Chapter 7: now I lay as I study a blank wallNotes:
1) I'm sorry I disappeared off the face of the earth for a for a couple of weeks - life became very busy and I went through a bit of a burnout.
2) Honestly pls comment if there are any villains u wanna see! I need a couple of arcs for the year and a bit Peter has until Infinity War.
Also, if there is any IronDad and SpiderSon stuff u wanna see pls comment or any inventions they would make!
3) Enjoy the chapter and leave a kudos and comment!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
He left his lunch tray on the table as he pulled some sheets out of his bag -some English essay he had forgotten to write a conclusion for- before mumbling a greeting to Ned.
He had gone home on the Saturday morning, hugging May and telling her how he and Ned had watched a movie late into the night to excuse his tiredness. He wasn't lying to her about the movie but he needed time to tell her about Spider-Man.
He couldn't drop such a bombshell on her so soon. It would take a lot of explaining and arguing for her to understand that he wouldn't give up Spider-Man, then a lot more arguing with Tony to get him and May to be civil -it was more on May's part but he could understand why because why did a millionaire take a fourteen-year-old to fight the Avengers?- and he wasn't mentally prepared for that conversation.
He hadn't done much on the Saturday, quickly eating his lunch before sleeping until late into the evening, hence why he was completing his work so late. He hadn't patrolled on Sunday, his ribs fiercely protesting whenever he bent down to get something or reached up to find a book on the bookshelf in the living room.
He didn't remember his recovery taking so long but maybe it was because he had sustained much wore injuries. Toomes hadn't aimed to kill him when he had known his identity. He supposed there were repercussions for every action he made, regardless of how it kept him and his family safe.
"Dude, you won't believe how cool Spider-Man was on Homecoming night! He crashed a fucking place to stop Vulture!" Flash exclaimed from a nearby table, showing something on his phone to one of his friends.
"We know Flash, it was all over the news."
"Well nah, but I was on Coney Island and I have close-ups!"
"No way, show." His friend beckoned him closer as Peter turned away, hardly willing to entertain himself with Flash's boasting. He yawned, blinking rapidly to keep his tiredness away as he scribbled down a conclusion and ate his sandwich.
"Hey dorks," Michelle said, sitting next to him and placing her book face down on the table.
"Hi MJ," he replied, punctuating his last sentence before closing his book. It wasn't the best conclusion he had written but it would do for now.
"Are you feeling better now?" She murmured, slinking her hand underneath the table to gently hold his free hand. Neither of them had worked out whether to make their relationship public or to keep it secret in school and reveal it to their families.
He wanted to tell May – keeping secrets wasn't something he was keen on, and since he was revealing his secret identity, it wouldn't be too much to reveal he was In a relationship, would it?
"Yeah, I'm better, just tired."
"You didn't overexert yourself or go on the internship, did you?" Ned asked, pointing his fork at Peter almost accusingly. Not that he could fault him since pre-Thanos, he'd had a bad habit of forcing himself to go on patrol with injuries and sometimes drop by at Ned's to patch himself up. Yes, it was stupid, but he had felt well enough to go on patrol despite the minor pains.
"No, I stayed home and slept for most of it."
"Good. I'd be surprised if you did, you were in a bad state when you came back."
"I could barely move my arms without some pain. I think I'll stay off patrol for a couple more days."
"I mean…did Mr Stark give you your stuff back?"
"I think he might in a couple of days." He raised an eyebrow when his phone buzzed. May was working at FEAST and Happy was unlikely to text him, unless…
He shuffled slightly to get his phone, unlocking his screen only to see a message from Happy.
Not so Happy
The car will be outside at 3. Don't be late.
"Scratch that, it'll be today," he said quietly, well aware that Michelle had seen the text from over his shoulder and showing it to Ned before shoving down the nervous butterflies in his stomach. Tony had organised a conference to announce Spider-Man was going to become a new Avenger but he knew he wasn't ready, even after Thanos and Beck and the multiverse disaster.
The weight of the responsibility of being an Avenger – he wasn't old enough to take the mantle. May would definitely protest against him becoming one with his schoolwork and he had half the mind to agree with her. He couldn't balance school, patrol and being an Avenger, plus Nick Fury would come chasing after him and not to mention Ross and the Accords.
He could stick to being a vigilante with the responsibility of keeping the universe safe. He could deal with that. Shit, he needed to talk to Stephen, didn't he? He would sort out something with the sorcerer after he talked to Tony and sorted out the internship.
He knew Ned and Michelle were wary about him doing too much – Ned had seen him burnout at various points, often choosing to spend weekends lying in bed and barely having the strength to move to his desk and work. Ned covered for him a lot during those times, sometimes sending him notes for research papers or dropping by and playing some videogames with him whenever he lacked motivation to do anything else.
