned. He wants Aunt May. He doesn't want to go. There are so many things Peter still wants to do. But the forces tearing him apart are too strong for his body to fix. He loses the battle in the end. There is nothing else he can do but apologize to Mr. Stark. For failing him. For dying in his arms. Peter knows that pain all too well. He hates that he put his mentor through that. Peter looks away. He doesn't want Mr. Stark to see the fear in his eyes as he fades into darkness.
Peter blinks his eyes open, and everything is bright. Too bright. He should have been blinded by the brightness, but, oddly enough, he could see just fine. That was weird.
"Hello?" Peter calls out, but no one answers.
Peter thought he should be confused, or even afraid. But he is not. Like deep inside, he knows he should be here, and everything is normal. All he has with him are the clothes he was wearing before his disastrous space adventure. No cellphone or Spider suit. Since he was all alone and had no way to contact anyone, Peter decided to walk. He walks and walks and walks. He doesn't know how long he's been walking (if the concept of time or distance is even a thing here), but it's long enough for him to notice there are no floors, walls, or ceiling. Just brightness. He could be walking upside down, and he wouldn't know the difference. He just kept walking.
After a while, Peter saw a dot in the distance. Out of curiosity, he walked towards the direction of the dot. As he got closer, Peter realized it was not a dot. It was a person. A tiny person. A kid, playing with toys on the floor.
"Hi," Peter greeted as soon as he was within earshot.
The kid started, surprised to have company. The kid looked up to him and gave a small wave. "Hello," The kid responded shyly.
"Oh," Peter knew this kid. It was him!
Wow! Has Peter been this small? Baby Peter looks about five, maybe six years old. Around the age he lost his parents. Peter wonders if this is that 'life flashing before your eyes' moment people say you experience when you're on the brink of death. Or is this some kind of in-between place before he goes to the great beyond? Maybe he gets to meet his parents and Uncle Ben later! Peter had heard stories of loved ones' spirits visiting you when you're about to die. The thought should bother him, but it honestly doesn't. Whatever negative emotion he felt before arriving in this bright place is gone. As if they never even existed in the first place. Right now, he's curious and excited. This isn't so bad. Maybe Peter has already accepted his fate much sooner than he expected.
Peter sat down next to baby Peter, who, unbothered by his presence, continued playing.
"What are you doing here?" Peter asked.
"Waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
"I dunno."
"How long have you been here?"
"Uh... I dunno."
"Is there anyone else here with you?" Baby Peter pointed to him.
Okay... Peter thought he'd get some cosmic revelation or world-view-altering insights or a profound or even an emotional conversation with his past self. But it seems he's just talking to a normal kid. Well, Peter has nothing better to do and all the time in the world, so he decided he'll just keep the kid company.
"What are you playing with?" Peter asks.
Baby Peter lights up with that question and gladly shows him his toys.
"This is Batman, the bestest dective," Baby Peter shows him a caped crusader with pointy ears on its cowl.
"These are Robins, his sy-kicks," He shows two brightly colored action figures. A small one and a big one.
"Batgirl. She's like Batman, but a girl." Baby Peter helpfully informs him, and Peter internally chuckles at the childish explanations.
The last one has a domino mask and wears a black suit with a blue bird-shaped symbol on its chest. "This is Nightwing. He twirls and stuff."
"Yeah, he's the coolest," Peter says as he picks up the Nightwing action figure. "Because he has... 'No capes!'" Peter chuckles at his own Edna Mode impression.
Baby Peter tilted his head and scrunched up his tiny little button nose in confusion. Adorable!
Oh my Thor, he did NOT just call himself adorable! Peter shakes his head.
"You haven't seen The Incredibles yet?" Baby Peter shakes his head no. "Oh, you're gonna love it!" Peter tells his younger self.
Peter looks around to see if there are more toys in the area, but he couldn't find any.
"Where did you get these?" Peter asks baby Peter.
"Daddy gave them to me!"
Daddy? Is Dad here? Peter searches the area again, but it's just the two of them and the same brightness everywhere. He looks back at the Nightwing toy and the other ones baby Peter is playing with. He tries to think it through, but Peter can confidently say he doesn't know these characters. In fact, he doesn't remember owning these toys. As a small child, he mostly had books, building blocks, and whatever toys Ned owned (they shared all their toys). He remembers Uncle Ben giving him a Captain America plushie. Then when Iron Man came out, it was all Iron Man merch.
"Hey, mister! You didn't tell me your name," Baby Peter tells him.
"Oh," Peter chuckles. "I'm Peter. Peter Parker."
"My name's Peter, too!" Baby Peter joyfully exclaims. "I'm Peter. John. Grayson!"
What?
But... The kid in front of him is him! Peter is sure of it! He takes a good look at the kid, studies all the details. It all checks out. It's really him! That's what Peter looks like when he was at that age.
"D-Do you know how you got here?" Peter asks, afraid of what he might learn. "What were you doing before you got here?"
"Uhm..." Baby Peter squishes his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger as he thinks about what to say. "Daddy was driving me and Uncle Dami to school. Then BAM!" Baby Peter claps his hands loudly. "Then I'm here."
For the first time since arriving in the bright place, that carefree feeling that made him forget all earthly worries disappeared. Peter paled as he felt fear and sadness for the boy before him. If this child is like an alternate version of him... And Peter got here because he died, then that means...
"Fu-Fudge." Peter sighed heavily, his hand covering his mouth.
"Fudge!" Baby Peter giggled as if he knew Peter almost said a bad word. Still carefree and innocent.
Peter chuckled nervously, then took a deep breath to calm himself. "I guess Parkers and Graysons have the same luck, huh?"
Baby Peter nodded seriously as if he understood what Peter meant.
"Well, if you don't mind, I can keep you company," Peter said. "Us Peters have to stick together, right?"
"No," Baby Peter replied. "You're supposed to go first."
"Go? Go where?" Peter asks. He looks around to see if there's any exit, or 'the light' he's supposed to follow.
"Go there." Baby Peter points to, well, multiple random directions with an open hand, fingers splayed and wiggling. Not very helpful.
"Uh... I'm gonna need clearer instructions than that." Peter said. "And who told you about all this?"
Baby Peter shrugs. He stands up and takes the Nightwing action figure from Peter.
"Need a little more time." Baby Peter explains as he turns the toy in his hands. "When you're done, I go too. Then you go back."
Peter only gets more confused; 5-year-old logic doesn't make sense. He was about to ask again when the kid pressed the Nightwing action figure against his chest. And then he was gone.
"Bye bye."