Irondad and Spiderson

New Beginnings Bring New Heroes

**********
#TonyStark'sSon was blowing up. Most of the posts were about how happy people were that Tony was finally accepting a kid into his life, or about who the mysterious kid really was. Several people from Peter's school attempted to text him and set up times to hangout, but Peter always ignored them. He would spend hours scrolling through the posts, refreshing every ten minutes so he could look at the hundreds of new ones created every few minutes. Among the happy congratulatory posts were also some horrible ones, people bringing up news stories about Peter's DNA on the gun, or the fact that his Aunt had mysteriously died, and he was the last person to have contact with her.
A few days after Peter had run away from Tony and Pepper, they had gone down to the courthouse and signed all the legal paperwork to make their family legal. It was a quiet ceremony, and they all went out to eat afterwards. Laughing, talking and eating their weight in delicious chinese food, it was the happiest they had all been in months.
But, of course, everything couldn't go smoothly for Peter Parker.
A few hours after they got home from their celebration lunch, a knock sounded at the door. Peter, who had been on the couch scrolling through Twitter yet again, was closest to it.
"I'll get it!" He yelled, despite the fact that his hand was already on the doorknob. Besides, even if he had waited to get it, it's not like anyone in the 93-story-tall tower would actually be able to hear him.
He pulls the door open, figuring that it's going to be a postman or a friend of Tony's. Instead, he's met by a group of six policeman.
Fear rises up in Peter. Why are they here? Did they do something wrong? Did something go wrong with the adoption and now they're trying to take him somewhere else?
"Are you Peter Parker?" Peter recognizes the officer who speaks to him; he was one of the men who arrested Peter when he spent that night in jail.
"Ye..." Peter's voice dies in his throat. "Yes, sir."
"Please step outside the residency and come calmly and quietly with us." The policeman reaches for the handcuffs on his belt, and Peter instinctively takes a step backwards. The policemen follow him into the house, where he's still backing up. He bumps into the couch, stopping and placing his hands out.
"You, Peter Parker, are under arrest for the murder of your Aunt May Parker. Evidence has come to light that proves you can no longer be considered innocent. You will attest in front of a court, in two weeks' time."
"What evidence?" Tony turns around the corner, startling the policeman. A few of them start to shift their footing as if they're thinking about running away.
"Tony Stark, sir." The first policeman, the one who spoke to Peter, nods his head at Tony. He finally clamps the handcuffs tightly around Peter's wrists, which are forced behind his back. He has a strong grip on Peter's arm, who is still looking extremely surprised with everything going on.
"I know he's innocent!" Tony says loudly, stepping across the room.
"Mr. Stark, I understand that, but with the evidence we have now-"
"I don't see any evidence in your hands. Or a warrant to come into my house and arrest my son."
"Sir, this is a special case."
"Oh, what, because he killed his abusive Aunt?" Tony is seething with anger.
"No, because we have a message from his Aunt detailing the entire situation, as well as camera footage from that day."
"I call bull." Tony crosses his arms over his chest. "You come back here with a warrant and proof, and then I might let you take my son away."
The policemen look between each other, confused and at a loss for what to do. Finally, the one in front releases an angry breath and unlocks the cuffs binding Peter. Tony moves quickly and defensively to Peter's side. After a few minutes of grumbling and an intense staring contest that Tony arguably won, the policemen finally left.
No one really said much in the Stark household for the rest of the night.
Late that night, past the time that anyone should be awake, Tony lay awake restless in bed. The entire situation with Peter was bothering him; he knew that Peter was innocent, that he would never be able to kill anyone, especially someone who used to be close to him. But the darkness behind his eyes when he yelled at Tony in the Stark Industries Headquarters... something pained Tony about the whole situation.
And that's how Tony found himself in his lab at four in the morning, hacking into the most secure video feed network the world has ever seen.
Two minutes later, he had access to any video camera connected to the network. So, pretty much every video camera in existence.
"Bingo." He sits back in his seat and marvels at his own genius for a second before accessing the records from the day he and Peter went back to the therapists' office. The camera footage that the policeman were pulling from was probably from the camera facing directly into the car from the passenger side of the window. However, once Tony played the video, it was completely inconclusive. All you saw was Peter's back and the movement of someone else in the car, in the driver's seat. The flash of a gun, and then Peter was thrown backwards against the passenger window at the same time that blood spattered the interior of the car.
