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#peter parker x sister!reader
rxmqnova · 3 months
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Peter: *panicking* Okay, so I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I've never kissed a girl.
Y/N: I find it hard to believe that you think I’d find that hard to believe.
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waltermis · 5 months
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Stripper
Y/N: Hey mom! Hey dad! Momo, Spidey boy. Have a good day, you guys.
Pepper: We already did that.
Tony: It's 3:30...
Morgan: How are you just waking up?
Y/N: I set my alarm for noon. I must've slept through it. I was working late promoting a new club. Oh, by the way, here is the insurance money.
*hands Pepper a wad of cash all in $1 bills*
Pepper: Thank you...
Peter: A lot of singles in there.
Happy: What exactly do you do at this club?
Y/N *sarcastic*: Oh, right. 'Cause I'm a stripper, Happy. Hehe...
*silence*
Y/N: OH MY GOD! Do you really think I'm a stripper?!
*Pepper drops the wad of cash*
Everybody: No.....
Rhodey: Yes!!
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mrsstruggle · 7 months
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The Lost Child - Epilogue // Teen Wolf x Marvel AU
Summary: Y/N Stark was taken from her family when she was three years old. It's fifteen years later and her family believes she is dead. Then how is she living in Beacon Hills?
Warnings: Language, Mentions of Death/Injury/Grief/Torture, Possible Grammar Mistakes (please let me know if there is anything else)
Pairings: Derek Hale x Reader, Steve Rodgers x Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner x Natasha Romanoff, Vision x Wanda Maximoff
Previous Pairings: Tony Stark x Pepper Potts, Scott McCall x Allison Argent
Words: 5.8k
Note: There is only an epilogue left and that should be posted tomorrow!
Additional Note: While this is a Teen Wolf x Marvel AU, not everything is true to the shows/movies/comics. I had to change things for the story.
One Last Note: Y/N was adopted by Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. I did this so more people can see themselves in this story.
***I do not own Teen Wolf or Marvel or any related characters. This is a work of fanfiction and is meant for entertainment purposes only.***
Masterlist
The Lost Child Masterlist
Previous Chapter
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One Year Later
Y/N hums to the song playing in her car as she drives up to the newly renovated Hale house—technically it's Derek's and her house, but she likes just calling the Hale house. Derek planned on renovating the house himself with a few of the other pack members but he ended up renovating with pack members and the Avengers.
Tony wanted to use his money to pay a team to renovate the house as quickly as possible, but Derek wanted to be a part of the renovation considering it was his house. He also didn't feel comfortable with Tony paying for everything. They ended up compromising by letting Tony pay for half but they had to renovate it themselves.
Derek was surprised the first day Tony showed up with a few more Avengers in tow. He couldn't say he was very pleased seeing them either. He was hoping to renovate the house in peace with the occasional forced conversation between himself and Tony or ordering the pack to do a few things. He was even more surprised when he didn't hate them being there. It was a pretty good way to get to know Y/N's other family.
It was also a good way for Y/N to get to know her Avengers family. Although Tony built another Avenger's headquarters just outside of Beacon Hills to be closer to her, she still had a job she had to go to and they weren't her only family. Tony offered her jobs with the Avengers multiple times but she turned them down every time. He even offered her a position to be a part of the Avengers but she wanted to work on controlling her powers before she potentially used them to save people from aliens or whatever else they fight.
Three times a week Y/N would drive up to the house to help out—well, her version of helping out. She let Derek and Tony handle all electrical and plumbing details while she sat to the side and talked about her day or gossiped about people from work. She also helped Steve, Bucky, and Sam make a few furniture pieces by watching them do all the hard work and then adding any details she wanted on them, such as paint or accessories.
Pack members would also come by to help tear things down or build things up. None of them knew what they were doing but Derek would teach them and everything turned out okay. Stiles was like Y/N and didn't do much to help but he would be there. He and Peter grew closer as Y/N's brothers and found out they actually have a lot in common. It took them a few weeks, but they eventually stopped being passive-aggressive to each other and became friends—but they still bicker like an old married couple.
Once rooms were built, she, Lydia, Kira, Wanda, and Nat would paint the rooms and go out and buy things for them. They've definitely come back from a shopping trip or two with too many things but Derek can't complain when he sees how happy Y/N is.
He also can't complain when his business is thriving so money is not an issue. It wasn't an issue before—thanks to the money he inherited from his family—but now he doesn't think it will ever be an issue. Since he's dating 'the Y/N Stark,' people like to drive out of their way just to bring their cars to Hale Garage in hopes of possibly meeting him or getting a glimpse of Y/N.
He also started restoring old cars and motorcycles and selling them. It started with a few motorcycles someone abandoned in front of the garage and now he's selling vintage cars in big shows all over the state.
He has also somehow gotten a little fandom of his own. He has no idea how because he doesn't have any social media nor does he willingly put himself in the public eye. He can always tell if someone specifically requests for him at the garage if they're doing it because of his relationship with Y/N or if it's just because of him.
If it's because of him, there is typically a nervous client, possible flirting, and giddy giggles and conversations with their friends when they think he can't hear them. Someone even asked him out once but he shot that down very quickly. That client won't be coming back anytime soon—especially since Malia overheard the whole thing and started laughing so hard she almost fell out of her chair.
On days that Y/N wasn't at the Hale house, she liked to spend her time with her other dad—the sheriff. She knows he wishes he could've also contributed to the rebuilding of the house. He just didn't have the means financially nor the time to help. On top of his regular sheriff duties, there was a lot of paperwork and stress that came after the big fight against Kate and the Hunters.
On nights that he worked late, she'd bring him dinner and talk about their days. On nights he wasn't working, he'd go by the loft to have dinner with her, Derek, and Stiles. Tony and Peter would sometimes join but they didn't want to intrude too much. Tony could tell that he made the sheriff a bit uncomfortable due to who he was but he never said anything to him. They got along but they weren't going to be best friends any time soon.
She's spoken to some of the other Avengers, like Clint and Thor, but she doesn't see them very much. She's only met Clint a handful of times because he likes to keep to himself on his farm. The most time she's spent with him was when she and Derek stayed at his farm for a weekend as a little get-to-know-you thing. They had a lot of fun, and they text now and then, but it's nothing too serious.
She also doesn't see Thor much since he spends most of his time on Asgard—she's also pretty sure he avoids her as much as possible. He still blames himself for the night she was 'taken' by Hydra even though she has told him multiple times that it's not his fault—Pepper would've still done what she did whether he took her to bed or not.
As Y/N drives past the new gates at the front of the property, she can see several cars parked outside of the Hale House. She smiles a bit to herself as she realizes what's going on. Pulling in front of the house and getting out of the car, she can hear people on the other side of the house. Walking through the house and to the backyard, she steps back outside to all of her friends and family setting up tables and birthday decorations.
"Spiderboy, lift the right side of the banner a bit while you're up there! It's a bit unev–hey! Happy Birthday!" Stiles awkwardly shouts as he notices her. Everyone turns to Stiles before shouting 'Happy birthday' at the sight of Y/N standing near the backdoor.
"Why are you home so early?" Derek asks, walking up to Y/N and trying to block her from looking at the scene behind him.
"I'm happy to see you too, babe," Y/N playfully rolls her eyes before giving Derek a quick peck on the lips. "My boss let me leave early since it's my birthday. Well, second birthday, but she understood."
"I still don't understand why you didn't just take the day off."
"That's because I used up my vacation days putting in time off for our little vacation in about a week. I'd much rather take time off to spend two weeks naked on the private island we're going to then have a few free hours this morning." She can hear some of the people behind Derek pretending to gag letting her know that they're listening in on their conversation.
She squeals and laughs as Derek bends down and throws her over his shoulder. Walking into the house, Derek lightly slaps her ass as he walks her up to their bedroom. Entering their shared bedroom, he throws her onto the bed before hovering over her and staring lovingly into her eyes.
"Why are you throwing me another birthday party? You already threw me one on my April birthday." Y/N questions. Not only did she gain another family, but she also gained another birthday. She has the birthday she celebrates which marks the day she arrived at the Stilinskis and now the birthday she was with the Avengers.
"I'm not the one who planned this. This is all on Tony. I also think this might be more for them than it is for you since it's the first time they get to celebrate today with you." Derek says. The only thing Derek did was reel Tony in. Tony wanted to throw a massive party and invite as many people as possible but he knew that would be way too much for Y/N. He knew she'd like something at home with her friends and family. "Now, I need you to change out of your work clothes and I'm going to go back downstairs and see why in a group of superhumans and wolves, no one heard you get here."
"You didn't hear me either," She teases.
"That's because I was trying to be a good son-in-law and listen to your dad tell me about a new case he's working on. He wanted my advice."
"Son-in-law?"
"Mhm, now get dressed and try to act surprised when you come back downstairs," He leans down to press a kiss on her cheek before standing and walking toward their bedroom door.
"I'll try!" She yells as he walks out of the room.
Y/N gets up from the bed and walks to her closet. Stripping out of her work clothes, she changes into something a little nicer. Walking out of the closet, she touches up her hair and makeup before walking downstairs toward the party.
Opening the backdoor, her family and friends all turn to her and yell, "Happy Birthday!"
"Oh my god! I had no idea!" She feigns shock.
"Shut up," Lydia rolls her eyes before pulling Y/N into a hug. "Happy Birthday and make sure to open my present first."
One by one Y/N goes around greeting everyone and thanking them for the party. She's not sure whose idea it was but she'll ask Derek after everyone leaves.
"Nice to see you two again. What has it been? A week?" Y/N teases, walking up to Steve and Bucky.
"A week too long," Bucky teases back, pulling her into a hug.
"And you leave in a week too," Steve says, pulling her out of Bucky's arms and into his own.
"Yes, well then we'll have to have another game night before we leave," She smiles up at him. After they got to know each other a bit while working on the house, she and Derek would invite Steve and Bucky over once a week for a game night. Sometimes they don't even play games, sometimes they'll just work on a puzzle and talk.
It's helped her a lot speaking to someone who has also had personal experience with Hydra. While she can't remember every single thing that happened to her there, she sometimes gets dreams—no, nightmares—that seem more like memories.
It's also helped her become a lot closer to them, as well as them becoming closer to Derek. She knows that they sometimes meet up with some of the other wolves to go for runs through the forest. They've even been to a few car shows with him.
"We're holding you to that," Bucky says.
"Well, Uncle Bucky, Uncle Steve, thank you for being here but I've got more people to go around and thank so I will talk with you some more later," Steve and Bucky's smiles get impossibly wider at her calling them her uncles. It's something that started two months ago and they get happier every time she says it.
Walking over to Scott and Liam, she pulls them both into a tight group hug, "Thank you both for being here. I'm sure you have better things to do with your day."
"Not really," Liam groans, pushing Y/N away from him.
"Do you really think Stiles would let us not be here?" Scott asks, pulling away from Y/N.
"I feel so loved," Y/N pushes Scott in a teasing manner. "Now I'm going to talk to some more people and if I look over here that means I need you to rescue me."
She pats them both on the back before moving over to Natasha, Wanda, Bruce, and Sam.
"Happy birthday future falcon," Sam says, pulling Y/N into a hug.
"Future falcon?"
"Yeah, we just need to get you a pair of wings and you can be just like your favorite uncle!"
"I don't think getting me a pair of wings will make me just like Bucky," Y/N teases, smirking at the look of shock on Sam's face.
"You take that back."
"I'm going to pretend that you just said my name instead," Bruce says.
"Even if you were her favorite uncle, why would she want to be like you when she could be like her favorite aunt?" Natasha smirks, pointing to herself.
"And you think that's you?" Wanda asks.
"Who else would it be?"
The smile on Y/N's face never leaves as she watches them bicker back and forth about who's her favorite aunt and uncle. Honestly, she doesn't have a favorite. She's definitely closer to some than others but she could never tell you who she'd consider her favorite.
Natasha has been teaching her some more hand-to-hand combat as well as how to use a gun. She can't say that using a gun is her favorite thing to do—especially since she's been shot several times by them—but it's nice to know if she ever needs to use one as a last resort.
Wanda has been helping her learn how to control her powers—even though Wanda isn't in the most control either. She's also been working with Stiles to awaken the magic within him. He can't do a lot just yet but Wanda thinks he could be really powerful one day.
With Sam, he helped a lot with the renovations and he likes to bring Y/N lunch at work at least twice a week—he even brings Melissa lunch from time to time. He will bring her lunch and they'll talk about what's going on in their lives or get into heated debates about their favorite shows. They once spent her entire lunch arguing about who's the better Winchester brother.
Y/N's probably the least close to Bruce—he's actually closer to Lydia than her. The work that he does really fascinates Lydia and she ended up getting an internship with the Avengers to work with him. Y/N will sometimes tag along when they are working on things outside of things for the Avengers, like hospitals. She doesn't understand everything like they do but it's nice to at least spend time with them.
"Right Y/N?" Sam's voice pulls her out of her head.
"Um...right?" Y/N looks between them with a confused look on her face.
"Were you even listening?" Natasha asks.
"Um, what's that? I think someone's calling for me." Y/N turns around and quickly walks away from them before they can say anything.
"Y/N, will you tell Stiles that there is no such thing as mermaids?!" Y/N looks over to where Peter is calling for her. He's standing next to Stiles while Derek is sitting on a wooden table next to them with his feet propped up on a chair and an annoyed look on his face.
"Y/N, will you please tell Spideyboy here that mermaids exist?! If werewolves and aliens exist, then so do mermaids!" Stiles yells.
Y/N walks over to them and sits on the table next to Derek, "Why are we fighting about mermaids?"
"They started talking about vampires and somehow the conversation turned into this," Derek says.
"What do you think Derek? Mermaids, real or not?" Stiles asks, annoyed that Peter thinks he knows supernatural creatures better than him.
"Why don't you go to the ocean and find out?"
"Y/N?"
"I'd like to believe there are," Y/N says.
"Not you too," Peter groans.
"What? After watching H2O as a kid, my biggest dream was to become a mermaid. You're not a scary monster if you're a mermaid."
"Damn, now I feel bad for saying they don't exist."
"I don't think you're a scary monster," Derek nudges her with his shoulder.
"I don't think you're a scary monster either," Y/N smiles, leaning in to press a kiss on Derek's lips while Stiles and Peter groan in disgust at their affection. "So, where's the other Peter?"
"He's at the garage. He should be closing up soon."
Y/N looks around at the other people in the yard and sighs, "Okay, I guess I should go say hello to the others but I'll be right back."
"I'll be here waiting," Derek smiles at her as she gets up and walks away.
After saying hello and thank you to Kira, Mason, Thor, Clint, and Loki, she walks over to Melissa and the sheriff, "Are you two having fun?"
"So much fun," Melissa says, pulling Y/N into a hug.
"I'm surprised you were able to get the night off, Dad. I thought you had a big case you're working on?"
"I do, but it's your second birthday so I took the night off. They should be able to survive one night without me." Sheriff Stilinski says.
"I don't know. This is Beacon Hills so you never know." Y/N teases.
"Well, then let's hope they can at least last a few hours without me."
"Is Chris coming?" Y/N looks over at Melissa.
"He said he and Isaac were busy with something so they won't be making it," Melissa says.
"Good. We can finally get through one dinner without Scott and Isaac being completely oblivious to each other."
The sheriff snorts out a laugh at her comment, "Instead we just have to deal with you and Derek."
"You love Derek!" Y/N yells in defense.
"Yes, but I don't love watching him feel up my daughter."
Melissa looks at something past Y/N before looking back at her, "I think you have one more person you have yet to speak to."
Y/N looks over her shoulder to see Tony looking at her before quickly looking away when he notices her looking back at him.
"Go, we can talk more later," Sheriff Stilinski says.
"Okay," Y/N wraps her arms around the sheriff and hugs him tight, "I love you, Dad."
He hugs her back just as tight, "I love you too."
She unwraps her arms from around him and makes her way over to Tony who's sitting by himself at one of the tables, "Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all," Tony pulls out the seat next to him for her to sit in. "Are you having fun?"
"I get two birthdays, of course, I'm having fun!"
"Good, I'm glad you don't mind us doing this."
"You're also my family and you celebrate my birthday today so we will also celebrate today," Y/N says, not noticing that the smile on Tony's face gets bigger when she calls him family. "Have you spoken to Morgan recently?"
After a few deep conversations with Tony, Y/N convinced him to try to mend his relationship with Morgan. He wasn't a very present father to her since he resented Pepper getting pregnant after Y/N was 'taken.'" Morgan isn't his biggest fan and was very close to her mother until the truth about her came out. Tony was quite shocked when she reached out to him and said she wanted to get to know him more—Y/N thinks she feels responsible for something that is not her fault nor was it ever.
Morgan hasn't spoken to Y/N yet, but Y/N's grateful that she hasn't. While Pepper is the only person to blame in the situation, there are a few thoughts in the very back of her mind that make her resent Morgan just a little. Y/N hates that those thoughts are there but it's natural for her to have those after everything Hydra put her through. She tries to tell herself that without Hydra, she wouldn't be where she is today, but she thinks it's stupid that she had to go through something so traumatizing just to end up where she is. If Pepper didn't want her, she could have adopted her out to the Stilinskis with no trauma necessary.
"Not recently, but while you're on vacation, Peter and I are going to go to New York and spend some time with her," Tony replies.
"Thank you for giving us the vacation by the way."
"You say that as if you don't thank me every time you see me."
"That's because I'm really grateful for it." Y/N smiles back at him.
Tony rolls his eyes at her, "Just make sure when you come back I'm not a grandpa."
"Trust me, that is not going to happen," Y/N laughs a little at the thought.
"Good. I'm way too young for that."
"Aren't you lik–"
"I'm too young!" Tony cuts her off quickly.
"Got it," Y/N laughs lightly at his antics. "Thank you for the birthday party...dad."
Tony can feel tears well up in his eyes hearing her call him dad for the first time since they've reunited, "Anything for you." He throws his arm around her shoulders and pulls her into a hug, "Happy birthday, Petal."
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Might right a bonus smut chapter...let me know what you think!
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Text
as it was
pairing: peter parker x sister!reader
WC: 3K
warnings: small mentions of anxiety, maybe some cursing, just no way home angst. there is no physical description of reader, so you could read this as adopted!reader or however.
summary: you feel like there’s something missing from your life when may dies. you just aren’t sure what that thing is.
A/N: i started this april 11, 2022. something just came upon me to start writing for this draft again. i dont live in nyc so ignore all directions. my own gif (that’s why it’s shit)
@alecmores my editor💗
been in the drafts since march 25
masterlist
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You were sitting in front of her grave.
The cold chill of New York winter settles into your bones. The trees were barren of any leaves with autumn having left a few weeks ago, no snowfall yet thankfully. The grass has been freshly cut along with some watering causing you to sit in a bit of wet grass, at least your coat was taking the moisture.
You brought some new flowers, just some simple white roses. The other flowers have been slowly wilting since your last visit, and you never want to have dead flowers resting with Aunt May’s grave.
As you replace the flora you sit back on the ground with the wilting stems staying in your hands to keep you from fidgeting around and picking the grass as you talk to her. You try to visit once a week, but sometimes you can only come twice a month because it will just hit you really hard one day that you have no one left, no immediate family anymore. The closest you have to any type of family is Happy Hogan, MJ, and Ned, which is kind of weird because when you think of your memories that involve the three of them, something is missing, a piece of a puzzle that won’t fit in its place.
“How are you today, may?” The wind just blows the hair around your face in different directions.
“I started to work at the Peter Pan cafe with MJ. Sometimes we have shifts together, but honestly, it’s kinda rare since it doesn’t get too busy there. The boss is an older man who’s lazy and has a snippy attitude for no reason, but it's an easy job. Don’t have to worry about my anxiety kicking in.” You stared down at your gloved-covered hands that clutched your crossed legs. Your lips rolled together as you let the silence cover you, thinking of what else to mention.
“Uh… Happy. Happy- he misses you, I miss you. He- uh… he took me in, unofficially adopted me. I’m thankful for him cause if I had to do all this- this, I don’t know, just I’m thankful he took pity on me and didn’t leave me to the wolves. MJ and Ned said they would’ve taken me in, but I think they just said it out of friendliness.” You shrugged your shoulders at the thought.
You perked your head up and glanced around the cemetery. Dozens of headstones, some having more grandeur stone carvings with angels or whatever. Fallen autumn leaves tumbled and kicked across the grass, sticking to trees or headstones before a breeze pushed them away and further off. It seemed you were the only person visiting a loved one at the moment, you wished someone accompanied you, but you liked being with May by yourself.
“Oh, uh, school. Probably want to know about school. I- I- I think I’m gonna take a gap year. Process and readjust to everything and I know if I was doing school I wouldn’t give my all and I don’t want to let you down. Plus, I need money and so I’ll probably need to work a few jobs- wanna help Happy with bills so he doesn’t feel stuck with me.”
A puff of air left your lips as you rubbed your arms up and down your biceps to get a good warmth back into your bones so you could stay longer. With a lick to your lips and a furrow to your brow, you hesitantly spoke a thought that’s been sitting on your tongue for a while, only feeling brave to speak them towards May.
“Ever since you- since you left… something has felt… off. I- I don’t even know what feels off, just that I’m missing something- someone in my life. But I don’t have anyone else. Mom and dad were gone too soon for me to remember their faces, Ben passed away a few years ago and then all I had was you. May... you’ve been my mom, you are my mom. And- and when the blip happened and we came back, that was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced. Feeling like you were gone for only a minute but then people are telling you that it’s been five years and half the population turned to dust… but you came back and I felt safe again. And we got back into some normal groove again. And then hearing that you got into an accident and were killed-” your throat started to choke with restrained tears, “I’ve never been more scared in my whole life.”
You let a cry free before pulling yourself back in, wanting to continue your rant, “but, what I’m trying to get at… something feels out of place. I feel like someone is missing from the giant picture, memories feel like they’ve been edited- cutting out that person from our life, my life. Memories with MJ and Ned feel weird, and memories with Happy feel weird as well. Like trying to think about how the two of you met… something is burned away. I- I don’t know, probably just trying to find something to focus on.”
Your eyes met the dark stone, the words May Parker engraved with her date of birth and death. Your shoulders sagged, you were just talking to air about a nagging thought. Should probably look into getting therapy.
“I should start heading back, Happy’s probably worried about me.” You dusted your jacket and pants clean of any grass, might have a few wet spots soaking the fabric.
You stuffed your hands into the jacket pockets and just stood, not making an effort to leave just yet. There was a crunching of leaves that soon filled the quiet and you didn’t think anything of it, it could have been another visitor or Happy who came to visit and take you home, which happened a few times already. But when you looked in your periphery, it wasn’t someone at another grave and it wasn’t Happy. It was a boy.
Out of curiosity, you turned your head enough to get a proper look at the new arrival. You eyed him from head to toe, never seeing him around before. He looked to be about your age, just a teenager. A beanie covered his head, he wore a blue puffer jacket with a few stripes at the top with simple jeans and sneakers, nothing standing out. But there was just something about him…
“How did you know May?” The mystery boy spoke. It took you off guard, “huh?” Was all that came out. He cleared his throat and jerked his chin, again, “how- uh- how did you know May?” He turned to you before turning away.
“Oh, she- she was my aunt. Well, my mom really. Lived with her when I was young.” You stopped there and it was silent. You counted to five before asking, “how did you know her? If I may ask?” Your manners popping in.
The boy was quiet, eyes set on her name. He sniffled then wet his lips, “feast. I knew her from feast. She was- she was nice, always kind to everyone. She was like the mother I never had. I’m glad you had her as family.” His voice cracked on the word family, something you noted but didn’t push for further.
“Yeah. She was always looking out for the little guys.” A smile to your lips. “Was it just the two of you?” The boy asked then backed tracked, “only if you feel comfortable saying. Sorry, it just- it just slipped.”
You looked at the boy. He wasn’t fidgeting, but you could tell from his eyes that he was nervous about something. Your eyes just wandered over him, sure it may seem rude but you couldn’t help it. It was like a magnet was pulling you and you couldn’t resist the hold it had on you. You thought about lying to this stranger, but you didn’t. “Yeah. Well, it wasn’t always just the two of us. She had a husband, his name was Ben, and he’s buried in his home state. But he got shot during a robbery about… a decade ago… blip time difference is weird.” You mumbled off, realizing he died five years ago for you but with your dusting, that added an extra five. The boy agreed with a light chuckle, it warmed you.
“What about you? Any family still with you?” Bouncing back on his question.
His eyes drooped a slight frown on his face, “uh…no. No family, just me.” His eyes caught yours before, once again, looking away. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ “Oh! No, it’s- it’s fine. I was asking the questions first anyway.”
You rolled your lips as you swayed on your feet. Neither of you decided to speak, just stood beside each other as you stared at the headstone and listened to the leaves falling. You wanted to look at the boy again but withheld yourself from doing so.
“I should- I should head home. But it was nice to meet you…” you trailed off hoping he’ll present his name. “Peter… Peter Parker.” He held a smile at the last name.
“Huh, funny coincidence. I’m (Y/n), Parker obviously.” You bid Peter a smile goodbye and turned your back to make your walk to the subway.
“Hey! Uh (Y/n)!” You heard the shouts and the crunching of leaves beneath his feet as he hurried to catch up with you. You stopped your steps and looked at Peter as he stopped a few steps away.
“Do you… do you take the subway?” “Yeah…”
“Do you mind if I walk you? I just- I would just feel a lot better knowing you made it safely plus I think May would… sorry- sorry. Only if you want, of course, I mean you just met me and-“
You stepped closer and touched his arm, “hey, it’s fine. I would like the company. Plus, it’s just the subway, you’re not walking me to the front door.” You shrugged at the end before nodding your head to the iron gates.
-
The two of you traveled down the busy and packed streets of New York. Shifting and turning your bodies so you didn’t bump into anyone, especially someone who wasn’t in the right mood that day. The walking was quiet at first, two strangers who just met and didn’t know what boundaries were already drawn. You kept making glances at Peter beside you before looking away, at the sky or the buildings around you.
“Are you in school?” Peter was the first to ask, once again. You were thankful he took the first steps.
“Oh, well I’m eighteen so I’m about to graduate high school. And I was planning to go to college, out of state or in state, not sure. But after May… I’m taking a gap year. Want to get my bearings first before I focus back on school… How’s your academic future?” You eyed him as he watched you talk.