Michelle hadn't known the extent of how much he did until after the Europe trip, bringing the subject up with him a month after his identity had been revealed and questioning him on how he dealt with all the pressure. He had just shrugged, replying that he had adjusted as the years went by. He'd had help from Tony until he died and then May had helped him whenever she had realised he'd needed time off school in the later months after everyone was brought back.
It hadn't stopped her and Ned from worrying when he had told them what had happened during his fight with Vulture.
He tiredly smiled and Ned and Michelle's faces through his phone screen, resisting the urge to yawn as they asked him what had happened. Apparently his phone had cut off soon after Vulture flew through the hole in the wall and he hadn't called back so they had worried for half an hour before he arrived at Ned's house.
"Dude, how are you? What are your injuries like?" Ned asked, hurriedly apologising when Peter winced at how loud he was.
"I'm…sore and pretty tired, but I'm okay," he replied, biting his tongue to stop himself from yawning. He didn't want to seem like he was being rude but his healing factor took a lot out of him when he was recovering from major wounds.
"What actually happened once the call cut off?" Michelle asked, her camera wobbling as she set it up on her desk rather than her bed when they normally called.
"Well…the building collapsed."
"While you were in it?!" Ned and Michelle's voices clashed, shock evident in their voices as he tensed, regretting telling them despite his promise. They had made him promise to tell them about any major injuries and he didn't want to lie to them but he hated making them worry about him. The idea of being Spider-Man and facing criminals every night was worrying enough.
"Yeah, but I managed to get out and I'm fine, okay? I survived and that's what matters." Except he didn't mention how much trauma he had brought upon himself and how he wouldn't take the bus or train for a few months. A 30 minute walk to school wasn't too bad and his winter clothes would keep the chill away for the most part.
"What about the plane?" She asked.
"It wasn't as bad as last time." Mainly because he had been to higher altitudes on a flying doughnut before going to space and a few thousand feet didn't seem as scary when he had been on a completely different planet. "I took out the turbines and landed the plane on the beach." More like crashed, but he wasn't going to point that out when thousands of articles and videos pointed that out. "You saw the fight online so I guess I don't need to explain that to you."
"But you're okay with all of that?" Ned asked.
"Eh, it wasn't too different from last time." A lie, but they didn't need to know the gory details and he wasn't too keen to revisit the memories before the nightmares forced him to.
If he really wanted comfort then he could get it when he saw them at school. He would be okay.
The car ride with Happy wasn't awkward, but it wasn't comfortable either. He hadn't realised how haggard Happy had looked until he met the security guard, only then remembering the crisis he was in for letting Vulture get to the plane after ignoring all of Peter's and Ned's calls warning him about the criminal.
The instant apology he had received when meeting Happy outside of the car was an instant sign that the poor man had been under a lot of stress, let alone the bags under his eyes and his overall tired expression.
"Kid, I really owe you one. I don't know what I would do without this job. I mean before I met Tony-" Happy rambled as he opened the door for Peter, but he cut him off before Happy dug himself into a grave that made anything too awkward.
"Happy, it's okay. I forgive you. Toomes is gone and you haven't lost your job and that's what matters, right?"
"Right. Well, boss wants to meet you upstate."
"Upstate? Like, the compound?"
"Yeah, let's go."
He hadn't visited the Compound as often as he had gone to the tower after Tony had bought it back from whoever he had been selling it to -his excuse had been that it was prime real estate and it would be a new location for all of Stark Industries' staff- and he only visited after the Rogues had been pardoned. Wanda and Vision had lived there for the first six months but had moved to the tower soon after, as had Natasha and Clint whenever they were in New York.
He knew the Compound was used for more storage and occasional residence whenever Tony and Pepper were around, but the tower had soon become his go-to place whenever he was severely injured or needed to meet Tony. Doctor Cho was on standby, or whenever she wasn't around, a medical team who were swamped in NDA's and all sorts of legal agreements that he couldn't remember were also there.
There were a few other practical reasons Tony had kept the tower and the Compound which he couldn't remember because he had asked right after he had been treated for a concussion, but he hoped the events concerning the year and a bit of peace he was meant to have didn't change too much.
Having the internship had been a boost in more ways than he could imagine. His suit upgrades had benefitted him in most cases like when he had developed his spider drone and his taser-webs for stealth missions and when he was fighting serious criminals or needed to disable their tech.
But maybe…maybe Tony wouldn't buy the tower back. It wasn't as if it was crucial and everything had been moved out. He wasn't important enough for Tony to do what he did in the previous timeline and it wasn't as if they had done internship days in the Compound. It was manufactured with the Avengers in mind and they had done science stuff and training there.
He stifled a yawn as his eyes fluttered shut and he lacked the energy to open them. He was still healing and it wouldn't hurt to rest his eyes…
He internally scolded himself for dozing off when the car slowed down, blinking himself awake as Happy checked on him in the mirror.