Tony paused it at the exact moment that the blood sprayed. It made him sick, but you couldn't tell what happened. Any fair juror would rule in favor of doubt, but fairness hardly existed in the court they were attempting to take Peter to. His case was as good as lost when they showed this footage. All they really cared about was seeing a gun in Peter's hand and blood. As long as those two things were present in a video, it would be fine for them to rule him in contempt.
But no matter how many times Tony played the video over and over again, something just wouldn't sit right in his stomach. His brain was restless and his stomach bounced around. Something was wrong with the video, and even though he couldn't discern what, Tony knew it deep within himself.
"FRIDAY?" He says.
"Yes, sir?"
"Were there any other cameras in the car with Peter and May during this time?"
"There was a camera attached to Peter's suit and a crash cam mounted in the dashboard."
"Which will show better results?"
"The camera inside Peter's suit will be masked by the clothes he was wearing over it at the time."
"Even though he ripped his shirt?"
"Yes, sir."
Tony pushes his hair back off his forehead in frustration. Why is this so difficult?! He takes a deep breath and then asks another question: "What about the crash cam?"
"The footage may be a bit blurry, but it should be able to be accessed fairly easily." With that, Tony sets himself on hacking another secure network and finding the footage.
********
At the same time, Peter is once again searching through the depths of Twitter. He doesn't really know why he does it to himself; in fact, a majority of the internet was starting to rule against him, but only because the video that Aunt May had filmed had gone viral.
#JusticeForMayParker was the second trending hashtag, after the newest hashtag had risen: #TakeDownPeterParker. Peter scrolled through each post and update, feeling more upset with each growing second. How was he ever going to get out of this? To prove he was innocent?
Finally, the infamous video swiped onto his screen and Peter accidentally hit the play button while trying to scroll past.
"Don't scroll past this." Aunt May's ragged, helpless voice stops him dead in his tracks. He had purposefully avoided the video, but now that it was already playing, his mind was entranced in whatever this horrible woman had to say.
"I'm currently hiding in a closet in my room with a rolling pin, just to protect myself. My nephew, Peter Parker, had another violent rage and attacked me when I wasn't expecting it. He threw a vase across the room at me and it shattered. You can see the cut it made on my leg here," she pans the camera down to show a nasty-looking gash weeping fat droplets of blood every few seconds, "but you can also see the bruise starting to form on my hip where it hit me first." The camera moves up and she lightly pulls down the waistband of her shorts to show a large black-and-blue bruise spreading across her skin.
Even though Peter knows that it's completely fake, he can't help but feel sympathy for her. Whatever she's doing in this video to garner affection from people, it's working. Her devilish mind tricks and mental entrapment is pulling his mind in and putting it in a trance, one word at a time.
"He used to be such a sweet, innocent boy. He would never even think about violence, especially unprovoked attack. He was my little angel, my sweet baby." Peter's face scrunches at the obviously fake pet names she uses for him, but continues to watch.
"And I know exactly why he's turned into a rage-fueled monster." Her voice is deliberately shaky, and the tears in her eyes are painfully fake. "He started spending more and more time with Tony Stark. I noticed that it all started around that time. Tony's horrible influence and questionable morals must have bled into my amazing nephew and made him the person he is now. I will push blame onto no one here, but if it's anyone's fault," She lets out a long, dramatic sniff, "it must be Tony's. I don't feel safe in my home anymore. I even took Peter away from Tony to make it better, but it made it worse. They've become dependant on each other. I don't know what to do, other than to wait around for Peter to eventually become so angry that he kills me. Because I'm sure that it will happen unless I get him help. I'm going to try to take him to a doctor, but just in case it doesn't work, I want this video to be my last word to the world, saying that I will never want anything bad to happen to Peter if I am to die. That I don't want him to have to suffer, but the person that made him like this..." She pauses to wipe a fake tear from her eyes and take a deep breath. "He can rot in hell." A loud bleeping noise covers what she says next, but the tail end of the sentence finishes, "*beep* you, Tony Stark!" And then the video goes black.
Peter leans his head against his bed frame, just thinking about everything that she said in that video. She claims that he was the one abusing her, and even worse, she brought Tony into it. If they find out that nothing is wrong with Peter, they might convict Tony for attempting to influence a minor, and they could put Peter in a foster care system. That's the last thing he wants right now.