“Uh, well I’m eighteen as well. And something happened during the school year so I kinda have to start senior year over again. I was planning to go to MIT for college, but that’ll just have to wait.” He scratched his nose before stuffing his hand back into his jacket pocket.
“Another coincidence. Two of my friends are going.” You saw the smile Peter tried to hide from your comment.
“Do you have a job, Mr. Parker?” Already giving joking nicknames.
You didn’t notice the stiffness to his shoulders or the sadness that glazed over his eyes before stuttering, “uh, I’ve applied to a- a few different jobs. Kinda hard- not a high school graduate so my options are limited. Gotta look for the desperate places.”
“But those are kinda sketchy. Not the safest.”
His attention was on you, “yeah, well, I can handle myself.” He nudged your arm and pulled a smile from you as you shook your head. “What about you? Any sketchy jobs?”
“Not sketchy, just boring and quiet. I work at a small café with my friend. An easy job since I have anxiety.” You keep your answers vague with enough detail.
Silence came back around. Cars honking and people talking to each other or over the phone. Couples holding hands or looped around each other.
“Anyone special in your life?” Was your first question to come to mind.
You weren’t sure if the flush was due to the low temperature or the abrupt question towards Peter, who’s still a stranger, about if he was seeing someone.
“No, no. I- I had someone, but she left me. For the best, I think.”
“Why is that? Secretly with the mob or something?”
He laughed, “Nah, nothing like that. Just… I'm broken and a mess. Don’t want her dealing with… all that.” He made a circling hand gesture. You just hummed.
You weren’t paying much attention to your surroundings so you didn’t see the group of kids running and pushing into everyone coming your way. So with a tight hold on your bicep and a yank, you yelped and looked around. Peter pulled you behind him and you followed his eyes as you watched the kids pass as they shouted and yelled.
“Stupid kids.” You muttered before continuing your walk. “Thank you, for pulling me.” “Oh, it’s nothing.”
You were only a block or two away from a station.
“What about you?” “What about me?” “Anyone special?” He had a playful tone to his words. You just shrugged your shoulders.
“I’ve never been anyone’s first choice. I stick more to the shadows anyway, used to get bullied, so I keep my head down and mouth closed,” you looked to see if he was listening, and he was, “also, I’m kinda a hopeless romantic. Romance books, love songs; especially Taylor Swift's love songs, and a few rom-coms. Anyway, what I’m saying is that, no. No one special, probably not for a while. But maybe that’s okay, maybe I’ll find ‘the one’ when it’s time.”
Peter didn’t respond to your words. You smacked a hand over your face.
“What? What’s-“ “I just spilled my random thoughts to you, who’s still a stranger.”
You pulled your hand away and ran your fingers through your hair before moving it to your pocket for warmth. You looked at Peter and you were just full-on staring, eyes roving over his side profile or his face if he looked your way before facing forward. A tilt of your head came up.
“You know… maybe it wasn’t a coincidence.” You kept looking at Peter. “What wasn’t?” His eyes were on his feet.
“Meeting each other.” And you looked away just as Peter almost tried over his feet even as he watched every step. You kept walking, not aware of the cogs turning in Peter’s mind as he processed your words.
“What- What do you mean? How isn’t this a coincidence? I think it was just lucky timing.”
You threw a hand out as you talked, “What I mean is… maybe May sent you this way. Two people she knew and cared about, both lonely and without a family around. Plus come on, your last name is Parker. That's just crazy. I don’t know, just- it’s just crazy!”
You smiled at the boy as you crossed the street and walked down the crowded and smelly stairs leading to the subway. You checked to see if Peter was still with you and when you saw he was pushed back by a few people, you moved to the side and waited for him to meet your side. You flashed a smile when he reappeared and you both continued on your walk toward the entrances. You checked to see if any cops were around and seeing none you hopped over the spinning entrance, Peter a second behind.
“What train do you take?” “A train, you?” “F for me.”
You thought this meant that the two of you would split up, but Peter walked with you and stayed by your side as you waited for your train to arrive. You checked your pockets to make sure you had your phone, wallet, keys, and headphones, along with your taser and pepper spray that Happy bought for you. You texted Happy that you were waiting for your train and should be home within the hour.
After about thirty-five minutes you heard the screeching of wheels on tracks and saw the lights glow into the station. You turned to Peter with a smile, “well, looks like my ride's here.” He nodded at your words and he opened his mouth and then closed it. You stayed back seeing if he’ll say the words on his mind.
As the train got closer and he didn’t say anything you decided to be the first to speak. “Would it be okay if I get your number? I- I know we just met, but… you seem like a good friend.” You cringed a bit, it was almost like a terrible pickup line. And you weren’t hitting on him, it just felt gross to even think that.
“Yeah, yeah. I’d love to have a friend.” Peter stopped your worrying thoughts. You passed him your phone and then he passed it back before pulling his out and showing a text on his home screen.
You started towards the open doors and passed the rushing people and with a quick turn, you called out to Peter and he looked your way waiting to hear what you needed to say before you let the subway whisks you away.
“Stop by feast when you can. We can always use the extra hands and May would be thankful.” And before you got any reply you walked further into the metal tub and took a seat, sticking an earbud in and pressing play on an album you’ve had on repeat.
Already planning to visit May tomorrow after your morning shift to talk about your new friend. And Peter would keep watch from a distance and when you left he would speak with May quietly. Promising her that he’ll keep you safe and be your friend, maybe not your brother never again, only in his mind.
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bitchystxrk3000 · 8 months
Text
Tony: Y/N, Peter, I’ve left a letter telling your guardians not to worry—
Y/N: They won’t.
Tony: That you’re safe—
Y/N: That’ll just depress them.
Tony: —and you’ll see them in a few weeks.
Peter: Do we have to?
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92 notes · View notes
sarahsmi13s · 6 months
Text
A Sibling's Promise
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whumptober day 12: character death
pairing: peter parker x older sister!reader
characters: peter parker, sister!reader, happy hogan, mj, ned, the avengers, may, mysterio
warnings: 18+ MDNI, language, canon events in the mcu, blood, crying, parental death, sibling death, character death, very time jumpy, let me know if i missed any!
word count: ~3.3k
a/n: this is for whumptober! please please please proceed with caution and use discretion, protect your peace
also if you are on the whump taglist but are not familiar with a character, you can skip it will not hurt my feelings!
this is remastered from my wattpad, so i have permission. this is under the title "multiverse pt 1"
whumptober 2023 masterlist
summary: a sibling's promise is one that can stand the test of time. it's a promise that can be fulfilled at any moment, even in death
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It was dark and it was hot. You had a hand clamped over your mouth to muffle your heavy breathing. "Come on! Where are you?" Your eyes widened, he was close. "I'm gonna find you." 
He was right there.
Suddenly light flooded your vision. "No! I've been caught by the mighty Iron Man!" You dramatically flopped out of the closet door onto the floor. Peter laughed and placed his feet on either side of your torso. 
You laughed, sitting up to catch the 8 year-old in your arms. "No, now I've been caught," he pulled off his plastic Iron Man mask. "Yes you have, and now I'm gonna use your weakness against you!" "Iron Man has no- AHHH!" You started to tickle him. He became deadweight in your arms, screaming and laughing. You began to laugh too.
He started to fall to the floor. You immediately stopped tickling him and managed to catch his head before it hit the floor. 
You both slowly ceased your laughter, panting a little. "Thanks for playing Iron Man with me, Y/N." Peter hugged you. "Of course, Petey." "Thanks for protecting my head too." You smiled, "I'll always protect you, Peter." You hugged him a little tighter before getting up off the floor.
You brushed off your pants and sighed. "Pete, why don't you go clean up? I'll meet you in the kitchen iiinnn 10 minutes?" "Make it 8." You shrugged, "8 it is." 
Peter rushed to put his toys away and wash his hands. You went to get ready for work.
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8 minutes passed and you walked into the kitchen, Peter just finishing up washing his hands. 
He turned, frowning when he saw you in your uniform. "You have to work today?" You nodded, "Yeah, I'm sorry Peter. I got a call, they need me to fill in." "I thought we were gonna play video games and build Legos?" 
You ran your hand through his wavy hair, "How about when I get home, we have a sleepover?" "Can we play video games?" You nodded, "All the games you want." "Even the scary ones?" You winced, "I don-" He gave you the puppy eyes. "Pete- *sigh* I'll think about it." "I'll take it," he hugged you. You laughed and rubbed his back.
"I'm home!" 
"In the kitchen, May!" 
She rushed in, "Hey, you should probably get going, don't want you to be late." You nodded, squeezing Peter's shoulder before you let go. "Okay, I'll be back around 7." 
You walked by Aunt May and she handed you a jacket, "It's supposed to rain. Be careful, and the customer is not always right!" You laughed as you went out the door, shrugging the windbreaker onto your shoulders.
As you move to close the door you turn to Peter. He waved, smiling, "Hi, Y/N." You smile and wave to him, "Hi, Peter."
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(SM:Homecoming)
You burst into Peter's room. 
"You're Spider-Man!?" 
Peter screamed and fell out of his chair, "Shhh! Keep your voice down!" He ran up to you, shushing you. 
"You're Spider-Man?!" You whisper yelled as you closed his door. "How did you find out?" "You're not the best at keeping secrets, Pete." He scoffed, offended, "What? I am great at keeping secrets." "Really? You sure? Cause I remember when I got my first boyfriend, and told you not to tell May." 
"And I didn't!" He defended. "You so did! The day after I told you May immediately gave me the safe-sex talk." Peter shrugged, "Everyone needs to hear that-" "I was 17!" "Well, in my defense, you shouldn't have told a 9 year-old to keep a secret." You rolled your eyes, "Whatever."
You sighed and put your hands on your hips, "How long?" 
"What?" 
"How long have you had powers?" 
"Since I was 14." "14!?" He flinched slightly at your volume. 
You sighed and ran a hand down your face, "Did you fight in the Avengers 'Civil War'?" He opened his mouth. "Don't lie to me." He sighed, "Yes, but I-" "Just be careful, please." 
He heard the desperation in your tone and he nodded, looking into your eyes, "Of course." "Because I couldn't live with myself if-" He grabbed your shoulders, "Hey-hey, I'm gonna be okay. I'll be careful, I promise." 
He ran his hand down the side of your head, attempting to comfort you, “I promise.” You nodded, grabbing his hand. "Just please, don't tell May. I don't want her to know just yet." You nodded again, "Of course. Secrets safe with me. What else are big sisters for?" He smiled and hugged you. "Thank you."
It was silent for a moment. "Now I wish I never turned down the internship after the Battle of New York."
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(Avengers: Infinity War)
Peter looked at Tony, panic in his eyes. "Mr. Stark, I don't feel so good." 
"You're okay, you're okay." 
"I don't -- I don't know what's happening." Tony caught him as his legs dusted beneath him. "I don't wanna go Mr. Stark, please. I don't wanna go. I can't go. I can't leave her..." 
Tony laid him down, gripping his hand as he dusted away. "Tell her I'm sorry, please. I broke my promise..." "I'll tell her, kid." He looked at Tony, "I'm sorry..."
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(between Infinity War and Endgame)
You bounced your leg as you waited for Peter to walk through your door, or Stephen to open a portal in your kitchen. Ned had immediately called you when Peter got off the bus and Wong called you about Stephen. You knew May was gone. You watched her dust in front of you.
Now you waited. Hope still filling your chest as you waited for a sign they both were okay.
When someone knocked at your door, you bolted to it. 
Only for you to open it and find Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff at your door. "Hey, can I help you?" Steve's frown was prominent and Nat's eyes were red. "Y/N Parker?" You nodded, crossing your arms as your nerves set in. "We need you to come with us, it's important." You didn't question it and left with them.
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You ran into the Compound, Steve and Nat calling for you to wait. But you didn't hear them, your sole focus was running in there and finding Peter, alive.
"Peter?! Peter!" 
You ran into a room, seeing some Avengers you recognized and a few you didn't. "Uh, hi," you greeted. "Um, have you seen a 16/17 year-old boy? About this tall, brown hair, brown eyes, probably had a red and blue suit on." 
The group gave you a look of sympathy, but not an answer. "Please, I just need to know-" 
"Y/N?" 
You turned to see Tony on a hospital bed. "Tony!" You jogged up to him. "Where's Peter?"
Tony couldn't look you in the eyes. "Tony... Where's Peter?" "I'm so sorry, Y/N..."
You felt like throwing up. "No. No. Tony, this isn't funny. Don't lie to me." "I'm not lying Y/N." You shook your head, not bothering to hold your tears back. "He told me to tell you that he's sorry, for breaking his promise..." Your knees gave out, sending you straight to the floor.
You broke down, clutching your chest as you gasped for air. Nat was by your side, catching you when you tackled her, gripping at her clothes. She rubbed your back in comfort, "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." "I promised..."
She pulled you back to look at you, "Promised?" "I promised Mom and Dad that I would keep him safe. That I would protect him. I promised him that I would protect him. That's what big sisters do. They protect their little siblings."
Nat bit her lip and pulled you in again as you cried, sobbing for your little brother and praying this was just a sick dream.
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(post Endgame)
Tony called you the moment he figured out time travel, saying that he's not sure if it will work but thought you deserved to know. You were equally grateful and terrified about it.
But now you were pacing your kitchen. Aunt May had called you from a random phone, so you knew it worked. May was on her way, you having moved since the Blip. Tony had a house built for you, feeling like he owed you in some way.
A knock broke your trance and you looked to the door. You hesitated, not being 100% sure it was Peter. Then you heard his voice, "Y/N, Ms. Potts said you would be here. It's-it's Peter."
You broke out into a tear-filled smile, rushing to the door.
You pulled the door open, revealing a very disheveled, but alive, Peter.
You smiled, embracing him. "Pete, oh God, you're back. You're back." He hugged you, crying into your shoulder, "Is-Is May-" You nodded, pulling back to hold his face, "She's on her way. She blipped too…"
Peter's face softened, "Oh, Y/N, I'm so sorry. You were alone, I'm-" You shook your head, "No, Pete, please don't apologize." You smiled, tears falling as you moved his dirty hair out of his face.
He rested his forehead on yours, "I broke my promise…" You shook your head, "It was a ridiculous promise…" He chuckled before falling to your shoulder in tears.
"Peter, what's wrong?"
"Tony's gone… He sacrificed himself to defeat Thanos." You gripped onto Peter, "Pete.. I'm so sorry."
You moved him to the couch, not caring if he was gonna get your couch dirty, he needed you.
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(Far From Home)
Peter limped across the bridge, looking for a way to get up to Mysterio. 
"Peter?" He turned, the eyes on his mask widening in panic. 
"No, no, no. Y/N you have to leave, it's not safe." He did his best to hide his limp from you as you looked him over. "Peter," you looked around, taking in the damage. "Are you okay?" He nodded playing it off, despite knowing you can see right through it. 
"Please get out of here, I can't let him hurt you. Please go find Happy," he turned you and tried to push you away. You fought back, "No, Pete. I'm not leaving you." "Please you have to. I can't let you get hurt," he grabbed the sides of your head. "Please. I can't get you killed." You shook your head, "I'm not leaving." 
"Will you please stop being so damn stubborn!?" Peter threw his hands up. "I'm your big sister! I'm supposed to protect you! It's my job!" 
"Y/N... please, let me protect you this time. Let me be a good brother." You looked down, biting your lip with your hands on your hips, "You're the best brother." He hugged you. "Go get 'em, Pete." You couldn't see his smile but you knew it was there.
Mysterio had watched the whole interaction, smiling as he found another weakness for Peter. He smirked as you walked away and prepared for Peter's attack.
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Once he had Peter preoccupied with fighting his drones, Mysterio managed to use his illusion tech to lure you back.
"Y/N! Y/N, help! Help me!" 
You wiped around to see Peter on the ground. You didn't hesitate to run back and help. 
"Peter!" You fell to your knees beside him, looking him over, "Where are you hurt?" "Everywhere, it hurts everywhere." 
Just then, you remembered what Peter told you over the phone, All of the attacks are fake. He uses some sort of illusion tech. And you remembered the look on his face, how he had to be sure it was you.
"Peter, did I date during the blip?" It furrows its brows, "Why would you ask me that right now?" "Please, just answer me." 
It sighed, "We've never talked about the blip." You gave him a tight smile, "You're right, I just had to be sure." You and Peter actually talked about the 5 years he had been gone quite often. Just to help him catch up on pop culture. 
This wasn't your Peter and you need to escape it.
Finally you decided to just run for it, "I think I hear medics, Peter. I'm gonna go get them. Just stay here, okay?" The illusion nodded, shifting while groaning in pain. You got up and sped walked towards the exit.
In your escape, you felt a shooting pain in your leg and you fell, "Shit!" "Too smart for your own good, Y/N," Beck sighed. You turned to see the drone. "You won't win," you spat through gritted teeth. "I already have," the drone shot you in the stomach before freeing some rubble above you, trapping you under broken concrete.
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MJ ran onto the bridge, looking everywhere for Peter. 
She saw him coming towards her, mask off and limping. 
He looked up and saw her, "MJ." She dropped her mace, "Hey." 
They ran at each other and embraced, "Are you okay?" "I'm okay, are you okay?" Peter asked, hugging her tighter. "Yeah." 
"Everybody else okay?" "Everyone's okay." 
"What happened?" "The-the drones, they were following us. Th-then they just stopped," MJ didn't let go of Peter. "Was that you?" "Yeah." They pulled away from the hug. "Did you get him?" Peter looked down with a small nod, "Yeah."
MJ pointed at the mace, "Well, I-uh-brought that. In case you needed some help." They both chuckled dryly, "Thanks." 
"Anyway-uh- there's this sweaty guy, in the tower with us. I think he works with you, or something." Peter furrowed his brows, confused for a second before he realized she was talking about Happy. 
"He-he -um- gave me this," she held out the broken Black Dahlia necklace. Peter gasped, "No, no! Oh, MJ, oh I'm so sorry. I had this plan, this stupid plan, and I wrote it all down, and I was gonna buy you this, give it to you in Paris-" MJ kissed him, cutting off his rant.
He looked at her stunned and she gave him a small smile. "Aaand you kissed me. What?" "I don't have a lot of luck when it comes to getting close to people...um... so I lied. I wasn't just watching you because I thought you were Spider-Man." Peter chuckled, "That's great."
She looked down at the necklace, "Black Dahlia like-" "Like the murder," they said at the same time. "Yeah," Peter laughed a little before looking at the broken necklace, "I'm sorry it's broken." MJ looked down at it, playing with it, "I actually think I like it better broken." Peter smiled, nodding. 
When are you gonna tell her Pete? - Y/N have got a plan. - Plans are for nerds, Peter. Just tell her.
He smiled as he remembered your words, "I really like you." MJ smiled, "I really like you too." Peter smiled before they kissed, pulling away just to come back and kiss again.
When they pulled away again MJ left to go back to the class. "Hey, MJ?" She turned, "Yeah?" "When you see Y/N, tell her I'm okay, please." She nodded, "Of course." Peter nodded and turned to get out of his suit and meet up with the class.
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MJ returned the mace to the tower before running to meet up with the class.
She slowed down when she saw the ambulances and the people getting looked over. 
"MJ, is Peter okay?" She looked at Ned and Happy, "Yeah. Yeah, he's okay. Have you seen Y/N?"
"MJ?" 
The girl turned at the call of her name, gasping when she saw you on the ground. "Y/N!" 
Ned and MJ ran to be at your side. "MJ, Ned, are you guys okay?" They both nodded, looking over your injuries. "Is Peter okay?" "Yeah, yeah he's fine. Are you okay?" You nodded, "Yeah, now that I know you guys are safe."
MJ and Ned looked at your wounds, tears filling their eyes. You had become a big sister to them. And they knew how strong your bond with Peter was. Him and Aunt May were all you had left.
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Meanwhile Peter was looking for Happy, "Happy!" 
He ran up to him, "Hey, have you seen Y/N?" Happy gave him a sad smile, Peter being too tired to really see it. "Peter-" 
"Oh my God," Peter saw you over Happy's shoulder. He ran to you, MJ and Ned moving out of the way.
He fell to his knees, taking stock of your injuries. "No... no... no... this wa-wasn't supposed to happen. I-I told you to get off the bridge. Why didn't you leave?" You chuckled, wincing in pain after, "Beck..." Peter noticed your shallow breathing and your heartbeat pounded in his ears. 
"Beck, he-uh-he tricked me... When I noticed it was fake I tried to leave... Then," your back arched as your face scrunched up in pain. Peter shook his head, "Stop talking, help's on the way. Just focus on me, okay?"
He turned, "I need a medic over here, please!" His voice crack made Happy, MJ and Ned flinch.
He turned back to you and your eyes were struggling to stay open. "No, no, Y/N, keep your eyes open. Please, don't- Oh God, this is all my fault." His tears slipped past his eyes, falling onto your clothes. 
You shook your head, "No, Pete, this is not your fault. Please don't blame yourself." "If I would have just kept you in the dark, you wouldn't be here and you," he drew in a shaky breath. "And you would be okay." "I would have found out, you know that," you chuckled, coughing and wincing in pain. 
He nodded, his red and slightly swollen eyes filling with more tears. "What else are big sisters for?" MJ choked out a sob, covering her mouth. 
"That's why you can't leave. I need you. You're my sister, I can't do this without you," his voice went from strong and normal, to weak and a whisper. He cried onto your shoulder, "Please don't go..." 
Happy was looking around, "We need a damn medic! What the hell is taking so long?!" He stomped off, looking for someone to help you.
Your shaking hand came up to run through the short hair at the back of his neck. He sobbed onto your shoulder. "Pete," you brought in a shaky breath. "Pete, please look at me." He looked at you. "I need you to promise me something." He nodded, not trusting his voice. 
"Take care of Aunt May for me." He smiled, nodding, "Of course." "And please, don't stop helping people. They need a hero," you smiled and wiped his tears. "They need you Peter." 
He nodded, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on yours, "Okay." You closed your eyes as well, "And smile, Pete. I'll always be there, okay?" He nodded, "Thank you."
Ned and MJ were crying, both wanting to comfort Peter but knew he needed this. Happy walked up beside them. "Where's the medic?" He shook his head, "There weren't enough ambulances..." "No, she-she can't..." Ned and MJ hugged, crying.
Peter pulled back, frowning at your lack of response. Your eyes were closed, lips parted slightly. "No," he shook his head. "No... no... no... please, oh God, please no."
He shook your shoulders, "No, Y/N, no please..." One of his hands cradled your face, "Please..."
He hung his head, letting out a low, broken, "hello..." Hoping you would say it back, but knowing full well you wouldn't.
Happy sighed, grabbing his shoulder. "Peter, you need to get back with the class..." 
"I can't leave her here." 
"Peter," MJ squatted beside him. "Harrington is looking for us, we need to go..." 
"I can't leave her in a foreign place by herself." 
"I'll take her back. Fury and I will make sure she makes it home, I promise." Peter nodded, squeezing your hand before letting MJ and Ned help him up. 
"Happy?" "Yeah, kid?" "May can't know it was Mysterio... She can't know Y/N was here." Happy nodded, "Of course."
Peter let out a small sob and looked at you one last time, "I'm so sorry."
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taglist: @bradleybeachbabe @mayhemmanaged @kmc1989 @lovinglyeternal @horseshoegirl @cassiemitchell @fanboyswhore9 @nightowlalltheway @86laura11 @els-marvelvsp @valmare @startrekfangirl2233
hi, if you're seeing this and are currently not on the taglist and would like to be please fill out the taglist form -> whumptober taglist
i can not stress this enough, but whumptober can have some very serious and heavy topics and i want to make sure i am doing my part as an author to prepare my readers for what they are about to experience and that includes not only warnings above but my taglists as well
so if you want to be added check out the masterlist and read that carefully and fill out the form -> whumptober 2023
109 notes · View notes
book-place · 1 year
Text
Guilty Conscience
Warnings: tasm spoilers, mention of character death, panic attacks, let me know if I missed any :)
Pairings: Peter Parker x sister reader
Request: Hey, I have a request! who knows a oneshot where Peter Parker's younger sister feels guilty for Uncle Ben's death for having participated in the whole event up close and feeling that she should have done something (even though she is only 12(?) years old and really couldn't have done much about it) and starts to pull away from May and Peter because of this (and also because Peter started acting weird due to his "spider problem") and, after she arrives one day shaken from school due to an anxiety attack related to it all, Peter just tries to reach out and comfort her? (oh and if you can make it be TASM! Peter Parker I would be so grateful lol) Well, I hope you can understand what I mean and my idea itself lol English is not my first language, by the way, so... sorry if I missed a spelling issue or something! ps: I love your oneshots! your writing is really amazing and i'm glad it reached me here from brazil <3
Request by: Anon
*not my gif*
Summary: You’ve never felt more alone then you did after your uncles death
A/N: Hi :)
Please don’t plagiarize my work, you may reblog if you like but I’m asking that you don’t steal my hard work
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You rattled off a long sigh, letting your eyes slip up to the building in front of you. The intimidating, cold building stood there like a prison, waiting for its next guilty occupant. In this case, you.
But at the end of the day, it was just a school, and perhaps you were the only one who felt like a prisoner in the place of learning and popularity. You doubted it, though.
As much as you tried to ignore them, it was practically impossible to miss the way people would send you long glances- some with pity, others with amusement- before turning to their friends and beginning whispering to each other. As if you weren’t right there.
Though you had only been pulled out of school for a week, it felt as though it had been an eternity. An endless cycle of pain, guilt, and grief.
The best you could do was act as if you didn’t hear anybody or notice the way students parted in the hallway all around you.
You pretended as if this was just a one day thing, that it would go away as soon as the final bell rang. But you knew that it would last a good month before it fully faded from people’s memories and they stopped caring.
So far, you hadn’t yet figured out if you were longing for or dreading for when that time would come. To finally have people stop making you the center of attention, or to have people forget the reason you hadn’t been in school. The person it was because of. When that time comes, would they forget about him all together? Everybody? Would life just carry on as if he were never there?
You had begged your Aunt May to let you stay out for another week, but she insisted that the best thing that could be done for you was to send you back into the real world. She said that she would be doing it with you, going back to work on the same day.