"Kid, you good?" He asked, turning back in his seat as Peter bit back a yawn.
"Mm? Yeah, I'm fine. Are we there yet?"
"Yeah, take a look." He gestured for Peter to shuffle forward as he switched on the automatic driving AI and he gazed at the building with wonder. He had forgotten how magnificent the Compound was since he hadn't returned after the final battle against Thanos. It had still been under construction after he had come back from Europe and his grief had kept him away for the most part.
The sun gleamed off of the sleek white exterior, verdant trees lining the outside as they passed the Avengers logo on one of the sides.
"They just finished remodelling the whole thing. Pretty impressive, right?"
"Yeah, definitely," he murmured, leaning back so Happy could focus on driving as anxiety bubbled in his stomach.
He hadn't seen Tony in a year. How was he meant to react? Seeing May had been different because her death had been barely 12 hours before he had time travelled; Tony had been dead for longer and he had still been in the middle of grieving. Was in the middle of grieving? Time travel made time frames and tenses confusing.
Still, the sentiment remained. He was meant to keep his distance from Tony at this point in time, the second-hand embarrassment of the awkward car-hug often haunting him right before he went to sleep.
He settled for winging it as Happy drove towards the main building in the Compound, driving past the building with the shooting range and practice rooms. It was a shame that a place with so many facilities had been destroyed in the final battle but hopefully he would be able to prevent that from happening.
They made their way up to the foyer after Happy parked the car, observing as the Quinjet took off and blasted away at speeds much faster than the average commercial plane.
"You don't see that every day," Happy said as Peter turned to him with a half-amazed, half-excited smile on his face. After the chaos that Thanos brought and the depressing aftermath, it was comforting to be back in the past where everything felt right. Well, as right as it could be. There were still issues with the other Avengers, the Accords and the Infinity stones, but he had time to fix that. It was a completely new start.
"Oh, there they are. How was the ride up?" His heart skipped a beat when he heard Tony's voice, fighting back the lump in his throat as his chest swelled with excitement and…he wasn't sure how to describe it. It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice over him and he was in those few seconds of shock that came before the actual reaction.
Tony wore a smart suit and tie and his larger glasses with the orange lenses – an outfit he didn't usually wear unless he was on official business of some sort.
"Good," Happy replied as Tony turned to Peter, checking him over -he felt slightly underdressed in his nerdy t-shirt and thrifted hoodie but forced himself to move on because Tony was alive- before turning back to Happy.
"Give me a minute with the kid."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. I gotta talk to the kid."
"I'll be close behind. How about a loose follow?" Happy nodded. "All right? Boundaries are good."
He swallowed the lump in his throat as Tony moved to stand beside him, clapping him on the shoulder before slowly walking forward, prompting Peter to walk with him.
Processing the fact he was back in the past was one thing, but the overwhelming emotions that came with seeing Tony after grieving for him for so long almost overwhelmed him. Relief, sadness, shock, hope…it was all too much.
"Sorry I took your suit. You had it coming. Actually, it turns out it was...the perfect tough-love moment that you needed. To urge you on, right? Wouldn't you think? Don't you think?" Oh shit, he had forgotten about this part. He didn't find it bothered him though, not when it was his first interaction with Tony since the final battle and the sheer relief that washed over him considering everything seemed normal beat away his nervousness.
"I guess."
"Let's just say it was."
"Mr. Stark, I really-" He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but Tony cut him off before he could have said anything stupid like 'I missed you' when it made no sense because only a few people knew he had time travelled and he wasn't going to tell Tony. Not when the situation would get taken out of his hands because he was a child and the possibility of messing everything up was too daunting for him to consider.
"You screwed the pooch hard, big time. But then you did the right thing. Took the dog to the free clinic, you raised the hybrid puppies..." Tony waved his hand as they continued walking towards a room with two lit screens parallel to each other and a cylindrical panel with the Avengers logo on it. "All right, not my best analogy. I was wrong about you. I think, with a little more mentoring...you could be a real asset to the team."
"To the-? To the team?" Tony let go of his shoulder (he ignored how he already missed the warmth from the billionaire's hand) as he continued walking forwards.
"Yeah. Anyway...there's about 50 reporters behind that door. Real ones, not bloggers." Tony waved his hand and the panel with the Avengers logo split in two to reveal the Iron Spider suit in its scarlet, royal blue and gold glory. "When you're ready...why don't you try that on? And I'll introduce the world to the newest official member of the Avengers: Spider-Man."
His stomach plummeted. He had forgotten one of the most important things: the fact that Tony offered him a place on the Avengers so quickly after he had taken down Vulture and wanted to keep an eye on him and his training in the New Avengers Facility.