Despite the fact that it's almost four thirty in the morning, Peter decides to find Tony to talk to him about the video. He used to not tell him about things regarding Aunt May, but after Milan and the entire experience they both shared, Peter knows that he can trust Tony with anything.
"Hey, FRI?" Peter calls out into the open room.
"Yes, Peter?"
"Is dad awake?"
"Yes, he is in his lab downstairs."
"Thank you!" Peter quickly takes off down towards the lab, carefully being quiet past Pepper and Tony's shared room so he doesn't wake Pepper up.
As he reaches the ground floor hallway to the flight of stairs that will take him down to the lab, a noise stops him dead in his tracks.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
A familiar feeling takes over his chest, one that he hadn't felt since May had taken him away from Tony. A firm tugging, tearing and heaving motion. The blood started rushing through his ears, the loud gunshot echoing through them, roaring louder than anything else. His throat closed, his lungs choked his heart, and he fell to his knees.
"To-ee!" He choked, his chest heaving up and down. This was the worst panic attack that he had ever had. His head started to feel light and wavy, things started to spin, and his chest went strangely quiet. He knew that the noises he was making were loud enough to be heard from down the hallway, but not loud enough to be heard from down in the lab. He couldn't think. Couldn't hear. Couldn't even breathe.
For a fleeting second, Peter thought he was going to die. His chest heaving, tears streaming from his eyes, nothing able to escape his gasping mouth, he just knew. None of the air he furiously attempted to suck in was doing any good. And then, at the end of the hall, stood someone.
Peter watched as they approached him, stooping down to see into his eyes.
"Breathe, Pete." The figure clutched his arms, lifting them above his head. And that was when Peter finally saw the person.
Aunt May with a trickle of blood splitting her eyebrow in half.
The breathing became harder and Peter gasped out as much warning as he could.
"Stay... 'way.. fro'... me!" He pushed and fought with the little energy left in his oxygen-deprived body.
He shoves with his arms, and falls backwards. His head hitting the ground shoots a wave of pain through his body, and his eyes start to close. Black tinges his vision, and everything spins faster than the world on a merry-go-round.
"C'mon, stay with me, kid!" She says, breaking the rushing of static in his ears.
"I hate you." Peter says between a gasp for air. "Go to hell." Then, his entire world goes black, and the last thing he feels is Aunt May's hands roughly fingering his pulse point.
**********
Peter wakes up, hours later, in the infirmary with no concept of what time it is. The scene washes him with deja vu, as he sees Tony asleep in the chair next to him. The rustling of his blankets makes Tony sit upright and fumble to brush the sleep from his eyes.
"Sorry." Peter says quietly.
"It's okay, I wasn't asleep. I was..." Tony's voice trails off as he looks his kid up and down. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine." Peter lies. The truth is, he feels like he just got hit by a freight train and then run over by a semi. His body feels achingly not like his, and something feels off in his mind, like there's something tiny thing that's out of place.
"That's a lie. We both know you're lying." Tony says.
"Have I really gotten that bad?" Peter smiles. He can practically feel the dark circles of no sleep underneath his eyes, mirroring the ones that Tony always has to work so hard to cover up.
"No, I just know you better than that." Tony grins. "Do you want to talk about what happened last night?" Last night? What did happen last night... The memories crowd Peter's head like an angry mob, and he jolts to the end of his bed, ripping the heart monitor cord off his chest.
"Where is she? Where is she? I saw her, where is she?"
"Who, Peter?" Tony's on his feet and looking around the room, like there could be someone hiding in the shadows.
"Aunt May. She was here, she talked to me. She reached out, she touched me." Peter's hands are starting to shake, and his eyes are as large as saucers.
"She wasn't here, kid." Tony says, reaching out to grab Peter's shoulders. Peter stiffens at the touch. "No one came in or out of the building all night. I promise. I have FRIDAY monitoring all the possible exits and entrances."
"No, I'm not wrong, there has to be some way that she-"
"There's not, Peter." Tony's voice is as soft as he can make it. Because last night, his heart broke.
"Listen, I was in my lab late last night, trying to find video footage to clear your name with, when FRIDAY alerted me that you were experiencing the symptoms of a panic attack in the hallway. I ran there, found you on the ground, and you started fighting me, yelling at me, and..." Tony pauses, his heart hurting preemptively for what he's going to say. "You told me that you hate me and you want me to go to hell."