And though she didn’t say it, you knew that she meant that you had to move on, learn how to live a life without your Uncle Ben. The only father figure in your life. One of the people you loved most in the world. And as of a week ago, the only person you felt like was still on your side.
For some time now, your older brother, Peter, had been distancing himself from not just you, but your entire family as well. And that stung.
The two of you used to be as close as siblings could be, rarely ever arguing, always getting along.
Your aunt always claimed it was the age gap, you being twelve and Peter being seventeen, but you always secretly thought it was because he wasn’t dead set like all the other teenagers at seeming too cool to hang out with their younger sibling. He actually cared about you, and wasn’t afraid to show it.
But then he was distancing himself, and you felt alone.
Sure, you had May, but you had never been as close to her as you were to Ben or Peter.
Though everyone avoided you like the plague, the hallways felt too crowded. Too stuffy. Too loud. Too bright.
You hadn’t even realized how much your breathing had picked up until dark spots had begun to dance in the corners of your vision. Only then did you feel the tight squeeze in your chest and the way your hands were shaking uncontrollably.
It wasn’t until you began swaying back and forth on your feet, stumbling through the hall slightly, did you realize that you really had to get out of there.
No longer caring about the whispers that would go around, you barged into an empty and dark classroom, closing the door behind you just in time for you to lose your balance completely.
Helplessly grasping onto the wall for support, you slipped down until your knees were touching your chest, breathing becoming more shallow and rapid as you gasped for air.
Your hands flew up to your hair and you began tugging at the roots, ignoring the sting that came along with it, the same way you were ignoring the way salty tears had begun to leak out of your eyes and make their way down your face.
That was how you spent the next thirty minutes, rocking back and forth with no thoughts other than everything that had happened to you within the week, everything you had lost, everything that would happen.
-•-
When you had finally managed to calm yourself down, you had decided that staying at school for the rest of the day would be pointless.
So, you slipped out of the building undetected and began your long trek home.
It was what you needed, you supposed, to have the comforting noises of the city drown out all the thoughts in your head.
You of course avoided the streets that reminded you of that night, the very ones that you were also mentally avoiding.
Now your problem has become physical and mental.
By the time you got home, at least half of a school day had passed, but you couldn’t care less.
You quickly shrugged off and discarded your backpack, throwing it down beside your shoes before trudging up the stairs, trying to make a beeline for your room before a voice pulled you from your thoughts.
“Y/n?” Peter asked, peeking his head out from his own room as his eyes widened in surprise at seeing you.
You froze like a deer in headlights under your older brother's gaze. He was supposed to be in school as well.
His eyebrows furrowed, automatically taking in the way your hands were shaking slightly by your sides and your disheveled hair, “What is it? What’s wrong?”
A scoff escaped your lips before you could stop yourself and you rolled your eyes slightly, turning on your heel and stomping the rest of the way to your room.
“Hey- what? Y/n, wait!” He called, pushing off of the wall and scrambling after you, pushing on your door just in time to stop it from slamming in his face.
“Go away, Peter.” You demanded through gritted teeth, not even looking at him as he spoke.
“Not until you tell me what’s going on.” He insisted, brown orbs sweeping over every inch of your face as if that alone would inform him of what he wanted to know, “You can talk to me, Y/n.”
Your jaw clenched as you whipped around to glare up at him dangerously, watching as his eyes widened in surprise at your actions, “That’s rich coming from you.” You hissed.
“Why aren’t you in school?” He continued calmly, not losing his patience with you. He never lost his patience with you.
“Why aren’t you in school?” You shot back, giving up on trying to close the door and turned back into your room, stiffly sitting on your bed with your back against the headboard.
“It was too hard,” He admitted softly, shuffling after you slightly and coming to a halt in front of where you sat.
Despite yourself, your muscles relaxed slightly at his words. You weren’t the only one feeling that way.
Hesitantly, he sunk onto the mattress near your feet, “You’re not alone, Y/n,” He spoke softly, slowly reaching out and grabbing onto your hand, squeezing it lightly.
Angrily, you shook your hand out of his grasp and brought it to your chest, where you crossed your arms.
A flash of hurt went through his eyes at your gesture before he spoke up again, “Please just tell me what’s wrong. I want to help you.”
“You want to help me?” You seethed, something finally snapping inside of you as you sat up on your knees so that you were eye level with him, “Well then where were you last week? Where were you when Uncle Ben died? Where were you as I sat in the middle of the street and screamed for help, to useless to do anything other than that to try and save my uncle?”
By then, tears had once again begun to roll down your cheeks in waves of sorrow, and Peter felt his heart break more than it ever had before.
He had been so caught up in his own grief and everything going on after getting bitten by that spider that he hadn’t even been able to see you, his little sister, only twelve years old, in so much pain.
“I’m so sorry,” He breathed out, tears of his own springing into his eyes as he drew you into his arms and to his chest.
This time, you didn’t fight him as you melted into his hold, grasping onto his shirt tightly as you sobbed along with your elder brother.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” He kept repeating, burying his face in your hair as he spoke, “It wasn’t your fault. I promise you it wasn’t. Okay?”
You nodded against his shoulder, sniffling slightly as you hiccuped a little bit while your tears finally subsided.
“I’ll be better,” He whispered, “I won’t leave you like that ever again, you hear me? I promise.”
Two promises. Two of the biggest ones he possibly ever has or ever will make, but he meant them with every bone in his body.
We Are Groot 🤎- @lovanitu @jvdethirlwall @ineedmorefanfics2 @sambucky8 @spidyyparker @irethepotato @femalemarvelself @mukbee @its-hell @ip747 @i-writes-things @popfishjr @mitsuki-murakami @mythixmagic
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multiverse-of-yn · 2 years
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Peter: Okay Kate welcome to the saving Y/N from their self and inevitable emotional and physical destruction!!
Kate: Okay, cool. Who's all a part of this club?
Peter: Me and Harley, sometimes Cap and Bucky, and occasionally Tony shows up!
Kate: Who's Tony?
Tony: What’s up kid?
Kate: That's just Ironman with sunglasses and a baseball cap-
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andy-solo1 · 1 year
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Prom Night [ MJ x Fem!Reader]
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Pairing(s): MJ x Fem! Parker Reader 
Peter Parker x Sister! Reader 
Request: fem!reader is a spider person, and instead of tom holland spider-man, she is in MJ’s universe. maybe it’s prom night or something, and as she’s beginning to dance with MJ, the green goblin, or some other villain attacks the school?
Words: 1,438
Warnings: None
* * * * 
Senior prom was only a week away now, and, ever since the whole world had found out that you and your brother, Peter, were the two spider themed superheroes swinging around New York and helping the Avengers, people hadn’t stopped asking if you’d be their date to the event. 
“Come on, you know how great your night would be if you, Spidergirl-”
“Spiderwoman.” You muttered under your breath, but Flash carried on as if he hadn’t heard you. 
“-were to go to prom with me. The most popular guy in school.” Flash Thompson finished, grinning at you from across the table. You sighed and shook your head. 
“Flash, for the millionth time, no. And stop pretending you’re the popular guy in school. Even before people knew my brother was Spiderman you wouldn’t have even come close to being the most popular guy. I’m sure some lady would love to go with you Flash, but you really aren’t my type.” You told him flatly before standing and walking away as he stared, mouth agape, unable to think of a word of reply. 
“Oh yeah, well I like Spiderman better anyways!” Flash finally retorted to your retreating form, making you laugh softly before leaving the classroom as the bell rang for the start of lunch. 
“Got anymore people asking you to prom?” Ned asked you, glancing up from his spot next to your brother as you joined them at your usual lunch table. You groaned and pulled a face. 
“Yeah, Flash, again.” 
“Jeez, Flash really doesn’t take the hint.” Peter commented, looking over at you sympathetically. “Though it would help if you actually would ask a certain someone to prom so people would stop asking you.” He said accusingly, giving a pointed look to someone coming across the room towards the three of you. 
You looked over to watch as MJ made her way over. A light blush rose on your cheeks before looking away from her to glare at your brother. 
“She wouldn’t possibly want to go with me.” 
“You never know unless you ask.” Peter replied. 
“Unless you ask what?” MJ asked as she finally reached you all, sitting down next to you. “The ultimate question of if your spiderpowers have brainwashed us into being your loyal followers?” She joked, quoting something in one of the newspaper headlines she’d read earlier that day. 
“Actually we were talking about Prom.” Ned supplied, very unhelpfully, and you cast him a small glare before MJ turned to look at you. 
“Did Flash ask you out again?” She inquired, “Because I can go make sure he doesn’t ask you again.” She said, sounding entirely serious. You laughed and shook your head. 
“He did, but that’s okay, he means no harm, besides I made sure to put him in his place.” You replied, making MJ grin. 
“That’s my girl.” MJ said happily, before turning her gaze back to her food. Your face flushed warmly and Peter gave you a look that practically screamed ‘ASK HER’ 
Swallowing your nerves you turned towards the brunette. “MJ?” You asked, making her look back towards you, raising a brow. “Would you like to go to Prom? With me? As a date?” 
“I thought you’d never ask.” MJ replied, a grin breaking out across her face. 
“You-you knew I was going to ask you?” 
“It was only a matter of time. I see the way you look at me. I also overheard Peter and Ned talking about it.” She told you, making you cast a glare towards your brother and his best friend. They both at least had the sense to look embarrassed about having been overheard. 
“So is that a yes?” You asked hopefully. 
“It’s a yes.” 
* * * * * 
A week later, you stood in front of a mirror at Happy’s home, looking at yourself in the dress you’d picked out for the occasion. 
“You look amazing honey.” Your aunt May said, coming up beside you to pull you into a crushing hug. “She’s going to love you in that.” She commented, making you blush. Your aunt was the most understanding person, and you were so grateful for her. 
“Where’s Peter?” You asked, looking around for your twin. He was supposed to be getting ready for prom as well, but you hadn’t seen him since that morning. 
“He said he had something he wanted to check out quickly, an idea for something.” May replied, a worried look on her face. Since she found out about you two being heroes, she was better at letting you both do your things, but she still worried, especially now that people knew your identities. 
“I’m sure he’ll meet us all there at school then.” You reassured your aunt, “He wouldn’t miss the chance to see that he was right about me and MJ together.” You joked, making your aunt laugh. 
“I know he wouldn’t. Let’s get you going so you’re not late.” May said happily, leading you out towards the door. You happily followed her, looking forward to seeing MJ. 
* * * * *
MJ was waiting outside the school for you when your Aunt pulled up in front of the building. She grinned when she saw you. “You look good.” 
You smiled at her, “You look even better.” You told her. She was dressed up nicely, a flattering dress with a black dahlia necklace hanging around her neck. You’d gifted it to her back on a school trip you’d all taken before everything went bad. You had planned on asking her out then when you’d gifted it to her, but then everything with Mysterio happened and instead you’d gifted it to her as a friend. Though honestly, you both probably knew it had been more than that. 
“Have fun girls!” May shouted to you both before driving off. 
“Bye May.” You both replied, waving her off before you turned towards MJ and offered her your hand. “Shall we?”
“And miss a chance to show up Flash? Never.” 
You both laughed as MJ took your hand and she led you inside. When you both entered the gym, your brother and Ned came over to the two of you. 
“You two look amazing together.” Ned complimented you. 
“Was there any doubt?” MJ asked, grinning at him. 
“Where did you disappear off to earlier?” You questioned Peter, raising a brow at him. He grimaced and shook his head. 
“I’ll tell you later. For now let’s just enjoy this.” Peter replied and you were happy to agree. Music filled the air around you all and you turned to MJ. 
“Care to dance?” You asked. In response she grabbed your hand and pulled you to the centre of the floor and the two of you quickly fell into a rhythm with the music. 
Moving to the music with MJ, was some of the happiest you’d been in a while, certainly since the world found out about your identity. 
Even happy moments weren’t meant to last though as your senses started to go off. You paused, MJ watching you closely as you slowly looked around the room. From the corner of your eye you could see your brother was doing the same. 
“What’s wrong? Is it your tingle?” MJ asked quietly, moments before one of the walls of the school exploded and screams filled the air. 
“Everyone get out of here!” You yelled over the screams as you hurried towards the now gone wall. The sounds of maniacal laughter filled the air along with the whir of a glider as a man in a green suit with a horrible grinning mask flew through the opening. 
“Can the spider come out to play?” The man laughed, “I know you’re here Parker.” he cackled. 
“What did you do?” You snapped at Peter as you both engaged your nano tech suits that you brought to be on the safe side. 
“Not the best time for this.” He retorted. 
You were about to snap at him again when you heard MJ call your name. You turned to see her come up behind you. She grabbed your face gently and pressed a kiss to your lips before pulling away. 
“Be safe.” She told you. You smiled at her before your mask came up to cover up your face and hide the blush crossing your cheeks.
“I always am the safer one.” You told her. “You be safe too.” You warned her and she nodded. 
“I will be.” She replied before turning and following the others out of the gym. You turned your attention back to the green suited man who’d started trying to fight your brother. You were going to make him pay for ruining your date.
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babyjackdaniels · 4 months
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mlsletflo · 2 years
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*Peter and Y/N fighting*
Tony: Could you try to be a little more mature?
Y/N:TAXES! *Punches Peter*
*MJ laughing while recording*
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rxmqnova · 4 months
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Y/N: Why would someone as cool as you be dating my brother?
MJ: Well, I find that if you're a little bit cooler than your boyfriend, he'll never dump you.
Y/N: Oooooh.
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justabigassnerd · 2 years
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Not again
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Pairing - MCU!Peter Parker x sister!reader, TASM!Peter Parker x sister!reader
Word count - 5,473
Warnings - mentions of death, violence, angst, mentions of stabbing
Summary - Peter Three finds himself in a new universe where his little sister is still alive and he becomes determined to protect Peter One from a lonely future
Sequel to - 'Too much loss'
A/N - (yes two gifs I couldn't decide a'ight? anyway moving on) I was suggested by @xiumin-girl99 to write a nwh sequel to 'Too much loss' which I was so down to do and then I got an anon request which kinda built further onto the idea so that really helped me get a grasp of a storyline for this fic. Anyways, I'll stop rambling now but as per y'all, please send in requests, feedback and enjoy!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Peter was just swinging around New York on patrol when a sudden gold glow surrounded him, unknowingly transporting him to a new universe. The second the glow disappeared; Peter swung straight into a building that definitely wasn’t there before the glow surrounded him.
“Mother Hubbard.” Peter groans as he gets up from the floor, glancing up at the building and noticing a poster of Spider-Man on the wall that had been graffitied with the words ‘we believe Mysterio!’ Peter raised an eyebrow at the words. Who was Mysterio? And why did this Spider-Man suit look nothing like his? Peter hid in the darkness of the alley to figure out what the hell was going on and as people walked past and glanced at the poster, he started to figure out that he wasn’t in his New York anymore. He noticed how most people who looked at the poster agreed with the words on it, showing aggression towards this Spider-Man and the boy behind the mask. People didn’t react that way towards Peter. They were scared of him in his world.
The moment he figured out the multiversal theory he believed in was true he couldn’t stop himself from doing a little fist pump in celebration as well as making the mental note to write about it when he’s able to figure out a way to get home.
Peter then figured he should keep out of sight and try to track down the Peter Parker of this world. His senses were telling him that he needed his help and despite the dark path Peter had been following, he wasn’t going to sit by and let a fellow Spider-Man struggle alone. Not like he was. As time progressed, Peter realised he had no clue where to even begin looking for this universes’ Peter Parker. This Queens wasn’t the one he was used to, so he had no idea what to look for. There was a family of four living in his Aunt May’s house, taking him aback and sending Peter into a bit more of a panic. Eventually, Peter ends up in an alleyway, thinking of how he could send some sort of signal to the Peter Parker from this universe to alert him of his presence. Just as he debates the idea of webbing words on one of New York’s bridges, something he had some experience in doing, a golden spark appears deep in the alley, gaining his attention. He turns to face it curiously, watching as it grows in size, revealing two teenagers on the other side, the two conversing with each other before calling out to him.
“Peter! Peter, over here!” They call out, gesturing for him to come through the portal. Peter, knowing this was his best bet at finding the Peter Parker that inhabits this world, jogs towards the portal and leaps through it. He knew the teens weren’t expecting him to be the one to jump through. He knew it before the teens stepped back in the realisation that he wasn’t their Peter.
“Hi. No, it’s okay I’m a nice guy!” Peter hurriedly says when the old lady in the corner of the room starts screaming, chucking a pillow at him in the process.
“Who are you?” The teen girl in front of him questions, hands held out in front of her in some kind of defensive stance as she stares at him. Peter lifts his hand to yank the mask off his head to show he is just a normal guy, as well as introduce himself properly.
“I’m Peter Parker. I am Spider-Man.” He starts to explain before a familiar voice cuts him off.
“No, you’re not. Not our Peter at least.” At the sound of your voice, Peter’s eyes searched the house, finally seeing you leaning against the kitchen island. He could see tear tracks on your cheeks and heard how your voice cracked slightly. He felt tears gather in the corners of his eyes when he saw you. It had been years since you died in his world and seeing you alive and breathing shook him to his core.
“Prove it. Prove that you’re Peter Parker.” The teen girl in front of Peter demands. Grabbing a bread roll and holding it up, ready to throw it at a moment’s notice. Peter struggled to tear his gaze away from you, lip quivering as he finally got the courage to speak.
“y/n?” He questioned cautiously, completely ignoring the other girl’s question and keeping his gaze on you as your expression shifted to one of confusion.
“How’d you know my name?” You question, standing up straight and taking a single step forward. Peter could see you analysing every feature on his face and part of him wished you’d recognise him somehow. He wished that by some chance, you were the y/n he lost all those years ago.
“You’re y/n. My little sister.” Peter manages to say, swallowing thickly to rid himself of the tears. He watched as you took in his words, nodding slightly and glancing at the girl and boy stood by the dining room table.
“He could’ve seen the news.” The girl argues when she sees the consideration on your face.
“MJ, something is telling me that he’s a Peter from another universe. Call it my sister intuition.” You say, wiping the tear stains from your cheeks with your hoodie sleeve. The girl now known as MJ didn’t seem convinced by your words, chucking the bread roll at Peter, watching as it bounces harmlessly off his chest.
“Why’d you do that?” He questions, shrugging his shoulders as he looks at the girl who has resumed her defensive stance.
“I wanted to see if you have the tingle thing.” MJ justifies as you watch on, shaking your head with a laugh.
“I have the tingle thing just not for bread.” Peter says, noticing MJ pick up another bread roll.
“Okay, MJ, let’s not throw the bread again. I know you don’t believe he’s Peter Parker but with everything that’s happened recently I don’t think another Peter showing up is completely out of the question.” You interject before MJ can throw the bread.
“Look Ned, could we try and find our Peter? We can explain everything once we’ve found him.” You say, first approaching and addressing the boy stood behind Peter before then addressing Peter, biting down on your bottom lip. Peter knew you were trying not to cry; you had done the exact same thing when you didn’t want to cry in front of people in his world. The boy who Peter now knew was called Ned nodded at your words and started circling his arms widely.
“Find Peter Parker.” He commands as his face scrunches up in concentration. Peter watches curiously, confused by what he was watching. You and MJ didn’t seem bothered by what you were witnessing so that had Peter wondering just how different your universe was from his. Another golden portal appears this time behind Ned and all five people in the room watch tensely as someone steps through, the disappointment clear on yours, Ned, and MJ’s faces as the guy who steps through was an older guy. Peter, however, tensed up, his senses reacting weirdly to the guy, and he found himself standing behind you protectively, ready to pull you behind him at a moment’s notice.
“It’s just some guy.” Ned groans, dropping his arms and glancing over at you and MJ.
“Hi. I hope you don’t mind I just came through this- oh it just closed.” The guy says, turning back to look at the portal before turning back upon the realisation the portal was gone.
“You’re Peter?” MJ questions, everyone watching as the guy nods.
“Yeah. Peter Parker. I’ve seen you three…” He introduces himself, pointing at you, Ned, and MJ before noticing the other Peter standing behind you. Peter noticed how the older Peter tensed up the moment they locked eyes.
“Wait… he’s not your friend.” The older Peter says, falling silent as they stare at each other in shock. Suddenly, the younger Peter is hauling you aside and firing a web at his older counterpart who does the same in retaliation.
“Wait, you’re Spider-Man too? You could have just said so.” Ned says once the two have calmed down.
“Ned, would you go around advertising you were Spider-Man if it were you?” You fire at your friend, grabbing a bread roll and tossing it at his head. Before Ned could retaliate, his Lola starts speaking to him in Tagalog, everyone falling silent as she rants.
“My Lola is asking if you could clean up the webs you shot?” Ned translates, turning back to the two Peter’s who nod.
“Sorry, Lola.” The younger Peter apologises as Ned’s Lola shakes her head.
“I’m going to bed.” She mutters as everyone says goodnight to her, watching as she heads upstairs before the younger Peter turns to start tidying up the mess he made.
“I’ve been trying to find your friend since I got here. I’ve had this strange feeling he needs my help.” The older Peter says gently.
“Our help.” Younger Peter interjects, nodding his head at what the older Peter had said.
“He needs it. We’re pretty much all he’s got left.” MJ says softly and at her words you turn away from everyone, pressing your palms to the dining room table and squeezing your eyes shut to fend off the tears building.
“What do you mean all ‘he’s got left?’” The Peter’s ask in tandem, worried about what the answer might be.
“We just… we just lost our Aunt May. And now we don’t know where Peter is.” Your soft voice speaks up just as MJ opened her mouth to respond. Everyone turned to face you when you spoke. While your gaze was fixated on the table the younger Peter felt his heart shatter in his chest. He wanted to bring you into a hug and protect you from the harsh realities of the world, but he knew he wasn’t the Peter you wanted. You wanted your brother and while he was a Peter Parker and your brother from another universe, he wasn’t the right one.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” The older Peter says as MJ crosses to you, bringing you into a hug as you bury your face in her shoulder. The Peter’s let you have a moment, waiting patiently as you compose yourself and pull away from MJ once you’re calm.
“Do any of you know if Peter has somewhere he likes to go that has meaning to him? Somewhere where he could just-“
“Get away from everything?” The younger Peter finishes the older Peter’s question, both of them watching as you, Ned, and MJ think silently.
“For me, it was the top of the Chrysler Building.” The older Peter states in the hope his words will prompt a reaction from you and your friends before glancing over to his fellow Peter.
“Empire State… or it was. Now I just sit on some corporate building, never cared to learn the name.” The younger Peter says, fighting back the memories of that night as they begin to work their way into his brain once more.
“I think I might know where he might be.” MJ says suddenly, realisation covering her face as it clicks in her head where Peter might be. Ned manages to create a portal to Midtown Tech and you, Ned, and MJ headed up to the roof after MJ had grabbed the box containing Doctor Strange’s spell while the other two Peter’s scaled the school’s tower. You find your Peter sat on the roof and you immediately rush over to him, wrapping your arms around him as Ned and MJ kneel on his other side, also encasing him in a hug as he allows himself to cry. You comfort him for a minute or so before Peter stiffens slightly as MJ pulls away enough to speak.
“Peter, there’s some people here to see you.” She says as Peter turns to look in the direction of the other two Peters, suddenly standing up, angling himself to be stood in front of all three of you protectively as the two Peters jump down from their place on top of the tower. They maintain a distance to show your Peter that they aren’t a threat to him. You watch as your Peter stares at them, having a moment of realisation that they are alternate versions of him from other universes.
“I’m sorry about May.” The oldest Peter starts, speaking softly and carefully as he looks down at your Peter.
“Yeah, I’ve got some understanding of what it-”
“No you don’t understand how it feels. She died for nothing. Now I’m sending you back. Those guys are from your world, right? So if you kill them, that’s on you. I’m done.” Your Peter interrupts the second oldest of the Peter’s, his voice sharp as he points accusingly at the other Peter’s as they nod sadly. There wasn’t a single pair of dry eyes on that roof right now. The two older Peters decide to share their stories of loss and how their thirst for revenge didn’t help anything. The oldest Peter explains how he lost his Uncle Ben, and how he hunted down the killer to get revenge, but it didn’t make him feel any better. The second oldest of the Peter’s shares the story of how he lost Gwen, his MJ, how he tried to keep being Spider-Man because that’s what she would’ve wanted but at some point, he stopped pulling his punches and became rageful and bitter. He expressed how he didn’t want your Peter to end up like him. Your eyes widen in surprise when your Peter admits to wanting to tear the person who killed May apart. He didn’t sound like your brother. You weren’t used to Peter voicing such violent thoughts. He was the ‘Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man’, so this wasn’t like him at all. He begins to quote something that May had said, presumably moments before she died, and to your shock, the other Peter’s finished the quote for him, stating that their Uncle Ben said it the day he died.
“Maybe she didn’t die for nothing, Peter.” Those words spoken by the oldest and clearly the wisest of the Peters acted as some sort of switch for your Peter as he nods, and the other two Peters leapt down to be at your level. From their expressions, you could tell they had reached some sort of understanding. One that could only be understood by Peter Parker.
“Okay, before we do anything I just have to say something. Can we come up with some sort of naming system? Calling you all ‘Peter’ just isn’t going to work.” You say quickly before anything could be said and your Peter couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh at your quick words.
“Peter One. Peter Two. Peter Three. There. Done.” MJ says quickly, pointing at your Peter first, then the oldest Peter, then the second oldest Peter, labelling them as she points.
“Right, now that that’s sorted let’s fix this cures, huh?” Peter One says, holding the bag of cures up and shaking it slightly before leading the group into Midtown Tech and down to one of the labs where you divvy up the cures. Peter One fixing the cures of Max Dillon and Flint Marko. Peter Two fixing the cure for Norman Osborn. And Peter Three fixing the cure for Curt Connors after he boasts that he’s done it before. You weren’t nearly as sciency as your brother, so you were more than happy to sit to the side. You watch the three Peter’s working curiously, observing how similar yet different they were. As you watched, you noticed the sad glances Peter Three kept throwing your way, and along with how he reacted upon seeing you at Ned’s house you were sure something was wrong. You get up from your chair and cross to Peter Three and lean up against the counter he was working on.
“Did I do something wrong in your universe?” You ask as Peter Three turns to face you with a confused expression.
