Chapter Text
Ned slumped into his chair. He was friends with Spiderman. The actual real-life Spiderman. He lifted his hand up. He could still feel every part of that handshake. Like it was written in his DNA. Or, ya'know, his muscle memory. He let his hand fall back down and onto the power button on his keyboard. The Spidey tracker popped up on screen. Still nothing. Well, at least he knew he was still around. He leaned back in his chair.
"What're you working on?" A youthful voice asked.
"I'm not really working on it at the moment. The overall system is functional." He sat up and moved the mouse to a folder, revealing the many social medea apps connected to the program. "I just make a few updates now and then, usually to collect more from social medias whenever they update something."
"Cool."
"Yeah, huh, it's pretty cool I guess." Ned said. He spun in his chair. "Do you wanna see how I-" wait.
In the seat behind him sat a 15 year old Peter Parker. Big curious baggy eyes fixed on Ned's face. He was so small. Was he that small before? Were they just all that small? This was a baby!
"Wh-who?" Ned pointed shakily to a child who looked exactly like Peter. Like Spiderman. But half the size.
"It's me. Peter." He had on a nervous smile like he was giving a presentation. "I think I traveled through time."
Ned paused for a second. "Why do you think you traveled through time?"
"Because I went to bed in the presesnt and woke up in the future." He tilted his head.
Ned sat up straight. "Yeah, no, I mean, what do think was the cause?"
"Oh, yeah, I don't know." He pulled his legs up onto the couch and criss-crossed them. "This morning I woke up outside and it was the future. Looked you up to find where you live." He rubbed the back of his head with an uncomfortable look on his face. "I tried to look myself up, but there was nothing. It's like I don't exist." He ruffled his own hair. "And, I don't mean "don't exist" as in dead, I mean theres no record of me having existed in the first place, Ned."
Ned stared at the kid for a moment. "How do you know my name?"
Peter's eyes widened and his heart sank. "I, I uh. We're-"
"Neh, I'm just kidding," he turned to the screen and closed the spider tracker, "Peter Parker was erased from all records, but don't worry, you still exist." He pulled up a video call and briefly looked back to younger Peter. "Long story."
Peter forced a weak "heh," and relaxed into the couch. He watched the loading symbol spin as his eyelids became heavier. It had been such a long day, and now finally he was with someone he knew and trusted. He met his goal. He leaned back a little more and his stomach growled. He probably should have eaten something at some point. Later. He lay his head on an armrest. The wheel continued to spin. Round, round, round. He closed his eyes. Just a second. He was still awake. He was still...
"Hey, what's up?" Adult Peter answered.
"Hey, man. Have you ever time traveled?" Ned put his hands together like he was asking a hypothetical question.
"No?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "Tried to, once, but I never actually did it."
"Liar." Ned grinned and moved out of the way to gesture to younger Peter.
"What am I looking at?"
Ned looked at the kid knocked out on the couch. He moved the camera down a little so he was in frame. "He was awake just a minute ago." He turned to adult Peter. "He says he doesn't know how he got here. You know any time travelers?"
"Not anymore." Peter touched his chin. "E.V. pull up the data for that cacoon we found." He turned to another screen, which showed an empty spiderweb cocoon.
"Artifical webing with traces of cotton fabric stuck inside. Skin cells matched no known person, but contained chemicals that suggest the cells came from a teenager." The screen showed severeal 3d renders of chemical structures one after another.
"Wait," Ned put up his hand. "He was in a cocoon? You cocoon yourself? Why? Do you do that often?"
"It's, uh, a spider thing, something about prolonged isolation." He lied.
"Also trauma." E.V. corrected.
"Thank you, E.V.." He bit. "Look, I'll come over, don't let him leave."
"You can count on me." Ned ended the call and turned around. "Crap." He sighed looking at a couch with a few blankets on it. Where'd the kid go? Ned jumped up and looked around. Where could he have gone? Suddenly he heard something move in the kitchen. He sprinted over, knocking down a small table on the way.
In the kitchen, young Peter sat on a barstool, spinning and eating a banana. "Hey." He said through a full mouth. "You ok?" He shoved the rest in his mouth as he opened another banana.
Ned straightened up, pretending he hadn't been worried. What could he even expect from a teenage Spiderman? Of course he was fast and slipery. "Nothing," He smiled nervously, "make sure to drink something, too." It was such a strange feeling. This kid was a stranger, but at the same time, Ned felt comfortable with him around. Just like when Spiderman was there the first time. Was it because he trusted Spiderman? Or because they used to know each other? Ned watched on in shock as this 3-apples-tall baby downed a full jug of milk in a single swig. Would it be wrong if he asked this Peter some of the questions real Peter avoided?