"I..." Peter eyes glance worriedly around the room. He hadn't told Tony that stuff, he had said that to Aunt May.
"Listen, you fell unconscious and I brought you down here. I hooked you up to every machine, tracked your brain activity, all that. I know that it seems really real, but sometimes when people get panic attacks, they also get hallucinations. It's pretty rare, but it does happen. Hell, even I get them sometimes. Not as often as I used to, but every so often."
"So... I just dreamt it then?" Peter lets out a short breath. "She's not back?"
"No, she's legally dead. I promise. She's not going to hurt you any more."
"I know, I just..."
"What triggered this one?" Tony says.
"I..." Peter's eyes widen and he sits up again. "I hear gunshots. A few of them, are you and Pepper okay?"
"Gunshots?" Tony thinks for a moment. "FRIDAY, run diagnostics on the house. Were there any disturbances or trespassers on the grounds last night?"
"There were three teenage boys who came last night. Their names are Alex Johnson, Clark Richardson, and Jeremiah Harper. They each threw bricks through the windows on the first floor with vulgar messages attached to them. Would you like me to contact their respective parents?"
Tony looks at Peter, who shakes his head.
"No thanks, FRI." Tony says, turning to Peter. "You thought those were gunshots?"
"I don't know why it rattled me so much." Peter's fingers play with the blanket distractedly.
"I think I know." Tony says, pulling his phone from his pocket. He swipes through until he finds a file, and acts like he's going to toss the phone up. Instead, the image on the phone projects into the air between them.
A video file hangs there, the play button ready to be pushed.
"I saw the whole thing, kid." Tony's eyes are filled with a sadness that Peter hadn't noticed before. "This is exactly the thing that we needed to clear your name."
"Why do you look so sad about it, then?"
"I just..." Tony's eyes fill with tears, and as he continues to talk, they start to fall. "I hate seeing you like this. I hate seeing the effect that she has on you, even after she's gone. And I hate that I had to watch this video and hear exactly what she's saying to you. It makes me wish that she was alive, just so I could punch the living daylights out of her."
And then, he presses play.
Peter watches Aunt May arrange everything, placing the gun on top of her purse, load ammunition in it, and wait patiently for him. She scrolls through some things on her phone, listens to some music, and laughs at a video she sees. Peter's throat fills with bile; she's sitting there like she's just waiting for her nephew to be done with a normal doctor's appointment, instead of what was actually happening. She thought that Peter wasn't going to leave the car alive, and there she sat, texting.
He watches himself get into the car, anger seething below the surface of his skin. He starts to yell at her, his eyes growing darker and darker with each word. The look that his video self is giving Aunt May throws chills down his spine and ice in his heart. He looks like he would have killed her if he could.
Suddenly, the sentence from Aunt May makes Peter's eyes fall to his lap.
"You know, a car crash isn't a bad way to go." Peter's heart stops for a fraction of a second, and he can't lift his eyes to watch more of the video, because he already knows what's going to happen.
He knows that he's going to lift the gun, and he's going to push it against his head, and for a moment in that car, he's going to want it. He wanted himself to pull the trigger so much, not caring about anything than wanting to be with Tony.
"You know, when we pulled you from that car, and I was just a few minutes from death," Tony says quietly, pausing the video and grasping Peter's hand in his own. "I wanted to go all Romeo and Juliet on the entire situation. My entire life, I've dealt with pain. Death of my parents, betrayal of the friends that I thought I could count on. And then you came along, and it was like this beautiful light had come to finally shine on me and take away the guilt that I've managed to create my entire life. I may not have been a good person in my early life, but I sure as hell wasn't going to mess you up.
"And then, I see this video, it just takes me back to that plane ride. I was sure you were dead. I was mad, no, I was furious at Steve and all them because I was sure they had taken me away from you. I wished that something would go wrong, and I would die on that table, clutching your lifeless hand."
They're both crying now, clutching hands so tight that their fingers are turning white.
"I love you, Peter." Tony smiles at him as Peter jumps into his arms, hugging the living daylights out of him.
"I want you to watch the rest of the video from this point forward. I..." Tony's voice falters for a second. "I hate watching it, but I feel like you need to see it."
He presses play, and Peter's teary eyes drift up to the screen. He can see himself mouthing the countdown, and right as his finger slowly starts to flex to pull the trigger, he hears it. He thought it was just in his head, but it came from Aunt May's voice.