“What makes you think you did something wrong?” He asks quickly.
“Ever since you noticed me in Ned’s house, you’ve been looking at me like I murdered someone. So I want to know if I did something wrong.” You state, wanting to get to the bottom of what happened.
“You didn’t do anything. It was me…” Peter Three says, shifting his gaze back to the cure and fiddling with the bottle to not look at you.
“Peter, I doubt you did anything wrong. What happened?” You press gently, your eyes full of worry and curiosity.
“I made a mistake, and you paid the price.” He says, eyes fixed on the Bunsen burner as the tears gather in his eyes as he remembers finding you bleeding out and you dying in his arms in a dark alleyway.
“Paid the price… you mean I…?” You start, piecing the bits together in your head as Peter Three nods at your words.
“You died. I messed up and you died because of it. I should’ve been there to walk you home after the study session you had with your friends that night, but I went on patrol instead. Some guy hauled you into an alleyway and must’ve demanded money or something because your bag had been ripped open, but you didn’t have any. You never carried on you when you went to a friend’s because-”
“I didn’t want to be tempted to spend it on snacks on the way back home.” You finish, a sad smile on your face at the similarity you shared with the other you.
“Yeah. The guy shot you I assume not long after he realised you had nothing. I was sitting on top of the Empire State Building when I heard the gunshot. I was too far away and when I got there it was already too late to get you to the hospital. You died in my arms.” Peter Three’s voice cracks and a tear rolls down his cheek. You didn’t hesitate in wrapping your arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly, and resting your chin on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry you lost your y/n. But I know it’s not your fault so you shouldn’t be blaming yourself for it. She wouldn’t want you to and I don’t want you to either.” You say, your chin digging into his shoulder with each word you speak.
“But I shouldn’t have gone on patrol. I should’ve prioritised you.” Peter Three argues, tension clear in his voice as he fights back more tears.
“I promise you; your y/n would’ve cared more about you protecting New York than making sure she made it home. You didn’t do anything wrong, and you couldn’t have known that a guy was gonna attack her. You weren’t the one to pull the trigger so how could it be your fault?” You question, hating that Peter Three also carries the same stubbornness your Peter carries. He couldn’t accept that anyone else was at fault for your death in his universe other than himself and it broke your heart because you knew it wasn’t his fault. It also just then clicked in your head about what he said about being sat on the Empire State Building when it happened and how that must’ve been what caused him to move his thinking spot to be a corporate tower instead. Before you could continue to attempt to convince Peter Three that he wasn’t at fault, the bottle containing the cure for Connors started to make noises, so you released Peter Three from the hug and move away, letting him get on with what he needed to do. You return to the seat you were sat in prior to talking to Peter Three and you sit alongside MJ and Ned who both smile softly.
“What were talking to Peter Three about?” Ned asks curiously, fiddling with the Sling Ring on his index and middle finger as he speaks.
“Just asking him some questions about the y/n in his universe.” You shrug, hoping Ned drops it. Thankfully he does, turning his attention to the computer in front of him as he does whatever it is that needs doing.
“You okay?” MJ asks, turning to you slightly, eyes filled with worry.
“As okay as I can be.” You admit shrugging lightly.
“This’ll be over before we know it.” MJ replies, grabbing your hand gently before Ned suddenly stands up.
“Peter!” He calls out and all three Peter's reply, then realising the confusion and glancing between each other to figure out which Peter Ned wants. Eventually, Ned gets the message across that he wanted Peter One to look at the computer and all the Peters announce that they had finished their cures and were now ready to cure the villains that had come over from their worlds. After conversing about the plan a little further, Ned hands Peter One some web cartridges, much to the confusion of Peter Two who demonstrated his ability to fire webs directly out of his wrist without the use of a web shooter much to the shock of you, Ned, MJ, Peter One and Peter Three. When you recover from the shock of Peter Two’s abilities, Ned creates a portal to the Statue of Liberty for the three Peter’s to lure the villains to.
“I want to help.” You say as they begin to step through the portal.
“No.” Both Peter One and Three say sharply, turning to face you quickly, both wearing worried expressions. One look at the hidden fear deep in both of their eyes was enough to get you to nod and back down against your wishes. You watched as they stepped onto the scaffolding surrounding the statue and walking away to put the plan into place. Your job was to wait for Peter One to pass the box to MJ and Ned to close the portal. You felt useless and like you should be doing something as your brother and his alternate selves work to cure the villains. You waited around awkwardly until lightning started to light up the sky on the other side of the portal and you knew they had arrived in search of the box. It didn’t take long for Peter One to throw the box at MJ and you told Ned to close the portal but to your concern, he couldn’t close it. You and MJ tried to keep him calm and offered different ways to try to close the portal, even offering to do it yourself but Ned shut you down quickly, claiming that neither of you had the same magic that he does. You don’t know how long you were talking to Ned, trying to get him to close the portal. It was clearly long enough for Connors to hear you and start charging at you the moment he climbed up to your level.
“That is a lizard, we gotta run!” MJ yells as you realise what’s happening. The three of you dart for the door to the lab before Peter One crashes into Connors, pushing him towards the door and telling you to run. All three of you dart towards the portal, crossing through it and running along the scaffolding, searching for somewhere safe to hide. You turn to look behind you as you run, and you see Connors chasing you. While looking back, you fail to notice Ned opening a portal that sent a gush of water flowing along the scaffolding, sweeping both you and Connors off your feet and towards each other. As you manage to scramble up you see Connors’ eyes locking with yours as his tail swishes side to side in sinister joy baring both his teeth and his claws as he approaches you.
Peter Three had just been released by the man with octopus tentacles who helped cure Max. As he got up to his feet, he heard the familiar growl of the Lizard and he turned to see him towering over you, lifting his claws as they glistened in the light and Peter Three moved faster than he had moved in his entire life. He webbed his way over to you and kicked Connors away from you. He landed in front of you protectively and webbed Connors up as much as possible, buying Peter One enough time to get the cure in Connors’ mouth as he clamped down on it in an attempt to bite him. The gas released and Connors stumbled back, turning back into a human.
“Are you okay?” Peter Three asks, turning to face you and you instantly saw his teary eyes and knew he was imagining what could’ve happened if he took even a second longer. Before you could reply, Peter One barrelled into you, hugging you tight and you felt the tension slowly leaving his body as he hugged you.
“y/n, I’m so sorry I can’t believe that happened. You aren’t hurt, are you?” He says quickly, pulling away and holding your face in his hands so he can assess any potential damage.
“I’m fine Pete, go check on Ned and MJ. I’m okay.” You say, smiling to convince your older brother that you’re unharmed and okay. However, he seemed hesitant to leave you.
“Peter Three will keep me safe. Check on your girlfriend and best friend.” You instruct gently and watch as Peter nods and swings towards Ned and MJ.
“Sorry about that.” You say to Peter Three as your brother leaves.
“It’s okay. I’d be the same.” Peter Three says, a tear rolling down his cheek that he wipes away quickly.
“You saved me, Peter.” You say with a gentle smile as he nods tearily.
“I saved you.” He manages to say, the reality that he saved another Peter from a world of suffering and loneliness lifting that heavy weight that had been burdening him since you died in his arms in his universe. He had that weight burdening him since the loss of Gwen, but it doubled, maybe even tripled in weight when he lost you. He didn’t think there was a single thing in the universe he could’ve done to redeem himself for failing you and Gwen. But saving you in another universe felt like the y/n he knew had personally removed the weight, nudged him with your shoulder like you always did, and whispered, ‘I knew you could do it; you can rest now.’
“You look like you need a hug. Do you want one?” You offer when you notice he’d fallen completely silent. He didn’t respond vocally, he just strode towards you and wrapped you up in his arms, resting his chin atop your head as you wrap your arms around his middle. Peter let out a shuddering breath as he squeezed you ever so slightly, convincing himself that he did it. He saved you. Maybe not in his world but he could rest knowing you were alive in another universe, that he had a direct impact on your safety.
“You should probably check up on Peter Two. The poor guy probably thinks he got abandoned.” You say, breaking the comforting silence with a slight laugh as you feel Peter nod against the top of your head slightly before loosening his grip, allowing you to wiggle out of his arms.
“You’ll be okay here?” He asks, worry still in his eyes as he looks down at you.
“I’ll be fine. Go and do your weird spider thing.” You tease as he rolls his eyes, wiping at his eyes one last time to rid them of any more potential tears before swinging up to join his fellow Spider-Men. You decide to approach Connors, crouching near his side and making sure he was okay. You figured after travelling across universes and being changed back into a human after being a lizard after god knows how long must’ve taken a toll on him.
“Can the Spider-Man come out to play?” A throaty voice calls out, followed by a maniacal cackle rang out in the air as a glider makes its way towards where all three Spider-Men were standing, along with Doctor Octavius and Doctor Strange. You could see the struggle for the box before it was pulled back into Strange’s grip. There was a brief moment before something exploded, making you grab the scaffolding nearest to you in the vain hope it won’t collapse.
“y/n, Doctor Connors, let me help you down.” Peter Two lands by your side, watching carefully as you both nod and he webs you both, lowering you as quickly as possible before the damage the shield falling off the statue increased, sending pretty much all the scaffolding crashing to the ground. You search for Ned and MJ once you’re safely on the ground, and you find them, trapping them both in a tight hug as you laugh in relief.
“Where’s Peter?” You ask, searching around for your brother. MJ grabs your arm and pulls you towards the fencing surrounding Liberty Island, showing you the large metal shield that had fallen off the statue and was now lying in the water with Peter and the Goblin facing off against each other. Peter was exerting such violence. Violence you’d never seen come from him before. You watched in horror as he grabbed the Goblin’s glider, dragging it over to where the Goblin was and lifting it above his head, ready to bring it down on him until Peter Two got between them, stopping Peter One from killing the Goblin and going down the same path both he and Peter Three had followed. They stare at each other until Peter One tosses the glider aside. In an instant, the Goblin plunged a knife into Peter Two’s back and Peter Three was quick to chuck the cure for him at Peter One who caught it and in one swift motion, injected it into the Goblin’s neck. You watch as Peter Three leaps onto the shield and rushes over to Peter Two’s side, kneeling down and helping him up. Peter One swings up to talk to Strange when you all notice the purple cracks appearing all over the sky. You remain near Ned and MJ, fearfully looking up at the sky and wondering what was happening. Peter was gone from your sight less than five minutes before he reappeared again to talk to his older counterparts, enveloping them in a big hug before swinging over to you, Ned, and MJ.
“They’re heading home. We did it.” Peter states, making you glance over at the other two Peters.
“Do I have enough time to say goodbye?” You ask quickly, looking back at your brother who in turn looks up at Strange.
“If you’re quick enough. Please be quick. I have to tell you something.” He says and you nod, rushing over to the metal railing and climbing over to it. The Peter’s see you coming and make their way over to you, meeting you halfway.
“I wanted to say goodbye. And thank you. Both of you. You really helped my brother.” You say with a smile and the two bring you in for a quick hug.
“You’re welcome y/n.” Peter Two says with a smile as you nod, turning to look back at Peter One who kept glancing up at Strange and then back at you with worry-filled eyes.
“I should go back… oh, Peter Three? Thank you for saving me. Now forgive yourself and keep being the ‘Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man.’ For both your y/n and Gwen.” You say with a smile before you rush back over to your brother, his girlfriend, and his best friend.
Peter Three allows your words to sink in as he glances up at the sky. It was okay for him to forgive himself. He could try to better himself. He could go back to helping the city rather than making them fear him because of his grief and rage. Maybe when he got home, he’d visit Aunt May and they could visit yours and Gwen’s graves together and talk about his next steps in healing. Maybe he’d try therapy, or maybe just talking to his aunt, the most trusted person in his life, would be enough to forge a path for him. Hundreds of thoughts swirled around his mind as he moved away from Peter Two, feeling the same tingling sensation that he felt when he first came to this universe so he could guess he was going home. He threw up a peace sign in farewell to his brother and thought about how he was going to make you proud when he made it back home.
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mrsstruggle · 7 months
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The Lost Child - Chapter 35 // Teen Wolf x Marvel AU
Summary: Y/N Stark was taken from her family when she was three years old. It's fifteen years later and her family believes she is dead. Then how is she living in Beacon Hills?
Warnings: Language, Mentions of Death/Injury/Grief/Torture, Possible Grammar Mistakes (please let me know if there is anything else)
Pairings: Derek Hale x Reader, Steve Rodgers x Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner x Natasha Romanoff, Vision x Wanda Maximoff
Previous Pairings: Tony Stark x Pepper Potts, Scott McCall x Allison Argent
Words: 5.8k
Note: There is only an epilogue left and that should be posted tomorrow!
Additional Note: While this is a Teen Wolf x Marvel AU, not everything is true to the shows/movies/comics. I had to change things for the story.
One Last Note: Y/N was adopted by Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. I did this so more people can see themselves in this story.
***I do not own Teen Wolf or Marvel or any related characters. This is a work of fanfiction and is meant for entertainment purposes only.***
Masterlist
The Lost Child Masterlist
Previous Chapter
Epilogue
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“Can you tell me something about her?” Peter asks.
“What?” Stiles shakes out of his thoughts and turns to look at Peter. They have been slowly walking around the perimeter of the fighting waiting for someone to call for them.
“Can you tell me something about Y/N?”
“Like what?”
“Like what was it like growing up with her?”
Stiles thinks for a second, “Other than when our mom died, it was pretty good.”
Peter watches Stiles fiddle with the straps of the bulletproof vest he’s wearing. Stiles told them about their mom dying earlier but he hasn’t thought about it too much. Now thinking about it, not only did Y/N have one mom who died early on in her life, but she also had another mom who gave her to Hydra to be experimented on. He can’t even begin to comprehend how much that has messed with her.
Peter has so many questions that he wants to ask Y/N after all of this is over. He’s not sure if she’ll even be up for them or even want to answer them. The only things he knows about her are things other people have told him. Even then, how much has he not been told? How much will he never know?
They continue to walk in silence until Argent’s voice rings out from their walkie-talkies, “Stiles, we need you!”
“Shit,” Stiles mutters under his breath as they take off toward Chris and the others. Stiles tries to keep up with Peter while also trying not to trip on his own feet. He doesn’t have the speed that Peter has.
By the time they reach Chris, Derek, and other Peter, the Anuk-Ite is already gone. Derek and Chris seem to be okay but the Anuk-ite got Peter.
“What happened?!” Stiles asks out of breath.
“What do you think?” Derek huffs.
“Where did it go?”
“Our eyes were closed. How would we know where it went?” Chris responds, rolling his eyes and pulling a knife out of a fallen hunter.
“Well, we need to trap it soon or else he and the others are going to stay like this forever.”
“What others?” Derek questions.
“Malia and Bucky are also statues.”
Derek curses under his breath.
“Maybe instead of waiting for it to come to us, we should make it come to us,” Chris states.
“How?” Peter asks.
Chris thinks for a second, “It feeds on fear, so let’s give it some fear.”
“Again, how?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to figure somethi–”
Chris gets cut off by the sound of Scott’s voice coming out through the walkie-talkies, “Guys, we need help!”
“What’s going on?” Stiles responds.
“We’re outnumbered and they’ve got a kanima now!”
“What’s a kanima?” Peter asks.
“A lizard that can paralyze you,” Stiles mutters, trying to decide in his head if it’s a good idea to go help them or if he and Peter need to focus on the Anuk-Ite.
“We’ll go help them. You two go after the Anuk-Ite and take it down now. You don’t have much time.” Chris states. He turns to nod at Derek before they run off in the direction Scott is in.
“How?!”
“Figure it out!”
“That’s so helpful! Thanks!” Stiles rolls his eyes before looking back at Peter. “We need a plan.”
Peter throws his hands up in defense, “This is your realm of expertise. I’m just here to help.”
“My realm of expertise requires research and a lot of guessing and hope that we don’t die.”
Stiles and Peter look at each other in annoyance. Time is ticking down and they need to kill the Anuk-Ite as soon as possible. Waiting for people to call for them is taking too long and they keep getting there too late.
“What if we tell everyone to go to one side?” Stiles suggests. “If everyone is in one area, then it only has one place to go.”
“I thought they wanted us attacking on all sides?”
“Yeah, well, people are dying and our current plan isn’t working.” Stiles pulls the walkie-talkie in his hand up to his mouth, “Everyone go to Scott’s side.”
It’s silent for a moment before Kira’s voice comes through, “We’re already here!”
“Why do we need to go to Scott’s side?” Liam’s voice came through after hers.
“Just go to Scott’s side.”
They wait a moment for a reply but no one does.
“Let’s just go and hope they do too,” Peter says, already walking away from Stiles.
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Y/N tries to ignore the throbbing pain of her ankle as it feels like the bear trap keeps getting deeper. Is it possible for it to decapitate her foot from her body? She looks up and sees that Kate is still slowly approaching her but the other hunters and Berserkers have stopped.
“The whole world knows who you are now!” Kate calls out. “You’re all anyone can talk about.”
“Your plan isn’t going to work! People aren’t afraid of the Hulk and they won’t be afraid of me!” Y/N yells back. She hopes she sounded confident saying what she said because she’s not sure she believes it herself. She knows she’s capable of a lot and she is technically a monster, so she couldn’t fault people for being afraid of her.
Kate laughs, “You think I want people to be afraid of you?!”
“Why else would you leak my information?!” Y/N tries to pull the bear trap open but the pain is causing her strength to weaken. She can’t seem to get it off. She knows she could easily take the hunters and Berserkers down without having to move, but she’s not sure she could concentrate enough to do so.
“Not everything is just about you.” Kate stops ten feet away from me. “Is that really the best thing you could come up with?”
“Then why the fuck are you doing this?! For an army that wants to get rid of the supernatural, you seem to have a lot of them on your side!”
“They want you dead,” Kate points back to the hunters behind her, “I, personally, think you’re better off alive.”
“Why?”
“Do you really think I told the world who you are so that I could kill you? Or—what did you say—that people will be afraid of you?”
Y/N’s hands keep slipping from the metal trap and blood continues to pour from her ankle, “Then why did you do it?”
“For the same reason why you let Pepper Potts go—suffering for eternity is so much better than the instant kill.”
Y/N rolls her eyes, “That doesn’t explain anything. And I actually have a reason to make her suffer and you’ve got nothing on me.”
“You want to know why I told the press who you are? It’s not to make people afraid of you. If I wanted to do that I would’ve also told them why you smell like wet dogs and have fun playing in the shadows.” Kate walks closer to Y/N before kneeling down a few feet away from her. “You’ve seen how the internet has reacted so far. Just wait until they start to really dig into your life.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Do you really think the best they can do is find out where you live or who you’re dating? Just wait until they find out about the multiple friends of yours that have died within the last few years or the fact that there seem to be a lot of unsolved murders under your dad’s watch. Better yet, what happens when they start looking into Derek’s past and find out about Paige?
“I’m going to watch as the world tears you and everyone you associate with limb from limb. I’m going to watch as the world plasters your face and your life on every news article, every gossip page, and every social media platform.
“I don’t care if people fear you. I want them to fear the people closest to you. How much longer do you think they’ll stick around once you ruin their lives just by association?”
Y/N scowls at Kate. She doesn’t even know how to respond to Kate because Kate’s right. If people were able to find where Derek lives, they’ll be able to find more. They’ll never be able to link him to Paige’s death, but what about his sister’s? Even though he had nothing to do with it—thanks to Stiles and Scott—he does have an arrest record for it. What other things could they find out about him?
What about her dad? There are indeed a lot of unsolved cases due to the supernatural being involved. There is also a suspicious amount of deaths ruled ‘animal attack.’ Not too long ago there were human sacrifices going on too.
What about the rough patch he hit after her mom’s death? Is it even possible for people to find out about that? What if this situation drives him into another rough patch?
Would being associated with her affect her friend’s futures? If she gets exposed—which exposes them too—will that affect their college chances? Stiles is interested in working for the FBI; will this affect his chance to work with them?
It doesn’t matter what she tells people or what she does, people will make their own judgments about her no matter what. If the extent of the Hydra experiments gets out, she will be branded a murderer. It won’t matter her age at the time or that she was forced to do them, they’ll see her as a monster. Bucky has been out of Hydra’s grasp for over a decade and people still look at him with fear as if he’ll become the Winter Soldier again if something slightly upsets him. While not everyone treats him like that, there is a loud, large majority that does.
“If that’s all you wanted to do, then why gather an army to kill us?” Y/N asks.
“I don’t want to kill all of you. That would make my whole plan irrelevant.” Kate replies. “I just want to kill one of you.”
“Why do you have to be so fucking vague?”
“When do people get obsessed with digging into people’s lives? When drama happens. What’s a bigger drama than you running off with the Avengers after daddy sheriff will no longer speak to you after his son was mysteriously killed by a wild animal?” Kate stands up from her kneeling position. “Do you think people will blame you or one of the other wolves you run around with? Do you think Scott will forgive you after you dragged him and his best friend into your world? What about the others?”
Y/N eyes start to glow bright blue and her fangs drop down in anger. She smirks as Kate takes a slight step back, but she doesn’t see what Kate sees. She doesn’t see that her eyes flicker from blue to black before going back to blue.
“What makes you think that I’m going to let you do that?” Y/N asks.
“I think that you find yourself to be a bit too busy to save him,” Kate smirks, running and jumping down into the tunnels through the hatch Y/N just climbed out of—narrowly missing Y/N’s claws that swipe at her.
As Y/N yells at Kate, the hunters and Berserkers start running toward her. She starts to pull at the bear trap in anger, trying to rip it apart. As her eyes go solid black, she rips the trap apart and off of her ankle. Screaming in pain and anger, complete and utter darkness engulfs her, the hunters, the Berserkers, and their surroundings as darkness comes off of Y/N in a wave of immense power.
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“Where the hell did it go?!” Natasha yells out.
“I don’t know!” Kira yells back.
Steve and Isaac are propped up against a tree waiting for the kanima venom to wear off as Nat and Kira circle around them in protection. The kanima keeps coming back to them but they’ve been able to hold it off so far.
“Are you sure we can’t kill it?!”
“Scott says not to because it’s not like the hunters! It doesn’t want to hurt us! It’s only doing what it’s master says and we don’t know if, whoever it is, is doing this willingly or not!”
“How does he know that?!”
“Personal experience!” Isaac yells out.
“I think I’m starting to get feeling back in my hands. I can feel my fingers moving.” Steve says. He hates that it only took a little scratch on his neck to knock him down and prevent him from being a part of the fight.
Isaac glances down at Steve’s hands, “As someone who can see your hands—they aren’t moving.”
“Well, yours aren’t moving either!”
Nat and Kira quickly turn toward the right side of the trees as they hear footsteps quickly approaching them. They tighten their grips on their weapons as the footsteps get closer.
“Derek?” Kira lowers her sword as Derek and Chris step out of the tree line.
“Scott said that he needed help,” Derek says. “What’s going on?”
“They’ve got a kanima and some really big Berserkers,” Isaac says from behind Kira.
“Isaac?”
“Hey, Derek. Hey, Mr. Argent. I’d greet you properly but I can’t move.”
“What are you doing here?” Chris asks.
“Scott told us everything.”
“Us?” Derek questions.
“Braeden’s here too,” Kira says.
“Great,” Derek mumbles under his breath. He hasn’t spoken to Braeden much since he and Y/N got together unless it had to do with supernatural business. There’s no big reason why they don’t talk, but there is a bit of an awkward tension between the three of them.
“The others are closer to the house. We’re keeping these two safe until they can move again while the others are fighting whatever else.” Natasha states, pretending not to notice Derek sigh after hearing what Kira said. She makes a mental note to ask Y/N about it later when all of this is over and hopefully they’ve gotten closer.
“Chris, you stay with them and I’ll go help Scott.”
“No!” Everyone’s heads turn to look at Stiles and Peter running toward them. “We need everyone to be in the same spot. It’s the only way we’ll be able to kill the Anuk-Ite before the others die.”
“What do you mean ‘before the others die?’” Natasha questions.
“Malia and creepy Peter are currently almost statues for the rest of their lives.”
“So is Uncle Bucky,” Peter adds.
“What?!” Steve yells, trying to will his legs to move to go question Peter but nothing happens. His mind is racing. Bucky better not die on him again. He promised not to do that to Steve again.
“Hey! I can feel my hands again!” Isaac calls out. Steve glares at Isaac as Isaac’s fingers start to slowly move. Steve’s eyes quickly widen in horror as Isaac flicks out his claws before digging them into his leg.
“What are you doing?!”
“Triggering the healing process,” Isaac grunts out, digging his claws in deeper.
“Like I was saying,” Stiles says, pulling the attention back to him, “we need everyone to be together. It’s too hard to catch the Anuk-Ite when we’re all spread out. It’s gone by the time we reach the area it’s supposed to be in. If we’re all in one spot, then it only has one place to attack us.”
“We’ll move toward Scott and the others,” Derek states.
“Someone will need to carry those two,” Kira says, pointing to Isaac and Steve behind her.
“No one needs to carry me!” Isaac yells, slowly standing up from the ground. “I’m okay!”
“If you scratch me, will I turn into a werewolf?” Steve asks, looking up at Isaac.
“No, I’m not an alpha. Even then it’s pretty rare.”
“Then scratch me to speed this up. I don’t like not being able to do anything.”
“I’m not sure if it works the same for humans.”
“I’m a bit more than human. Just do it.”
Isaac sighs in annoyance and flicks out his claws—bending down next to Steve’s legs, “I’ll try not to hit anything important.” Steve watches as Isaac digs his claws into him—the claws easily pierce through his suit and into his thigh.
“One of us will still have to carry him until he can carry himself,” Chris states.
“I’ve got him,” Isaac grunts, pulling Steve up and putting him on his back in a fireman’s carry. “Let’s go.”
Kira leads as the group starts to walk toward Scott and the others. Derek tries to focus on his surroundings so he can be ready if anything tries to attack them but his mind is on Y/N. Is she okay? Is she hurt? Has she found Kate or is she still looking for her?
As they get closer to the house, the sounds of fighting become more clear. Emerging from the trees, they can see Scott and Liam fighting a large Berserker together. Next to them, Sam and Tony are fighting off the other three while Braeden is standing protectively in front of Wanda—who is propped up against the house and appears paralyzed.