He wasn't ready to become an Avenger and have Nick Fury of all the people chasing his tail and Ross on his heels trying to get him to sign the Accords. He knew Tony wouldn't let him fall to Ross but it was a massive risk and he couldn't have that, not when revealing his identity screwed him over in so many ways and having legal requirements to abide to took away the concept of being a vigilante.
He didn't need to go on world missions and deal with HYDRA and the other threats out there when he had enough on his plate in New York. He needed to clean up the mess that Toomes left behind and stay as the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, not world defending Spider-Man who dealt with colossal threats on a weekly basis.
"I…" He chuckled nervously, mentally praising himself for not raising his hand to bite his nails and give away he was about to nervously reject Tony's offer again. As big of a threat as HYDRA was, he wasn't on the level of stopping global threats. The last time he had fought one, he had ended up destroying one of London's landmarks and having his identity revealed. He wasn't too keen on becoming a high priority target to anyone in the near future.
"Yeah, give that a look. After the press conference, Happy will show you to your room...your new quarters. Where's he between? He's next to Vision?"
"Yeah, Vision's not big on doors."
"It's fun."
"Or walls."
"You'll fit right in." He would have snickered at the conversation -after all, he had learned the hard way that Vision didn't like doors or walls- if butterflies weren't fluttering in his stomach again. He turned to face Tony, pausing for a second to take in the fact he was alive and in front of Peter because he couldn't seem to get over it, before replying.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark. But I'm good."
"You're good? Good-? How are you good?" Tony tilted his head in confusion as Peter struggled for words to spell out the logic in his head.
"Well, I mean, I'd rather just stay on the ground for a little while. Friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. Somebody's got to look out for the little guy, right?"
"You're turning me down? You better think about this. Look at that." Tony pointed to the Iron Spider suit and he turned to face it, internally smiling at the nanotech and filing away all the possibilities for the suit in his head. "Look at me." He turned to face Tony, a mix of confusion and disbelief evident on the man's face. "Last chance. Yes or no?"
He didn't hesitate. "No."
"Okay. It's kind of a Springsteen-y, working-class hero vibe that I dig." Tony's eyes scanned the schematics on the screens behind Peter before continuing as he tucked his glasses away into a pocket in his suit. "Happy will take you home."
"Yeah?" Happy confirmed.
"Yeah."
"Um, also, I need to tell Aunt May," he said, trying to get everything about in case Tony didn't respond well. "I can't lie to her, not with how serious Vulture was. I don't want something to happen to me and let her continue believing lies…" He trailed off, memories of past arguments driven by stress about his life as Spider-Man and how dangerous it could become flashing in his mind.
Tony raised an eyebrow in surprise as he nodded, drawing in a breath before replying. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah, I get why you want to tell your aunt. Give me a few days, I'll contact you. We can tell her together. We good?"
"Yeah, yeah, okay." He struggled to process how quickly Tony had agreed as Happy moved closer to Tony, giving the billionaire a nod as indication that he wanted to quickly talk.
"Mind waiting in the car? I need a minute," Happy said, gesturing towards the exit as relief flooded his system at how smoothly everything went despite the subconscious worry that it would come back to bite him later.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark." He offered his hand forward as Tony caught onto the dismissal.
"Yes, Mr. Parker, very well." He shook Peter's hand, clapping him on the shoulder as he turned to go.
"See you around." He jogged down the stairs, half-skipping, half-walking away from Happy and Tony as one more source of stress faded into the past.
"All right, skedaddle there, young buck." He smiled at Tony's words as he left the foyer, thanking Tony one last time before heading towards the car park.
He needed to set up a day to meet Stephen – preferably after Tony gave him back his suit so that May would know about Spider-Man and he would hopefully have some things sorted out. He knew that Stephen wanted to deal with Vision and the Mind stone to prevent Thanos from going after too many people.
The flying doughnut ship would come after Stephen if he still held the Time stone so they needed to do something about that, but he hopefully wouldn't give Thanos the stone to save Tony.
Except…why had he given Thanos the stone in the first place? Obviously, Tony had been on his knees in front of Thanos and about to die from a stab wound, but the sorcerer had declared that he wouldn't save either of them the first time.
Unless it was because Stephen had seen the reality he was brought back in and had known Tony was going to save the universe by snapping his fingers.
If everything failed and they were Blipped away, it was highly likely Tony would bring them back and snap again which Peter couldn't let happen. Tony was too important to too many people to die again. There were other, more powerful beings like Captain Marvel who could use the Infinity stones and survive.
He wouldn't give Stephen the option to sacrifice Tony again. Not this time.
Notes:
A few clarifications - I have mixed the previous timeline with more fanon (everyone moving back into the Tower, Tony and Peter were very close) and this one follows a bit more canon like the Compound.
I'm a massive IronDad fan and will include it but make sure nothing is OOC because it wouldn't make sense otherwise.