"STOP!" She lunges forward, spinning the gun away from Peter's head. It's pointed towards her, towards her face. But it's too late. Peter had already been pulling the trigger, and the shot rang off. It threw him backwards into the car door, cracking his head against the glass, knocking him out.
May was thrown backwards, and he couldn't see anything afterwards, because the camera was covered in a light smear of blood.
Peter's hands drop Tony's as he brings them to his mouth. Everything seems to be in slow motion. He stands up, before falling back down due to lightheadedness. Tony is at his side, holding his arm and talking in his ear.
After a few minutes, Peter is back to normal, breathing with his head between his knees like Tony suggested.
"I can't believe she saved me." Peter can't stop muttering. Tony rubs his back as helpfully as possible, but he knows there's not much he can do.
"She changed her heart at the end, but that doesn't change her actions." Tony says solemnly.
"I know. But, I never expected her to do that."
"If it's any consolation, I don't think she did, either." Peter nods, then asks if he can go to his room for a bit.
"Of course. Do you want me to walk you there?"
"I'll be fine. FRIDAY can monitor me, if it'll make you feel better." Peter gives a half-hearted smile, before he carefully walks out of the room and up to his room.
**********
"We are gathered here today to remember May Parker." The quiet minister has talked in the same monotone voice the entire time.
"She was a friend to all, a wife, and a parental figure to young Peter Parker." Several eyes flit over to where Peter is standing in the corner.
"And although she met her end in a way that no person should have to endure, we still wish her well on her path to her afterlife. Rest in peace, May Parker. And know that the souls of your loved ones' are with you, always."
At that, the group mumbles a timid, "Amen" before moving to talk to people.
Peter has always hated funerals. And God knows he'd been to too many in his lifetime. His parents, Uncle Ben, and now this one? At the beginning of the entire court case ordeal, it had felt like too much. But now, a few months afterwards, Peter was finally starting to feel better about it all.
He had won the case with ease, after the video from the car had been presented. The jury listened diligently to Peter's side, but nothing mattered besides that video. Tony and Pepper had stood by him the entire time, as close as they could. Just like they stood by him now, Tony's arm lingering on his shoulder and Pepper's clutching his sweaty hand.
And yeah, everything had hurt for a while, but Peter was able to come to terms with her death a bit more. He and Tony had started going to therapy sessions together to help deal with the panic attacks, but that didn't mean they stopped happening. He just knew that whenever it did happen, Tony was going to be right at his side, doing everything he could to help.
And so, even though in that empty apartment Peter had told himself he wouldn't do it, he found himself walking up to the microphone at the front of the room.
"H-hi? Everyone? Could I just get your attention for just a second?" Peter's voice is small, but the microphone amplifies it so loudly that he thinks that there's a larger, more confident version of himself yelling the same words across the room. Shaking the thought away, he continues.
"I... I've been to a lot of funerals in my lifetime. I mean, I've lost a lot of people. But I have a theory that everything in life happens for a reason. That no matter what pain and hardships you have to endure, it all will lead to a moment where you'll look back and realize that it was all worth it. And in the moment, it's hard to think of the future. All you can feel is that pain and torture that consumes you. But, like every brochure in a therapists' office will tell you, it does get better." This incites a few laughs from around the room.
"My parents died when I was really little. And the only thing I really remember was warm smiles and lots of hugs. But that didn't turn out too bad because I got to live with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. We became a family, and it didn't matter that we were all a little bit broken, because we had each other. And then, Uncle Ben died a few years later. And I was in a lot of pain for a very long time, but even now I can see the good that came from it. And now, I mourn the loss of my last family member. The person that was more of a mother to me than anyone else in my life, and I can't help but realize that no matter what happened in our past, she gave me something that no one else in this world could; a second chance.
"She gave me another family, another life, another group of people to love me no matter what. And I know you've all seen the video. She... she told me, through her actions, that my life was more important than hers. I pulled the trigger, I would have died. But she gave me a second chance, and now I get to look over from this podium and smile at my new family." Peter takes a second to smile at Tony and Pepper, who smile despite their glassy eyes.
"And a few months ago, I told myself that I wouldn't be saying all this to you. That I was going to sit in the back and come for the good memories, but the truth was, not all of them were good. But hey, that's life I guess." A few people laugh again.