“Kira, go help Scott and Liam. Isaac, go to Braeden. I’ll go help the other two. The rest of you take down the kanima and anything else that shows up.” Derek orders, charging toward the Berserker that just swiped at Sam while Stiles and Peter move toward the house.
Isaac runs over to Braeden and not-so-gently sets down Steve next to Wanda. Steve winces in pain as the feeling starts to come back to his legs.
“What happened to you?” Steve asks Wanda.
“The stupid lizard got me when my back was turned.” Wanda practically growls out in anger.
“Good to see you back on your feet,” Braeden says to Isaac, quickly glancing over at him before continuing to watch for the kanima.
“What’s going on?” Isaac asks.
“Any hunters that were still left have now run away. It’s just them now and the lizard.”
“Have you seen Y/N again?”
“I haven’t seen her since she ran off.” Braeden looks behind her at Steve regaining movement of his limbs and Wanda eyeing Steve in jealousy. “Do you know who these people are?”
“Not a clue. Scott told me who they were but I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“Aim for their masks!” Derek yells out, narrowly missing the bone claw that swiped at his face.
Tony aims his hand at the mask of the Berserker running his way. The mask is obliterated as soon as the powerful ray from his suit hits it. They watch as the Berserker quickly turns to dust.
“Why weren’t we told that earlier?!” Sam yells out.
Derek ignores him as he knocks down the Berserker next to him. His fist slams down onto the mask before the Berserker moves to get up. The mask slightly cracks before shattering when he brings his fist down again. The Berserker now lies on the floor of the woods dead.
Derek looks up from the dead Berserker and watches as Scott jumps on the back of the Berserker he’s fighting and rips the mask off it. To his left, Tony blasts the mask off the last standing Berserker.
“Thank god they're dead. I’m not sure I could’ve lasted much longer.” Liam huffs out, gripping his side in pain.
“Where’s the kanima?” Scott asks.
“Where’s Y/N?” Derek asks, looking around at everyone for answers.
“She went looking for Kate a while ago,” Isaac says.
“I’m goin–”
“Watch out!” Scott yells, tackling Derek to the ground as the kanima jumps out from the trees behind him.
The kanima lands on it’s feet before turning toward Tony. It takes two large strides toward him before jumping in the air, claws ready to swipe at him. Before it reaches him, it is shot down by Chris, falling to the ground unconscious.
“I thought we weren’t going to kill it?!” Kira yells out. She could’ve killed it a long time ago but Scott told her not to.
“I didn’t,” Chris says, walking over to the kanima. “I shot it with some darts full of ketamine. It should be out for a while but we should put some mountain ash around it just in case. We should also move it out of the way.”
“I’ve got it,” Isaac grumbles after nobody else moves. He drags the kanima out of the way and Chris follows him while digging through his bag looking for the extra mountain ash he brought.
The hair on the back of Derek’s neck feels like it’s standing up as he pushes Scott off of him and rises from the ground, “Can you feel that?”
“Stiles, get ready,” Scott says. “Everyone close your eyes.”
Everyone closes their eyes as the uneasy feeling starts to wash over them. Stiles can hear someone murmuring close to him. He can’t tell if it’s something the Anuk-Ite is doing to him or if someone else is talking to it. He tries to hone his hearing in to locate the Anuk-Ite but he’s not like the werewolves and superhumans next to him.
Stiles takes a deep breath—trying to think of what to do. That’s when he feels some kind of magical pull. It feels like it’s pulling him toward the Anuk-Ite. He can sense the Anuk-Ite getting closer to him but he doesn’t understand why nothing else is happening. Where’s the vision trying to get him to open his eyes or anything?
Stiles can feel his heart beating faster as he senses the Anuk-ite standing in front of him. Trying to think quickly, he pours a bit of the mountain ash into his hand before blowing it into the Anuk-Ite’s face. Stepping back as the Anuk-Ite struggles in the cloud of ash, Stiles opens his eyes and throws the rest of the mountain ash in a circle around it.
He watches as the Anuk-Ite’s powers turn on itself and turns itself into stone before disintegrating into ash.
“It’s gone!” Stiles yells out.
Scott is the first person to open his eyes, “What happened?”
“I don’t know. Its powers didn’t seem to work on me and I could just sense it in front of me so I threw the mountain ash around it and now it’s gone.”
“What do you mean it’s powers didn’t work on you?” Everyone else slowly opens their eyes to look at the interaction between Scott and Stiles.
“It’s supposed to mess with your mind but nothing happened.”
“Nothing happened to me either,” Wanda speaks up, standing up from her spot on the ground now that the kanima venom has worn off. “I could hear Steve speaking to something but I didn’t get anything. I think my magic blocked it.”
“I could hear Bucky speaking to me…Bucky!” Steve’s eyes widen before he runs off in the direction Bucky’s supposed to be.
“I don’t have magic though. I don’t understand why nothing happened?” Stiles can’t seem to wrap his head around the situation.
“Maybe you do and you just don’t know it,” Scott says.
Stiles goes to say something before Derek cuts him off, “You can figure it out later. We need to find Y/N.”
“She’s a bit tied up at the moment!” Everyone’s heads turn to look at Kate as she emerges from the house—claws wrapping around Stiles’ throat.
Stiles struggles against Kate’s grip but it only seems to tighten, “You little bitch!”
“That’s not a very nice thing to say.” Kates tuts.
“You’re outnumbered, Kate. We both know it so let Stiles go.” Scott says, trying to subtly move closer to them.
Kate laughs a little to herself, “It’s been years and you have yet to catch me. I think I’ll take my chances.” Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Chris trying to move into a position to get a shot at her. She pulls Stiles closer to her body so that if someone tries to hurt her they hurt him too.
“It’s over, Kate. Any hunters left standing are now gone. They left you.” Derek says, his glowing bright red eyes never leaving her hand around Stiles’ throat.
“Derek, you nev–” she cuts herself off as a cloud of darkness engulfs them.
“What the hell?” Sam mutters. He tries to turn on some lights on his suit to see but they don’t make a difference.
Stiles screams, falling to the ground, as Kate’s grip on his neck is released and something pushes him forward—if anyone asks him later, he will deny that the scream came from him.
“Stiles?!” Scott yells out. He wants to go to him but he doesn’t know where he is. He tries to use his werewolf senses but it’s as if they’ve been dulled. He can’t sense anything.
Almost as quickly as the darkness came, it quickly disappears. As their surroundings become apparent, they notice Stiles standing up from the ground while staring at something in shock in the house that they can’t seem to see.
“What just happened?” Peter asks.
“Sorry about that.” Y/N steps out of the house with a slight limp, her body covered in blood. “I kinda lost control there and I didn’t know how to control it. I didn’t even know I could do it.”
Derek sighs in relief and runs toward Y/N, scooping her up in his arms and pulling her into a tight hug, “Are you okay?”
“My ankle has seen better days but I’ll live,” she murmurs, burying her face into his neck and hugging him just as tight.
“What happened?” Scott asks.
“I got caught in a bear trap and Kate ran off while her little followers tried to kill me so I killed them first.” She pulls away from Derek and raises her hand as she cuts off Scott from trying to say something. “I know. Killing people is bad, but I only killed the ones that I had to, and that just happened to be all of them.”
“So what you’re saying is you robbed me of seeing Thor fight because ‘we don’t want to kill people we don’t have to’ but you went ahead and did it anyways?!” Stiles yells. He doesn’t actually care that Thor stayed behind or that she killed anyone—he’s just in a bit of shock and he doesn’t know how to react to everything. He still doesn’t know how to react to what happened with the Anuk-Ite.
“What happened to Kate?” Isaac asks, moving out from his position in the woods.
Y/N steps into the house and grabs a chain that’s lying on the floor. Yanking harshly on the chain, Kate comes flying out of the house, chains wrapped around her, and lands in front of Stiles. She’s cursing Y/N out but everyone ignores her.
“Where did the chains come from?” Natasha asks.
“I made them,” Y/N smiles proudly.
“What are we going to do with her?” Kira questions.
“I’ve got a few ideas,” Tony says, glaring down at Kate.
“We aren’t going to do anything,” Y/N says, pulling a matchbox out of her pocket and holding it out to Derek, “You are.”
Derek looks at her confused before Chris moves closer to her with a bottle of lighter fluid in his hand, “I told you you didn’t want to know what I got in my bag.”
Y/N grabs the lighter fluid from Chris and pours it on Kate. Kate’s eyes squeeze shut and she sputters as some of it gets in her mouth. Stiles steps back before any of it can get on him—he’s not trying to burn to death too.
“Ready?” Y/N looks at Derek who’s looking at her with so much love in his eyes.
“Always,” Derek says, grabbing the matchbox from Y/N’s hand.
“Make sure the fire stays contained to her and doesn’t set the rest of the woods on fire,” Y/N says, looking around at the Avengers and hoping one of them has the powers to do that.
Derek pulls out a match from the box and lights it on fire. He takes a deep breath, staring at the small flame, and throws the match onto Kate’s body. She screams out in pain as her body starts to burn. They watch as she continues to scream agony before her screams come to an end but her body continues to burn.
As they watch the last of her burn, Steve, Bucky, Peter Hale, and Malia run out of the woods with looks of confusion and fear on their faces.
“What’s going on?” Steve asks, his eyes landing on the fire burning.
“It’s over,” Y/N nods her head at Wanda who extinguishes the fire with her magic, “let’s go home.” She grabs Derek’s hand and starts to walk away from Kate and what’s left of the hunter’s safehouse.
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“How are you feeling?” Tony asks Y/N.
It’s been a week since the fight against Kate, the hunters, and the others. It was a big night for the FBI and sheriff’s offices who arrested all of the hunters that were still alive. Tony made sure to clear all of the dead hunters before the police arrived, even though Sheriff Stilinski and Scott’s dad wouldn’t have questioned it.
Rumors and conspiracies are still circulating online about Y/N, her family, and friends. While Lydia has been keeping up to date with everything, Y/N completely turned off her phone and refused to turn it back on until she figured everything out.
After the big fight, Y/N and Derek went back to their place to relax and take a few days for themselves. The Avengers went back to their lakehouse and have been waiting to hear from Y/N. They understood why she needed time to herself and why she turned her phone off but Tony’s eyes never left his phone hoping she’d reach out. When she finally texted and asked to meet at the lakehouse, he nearly fell running down the stairs to tell everyone.
“I’m fine,” Y/N gives him a small smile. She doesn’t want to go into all of her current feelings or else they’d be here for a few days. She’s currently sitting on a sofa in the middle of the Avenger’s lakehouse with Derek to her right and the Avengers spread out around them.
“Whatever you want to do, we understand.” Wanda blurts out. “This has been really confusing us but it’s definitely been more confusing for you.” Wanda sat everyone down the night before and gave them a stern talking to about how they can’t control Y/N and they can’t force her to do anything that she doesn’t want to.
“This has been a little more than just confusing, but I’ve done some thinking and I know what I want to do,” Y/N says as Derek places a hand on her thigh in comfort. “I do want a relationship with you.”
“Really?” Peter asks, smiling like he just won a big prize.
“Yes, but I’m not abandoning Beacon Hills and I’m not abandoning my family here.”
“That sounds pretty reasonable,” Bruce says.
“I also just need you to be patient with me. This is a lot and I can’t promise that there won’t be days where I lock myself away and have to get away from everything. I also can’t promise that within a week we’re all going to be super close or anything. We’re all strangers to each other. Yes, you knew me when I was really little and I get glimpses of memories, or sometimes things feel familiar, but we are all completely different people now.”
“We understand,” Steve gives her a small smile of reassurance.
“Thank you. Also, one more thing,” Y/N looks directly at Bucky, “Derek means everything to me, and his place in my life is not allowed to be questioned or anything.”
Bucky huffs in slight annoyance, “I won’t say anything…anymore.”
Y/N smiles in relief, “Great. Now we just have to do the hard part.”
“What’s that?” Tony questions.
“Making a public statement.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dozens of journalists and photographers are waiting patiently for the Avengers press conference to start. They already know what it’s about since it’s being held in front of the sheriff’s station in Beacon Hills.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Derek asks. He and Y/N are currently sitting in her dad’s office with Tony, Peter, Stiles, and the sheriff himself.
“Yeah, I just want to get this over with before Lydia tells me about another conspiracy about how I’m lying for money because my boyfriend’s money has started to run dry due to my ‘spending issue.’” Y/N rolls her eyes. Those aren’t even the worst of it but Lydia refuses to tell her about those.
“And you’re sure you don’t want me up there with you?” Tony questions.
“If you’re up there with me, it will look like I’m choosing the Avengers over my family here.”
Tony tries not to flinch at her calling them the Avengers and not her family too. It will take some getting used to but he doesn’t want to run her off by forcing her to talk about them exactly like the family she grew up with.
“But you want us to go up with you?” Stiles points between himself and Peter.
“You’re both around my age. It shows that you’ve confirmed my identity with at least one Avenger up there, but it also shows that I’m not abandoning my Beacon Hills family with you up there. People are also less likely to say things about you two than Tony and Dad.”
Lydia opens the office door before Stiles can reply, “Y/N, they’re ready.”
Y/N huffs, standing up and looking at both Stiles and Peter, “Let’s get this over with so I can home and take a nap.”
“A nap?” Peter questions.
“Well I plan on doing something else too but I’m sparing the others in the room from hearing about it.” She glances over at Tony and the sheriff.
“That’s already more than I want to hear,” Tony says, frowning while looking between Y/N and Derek. They promised not to say anything about their relationship and Derek has proven to be a good boyfriend to her, but he doesn’t want to hear about what they do.
Y/N places a quick kiss on Derek’s lips before walking out of the room with Stiles and Peter trailing behind her. She walks out of the sheriff’s station and walks onto the little stage they have set up. The crowd turns silent as she steps up to the podium as Stiles and Peter stand silently behind her.
Y/N clears her throat and looks out at the crowd of people and cameras, “Hi. There’s been a lot of speculation and rumors about who I am so I’m here to clear a few things up. My name is Y/N Stilinski, but you may also know me by my other name, Y/N Stark.”
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Hello! I figured I would write this here instead of on the epilogue. Thank you all so much for supporting my work and for all the kind messages you've sent me! Even if you haven't commented or liked any of my posts, thank you reading my work! I started writing this as a way to get back into writing. My dream has always been to write a book but my parents preferred me in sports than me doing my artistic ventures. Over a year ago, I decided to back into writing but I felt like I needed some feedback that wasn't my own so I started posting this. It's definitely far from perfect but I did enjoy writing it and I'm glad that so many people enjoyed reading it! My writing has a long way to go but thank you for being on this journey with me! Like my note at the top says, the epilogue will be posted tomorrow. I was also thinking of writing a bonus chapter with some smut if anyone would be interested in that! I hope y'all are doing well and I appreciate every single one of you!
xoxo mrs.struggle
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alyswritings · 2 years
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Hello first I just wanted to say you are so talented love fics they are so amazing I was wondering if you can do a peter Parker ( Tom Holland) a x sister reader where you found that he is spider man just how like how Ned finds out
Y/N is lying on Peter's bottom bunk and scrolling through her phone, waiting for him to get home since he promised to help her with science homework.
She hears the window open and lifts her head, watching Spider-Man crawl through. She stays silent, curious but also concerned, as Spider-Man quietly shuts the window and crawls on the ceiling and over to the door, shutting it. He jumps to the floor and locks the door. He takes his mask off and turns around, Y/N's eyes widening at the person.
Peter freezes when he spots his younger sister on his bed, her jaw on the floor and eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.
"Wh-wha-- uh, what are you doing in here?" Peter asks, nervously scratching behind his ear.
"You're Spider-Man?" Y/N asks.
"What? No." Peter objects, his voice raising an octave or two.
"You're Spider-Man." Y/N states.
"No, I'm not." Peter argues.
"Then what are you wearing and why can you crawl on the ceiling?" Y/N asks.
"I, uh... there was a, um... a costume contest at school." Peter lies.
"At 9 PM?" Y/N asks.
"...yes." Peter nods after a moment.
"Dude!" Y/N exclaims.
"Okay, okay, I'm Spider-Man." Peter admits in a hushed voice.
"What the hell?!" Y/N shrieks, standing up. Peter shushes her, rushing over to her.
"You can't tell Aunt May." Peter states quietly.
"Why?"
"You know her. She worries enough. She wouldn't let me keep doing it if she found out."
"Does anybody else know?" Y/N asks.
"Only Ned." Peter states.
"You told Ned before you told me?" Y/N asks.
"Well, technically, I didn't tell you. You were hanging out in my room... same with Ned, actually." Peter realizes the similarities in how the two found out.
"But why didn't you tell me?" Y/N asks.
"Because you'd worry and possibly tell Aunt May."
"I am not a narc."
"Tell that to the whole microwave fiasco of 2008."
"Okay, we were six and seven. I think you can forget about it by now. Besides, it was your idea to put the tinfoil in the microwave."
"No, it wasn't, it was yours!"
"My memory tells a different story.
"Because you refuse to be guilty for it. Look, this isn't the point! You're not telling Aunt May, right?"
Y/N holds her pinky out and Peter links his pinky with hers.
"Thank you." Peter tells her.
"Now tell me everything." Y/N says, making her brother sit on the bed with her.
Taglist: @glxwingrxse @venomsvl
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borntobewondering · 2 years
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from good to gone
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Peter Parker & Sister!Reader (21.3k) Peter tries to maintain a relationship with the people closest to him despite the fact that they can’t remember him.
Warnings: A curse word or two. No Way Home spoilers. Grief. Memory less. angst
Author’s Note: Literally one person told me to do this, (thanks @mrs-dr-reid), and that was enough. So, here we are. I love Peter as a character, but have always been more interested in writing more of a familial/sibling type of relationship for it. And the new movie gave me prime angst potential, and that really is where I do my best work. So, enjoy.
Note: My work is not to be posted anywhere else on any other platforms (aside from my ao3 account).
Masterlist
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“I can’t believe you guys got into MIT.”
You’re finishing plating up a donut, on the house, for you friend Ned as MJ finishes up with a customer. The both of them had just gotten their acceptance letters, and they’d waited until they made it to the coffee shop to open them together. And their reactions to getting into their dream school aren’t what you’ve been expecting.
There’s this barely contained joy about the two of them, but you can see the way their eyes keep bouncing to you. Like they can’t be as excited as they want to be because you aren’t going with them.
Not that you want to. Okay, that sounds worse than it actually is. Of course you wish you could go with them, they’re the only real friends you’ve ever had and New York will be lonely without them, but MIT has never been your dream. You’d gone to Midtown because MJ did and you didn’t want to be alone.
You and MJ have been joined at the hip since kindergarten, and it never went away. You guys became friends with Ned in… In… Well, you can’t really remember how you met Ned. You just remember him always being there, he’s been a constant in your life. A good friend, one that you can trust with anything.
And you know they’re sad about your little band breaking up, and you are too, how could you not be?, but you know that New York is where you need to be right now. Going to school somewhere locally, education courtesy of Stark Industries, and trying to cement your aunt’s legacy by continuing her work with Feast.
New York is the right place for you to be, and you know that this isn’t the end of the line. They’ll be back over the holidays and summer vacations. You’ll see each other again, and your group chat will follow the three of you to the grave. So, you can’t live with them tamping down their excitement for your sake.
“Guys,” You say as you get in the middle of the creepily silent conversation the two of them are having with their stares, “This is a huge deal. You’ve been working your whole lives to get into MIT, so, please, celebrate it.” You’re interrupted by the bell ringing above the door and you walk backwards towards the register. “For my sake.”
You turn to face the customer on the other side of the register and find a guy with brown hair and brown eyes staring back at you. Something akin to relief settles in his eyes as he watches you.
“What can I get for you?” You ask, already preparing to ring up his order only to be met with silence for a few seconds. There’s a slight shuffling from in front of you, and you lift your head once more to find him still staring at you.
You flash an encouraging smile at him, one that isn’t pushy, because it’s a rarity that this place gets any business whatsoever, but one that tells him that he can take his time. Some people have anxiety around this kind of thing, and you’re willing to wait.
“I’m Peter.” He says, stumbling over his breath as he tries to get the words out.
“It’s nice to meet you, Peter.” You say, a bit of vacantness in your eyes as you look at him while his eyes are basically pleading with you. What they’re asking for, you haven’t the slightest idea. “You want a coffee?”
He opens his mouth to say something, but clearly thinks better of it because he just nods his head. You make quick work of his coffee, pouring it into the to-go cup and ringing it up in record time. You’re just waiting for him to pay when he says:
“Big day?” And when you lift your head to ask him what he’s talking about you find him looking over at where Ned and MJ are now taking selfies with their acceptance letters. And you can’t help but crack a smile at your friends, laughing at the way MJ pulls a silly face as Ned tries to get the both of them in the frame with their letters.
“They got into MIT.” You say, pride practically radiating off you as you stare at the two of them. Watching your friends’ childhood dreams come true in real time is something so unbelievably special. You couldn’t be happier for them, so why do you feel like something’s missing?
“Really? That’s amazing.” And he sounds super happy to hear that, happier than a random stranger should. And you turn your head to look at him, to really look at him to see if there’s some sort of familiarity that you’d overlooked, but you don’t come up with anything. “What about you? Did you get in?”
“I actually didn’t apply.” You say, a bit of a laugh breaking the end of your sentence. You hadn’t told anyone about that aside from your late aunt. You’d told MJ and Ned that you had already received your rejection letter, but there was never anything at all.
You remember the pitying looks, and the disappointment that was etched into MJ’s face as she looked at you. She’d had all these plans for when you guys got to Massachusetts, and you hate to let her down. But you know that you’d hate it there. And the last thing you want to do is ruin their dream just because it’s your nightmare.
And you don’t know why you’re trusting this guy with this. You don't know what it is about him that makes you feel like you can tell him whatever is on your mind without feeling like he’s going to judge you for it. Like you’ve known him your whole life despite only having just met him.
“Why not?” He asks, and you shrug despite the fact that you know exactly why you decided not to hit submit.
You’d been sitting at the computer and you had everything filled out, but once you were on that last screen you just couldn’t do it. It was still in your hands at that point, you had all the power. So you took the reins and you closed the browser.
You have to find your own way. And you know MJ would probably understand if you told her, but you didn’t even bother.
“I’ve never been a whiz kid, not like them.” You shrug it off, it’s a long accepted fact that you just can’t keep up with the two of them in school. “Besides, I’m not ready to leave the city behind just yet.”
He nods, although you can tell there’s a comment on the tip of his tongue that he swallows down. Clearly realizing that his opinion doesn’t much matter, because a random stranger’s college choice is not something he needs to concern himself with.
You clear your throat, shaking off the awkwardness of your latest bout of oversharing as you tell him the price of his coffee. And he quickly hands over the money, and you can’t blame him for wanting to get the hell out of the small corner store. You’d probably be ready to run too if you got that much unnecessary information from a stranger.
But you just can’t help yourself as he’s making his way out, because as he’s passing under the threshold of the door you say:
“It was nice to meet you, Peter.”
And he stops, he looks down at his coffee, over towards Ned and MJ, and then back to you. A small smile on his face as he says, “It was nice to meet you, too, Y/N.”
And just like that he’s gone, out of sight, and it takes you a few seconds before heading back over to your friends. Something about the interaction strikes you as strange, and it takes you longer than you’d care to admit to realize that you never told him your name.
“You’re the worst sister ever.” He grumbles as he picks up eight cards from the deck and adds them to his hand. Making his almost winning hand absolutely useless as one card turns into nine.
“You got too cocky.” He thought he had it made, and he was just asking to be taken down a peg. So, when Ned put down that draw four you couldn’t help but add yours on top. Leaving Peter to take the brunt of it. Immediately wiping that smug smirk off his face, and you can’t help but grin from ear to ear.
“Who’s the worst?” MJ asks as she walks back in from the kitchen with a slice of pizza in hand.
He says, “Y/N,” right as you say, “Peter.”
And that’s the way the rest of the evening goes. With your damn near constant bickering that has MJ and Ned rolling their eyes. That’s the way it’s always been.
You and your brother have rarely ever seen eye to eye. You’re both good kids, and you recognize the fact that you both have good intentions. You’ve always been too different to ever really be great friends. 
But since you’re so close in age you’ve always been pretty attached at the hip. It’s just what’s expected of you, and you’ve always worked your ass off to meet everyone else’s expectation.
From a young age, May made sure you knew just how important family was. She stressed it. She made sure that you and Peter knew that it was important to show up for the people you cared about. To fight for the ones you love, even if it seems like a losing game.
So, you showed up. You showed up every single day, and you put yourself in the middle of damn near a million fights when people thought they could pick on your brother and get away with it. 
Because, as much as you didn’t get along, you still loved your brother more than any other soul on the face of the planet. And you’d be damned if you let anyone believe that Peter Parker was beneath them.
So your education has been filled with several detentions, write ups, and suspensions. Things that May scolded and applauded you for in the same breath. She was never one to shy away from taking a stand, and you were going to do everything in your power to make your aunt proud. 
She was the only person left to make proud, so you tried to stack up to her expectations. No matter how tiring, or unachievable, it all seemed.
And it’s like your entire life has been mapped out in front of you before you ever really had the chance to choose it. See, Peter has always been a little genius. That kid understands science in a way that you couldn’t even fathom. And he always has. 
You remember being dragged to expo after expo, and convention after convention, as a child. And don’t even get the boy started in Tony Stark, you’d be here all day. He idolizes the world’s hero, and you can’t blame him. But there’s a man inside the machine, and every man has to fall. Especially one who is set on such a high pedestal.
And you don’t want to have to watch Peter’s heart get broken by a man he’s never even met. A man who he’s put such faith into. A man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, who he has saddled with even more expectations in his mind.
And Peter has always been a kid who has big dreams, even though most people wouldn’t expect it. He’s the shy, nerdy kid who still plays with legos. And he’s quiet, keeps to himself. But there is so much going on in that brain of his, and you know it’s going to be amazing. 
He’s capable of things beyond your wildest dreams, and there’s really only one route to this dream of his. MIT.
He’s wanted to go to that school for as long as you can remember. And now he has Ned and  MJ wrapped up in that little dream of his, and, undoubtedly, you’re there too. In this image, in this vision he’s created since you were toddlers, you know that you’re probably right there with them.
You and MJ are probably roommates, and he rooms with Ned. And you’re all right there cramming for that astrophysics final.
And you’re sure that his vision is great. And it means that moments like these, overly competitive games of Uno, won’t be stopping for a long time to come. But there’s just one problem with all of this. MIT has never been your dream. You’ve just never had the heart to tell Peter that.
And you know that MIT is years away, sophomore year has barely even begun. But it’ll be here before you know it. It’ll be right in front of you in the blink of an eye, and you’ll have to be ready to destroy the dream that Peter has held onto his entire life. And you don’t know if you’ll ever be ready for that.
“Alright, kids.” May’s voice rings out from her bedroom doorway. “It’s getting late, you better get to bed.” And the groaning commences, but you pack away the card deck nonetheless. 
Peter and Ned head off to Peter’s room, and you and MJ head off to yours. The door quickly closes behind you as the two of you change into your pajamas.
“You think Peter would’ve realized that he’s just not good at cards by now.” You say, like Uno isn’t a game entirely based on luck. Like it takes any real kind of skill to be able to win the game.
You make your way over to the closet and pluck an old dress off the rack as you turn around to face MJ, holding the dress up against your body as you sway from side to side.
“What do you think?” You ask. MJ wanted to go to some new art expo and she’d asked you to go. You wanted to make sure you looked nice, and the dress was a tried and true number from your closet.
“It looks great.” She says, although her smile doesn’t seem all that real and she looks like her brain is anywhere else but in this room. And, by now, you know better than to ask. She’ll tell you when she’s ready, if she wants to tell you at all.
And soon enough that moment comes. You’ve put the dress back in the closet, and returned from the bathroom with your teeth brushed and a freshly washed face to find MJ still sitting on your bed. She’s pajama clad this time, but her expression is just as far off as it had been a few moments before, it’s the constant bobbing of her knee that has you concerned.
“Can I tell you something?” She asks, and you nod as you quietly close the door behind you. Your hand immediately finds the lock to make sure your nosy brother can’t make his way into the room as he pleases. 
This feels like a secret, and you’ve sworn to take all of MJ’s secrets to the grave. Even keeping them from your brother, no matter how much you might trust him.
“Yeah, sure.” You say, slowly sitting down on the bed beside her. “What’s up?”
“I think I have a crush on Peter.” She says, and you can’t say your surprise. But she seems to believe it’s some sort of revelation, so you decide to play into it. An understanding nod, a slight expression of shock as you encourage her to continue.
“And I know it doesn’t matter because he likes Liz, but I just really needed to say it out loud.” Because if she says it out loud, if she admits it to somebody, maybe it’ll go away. It’ll just be a fad and she can let it go and move on before she gets her heart stomped on.
“It still matters.” You say, because it’s still real. It’s still something she’s experiencing, and her feelings are as real as anything else in the world. Peter’s lack of reciprocation doesn’t change that. “Besides,” You say, your arm coming up to wrap around her shoulders, “Peter’s an idiot.”
“He’s the smartest kid in our grade.” She says, blinking away a few tears that she would be damned if she let fall.
“Equations are different from life. No one has any of this down to an exact science.” You say, leaning your head against the side of MJ’s, “And Peter has always had a knack for missing what’s right in front of him.”
Peter, no matter how good of a kid he is, can get a little caught up in his own head and forget to take notice of what’s happening around him. Or he just doesn’t want to. You’ve never really been able to tell. You’re not sure if he can either.
Sometimes life can move as fast as a runaway train, and it always does it when you want things to move as slow as humanly possible. Because what was once quiet after school moments huddled in a shoddy coffee shop is now sweltering summer afternoons packing up the trunks of sedans as you say goodbye to the only friends you’ve ever had.
Ned left a few hours ago, and that was really hard. It was like a piece of your heart was heading to Massachusetts without you. You said goodbye to the closest thing you’ve ever had to a brother. And it was hard, you’d been dreading it, but this, saying goodbye to MJ, will be so much harder.
You and MJ have been joined at the hip for as long as you can remember. You’d become friends in kindergarten, she was impressed when you pushed a kid for picking on someone. 
You couldn’t remember the kid’s name anymore, hell his face was pretty much a blur by now, but that one event changed the trajectory of your life forever. It brought you your best friend, and it was like everything was set in stone from that moment on. It would be the two of you from here on out, and neither of you had any problems with that.
You just never thought the end of the line would come about so quickly. That it’d be only a little over ten years before the two of you were going your separate ways. You can only hope that you’ll find your way back to one another. It’s just a few months out of the year, and you guys will call and text. It’ll be like she never left in the first place. At least that’s what you keep telling yourself.
And once she’s gone, all the people who once tethered you to this city will be gone. Not that you really need them to stick around. This place has been the only home you’ve ever known, and your aunt loved this place. There isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that you’re leaving it behind. Not when there’s so much left to do in her memory. You can’t let her down like that.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?” She asks as she puts the last box in the trunk, her mom is patiently sitting in the driver’s seat. Hoping to get to MJ’s dorm before nightfall.
“I’ll be fine. I’m pretty sure my rent is covered until the end of eternity.” 
There was this friend of your aunt’s, this guy who worked for Stark Industries, and he was lowkey in love with her. So, he was making sure you were taken care of in the wake of her passing. There was a roof over your head. And he even offered to hook you up with a job at Stark Industries, but you weren’t interested. 
“I think I can manage.”
You can see that her mother is getting a little antsy in the front seat, and you know that you have to wrap this up soon. No matter how much you don’t want to.
“You sure you don’t want to come? We’ve got room in the trunk for a stowaway.” She jokes, but there’s a level of seriousness in her eyes that tells you it’s a genuine offer. 
You could just jump in the back of the car and ride there with her. With nowhere to live, nowhere to go, but the two of you would figure it out in the car. Nothing’s too big for the two of you to handle. You’d find a way. And it would be good. There’s no way it wouldn’t be. Nothing would really have to change. You could easily find a way. But you shouldn’t.
“I think this is something you have to do on your own.” Something she needs to do without you. As hard as it is to admit. She needs to experience this wholly, without anything holding her back. 
Without feeling like she needs to be the version of her that you know and love. You’ll love whatever version of her comes back from MIT, but she deserves to figure out who that version will be. Without anything getting in the way. You owe her that much after everything she’s given you.
There are tears brimming in both of your eyes, and you’re both trying to choke them back. Because that’s not what this is going to turn in to. It’s not going to become a mess of tears and snot as the two of you hold on for dear life. You’re going to hold onto your dignity and choose to cry your eyes out once you're back in the privacy of your apartment instead of on a New York sidewalk for everyone to see.
So, you suck it up. The two of you rush into a hug as you blink back your tears. Your arms wrap tightly around her as her broken black dahlia necklace digs into your skin. And you have half a mind to not let go, but you know that’s not fair.
“Don’t forget about me while you’re gone.” You say, a slight chuckle on your lips as her arms tighten around you.
“Not possible.” She mutters, a tear dripping down her cheek as she shakes her head against your shoulder. And you stay like that for a few seconds until her mother not so subtly honks the horn and the both of you pull away. Swiping at your cheeks as you get one last look at each other. “I’ll text you when I get there.”
“Good.” You say with a slight nod of your head. “See you in a few months.” You say, stepping back to put a little more distance between the two of you. Hoping to encourage her to move towards the car.
“See you in a few months.” She finally goes to the passenger side of the door of the car, and it somehow feels like it’s all happening too fast. She climbs into the car, and she turns in her seat as her mother pulls away from the curb. 
She doesn’t break eye contact with you until the street you're on is nothing more than a speck in the distance. And you wave once she’s far enough down the road that you’re barely out of her line of sight.
You linger there for a few more minutes, scuffing the toe of your sneakers against the concrete as you watch the street even though you can no longer see her car. It’s strange, because, even though you said you’d be fine, being alone in this city for the first time is a strange feeling. 
Millions of people live in New York, but at this moment in time it feels like you’re achingly alone. And you don’t know when that feeling will go away. Feeling like you’re the only person alive when there are countless people passing you on the street with every second.
After a few more minutes of watching after a car you know isn’t turning back, you start to make your trek back home. So caught up in your head that you don’t notice the red and blue figure watching from the rooftop across the street. And you don’t notice that he follows you, while keeping enough distance, on your route back to your apartment. Making sure that you get home safe. 
A guardian angel that you don’t even know you have. One who’s determined to be there this time around, because he’s already failed you enough.
It seemed like the world turned to shit in an instant. One second you’re on the bus on the way back from a field trip and the next you’re crashing into a pole on the side of the road because the driver disappeared into thin air. You and MJ lurch forward as the bus slams to a stop, hitting your heads on the seat in front of you.
“What’s going on?” She asks as you sit back up and peer out the window, watching the exact moment as someone starts to fly away in little bits of dust.
“I think the world is ending.” You whisper, and she looks at you like she thinks you’re joking until she looks out the window herself.
“We have to get out of here.” She says, an urgency about her as she grabs onto your wrist and pulls you into the aisle. The both of you momentarily stop at the front of the bus to try and get Ned off the bus. Only for his hand to disintegrate the second she reaches for him. “Yeah, we gotta go.” She grumbles, managing to get the bus doors open as she pulls you out onto the street. Moving quickly like this is something you can outrun.
“What about Peter?”
“What about him?” She asks, keeping her head on a swivel as the two of you run down the street.
“Where is he?” And she doesn’t answer, just keeps an eerie quiet amidst the unraveling chaos around you. Because she doesn’t want to say it. Either because she doesn’t want to believe it or because she knows you’ll refuse to.
She doesn’t want to say that he might’ve been one of the first to go. That your brother is already gone and goodbye is a luxury you couldn’t afford. And you don’t even have a moment to grieve, a moment to think about the fact that he’s gone, because you have to keep moving.
MJ doesn’t let you stop. She figures there’s a way out of this. Or at least some way to ward it off for as long as possible. But her efforts are put to a stop as you tug on her arm at the sight of a little girl bawling her eyes out on the side of the street. 
A little brown teddy bear clutched in her hands as she looks around. She’s searching for something, and you know that whatever, or whoever, she’s looking for is long gone. They’ve met the same fate as your bus driver. As Ned. As your brother. The fate that you and MJ are surely minutes away from.
The little girl is terrified, she’s wailing to rattle your ear drums and you can’t in good conscience leave her there. No one should be alone in a time like this. No one should have to be so scared.
You break off from MJ, walking over to the little girl and kneeling down in front of her. And it takes a few seconds for her to stop crying, to take in hiccuping breaths as her eyes settle on your face. One she’s never seen before, but is offering her a kind smile and, hopefully, some kind of help.
“What’s your name?”
“Ruby.” The little girl says, and you nod as your smile grows.
“It’s nice to meet you Ruby. I’m Y/N. Are you looking for someone?” You ask, and she nods as you hear MJ huff from behind you. “Who are you looking for?”
“My mom.” She says, wiping her nose on the back of her hand as she grips the teddy bear tighter.
“Alright. Why don’t we go see if we can find your mom, okay?” You ask, and she nods although you can tell she doesn’t exactly trust you. Smart kid, good instinct to have. After a few seconds of hesitation she slips her hand into yours. But when you go to take a step you falter. Buckling to your knees, well, more like knee, as the bottom half of your left leg is gone.
“Y/N.” MJ says, fear evident in her voice for the first time since all of this started. When you look back up at her you see the tears brimming in her eyes. And you feel the little girl squeeze your hand a little harder as the entire left side of your body starts to disappear. 
“Y/N!” She shouts again, moving to reach out for you as the rest of your body vanishes. The hand clutched in the little girl’s is the last thing to go.
Leaving MJ standing there in the middle of the street, but not for long. Because soon enough she ends up just like you. A cloud of dust caught on the wind that is blown into nothing in the blink of an eye.
Leaving a little girl on the street, three people having disappeared before her eyes with no one else coming to help.
“I understand,” You say, rushing down New York sidewalks in an attempt to get to work before your boss has your head. Which, judging by the way he’s ripping you a new one over the phone, is only seconds away from happening. “I’m sorry that there was a mix up. I swear I put the final draft on your desk before I left yester-”
You sigh as he cuts you off, only caring that he can’t seem to find it. He doesn’t care what you swear you did, because clearly you didn’t. Or else it’d be on his desk, right? He’d have it in his hand and he’d be giving you all of his bullshit feedback even though he hasn’t written one good article in the last decade.
“I’ll have a new copy on your desk within the hour. Okay. Yes. Yes, I understand. I’ll be sure to-” But he doesn’t care what the rest of your sentence sounds like because he hangs up on you right then and there. And you’re left staring down at the phone in your hand with your mouth slightly agape.
You really shouldn’t be shocked, the guy has always been an asshole. Makes sense that Mr. Jameson hired someone like him. And you don’t know why he had to wait until your lunch break came around to bitch about your missing final draft. 
Your article is due for the next edition, and you’d been at your desk all morning but he hadn’t said a word. He just had to wait until you’d be scrambling to make it back to the office so you can keep your job.
You’re still ten minutes away, because you’d stupidly decided to stop by your favorite deli and pick up a sandwich for lunch, when your phone rings again. You don’t even stop to check the caller ID before you answer it.
“What?” You ask, slightly more agitation in your tone than there should be if it’s your boss calling back with another hissy fit to unload on you. Thankfully, that’s not the case.
“Somebody’s had a bad day.” You let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding at the sound of MJ’s voice coming through the phone.
“Your timing could not be better.” You say, and she chuckles.
“Really? Because it sounded like you were about to bite my head off.”
“Yeah, well, my boss is an asshole. Didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
MJ has been on the other end of countless ranty phone calls over the past few months. Ever since you got the absolutely ludicrous idea to write for the Daily Bugle. 
You thought it’d be a good idea because it could help bring some attention to Feast. To all the work that is being done there, but all of these editors seem to have a perpetual stick up their ass, and, from what you’ve heard through the office gossip grapevine, you’ve been stuck with the absolute worst of the bunch. And he’s Jameson’s favorite, because of course he is.
You wrote for the school paper in high school, and you were head of the yearbook committee. You’ve dealt with your fair share of people on a power trip, but this guy is on a whole other level.
You’re in the middle of telling MJ about the latest in a long line of workplace annoyances and you’re so caught up that it doesn’t even occur to you that you’re about to go through a crosswalk. You don’t even realize that you’ve literally stepped into oncoming traffic until you hear the blaring of several horns and a muffled shout of “Look out!”
Your head whips to the side to see the cars barreling towards you, but it’s only for a split second because then you feel something knocking into you from the front and then your feet are lifting off the ground.
The air is knocked out of your lungs and you can hear MJ freaking out through the phone. But you can’t even comprehend what’s happening. You feel arms around your torso, and you hear some sort of thwipping sound before you’re being propelled out of the crosswalk. It’s a quick moment. A few seconds at most before your feet are on solid ground once more, but it’s enough to scare the crap out of you.
“Are you okay?” You hear a voice, and you can still hear MJ’s voice coming through the phone in your hand. “Hey, are you okay?” The voice tries again, and you lift your head this time to meet two wide eyes on a blue and red suit.
“Holy shit.” You breathe, because you’re standing in front of freaking Spiderman. He just saved your life.
“Are you okay?” He asks, and you nod hurriedly. Not wanting to waste a minute of his time.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Just wasn’t paying attention.” You say, brushing off the whole thing as he nods but, even through the mask, he doesn’t seem convinced.
“Okay,” He says, nodding as he takes a few steps back. “Remember to look both ways next time.” He jokes, and you nod as he reaches his arm up and shoots a web towards a building across the street and within the next second he’s gone.
“Thank you!” You shout, hoping that he’ll somehow be able to hear it even though he’s long gone. And then you finally bring your attention back to your phone. Back to MJ’s frantic voice that’s been trying to get two words out of you for the past five minutes. “MJ.”
“Finally,” She grumbles, but she’s immensely relieved to hear your voice, “What happened?”
“Someone just saved my life.”
It’s the strangest moment when you’re standing back on that same street corner. But the little girl is no longer by your side, her little hand is no longer in your grasp as you look around. And MJ is gone, too. The crashed school bus seems like it was moved eons ago, and all of the chaos of a few minutes before has disappeared.
But, at least you can take some comfort in the fact that you aren’t the only person popping back up on the street. There’s a man a few blocks down who reappeared on top of a person who is sitting on the bench he must’ve been on when he disappeared.
You wander over to a store front as you find a news stand by the curb and find the date printed across the top of the latest edition of the Daily Bugle. 2024. Five years that felt like five seconds.
You turn and peek through the window of the corner shop and find the TV hanging up in the back corner. You see the breaking news banner and the live video footage of people appearing out of thin air. Dropping back into place like they never even left.
And you don’t know how something like this could even happen. What kind of force could erase half the universe? And what kind of force could bring them back?
You don’t even notice that people have started to crowd around you to get a good look at the television set until you physically feel someone nudge you forward until you’re practically pressed up against the glass.
And, in that moment, you decide that you’ve seen enough. Because you can barely breathe, and the crowd isn’t helping. You push your way out of the shroud and get to the curb, hunching over slightly with your hands on your knees as you try to catch your breath. 
Your eyes scan the street in front of you to see if any other kids from the bus have reappeared. If Ned has followed suit and found his way back. Because you don’t know what you’re supposed to tell Peter if he doesn’t.
And you haven’t even brought yourself to think about what all of this means. How different life will inevitably be after your little five year sabbatical. And you don’t have the heart to let yourself think that far beyond your current means.
But you don’t really have the time to think about any of it because suddenly the sound of someone calling your name breaks through the noise of the chaos. Your head snaps up and then you lay eyes on your best friend a few blocks down.
“Thank god.” You whisper as you take off running in her direction. And she meets you in the middle as you pull her into a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
A familiar face amid all the craziness is a nice rarity. And the two of you don’t let go for a few minutes as you’re looking around behind her to see if anyone else starts to come into focus.
“Ned!” You call, pulling away from MJ as Ned comes down the street. Relief crossing his features at the sight of the two of you. MJ makes her way over to him as you pull your ringing phone from your pocket. Looking down to see your aunt’s name flashing on the screen.
“May.” You say as you put it up to your ear, and you smile at the sound of her voice. Even though it feels like you’d just heard it that morning. “Yeah, I’m okay. I found MJ and Ned, we’re safe. We’re good. Have you heard from Peter?”
You can feel Ned’s eyes on you, and you do your best to not look back at him. Because you don’t know what you’re supposed to say. How are you supposed to tell him that his best friend is still missing?
“No, he wasn’t on the bus. And he’s not here.” You say, turning your back on the two of them to stare down the street Ned had just come from. Hoping to catch a glimpse of your brother walking down the street. To hopefully find him looking for you just like you’ve been looking for him.
But you come up short.
Because there’s still no sign of him, and your friends haven’t found him either. You nod your head down the street in the direction of your apartment, and your friends follow without a second's hesitation. 
Because May wants you all to meet in the middle. Because apparently there are a bunch of people in your apartment, who have moved in within the last five years and now you guys don’t have anywhere to go. And she figures you guys can continue to look for Peter once you meet up, because four sets of eyes are better than three.
And soon enough, with the phone still pressed to your ear you see May walking down the street. And everything makes sense for a few short seconds as you two lock eyes and she’s immediately running towards you. And being wrapped up in her arms is just as comforting as it was when you were a kid and you’d crawl into bed with her and uncle Ben after you had a nightmare.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.” She says, her palm flat against the back of your head as she hugs you. And you can practically feel the relief in her voice. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“Promise.” You say, even though it feels like the most hollow of promises. Like a pinky swear that has lost all of its youthful sanctity. Because there’s nothing you can do, nothing any of you can do, if or when the greater evils bring about another reckoning.
May pulls away from the hug after what feels like an eternity, a very short eternity at that, her hands rest on either side of your head as she looks at you.
“Did you get taller?” She asks, brows pulled together as she frowns, “You look taller.”
You huff a laugh as you look down at your feet. You catch Ned and MJ staring at something out of the corner of your eye. MJ is hitting Ned’s shoulder with the back of her hand, and Ned’s mouth has fallen open slightly.
And just as you’re about to pull away from May, as you’re about to turn to your friends and ask them what’s going on, you hear:
“Do I get a hug, too?”
You whip around to find your brother standing just a few feet away. His hand is raised in a timid wave as he looks between you and May.
“Pete.” You mutter before flinging yourself at him without a second’s hesitation. Your arms wrap around his shoulders tight enough that it’s probably painful, but you can’t bring yourself to care.
He seems to be slightly taken aback, and you get why. You honestly can’t even remember the last time you actually hugged your brother. You’ve never exactly been the hugging type, and knowing the two of you it was probably a forced encounter. One of those ‘this is our get along shirt’ type of moments when May was trying to get the both of you to stop fighting and act your age.
But, after a few seconds of letting the shock die down, his arms wrap around you and he hugs you back with the same amount of force.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.” You say, giving one last squeeze around his shoulders before you go to pull away. Until you’re interrupted by an arm wrapping around you from your left side. 
You don’t even need to open your eyes to be able to tell that it’s May. And then there’s an arm around your right, MJ. And you hear footsteps making their way towards Peter and you can just tell that Ned has swung his arm across Peter’s back as his hand grazes your arms around Peter’s shoulders.
And so the five of you stand there hugging in the middle of the street. And you don’t let go for a really really long time.
It’s been three months since MJ and Ned left, and you’ve been counting down the days to winter break. Video calls have supplemented the distance, it’s not the same as them being right in front of you but it’s still nice. Even when you can feel MJ’s judgment radiating through the screen.
“I just don’t get why you’re so obsessed with the guy.”
“I’m not obsessed.”
It’s been a little less than a month since Spiderman saved your life, and you’ve fallen down a bit of an internet rabbit hole about the friendly neighborhood hero. You knew he was loved, and you knew that every halloween you saw a bunch of kids dressed like him begging for candy at your doorstep
You also noticed that Spiderman seemed to always be nearby. Always keeping a close eye on his city, but, more specifically, he always seemed to be in whatever part of the city you were spending time in. 
And it gave you a perfect opportunity for a new focus for your articles. You got some great pictures of the masked hero and you used them. Publishing them in the paper, even though the editor in chief absolutely hated the idea of letting him get any press that wasn’t scathing.
“You’ve been following the guy around.” She says, eyebrow raised with a slight hint of judgment through the screen. And you don’t miss how her lips quirk up into the beginnings of a smile as you roll your eyes.
“I don’t follow him around. He just happens to hang around my usual haunts.” It’s slightly mumbled, and you know for a fact that she doesn’t believe you. 
She thinks you’ve been stalking the poor guy. Which you haven’t. Okay. That is a hill you’re willing to die on. Because it’s true. You haven’t been following him around or hiding in the bushes to snap a few pictures. It’s just that he always seems to be there whenever you look up.
“I know I make a lot of jokes about your newfound Spiderman fixation, but I’m worried about you.” She says, and for the first time in a long time you see true concern in your friend’s eyes. The same look you saw moments before she pulled away and left you behind for Massachusetts and a bachelor’s degree. “If you’re not careful you could lose your job over this guy. Is it really worth all that?”
And, in all honesty, you’re not sure. Because it feels worth it. It feels like there’s finally something making this city feel exciting again. And not like you’re still trying to pull breath from the remains of a life that you’ll never be able to grab hold of again.
You’ve always felt like Jameson has been exceptionally tough on Spiderman. And you’ve never believed him to be the villain the Bugle makes him out to be.
“Maybe someday I won’t think it is, but right now I do. I think the people need hope, and there’s no greater symbol.”
More like you need hope. More than anything you need something to believe in. A reason to believe that this world isn’t just shitty things and shitty timing. It isn’t just teenagers left all alone without any family to share their time with. Memories that will never be anything more.
“I just need to do this.” You say, and you hate the sorry look that passes through her eyes for a split second before she looks away.
“I know.” She says, and you wonder if this is what she’s been waiting for you to say in these little biweekly chats. For you to give her some idea that you aren’t as okay as you’re pretending to be. And maybe that’s enough to make her feel like this is the right move, because, for the first time in a long time, you’re actually being honest. “I trust you. And I know you’re going to make the right decision no matter what Jameson might think.”
“Thank you.” And you know she never really had any doubt. But it’s still nice to hear it from someone.
And the two of you chat about nothing for the next few minutes until she starts to gather up her books and stand from the picnic table she has been sitting at.
“I gotta go, my Women’s Lit class starts in fifteen.” She says as she shoulders her backpack, “I’ll talk to you later.”
And with that you say your goodbye, hanging up the phone as you focus back on your article. Even on your day off you’re still managing to make it about work. Until something comes along to break you from your concentration. A more than welcome surprise in the form of a face you never expected to see again.
Peter.
“I didn’t think I’d see you again.” You say as you lean forward in your seat to get a better look at him.
“Yeah, well, last time I was on the hunt for shitty corner store coffee you weren’t behind the counter.” He tilts his head towards the chair across from you, a wordless question of ‘can i sit here?,’ and you nod.
He gets himself situated within a matter of seconds, setting a camera bag down by his feet as he starts to unwrap his lunch.
“I see you’ve graduated from shitty corner store coffee.” You say as you gesture towards the cup he set down on the table. You’re sitting in one of those chain coffee shops, so of course he got coffee with his meal.
“So did you. Haven’t seen you at the store in a while.”
“I needed a change of scenery.” You say, shrugging as you turn your attention back to your draft for a few seconds.
“And where did this change of scene lead you?” He asks, carefully avoiding eye contact to look like he isn’t prying into your personal life when the two of you have only met once before.
“The Daily Bugle, actually.” You say, “Nothing really extraordinary yet, just a few stupid articles that my bosses don’t want to waste their time on.”
That’s the worst part of the job so far, the fact that you’re continuously stuck doing the work no one else wants to do. But now you’ve got a leg up, an ace up your sleeve, because you’re one of the only people who manages to get frequent, and clear, pictures of the friendly neighborhood hero himself.
“No way, me too.” He says, grinning as he grabs his camera bag up from the ground and places it on the table. “Mostly freelance, but I’ve had a few of my pictures on the front page.” And it should sound braggy, it should sound like this guy is gloating, but it doesn’t.
It just sounds like he’s proud of his work, and excited that something he’s passionate about is actually helping him to earn a living.