"I guess my point of getting up here was to say this: Aunt May turned my life into a living hell for so many of these past months. But, you gotta love her for it. Without her, I wouldn't be here today. And while I don't think I can really forgive her for all that she put me through, I can at least respect her for making the sacrifice that brought me to my family. Thank you for everything, Aunt May. Rest in peace." The room goes back to the dull roar of quiet small talk, and Peter makes his way back to Tony and Pepper.
"That was really great, Peter." Pepper kisses his head lightly.
"You really give one killer speech." Tony grins. "You think I could talk you into giving the one I'm supposed to give on Thursday?" Pepper playfully smacks his arm, and Tony winks at Peter.
And although it seemed like it would never end, the trio had to eventually leave. They helped pick things up and leave the small church better than they had found it, and soon they were on the road and leaving.
"I mean, I was serious about the speech thing," Tony laughs from the driver's seat. "You got some skills, kid. We can talk about it more later, when someone isn't listening." He gives a pointed look at Pepper, who laughs.
"You make me write your speeches for you, and now you can't even read them yourself?" She teases.
"Well, I've never been very good at following the cards." Tony turns his head to her and smirks, taking his eyes from the road for just a few seconds. Pepper matches his smirk, before turning towards the front, her eyes filling with fear.
"Tony!" She shrieks, covering her head with her hands. Peter does the same as Tony's car is hit by something and spins into the barrier at the side of the road.
The airbags hit quickly, knocking the air out of Peter, who was tossed roughly against the front of the driver's seat.
"Is everyone alright? Peter? Pepper?"
"I'm good." Peter groans, sitting up against the deflating airbag.
"What was that?" Pepper winces, touching the bruise forming around her eyes.
"I have no idea." Tony says, shoving the door open and then hurrying to help the rest of them out of the car. Once they're standing, scanning to see what's going on, they see it: a man flying around the sky, shooting lasers from his eyes at some unseeable threat.
"I don't believe it." Pepper says, covering her mouth with her hand. "Do you know him?"
"No." Tony frowns, pushing a button on his suit jacket. A few seconds later, the suit starts forming around him. Just as he flies into the air, the new superhero lands just in front of Peter and Pepper, a struggling villain held tightly in his hands.
The hero is covered head to toe in tight spandex. His suit is a dark blue, with a large, jagged 'U' across the chest. His cape is a stark white against the darkness of the suit, and his blonde hair spikes in front of his face like the bill of a baseball cap. His eyes crackle with little zaps of electricity, and his grin practically blinds Pepper and Peter.
"I'm sorry about the car." He says. His voice is low and practically screams "heroic". Tony can't help but hate the guy.
"Oh, it's alright." Pepper waves the apology away, still cradling her eye with her hand.
"Are you three alright?" He touches the ground from his hover. Peter's eyes are filled with excitement.
"Yeah, and we're fine here, so feel free to hit the road whenever you want, pal." Tony steps next to his family. The superhero looks at Tony like he'd just noticed him.
"I'm sorry... who are you?" He says with a small smile. It's all Tony can do not to explode on the guy right then and there.
"He's Tony Stark." Peter says. "And I'm Peter!"
"Well, Peter, you seem like a very heroic kid. Give it a little while, and you might just be like me someday." The hero winks at Peter, who grins even bigger.
"He's fine just the way he is." Tony growls, grabbing Peter's shoulder.
"It was wonderful talking to you..." Pepper looks expectantly at the hero for his name.
"Utopia." He flashes another blinding grin before waving and flying off with the villain stuck in his hands.
"He was..." Tony starts angrily,
"Amazing." Peter and Pepper both finish with star-struck eyes. A sinking feeling fills Tony's chest. He just got his family all together again, there was NO way that he was about to lose it to some clown with a blinding smile and swishy cape.
And Tony Stark was going to do anything to make Peter look at him with those same eyes.

/AN/ Oh, wow. It feels so freaking weird to finally finish this. It's been like, less than a year? But I love this fic, and you can bet that there's going to be a second book, if you guys want one. I really enjoyed writing this entire thing, with all the drama, feels, and random things that made you guys leave the funniest, nicest comments. You all are the reason I love writing so much (in addition to liking creating my own worlds) and the story of this one, while all over the place, made me so happy. So I hope that you enjoy this extremely long ending to the story, and I'll hopefully continue to write just as often once school starts in a few days. Love you all, you're all the best. Thanks for all your support, and I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it! /AN/