“What do you photograph?” You ask as you try to think back over the front page for the past few weeks, wondering if maybe you’ve seen some of his work.
“A little bit of everything. But the top brass always seem to like my pictures of Spiderman.” He says around a bite of his sandwich, and you feel a bit of a shock go through your heart.
So, he’s the other person who has been getting pictures of Spiderman. Much more frequently than you do, and somehow of clearer, better, closer quality.
And you think, for a moment, that this guy must either be superhuman or the luckiest person alive if he can consistently capture great, and usable, footage of Spiderman himself. Half of your pictures still turn out a little fuzzy because the guy never seems to sit still. 
And, despite yourself, you wonder how he manages to do it. But you know there’s no point in asking. If he’s got a leg up on the rest of the Bugle, why would he be stupid enough to reveal the tricks of the trade?
There’s a small part of you that still wants to ask him because you feel like you’re at a constant disadvantage. Jameson hates you because you refuse to paint Spiderman out to be the terror he wants the world to believe he is, and your direct boss is a credit stealing jackass. 
Maybe even clearer pictures would be better, because frequency is great but quality is king in this industry. And if Peter is providing quality photography of the illusive hero, which means that you’re going to need to up your game if you intend to stay in somewhat of good standing with your boss. If you’re going to continue giving him work that is worthy of stealing credit.
“So what do you think of him?” He asks, and you almost forgot that the two of you were actually in the middle of a conversation. The silent lull the two of you fell into had been anything but awkward, but your little bout of zoning out has led you to not notice if Peter has actually been trying to get your attention these past few seconds.
“Who?” You ask as you go back to double checking your article. It’s not your favorite puff piece that you’ve ever written, not that any of them have really been a joy to write, but it’s good enough to make one of the back pages of the paper. One of the things everybody just passes by, something utterly miserable with your name on the byline. Yeah, that’s probably never going to make you feel good.
“Spiderman.” He says, swallowing another bite of his sandwich as he looks at you. “The Bugle seems to be pretty divided, Jameson hates him and everyone is a little afraid to go against him. And then some people on the staff seem to secretly pay their monthly dues to his fanclub. So, what side of the fence are you on?”
“Well, I think it’d be pretty shitty of me to badmouth Spiderman after he saved my life. So, I guess that makes me a fan.” That just about makes Peter choke on the next bite of his sandwich.
“You’ve met Spiderman?” He asks, wiping the back of his hand against the corner of his mouth while he places his sandwich down with the other. The gobsmacked expression he carries is so brilliant you could laugh. And you do.
“If you count the brief second where he pulled me out of oncoming traffic, then yes, I’ve met Spiderman.” You say, and he nods while still looking a little shocked. “With your pictures I’d assume you have too.” He shakes his head at that.
“I’m just in the right place at the right time with a zoom lens. I’ve never met the guy, dying to though.” He says, and you chuckle.
“Just be so distracted on your phone that you walk into the middle of the street and he’ll come swinging through to save the day. It’s foolproof, it worked for me.” You say and he chuckles.
And there’s something nice about this. About making a new friend, about having someone else in the city who you can actually stomach being around. Someone who has similar interests and understands why your work is important to you. 
You could get used to lunch with Peter Parker. And, who knows, maybe it’ll happen more often because now you know to look out for him around the Bugle.
“So,” You say, taking a sip of your drink as he lifts his head to make eye contact with you, “how much are the fan club dues?”
---
Being barricaded in the back of a museum to hide from killer drones definitely isn’t how you saw this London vacation ending. But luck has never really been known to run in your favor. 
You and all your friends are huddled together. You, MJ, Ned, Betty, Flash, and some dude named Happy who “works with Spiderman”. And really, this is not how you ever imagined going out. Especially once everyone starts confessing their deepest darkest secrets in case this is really their last few minutes on Earth.
Which really isn’t your style, but as you curl in closer to MJ’s shoulder as she’s armed with a mace, you kind of let fear get the better of you. Because this could very well be it. And it’s about time you get these things off your chest, because heaven knows you’ve been holding all of it in for longer than anyone should.
“I’m scared I’m going to live in Peter’s shadow for the rest of my life.” And everything goes quiet for a moment. MJ and Ned both turn toward you, and you almost cringe at the sudden attention. 
Because you kept this inside for a reason. You never wanted any reassurances or anyone to go and tell Peter how you feel. And the both of them would run and spill your secret as soon as you get out of here.
And now a small, terrible part of you hopes the drones maybe make it through the door. At least that way the secret will never leave this room. 
But the drones suddenly stop right in front of you, and you pull away from MJ to get a better look at the fallen technology. But there’s barely any time to register it all before MJ is off and running towards the exit. And you don’t hesitate to take off after her.
“MJ!” You call, but she’s undeterred. It’s like she doesn’t even hear you as she makes it out the exit door and starts running through the drone graveyard and back to the bridge. You’re still calling her name all the while, but it comes out with less force after a while because you’re losing your breath.
By the time you finally catch sight of her again, cursing the fact that she can move so damn fast, you catch her running up to none other than Spiderman. Except Spiderman isn’t wearing his mask. And the man, no, the boy, in the suit is more than familiar to you. 
And you feel like you’ve been punched in the stomach. Because MJ knew. She knew that your brother is Spiderman, that he’s been risking his life, that he’s been to freaking space for Pete’s sake!, and didn’t tell you a damn thing.
And you wonder why he didn’t tell you himself. Because if MJ knows, Ned definitely knows. And May probably knows, too. And that weird Happy dude, who just confessed that he’s in love with Spiderman’s aunt, otherwise known as your aunt (which is something you definitely didn’t want to know), also knows that Peter is Spiderman.
You’re the last one to know, just like you always are. Always the one to play the fool because Peter always hangs you out to dry. And you are so sick of feeling like you’re on the outside of your brother’s life.
And you hate that you have the same circle of friends because now you don’t know if you can really trust any of your so-called friends. Because this is a big freaking secret and they kept it from you without batting an eye. Makes you wonder what else they’ve been lying about since they do it with such ease.
There’s something to be said about a city night that is far from silent and starry, something that is alive and filled with chaos that can still manage to bring peace to its inhabitants. Maybe you’ve just lived in New York too long, or maybe a part of you is too well adjusted to shit going south, but you genuinely believe you’re alive for nights like these.
You used to spend these kinds of nights out on the fire escape with MJ, when you would stay up well after May wanted you to solely because you weren’t ready for the day to be over yet. It brought you the most unadulterated sense of peace you’ve ever felt.
And some part of you feels like May knew that you and MJ were up well into the early morning hours talking about everything under the sun. She just never said anything because she didn’t want to make you stop. She’d probably eavesdropped on a conversation or two, too. You wish she was still here to do that.
These days you spend these kinds of nights up on the roof of the Feast building, usually because you’ve been there all night. You tend to head there straight after work, and usually end up leaving in the very early hours of the following morning. So, it’s safe to say that any sort of healthy ritual and routine has been out the window since your friends left for school.
And usually you spend these late hours all by yourself, but the universe seems to have other plans. Because soon enough your view of the sky is interrupted by a red face peering down at you with wide white eyes.
“You know, that’s a pretty creepy way to announce yourself.” You tilt your head to regain your view of the sky overhead. And the bug eyed boy just takes a step closer and leans down a little further to put him back in your line of vision. “Now it’s getting a little annoying.”
“You know,” He says as he steps back and you can practically hear his smirk, “Most people are excited when Spiderman is two feet from them.”
“Well, most people don’t see Spiderman at least once a week.” You say, sitting up with a groan. “You can pick another rooftop to lurk from.” You complain.
“But other rooftops wouldn’t have the sparkling company.” He jests, and you roll your eyes as he plops down next to you.
This has become a bit of a habit. Half the time you’re up here you end up chatting with the city’s beloved friendly neighborhood superhuman. 
You get the feeling that the city wouldn’t like him half as much if they spent as much time with him as you do. The guy’s actually rather annoying, a bit of a chatterbox at times. The boy rambles like you wouldn’t believe, and puts his foot in his mouth every other sentence.
It’d be endearing if this rooftop time wasn’t something so sacrosanct. If it wasn’t the one time a day you give yourself the opportunity to wonder if you’re really making the right choices. If May would be happy with the direction your life is taking. Or if she’d be so disappointed that you feel saddled with her moral mission.
And you really don’t need one of the people with the highest of moral missions to be sitting by your side while you think about the trajectory of the rest of your life. Because you’re not sure if your current life path is going to stick, and your entire life it’s been shoved down your throat that you’re supposed to pick one thing to do for the rest of your life at eighteen and then stick with it for the next fifty or so years.
So how are you supposed to admit that you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing? Because your friends have it figured out, at least to some degree. Because they’re both going to one of the greatest science institutions in the country, and you’re sitting on a roof. And you’re being degraded everyday, berated for writing talent and journalistic instinct that you apparently don’t have. 
Yet your work is still good enough to be passed off under someone else’s name.
How are you supposed to be able to admit that you feel like you’re in quicksand? And you’re not struggling, at least not really. Because you’re not sinking, you’re not being dragged down. At least, not that you can realize. It’s just slow going, and one of these days only your head is going to be above ground. And it’ll be too late to find a way to get out of it.
“Hey,” His voice breaks through your thoughts and, without really even thinking about it, you turn your head to look at him. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
“Shoot.” You say as you lay back down against the gravel coated rooftop and bring your eyes back to the sky, listening for the sound of someone’s car alarm blaring from a few blocks down. Not quite peace, but the closest you’ll ever get.
“Who’s your favorite superhero?” And you can’t help it, you burst out laughing at the question.
“That’s your question? You made it seem so serious, and all you wanna know is who my favorite superhero is?” You bring your hands up to cover your face and you miss the way he shakes his head at you.
“You and I don’t really talk about serious stuff.” He defends, and you have to give him that. Because it’s true. You and him have never gone beyond stupid quips and formalities. You two aren’t really friends, and you aren’t the kind to divulge your deepest darkest secrets. Not even to MJ.
And you’re not sure if you’re ready to cross that line into kinda sorta being friends with Spiderman.
“I guess, I’d have to say the Winter Soldier.” You say, even though you know he has a bit of a bad reputation because of his time with Hydra. Not that he could really control any of that. But you’re a fan of a redemption arc, what can you say? Besides, Captain America was willing to risk everything for the guy so how bad can he really be?
“So that’s your type?” He asks, and you can practically hear the smirk, “Hundred year old ex assassins?”
And even you can find the humor in it. Besides, it’s not like it’s anything that would ever actually have a shot at happening. Just that you hear about all these heroes in the headlines everyday. So, you’ve grown a bit of an attachment to some of them. It was tough to recover from Iron Man’s death, you always thought Stark was a pretty good guy underneath all of his reputation.
“Could be worse.” You muse, moving to rest your hands under your head on the gravel. “I could be into thousand year old gods.”
He scoffs, like Thor is such a typical choice. And maybe it is. You can see why, he’s definitely easy on the eyes. And the power to control lightning is pretty damn cool. But you’ve never really been the biggest fan.
“Why?” You ask, “Who’s your favorite superhero?”
He gestures to himself in a way that screams, “Isn’t it obvious?,” and you can’t help but laugh.
“Typical,” You mutter, because of course this guy has an ego on him. “I’m still not gonna say you’re my favorite.”
“I saved your life.” He argues, and you have to admit that he is the only Avenger who has that in his pro column. But it’s not as fun to just tell him what he wants to hear.
“That doesn’t make you the best superhero.” You defend. “Besides, you lose points for the spandex alone.”
“It’s not spandex!” He complains, letting his head drop into his hand as he groans.
You really don’t know why he keeps hanging out with you. Pretty much all you do is make fun of him and give him a hard time, so you don’t know why he even bothers to stop on this rooftop several nights a week. And on the nights he doesn’t, on the nights you see him swinging by towards some emergency, he also manages to send a quick haphazard wave in your direction before he’s out of sight.
So, maybe you kind of are friends with Spiderman. But you don’t know why he’s picked you of all people.
“If it makes you feel any better, a friend of mine is one of your biggest fans.” You say, because maybe, just this once, he is deserving of an ego boost.
“You have friends?” He asks, and you reach out to swat his arm but he ducks out of the way before you can make contact. And he’s giggling to himself all the while. So annoying. “Which friend?”
“Peter. We work together.” You figure that’s the easiest explanation for how you know this guy. It’s a lot more of a normal explanation than the whole we met at a coffee shop I used to work at, then ran into each other again a few months later and that’s when I found out that we both work for the Bugle. Yeah, that definitely would’ve been wordy.
“Oh yeah? Maybe you’ll have to introduce me to this Peter guy.” He says, and you can practically see the smile through his mask. Almost. If only you had x-ray vision, then you’d be privy to one of the biggest secrets in New York.
“Yeah, like that’ll happen.” You scoff. You and Peter are work friends, if you can really even call it that. You’ve seen the guy a few times since the cafe, but it’s always been short conversations. It’s not like you’re texting and meeting up everyday on your lunch hour. You’re work friends, not friend friends.
“Where do you work anyway?” He asks, and you roll your eyes.
“Why? So you can stalk me on my walk home?” You ask, even though you know you’ve seen him around on your walk to Feast several times a week. Even before these little rooftop meetings he always had a way of being around. You wish you knew why. Because it’s starting to feel like maybe you’re missing something. And you’re starting to hate that feeling.
“Can I not try and get to know you?” He asks, and you can hear the hint of exasperation. He’s tried this a few times, tried to actually find something out about you. Tried to make this friendship go beyond sarcastic remarks and eventual commentary on some of his greatest slip ups, since you’re so fond of the compilation videos of Spiderman’s most epic fails.
He doesn’t enjoy those videos as much as you do.
“I work at the Daily Bugle. I’m a reporter.” Loosely. You wish you actually had trust from your superiors, but he doesn’t need to know that. He doesn’t need to know that. No need to make yourself seem like a total loser in his eyes.
“Thank you.” He says as he lays down on the gravel beside you. Both of you staring up at the sky without a care to fill the silence between you.
And you think that maybe you could get used to this. And these intrusions won’t always feel like intrusions, and, strangely enough, you feel like Spiderman might just be the only real friend you have left in the city. 
God, that really speaks volumes doesn’t it. 
Your closest friend and you don’t even know his name. Or what he looks like. He wears a mask, which means that this trust you feel only really goes the one way.
Yeah, maybe you need to make a few more friends. But for now, for tonight, having Spiderman in your corner is a bit of comfort that maybe you’re on the right track.
“Just so you know,” He pipes up from beside you, and you tilt your head towards him, “I heard through the grapevine that he goes by White Wolf now.”
“Through the grapevine?” You say, brows furrowing as you spot the moon up above you, “What do you guys have a group chat or something?”
And his resounding laughter is a nice reminder, even though you don’t want one, that these not so quiet nights are just a little bit better when you have some company.
The trip to the airport is bad enough on its own, luckily for you no one is really saying much. They’re all still trying to come to terms with their near death experience. And you’re appreciative for not only that, but the fact that Peter seems so absorbed in the reality of his new girlfriend that he hasn’t thought to really pay you any mind.
And it’s another one of those moments where you’re reminded that the lauded saying “blood is thicker than water” holds very little weight in real life. Because you can’t help feeling that everyone else in the world matters more to your brother than you. 
His girlfriend, his best friend, May, even perfect strangers who happen to find themselves in the path of disaster. Everyone in the world ranks higher than you in his mind, and you can’t help but feel that little bit of resentment bubble up in your chest again.
And you hate feeling this way. You hate feeling like you don’t matter to the people who are supposed to love you more than anyone else in the world. 
And, honestly, there are some days you wish you never had a brother at all. Days where you wonder if life would be better if it were just you and May. Maybe then you wouldn’t feel so shitty, maybe then you’d feel like you’re someone’s priority.
You’d give anything to be back in the eerie, almost catatonic silence of the bus right now. Because it’s better than having to sit next to MJ and your brother as they’re being all cuddled up and coupley.
And, you guess you actually let some of your annoyance show, because a slight scoff escapes you and that is what gets Peter’s attention on you.
“You okay?” He asks, eyebrow raised skeptically as MJ pulls a giant book out of her carry-on bag.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just wish we’d gotten a little more time in London.” You say with a shrug, plugging your earbuds into your phone as you pull up your playlist. “And it’s a shame about the huge mess on the Tower Bridge.”
And there’s something in the way Peter is looking at you that has you feeling like maybe you shouldn’t back down. Like he’s trying to figure out if you know more than you should. And there’s a huge part of you that wants him to know that his little secret is no longer well kept. And, well, you don’t have the self-control to be the bigger person today.
“People really should be more careful,” You muse, one earbud in the ear furthest from Peter, “You never know who’s just around the corner, what they might see. Even when the world is ending.” Your eyes cut to Peter and you can see the way his eyes have gotten a little wide as you talk.
And, really, he shouldn’t be surprised. Making out in the middle of a bridge in the immediate aftermath of a huge battle means that he’s bound to be caught maskless. You’re shocked news choppers didn’t pick it up.
“But you know all about the end of the world, don’t you Spidey?” You ask, watching as his jaw drops slightly and MJ freezes next to you. 
You shake your head with a scoff as he goes to try and cover his own ass. You stick your other ear bud in and twist to face straight ahead, you’re in no mood to hear half baked justifications. And you’re not sure you ever will be.
“I got you something.”
You sit down across from Peter, finding him at that same cafe from a month ago, and he looks up in surprise to see you. You’ve actually met up for lunch a few times in the past week or two, each instance initiated by Peter from the handful of times you’ve run into each other at the Bugle.
“You’re late.” He remarks as he drags something across the screen of his laptop using the trackpad. You sneak a peek at the screen and find a new picture of Spiderman opened up.
“I was held up with my latest round of bullshit editor notes. But that’s not the point.” You open up your bag and pull out a copy of last week’s newspaper with one of Peter’s pictures at the top of the front page. You place it down on the table and slide it towards him.
“Believe it or not, I have seen that picture before.” It’s a photo of Spiderman rescuing a bus full of kids on the bridge, and you roll your eyes at his comment.
“Ha ha.” You quip dryly, “I was talking about this.” You push the paper closer to him and point towards the lower right corner of the picture. Where Spiderman’s autograph is scrawled out in sharpie.
“Is that?” He asks as he picks up the paper for closer inspection.
“It is.” You have a bit of a smug grin on your face, a little too proud that you managed to pull this off.
“How did you even get this?” He asks, marveling at the signature emblazoned upon one of his photographs.
“I ran into him, and asked if he’d be willing to sign something for his number one fan.” You joke, and Peter rolls his eyes at you, but there’s a fondness there that seems to run deeper than this acquaintanceship that you share. “I figured now you’d have something to brag about in the fan forums.”
“You’re never going to let that die are you?” He asks with a chuckle as he slips the newspaper into his bag.
“Nope.” You say, popping the p, as you grab your coffee cup off the table and taking a sip. Somehow it’s still scalding hot even though you were fifteen minutes late. And you’re thankful for that, as November is making its debut for the year and the weather is turning colder.
And that means that Ned and MJ will be back in a few weeks, and you should be excited for that. You really should be, but it’s turning into something else. Dread? Anxiety? You’re not quite sure what. You just know that something good is starting to feel like something you have to get through. And you never thought you’d feel that way about seeing your friends.
Maybe it’s just because everything has felt a little off center for the past few weeks. Maybe it’s because it feels like you’re living in a haunted house. With the help of your paycheck from the bugle, and some help from Happy Hogan out of sheer guilt alone, you’ve been able to keep staying in your and May’s old apartment.
But it feels weird. Too quiet, and you’re still sleeping in the room you spent high school in even though it’s a little small for you to still grow into. But something feels weird about taking over the master bedroom. 
Because it feels like it’s finally admitting that you’re moving on from what your life looked like while May was a part of it. And you’re not sure how to feel about that. You’re not sure if you’re ready for that.
And you don’t know how you’re possibly going to be able to continue living like this. Because you can’t be this stuck, you can’t be riding this stagnant wave for the rest of your life. You can’t stay seventeen forever, it’s unbecoming. It’s impossible. 
But it seems like you’re finding ways to prolong the naivete that comes with the existence of impossibilities. Because you still believe that you can manage to be the same person for the rest of your life, despite the fact that change is one of the few inevitable things in life.
And the harder you try for things to stay the same, the more likely they are to change. And this is just another one of those things that’ll change. For better or worse. 
You and Peter will eventually be actual friends. Friends that hang out outside of work related events and lunch meetings. It’ll be trivia nights at a nearby bar and concerts. You’ll be friends, and then it’ll all fall apart. Just like everything else in your life.
So, it’s better for you to keep distance between this. Between the two of you. Because then maybe you’ll be able to preserve this. It’ll stay just the way it is. It’ll stay something good. Something nice. And you won’t be able to ruin it the way everything else gets ruined.
It won’t end up being another thing you miss.
The two of you sit in silence for a while, him working on touching up his photos and you make one last pass over your article before sending it back in with the changes your editor asked for. But you stick around for less than an hour, at quarter of one you’re packing up your things and standing from your seat.
“Everything okay?” He asks, and you nod your head.
“Yeah. I try to visit my aunt twice a month, and I missed last week. So I’m going today.”
Most people don’t make the connection between your last name and the woman who was killed in the Spiderman attack from last year. So, most of them think that maybe she’s elderly and you’re heading to the home to check on her. 
Most of them don’t realize that you’re all too familiar with a graveyard and a well trodden plot that has been littered with flowers and broken promises for the last twelve months.
They mostly just nod, usually a smile on their face as they applaud you for being such a good niece. It’s hollow, but intended to be sweet. The common thing to say in response to that kind of sentiment. None of them ever think beyond it, not that there are many people in your life that are close enough to know the truth. And you intend to keep it that way.
But there’s something different in the way Peter is looking at you compared to everyone else. Something like pity, a strike of sadness in them that makes you wonder if he understands better than anyone could know.
“Do you want me to come with you?” He asks, and the way he says it is like he just knows you might need a shoulder. But he’s not the person to be that shoulder, he’s not the support you need. You’re not sure what that support would be, but you know it’s not him.
Each time you go visit May you get more and more of a sense that something is missing. Or someone. And it’s not May, it’s not the person six feet deep. It’s a person who should be standing by your side, someone who should be visiting her and feeling just as devastated as you. Just as half whole, a person who lacks direction in the way that you do. 
There should be someone else just as maimed as you by the loss of May Parker. You don’t know who, you just can’t beat the instinctive feeling that there is supposed to be someone else there with you.
Someone is missing, and, for the life of you, you can’t figure out who it is. And you’ve been trying your best to ignore it. But you think you’re reaching the end of your rope in that regard.
“Thank you, but no.” You say, shouldering your bag as you push your chair back in. “I’ll see you around, Peter.”
He nods, a little bit at a loss for words as he watches you walk away. And some part of you feels bad for turning him down. Some part of your brain is nagging at you to turn back around. But you don’t put together the reason why. 
Guilt is a hell of a drug, and you’ve let it fuel too many of your decisions lately. You won’t let it take this time from you. So, you leave Peter at the cafe to get back to his work. Not realizing you’re leaving him to drown in his own thoughts of your beloved aunt, not realizing that he’s the person missing by your side.
You have found that you really should never underestimate the power of the universe, because life can really go to shit in the blink of an eye. Less than a week after getting back from Europe, everything comes crashing down, even worse than things already were in the Parker household, because Mysterio had posthumously posted a video revealing Spiderman’s identity and painting him as a murderer.
Which, really, is just the perfect ending to your summer. Being holed up in your apartment. Being dragged down to the station by the cops and being questioned. And you made it very clear that you had only found out a day or two prior to the broadcast. Because you were not going to be painted as Spiderman’s accomplice.
Now, your brother is many things but he is not a murderer. At least not on purpose. So, you have no doubts that this Mysterio guy isn’t the perfect hero that everyone has him painted out to be. 
But no one seems to want to believe Peter. And the brick thrown through the apartment window was definitely a heads up that maybe your apartment is no longer the safest place to live.
So the weird guy from the bridge, sorry, Happy, offered his place to you guys. And May took him up on it without much hesitation because it’s an incredibly secure building. But it doesn’t have much room, so you’re kind of camping out on the floor in the master bedroom while May takes the bed. Peter and Happy are sleeping downstairs.
And you’re glad that you at least have somewhere to run to when Peter tries to patch things up between the two of you. Which, to be fair, he tried a lot harder at that when you guys first landed back in New York. But then everything went to hell in a handbasket and he was a little preoccupied. You all have been. And this is one of those times where you don’t feel upset that you’re being put on the back burner.
This time it makes sense, life has been hectic to say the least.
And then summer ended and you waded through the insane crowd outside the building on the first day of school. Walking in beside Ned and trying to make it to your locker without being bombarded because you want no part in this. Sadly, you aren’t that lucky. Because this whole Spiderman snafu is out to burn down every person close to Peter Parker.
For the last few weeks of summer you’d been hoping that the yearbook club would still want you. It’s your senior year and it would mean the entire world to you to be able to be one of the editors. But the yearbook committee couldn’t even come through for you. 
According to the president of the committee, it was a very close vote. Nearly fifty fifty. Because on one hand they’d have Spiderman’s sister as one of their editors, but your name also carries a lot of controversy right now.
And they don’t know if the controversy will be worth it. Despite the fact that you’ve been on the yearbook committee since freshman year. And it doesn’t stop at the yearbook committee. You got cut from the debate club, too. 
Because apparently the whole Spiderman thing is a great topic for debate on ethics, and you wouldn’t be able to be impartial. And every other club, program, and production you’re involved in also has to give you the “sad” news that they can’t welcome you back with open arms this year.
You’ve worked your ass off your entire life to have a long list of clubs, volunteer programs, and other accolades to make you more appealing to admissions offices. But they’re all taken away from you in one fell swoop. 
Because no do-gooder volunteer organization really wants their reputation marred by having Spiderman’s sister at their events. The only thing you have left is Feast, but your aunt runs that so it’s a bit of an unfair leg up that you wouldn’t be able to list in good conscience.
There’s no way that even your gpa could save you now, not after everything you’ve been told about admissions offices over the years. And it definitely won’t be enough to help you follow MJ’s dream for the two of you to go to MIT together.
If you guys even have a shot in the dark at getting into a prestigious university like MIT after all of this. If the yearbook committee isn’t willing to risk the controversy, you doubt that any school you apply to would bother to let any of the four of you in.
So, you make the executive decision to not apply anywhere at all. You’ll take a year in New York, or maybe you’ll travel, and, hopefully, by the time your gap year is over all of this will have died down. And maybe you will have a better chance at getting in somewhere. Or maybe you’ll just legally change your name and people won’t assume that you’re related to Peter Parker at first glance.
And you hate how that makes you sound, because it does make you sound super shitty, but you don’t really know what the hell you’re doing. And this is not how you saw the future going, and now you don’t know what your future is supposed to look like. But, for the first time, the idea of your future doesn’t seem so dreadful.
Because it finally feels like it’s your choice. You can do whatever you want, try whatever you want to try. You might find that there’s something that brings joy into your life that makes life a perfectly enjoyable endeavor. Maybe MIT isn’t something you’ll ever want or need. Life doesn’t have to be all about college.
And you had made up your mind about not applying, you also made up your mind about not telling anyone. Just like you didn’t tell them about all of your after school activities rescinding your invitation. They’ve got enough to be worried about, why should they spend any time fretting over little old you?
And this all worked out fine until you come home one day, a few hours after school ended to keep up the illusion that you were at yearbook club, to find Peter sitting on the couch looking completely dejected. 
And you quietly close the door behind you and let your backpack drop to the ground next to the door. Which alerts him to your presence and has him lifting your head, you’re surprised his eyes weren’t already trained on the door at the sound of your footsteps approaching. That sixth sense of his can be very annoying.
“Hey.” He says, and you watch him warily as you walk towards the couch.
“Hey.” You reply, deciding to sit down in the recliner a few feet away to keep a bit of distance between the two of you. This might already be the longest conversation the two of you have had in a few months.
“Acceptance letters went out today,” He says, gesturing in some strange circular way before he says, “From MIT.”
And you freeze for a split second, hoping that he hasn’t realized that an envelope never showed up for you.
“I didn’t get in.” For the first time in a while a snarky remark isn’t the first thing to come to mind. And all you can think to say is:
“I’m so sorry, Peter.”
Because he’s wanted this his whole life. He’s been dreaming about MIT for as long as you can remember. And the death of a dream is one that most aren’t given the opportunity to mourn. Because you have to keep going, you have to suck it up and drive on and find a new dream. Or find a way to make the original dream work in spite of whatever obstacle, and all of its finality, is planted in front of your face.
“Ned and MJ didn’t either.”
And now you know you’ll have to shoot her a text later to get some idea of how she’s feeling. She’ll definitely have a brave face on, especially for Peter since she wouldn’t want to make him feel more guilty than he already does, but maybe she’ll drop the facade for you. Because no matter how much she expects disappointment, you know she let herself get her hopes up about this.
And it takes a few seconds of silence, a few seconds of Peter looking at you, for you to figure out why he’s telling you this at all. He’s waiting to see if you got in. Waiting for some kind of confirmation that he hasn’t irrevocably ruined the lives of everyone he knows. And you can tell that he already has some half baked plan brewing in case you didn’t get in. Well, little does he know that your letter is never coming.
“Mine must not be here yet.” You say, hoping that maybe he’d buy that May would’ve said something if your letter had arrived too.
“Did you check?” He asks, almost insistent in his questioning, “You didn’t even look at the mail when you got home.”
And, before you can stop him, he’s out of his seat and making a beeline for the table by the door where May lets the mail pile up.
“You haven’t checked already?” You ask from your seat, trying to think up some kind of lie to get yourself out of this one. You’re coming up empty.
“Opening someone else’s mail is against the law. And I really don’t need any other charges.” He says as he flips through the stack, only to find nothing addressed to you. “You don’t have any mail.” He’s confused, you can tell, and he turns back to you, mail in hand, with a furrowed brow.
“It must not have come yet.” You say, getting up from your seat and walking over to him. Taking the stack from him and sifting through it even though you know you’ll never find what he’s looking for.
“We live in the same place. They would’ve come together.” He reasons. Trying to make eye contact with you, but you won’t look up from the mail. Eyes fixated on the coupon, addressed to May, for the new spa opening downtown. Because you know things are about to go from bad to worse.
And you’re not sure you’re ready for another implosion.
“Where’s your letter?” He asks, checking the watch as his wrist before looking at the front door. “Maybe it went to the wrong mailbox, we can check downstairs-” He starts to walk away, but you stop him.
“I didn’t apply.” As soon as the words leave your lips he stops in his tracks. And he hasn’t turned back to face you yet, and you’re so glad for that little bit of mercy. Because you’re really not ready for this.
“You didn’t apply.” He repeats, taking a beat before he turns back to look at you. “To MIT?”
“To anywhere.” And, for whatever reason, the admission feels like being punched in the stomach. Even though you’re not ashamed of it. Even though you don’t think you’ll regret it, and it’s not like you’re swearing off college forever. It’s just for now. Just for now. That’s okay, right?
He drops his head, his fingers coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he exhales. And you can already tell that he’s disappointed in you.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” He asks.
“I figured you’d find out eventually.” And that’s not really a yes. But it’s an answer. And he’s just going to have to live with it.
“When? When you and May drop me off at the dorm and then you suspiciously don’t have any boxes to move?”
“I would’ve told you before then. I just wanted to wait until things aren’t fucked up beyond belief.” He scoffs like he doesn’t believe you, and maybe he doesn’t. You’re not sure you would if you were him.
“And when do you think that’s gonna happen?” He snaps, and it’s rhetorical, you know it’s rhetorical, and it’d be funny if this moment didn’t feel like the end of the world. 
You’d been putting this moment off because it’s one of those types of moments where you can’t really see beyond it. Like it’s that sort of deathbed confession type of idea. The end of the movie, if you will.
“Look, Peter, I-”
“What about MJ?” He asks, “She’s wanted you guys to go to college together for years. She’s going to be crushed.”
“I’m well aware,” You snap, because you really can’t take Peter being up on his high horse right now, “She was my friend long before she was your girlfriend, so don’t act like you know her better than I do.”
And you’ve been dreading the day you’d have to tell her, but at least you know that she’d understand. She’d get why you feel you need to do this. But Peter doesn’t have the right to act like you’re the villain in all of this. Changing your mind doesn’t make you the bad guy.
“I just don’t understand,” Because of course he doesn’t, “You’ve been busting your ass to get into a great college your entire life. So why are you doing this now? Why are you ruining your life like this?”
“Better than letting you do it.” You mutter under your breath, hoping it’ll go unnoticed but it doesn’t.
“What?” He asks, hand freezing midway through his hair as he attempts to brush it down. And you figure you might as well just let it go. If everything has been building up to this moment, then you’re going to put it all out there.
“I said it’s better than letting you do it.” You repeat, waiting for the explosion but it never comes.
“What are you talking about?” He asks.
“I didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting into any college even if I applied.” You say. “Any association with the Parker name is coming back around to bite everyone in the ass right now.”
“But not for you.” He reasons, “You’ve still been busy with all your clubs and your volunteer hours. You just came back from something for yearbook.” He gestures to the camera bag in your hand.
“I’m not a part of the yearbook committee anymore. Or the debate team. I haven’t been since the first week of school.” Which was nearly two months ago at this point. “And all of the charities suddenly decided that they already have enough good Samaritans lending their time to the cause. So they don’t need me anymore.”
“But you never said anything.”
“Of course I didn’t, Peter. Your life has gone to complete shit the last few months, why would I want to make things any worse than they already were?” You ask, and your voice raises with it almost against your will. You don’t mean to yell, you really don’t. But you just can’t help it.
“But they are worse. Even if I didn’t know, this was still going on. So it was still worse.” He says, hand swiping through his hair in an attempt to expel some of his frustrated energy.
And there it is. Yet another example of your shortcomings. Because, try as you might, even when you do things to protect him you still find a way to make it harder for him. To make the guilt come down on him harder. And you’re sick and tired of all of your best efforts being turned into mistakes. It’s not worth it anymore.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is being your sister?” You ask. Because you just can’t take it anymore. You can’t take making the world an easier experience for Peter because he’s never really noticed how you try to protect him. How, even though he can often be the bane of your existence, you still love him to the point of trying to make life easier on him.
“I know the last few months have sucked, but-” He starts, brushing off your complaints in the expectation that they are just another lament of the way everything has gone to shit lately.
“I’m not just talking about the last few months. I’m talking about my entire life.” You start, and something stops Peter in his tracks as he turns his head to look at you once more. And his moment of shock, this brief period of pause, is enough to keep you going.
“My entire life I have been less than you. Every teacher I have ever had has expected greatness from me because you’re an academic superstar. You ace every test, you overdo every project to the point that you have the highest gpa in the building. You’re one of the best kids on the decathlon team. I’ve dealt with the highest of expectations in my life because everyone expects me to be just like you just because we share blood.”
And he looks like he’s about to speak, to cut you off, but you just can’t take it. After all this time you can’t take being interrupted again.
“And on top of that you have to be a freaking superhero. You have to be a person who has saved the world time and time again. A person who, despite all of the craziness of the moment, is a beloved public figure people can depend on to give them a bit of hope in this world. And how am I ever supposed to compete with that? How am I ever supposed to feel like I’m doing enough, like I’m worth much of anything, when you’re my brother?”
And, sure, most of this isn’t Peter’s fault. Most of this says more about your own view of yourself than it does about him. But you’ve let all of this eat you alive for the past seventeen years. It’s about time it broke free.
“And on top of that, everything I have ever had winds up being yours. My food, my bedroom, my best friend. You get everything, even the things that I thought were mine. So, I made the decision about MIT all on my own. I made it with the common knowledge that no one would want me in the fall anyway. And, I thought that this might be my chance for a fresh start. My chance to be somewhere you’re not.”
And you know you’re being harsh, but it slips out before you can really even think about it:
“I thought that, for the first time in my life, it’d be my opportunity to not just be Peter Parker’s sister.”
He lowers his head for a second, and when he brings it back up to look at you there are tears shining in his eyes. And it’s the perfect picture of why you never bothered saying anything. Because he’s already as low as he can go, and you didn’t want to put him under. Looks like you did it anyway.
“I’m sorry.” He says, swiping the back of his hand under his nose as he sniffles a little. “I didn’t realize I made you so miserable.”
He starts to walk away heading for the front door, and you feel a little more terrible with each step he takes.
“Peter!” You call as he makes it to the door, hoping maybe he’ll stop. Hoping maybe you’ll get the chance to fix this. But he doesn’t stop, he doesn’t even look back. He just shakes his head, letting the door fly shut behind him. Leaving you alone in the silence of a home that isn’t your own.
“Have you ever been to the Statue of Liberty?”
It’s halfway through November, and you know that you probably shouldn’t still be hanging out on the rooftops in the dead of night. But you brought your warmest blankets, and have a thermos of hot chocolate to keep you warm. And Spiderman insists that his suit keeps him plenty warm.
The question is a bit of a shock it seems because he freezes momentarily. And you know it’s out of the blue, extremely sudden since the two of you had just been shit talking Jameson moments prior. Entirely off the record of course, wouldn’t want Jameson to know that there’s no love lost between him and society’s greatest menace.
But the landmark has been rattling around in your brain lately. You have memories of May and Ben taking you there when you were a kid, taking the ferry and then swearing you wanted to climb all the way to the top. Only to get exhausted halfway up, and Uncle Ben ended up carrying you the rest of the way. That was a good day. A great day, even. It ended in ice cream.
But you haven’t been back since, so you don’t know why it keeps popping into your head. And you keep seeing things pop up about it every time you venture out onto the internet. It’s like the universe is throwing you a sign. Telling you that there’s something important, something waiting for you, at the statue. You just don’t know what it is, and you feel a little crazy for having such faith that some unprovable entity is sending you a message. But you feel like you can trust it.
It’s just a matter of acting on it.
“Uh, yeah,” He says, back of his hand coming up to rub at the nape of his neck, “On field trips when I was a kid.”
There’s a shakiness to his voice, and he’s clearly taken aback by the question, but he seems more confused by the look on your face when he turns his head. He’s caught off guard by your pinched brows and the borderline disgust in your features.
“What’s with the face?” He asks, chuckling slightly.
“I just can’t picture you being a kid. I just can only imagine you as a grown up. Like you’ve always been fully formed.” You gesture with your hands to try to make your nonsense make sense, but you don’t think it really helps. But he laughs at the very least.
“Well, I promise you I used to be a kid.” He says, knocking his shoulder against yours. “Me and my sister.”
“You have a sister?” You ask, sitting up a little straighter at the revelation.
“Yeah. I guess technically she’s older, but only by like nine minutes. She’s been holding it over me ever since.” He says, and you can’t see his face but you can tell he’s smiling under there.
“You guys still close?” You ask, taking a sip of cocoa from your thermos. Giving him a moment to gather his thoughts.
“I feel like I know her better now than I did when we were growing up.” He kicks his legs against the side of the building, knocking a little bit of snow from the top of one of the windows below.
“You know, I think that’s the first personal thing you’ve ever told me.”
“Savor it. It might be the only thing you get.” He says, and you can hear the joking in his tone. You tilt the thermos in his direction in offering, but he shakes his head. You help yourself to another sip.
A comfortable silence settles between the two of you. Nothing to interrupt save for the slight blowing wind around you.
“I’ve always wanted a sibling.” You say, staring out at the snowy rooftop across the street. You hear him shuffle beside you, but you don’t turn to look at him.
“Yeah?” He asks, and it’s like he’s holding his breath. Like whatever you say next will be make or break, and you wish you knew why.
“Yeah. You know, it’s about having someone there who has your back no matter what. Someone to be there so you feel less alone during the awkward parts of growing up. To have someone who understands how everything feels like the end of the world when you’re young, especially when you’re a teenager.”
A part of you feels like you’re talking out of your ass, but at the same time it feels like you’re telling the secrets that you’ve kept closest to the vest. The things you never dared say out loud because it’d be pointless. You wouldn’t magically have a sibling, and you wouldn’t be able to go back in time and relive those years in order to better those experiences via the inclusion of an added relative.
Not like you’d want to be fifteen again anyway.
“My friends are great, don’t get me wrong. And I’m glad I’ve had them in my life for so long. But, there have just been a lot of things in my life that have been difficult to carry. And it’d be nice to have someone who could understand and help shoulder some of that weight. Sucks to have to deal with some of this shit alone.”
You take another sip of the hot chocolate, feeling like you’ve significantly brought down the mood. You’ve turned these fun meetings into something with a deeper, more existential meaning. And you’re not sure if that’s what the neighborhood hero bargained for when he landed on your rooftop.
“Why’d you ask about the Statue of Liberty?” He asks, voice choked as he refuses to look at you.
And you feel like it’ll be difficult to explain. Like maybe he’ll think you’re crazy. Even though he’s a guy who parades around in a mask and opts to wear spandex on a nightly basis. You’re worried that you’ll sound like you’re off your rocker. And, hey, maybe you are.
“Do you ever feel like there’s something missing?” You ask, fiddling with the flange on the top of the thermos.
“All the time.” His answer is immediate, and said with such certainty that you feel like maybe he’s been holding onto this for a while. Like he’s been waiting to have this conversation.
“I’ve felt like that for a while now,” You say, flipping the lid of the thermos off and then pressing it back on again, “And, for whatever reason, the statue keeps popping up. Everywhere I look I see something about it, I hear people talking about it at seemingly every street corner. I just feel like the universe is trying to tell me something. And I feel like maybe the statue will lead me to what I’m missing.”
And you’re not really looking for anything from him. No advice, no pat on the back. Not even a ‘turn back here, danger lurks beyond’ sort of warning. But it feels all the more real as soon as it catches the air after leaving your lips. And, as it hangs in the air between you, it feels like maybe you are looking for someone to give you some direction. For someone to tell you to act on your hunch.
If this was work, if this was a story you were chasing, you’d have jumped on that instinct in a heartbeat. But it’s not, this is about you. About something that feels off with you. And you’ve never been fond of seeking out your own shortcomings. But this might be a solution, this might lead to a tonic for the feeling of forgetfulness you’ve been having as of late.
Something shifts in his demeanor, and you can’t put your finger on what it is. But he definitely seems less comfortable than he did before. More reserved, more like the first time he wound up on this rooftop. And that’s slightly unnerving. You thought the two of you were on your way to being kind of friends, but he seems to have flipped the switch on that in an instant.
“I think,” He says, clearing his throat slightly as he fiddles with his fingers in his lap, “If you think it’ll give you answers, then you should do it.”
You nod slightly as you look at him, feeling like whatever time you had being acquainted with Spiderman is rapidly coming to an end. And, in a turn of events that would’ve completely taken you by surprise a few months ago, you don’t really want it to be over. But, it seems as though you have no power over the situation.
Because he stands from the ledge and starts to head to the other end of the rooftop. Foot up on that ledge before he turns back to you.
“Just in case I don’t see you for a while, I’m really glad I met you Y/N.” He says it like this is all so final, like things are coming to an end. Like they’ll never really be the same. And it feels like something died on this rooftop tonight, something you weren’t quite ready to mourn. But you have no choice. It’s just like everything else in life.
He shoots a web at a building far on the other side of the street, and before he’s tugged in that direction he sends one last salute in your direction. And then he’s soaring across the sky, and all you can do is watch and wonder why that seems so damn familiar.
To say that the last twenty four hours have been hectic would be one hell of an understatement. It’s all been one big mess, but the gist is that the entire fabric of reality is basically falling to pieces and people are entering your world from other universes all because of a botched spell Peter orchestrated to be cast by one Doctor Stephen Strange.
And you can’t help but feel like part of this is your fault. Because the timing of all of it tracks to right after you and Peter had your argument. And you’d hate to be the reason that the lives of everyone in this universe, and every other universe, are at stake.
And then you met alternate versions of your brother, one of whom seemed to practically malfunction at the sight of you. And he’d hugged you. He’d hugged you so tight like he never thought he’d have the opportunity again. And you very sheepishly hugged him back, not knowing what his deal was, but knowing that all of this was a little beyond what you could reasonably process at the given moment.
And everything gets messy. And there are a few casualties, ones that you can’t give yourself the time to grieve. And then you’re on the rooftop of your high school, and you see Peter all alone in the center of the roof. MJ and Ned go to him first, wrapping him up in the hug he needs. 
And you hang back because even though you’re both grieving, you know that you are not the source of comfort that he needs. You never have been, and now is not the time to do anything to jeopardize these things.
So you stand off to the side, away from the side of the building where the other Peters are lurking. And you’re fairly certain that your Peter, your brother, your flesh and blood, doesn’t even notice you’re there until everyone moves out to head downstairs into one of the science labs.
And there’s a moment of pause. A moment of awkwardly prolonged eye contact as both of you try to figure out what you’re supposed to do. How you’re supposed to act. Knowing that in these situations you two should be comforting each other, offering one another a shoulder in this time of grief. But there’s no time, and it’d feel wrong even if there was.
And then the plan was in action, and it was going well for a little while. Until Strange got free and had no way of helping to fix the day. They’d cured all the villains, and were intent on sending them home. As well as the other versions of Peter.
And watching them disappear felt something like winning, until Peter swung over to where you, Ned, and MJ were all standing and he started to explain the situation at hand.
“You won’t be able to remember who I am.” He goes on to explain everything that’s about to happen, and the reactions are varied. Ned seems shaken, rightfully so, but he manages to hold himself together. MJ is more upset than you’ve ever seen in your entire life. And you, you don’t really know how to feel.
It’s always been you and Peter. For as long as you can remember, for your entire life, he’s always been by your side. No matter how much you wish you could’ve had a little more alone time, or wished that you could live your life apart from him, you never would’ve wished for this.
He turns to look at you, sending a bit of a smile in your direction.
“You said you wanted to know what it’s like not to be Peter Parker’s sister.” He says, and you shake your head as tears prick your eyes.
“This is not what I meant.” You defend, voice wavering slightly as you look at him. And you know that he knows. That this is by no means what you meant, and it’s okay. It’s okay that this isn’t what any of you were anticipating.
And he swears that he’ll come find you guys after all is said and done. And he’ll make you remember him, he’ll get everything back. And it’ll be like he never left. You just hope that he’s right about that.
You pull him into a tight hug, and you almost don’t want to let go. Because he’s the last piece of family you have left, and you’re not ready to be all alone in this world. Is anyone ever really ready for that?
You pull away with great reluctance as he takes a step back. And he has his big damn moment with MJ. Where she professes her love, and they kiss in the glaring light of the early morning sunrise. It’s picture perfect, a true movie moment. And it’d be great if it weren’t so damn heartbreaking.
He hops up onto the ledge in front of all of you. He takes one last look around, trying to commit it all to memory. To never be able to forget the way you all are looking at him right now. Looking at with recognition, with grief, with hope. He wants to hold onto it because he doesn’t know when, or if, he’ll get to see it again.
He sends a watery smile in the direction group, and then makes eye contact with you. Giving a two fingered salute in your direction before he shoots out a web and swings away.
And then it’s like no one was ever there at all. And, a few seconds later, that’s exactly the way you remember it. No one was ever there. No one you know.
And standing at that ledge is much more enlightening than you ever thought something could be. You get there as early as the ferry will go out, and something about the bright sunlight of first thing in the morning brings a brand new sense of clarity to the statue. Brings a bit of sense to everything that has been rolling around in your brain.
And you can see it now. You can see that day playing in your mind, the morning when it all fell away and your life flipped on its head in an instant. And you can see the man behind the mask, and now you know why he fled so fast last night. 
Because he thought that if you remembered it’d change everything. And you’d no longer want to have anything to do with Spiderman since you wanted nothing to do with Peter Parker in the before times.
And you understand it because you’d be scared, too. And the first thing that crosses your mind is the fact that Peter must have felt so alone these past few months, and that he still found a way to be connected to the people he holds dear. But it must’ve been its own special form of torture to spend so much time around them without any ounce of recognition in their eyes. You’re not sure you would’ve been able to survive it if you were him.
And you’ve known both ways, both versions of him. The man and the hero. And his words from last night come back into your brain tenfold as you make your way back to the city. He feels he knows his sister better now than he did growing up. And you wonder if that’s because he was just some guy, just your friend. And all of the old feelings that came with knowing Peter Parker had disappeared with surgical skill and mystic methods.
And then you wonder if maybe he’d rather you were still under the spell. Would he be upset that your relationship will now be colored by all the pain from the past? Would he wish things were still as easy as they had been on that rooftop? Or at the cafe over breakfast sandwiches and overpriced coffee?
You try to shake your worries from your mind as you step off the ferry and head for the Bugle, knowing that Peter usually stops there first thing in the morning to drop off his latest round of photos. Hopefully you’ll be able to intercept him before he leaves, and you’ll be able to actually talk to your brother for the first time in nearly a year.
You make it down the streets towards the news building, trying to keep your pace at something more so casual than urgent. But you fail, there’s a little added speed in your step the closer you get. And you see him heading out of the building, and that’s when you start to run to catch up to him. And his head is on a swivel as he seems to be looking for something, but stops when he lays eyes on you.
“Hey,” He says, a smile on his face as he takes a step to the side to get out of the flow of traffic, “I was just looking for you. Do you want to meet up for-” He’s stopped by you catching up to him and immediately wrapping your arms around him. 
“This is different.” He mumbles it under his breath before hesitantly wrapping his arms around you as your forehead rests on his shoulder.
And you can tell that he’s scared, that he’s trying not to get his hopes up too much that this might actually mean something. And it breaks your heart a little bit, but maybe you can get things back on track now that you remember. Maybe a few things can be fixed, maybe you can help him get his life back.
“Is everything okay?” He asks, voice quieter than you’ve heard it in a long time and you can’t help but smile slightly.
“You’re such an idiot.” He lets out a huff like he’s offended, and you do your best to bite back a laugh.
“I know,” He says, “But why specifically?” You laugh and pull away from the hug, only to shove his shoulder a few seconds later.
“Doctor Strange.” You say, and it’s like something snaps behind his eyes because they start to water with just two simple words, “You really thought that was the best way to save the day?”
“It was the only way.” He defends. “Too many people knew. It was going to destroy everybody.”
“Forgetting my family was more destructive than anything that would’ve come through those portals. At least we would’ve been together.” You say, because you believe you were given a sibling for a reason. You’re not meant to go through life alone, no one is, you and Peter were always supposed to be there for one another. Some magic spell isn’t strong enough to rewrite fate like that.
“I thought you wanted to stop being Peter Parker’s sister.” He says, eyes meeting yours for a few seconds before they fall back to the space between your feet.
“Well, turns out it feels like something is missing without you around. And that I can figure out a way to be myself without blaming my feelings on you.”
Because your feelings weren’t always his fault because he can’t help being who he is. And, as far as families go, you could’ve wound up with someone a lot worse. Your brother is Spiderman for Pete’s sake, that’s pretty freaking cool. With time and distance, and a year of forgetting, it’s pretty cool. And you’re pretty proud.
Besides, you’ll still always be the older sibling. That’s something he’ll never be able to take away from you.
“Are you mad?” He asks.
“Of course I’m mad.” You say, “We lost out on a year. Don’t you think we’ve already lost enough?” You ask, and he nods his head along with it. The both of you have been grieving on your own when you didn’t have to be.
“I almost told you, a few times actually. I just figured you’d think I was nuts.” It’s a valid assumption. Talk of other universes and spells of forgetfulness sound like things out of the pages of a story book, not the kind of things that actually happen to people.
“I probably wouldn’t have believed you. I would’ve needed to see it for myself.” And now you have. Now you’ve seen it all, it’s all come back to you. “Now, what was this you were saying about lunch?” You ask, looping your arm through his as you steer him in the direction of a diner you guys used to go to when you were kids.
“I didn’t even say lunch.”
“But you were going to.” It’ll actually be breakfast, but it’ll be close enough. It doesn’t matter what meal, it’s about making up for lost time.
The two of you walk in pleasant silence as the diner gets closer and closer with each passing step. And, just because you can, you decide to give Peter a little bit of hope.
“You know, Ned and MJ are coming back to town next week.” You say it in such a way that he gets what you’re hinting at in no time at all. And he goes to protest but shuts his mouth with one look at your face.
You’re going to set things right because nobody deserves to be alone. Least of all Peter Parker. And that’s something he’ll just have to get used to. Whether he likes it or not.
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