So, this is the first ever OneShot I wrote which has been finished for over a year by now, so I guess it is about time that this OS gets to see the light of day... This does contain some Infinity War/Endgame spoilers but not that many... It is also going to be sad, not gonna lie (I am killing someone)... That being said, go get your tissues and enjoy the show!
Trigger: Main character death
After everything went south on Titan, considering that Thanos now had the time stone and was currently on his way to get the last missing stone from earth, everyone was just standing there and thinking what they could have done differently to prevent this outcome.
Peter was helping Mr Stark up when suddenly Mantis spoke "Something...Is happening..." but as she was saying that she turned to dust.
Peter and Tony watched in horror as the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy dissapeared leaving only Strange, Peter, Tony and Nebula behind, but not for long because then Strange started to turn to ashes as well.
Before he was completely gone he looked at Tony and said "This was the only way."
Tony then slowly turned to Peter and was relieved at still seeing him as a whole and not turning to ashes. At least the kid was still with him... Or so he thought...
"Mr Stark? I don't feel so good..." Peter said while stumbling towards Tony.
His spider senses screamed danger at him and he could tell that his healing factor was doing all it could to keep him from fading away. He felt his legs dissapering only to be then patched back together due to his healing factor. It was torture. His body wanted to turn to ashes, to just give in but his enhanced healing wouldn't let that happen without a fight...
A fight he would lose.
Tony just stared at his kid in absolute and unconcealed horror. As he saw Peter stumbling towards him he didn't hesitate and just took him in his arms.
"Mr Stark I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go... Please... I am sorry..."
Tony's heart bled as he listened to Peter's pleading, powerless to do anything to make it better for him and then he was just... Gone.
His kid was... Gone.
Suddenly everything stopped... His healing factor stopped its fruitless attampts at holding him together and his senses stopped screaming danger at him.
Peter was beyond confused but never the less he decided to open his eyes but once he did just that he was still on Titan, the planet he had just turned to dust on. Tony was still there kneeling on the ground with silent tears running down his face. The blue space lady... Nebula was there as well, standing back and letting Tony grief.
Peter slowly approached Tony and planed to lay his hand on his shoulder but it went right through him?! What the frik was going on?
"Mr Stark... Can you hear me?", Peter asked, his voice wavering.
No response.
He turned to Nebula. "Can you see me?" But he already knew the answer considering she seemed to stare right through him.
Again he got no response.
Frowning, he looked down at his own hands and realized that they appeared to be translucent. And that was the moment he realized what was happening. His body had turned to dust but something of him was still here. He was sort of like a... Ghost... And that was the moment he started to panic. Would he stay like this forever? Where were the others that had turned to dust as well? Strange, Drax... Shouldn't they be here? Shouldn't they be visible to him? Where were they?! He couldn't be all alone now, could he?
"Hey kid, calm down. Everything is alright."
Startled at hearing another voice he turned around to see a man standing in front of him. The man had a short grey/white beard, was of medium height, had a half bald head and was wearing a pair of glasses in front of kind eyes. He reminded Peter of someone Mr Stark had told him about... "Ho Yinsen?", Peter asked, uncertainty clear in his voice. The man in front of him just nodded and gave him a kind smile. "The one and only... I suppose you already figured out what is going on?" Now it was Peter's turn to just nod his head, unable to form words, yet alone sentences. "Where are the others? Those who turned to dust after Thanos snapped?", Peter asked, dreading the answer.
"They are in the soulreleam... Where you should be as well... Where I will return to in a short amount of time... Why aren't you there? Once you die, that is the first place you would go to. I am able to be outside of it for a short amount of time every now and then but I have to return or otherwise I will fade from existence all together. So, why aren't you there? Do you... Do you feel like you are about to fade away?"
"No...I feel fine..." Peter said, totally confused as to what was going on. Just to make sure he really wasn't fading away he looked down at himself but he was fine. Though as he looked back up again, Yinsen was gone... Probably back into this so called 'Soulreleam'.
Looking for Tony and Nebula, he saw the spaceship of the Guardians of the Galaxy hovering above the ground, ready to take of at just a moment's notice. At that sight, panic started to consume him and he started running while desperately wishing that they would wait just a few seconds longer or better yet that he was already on board. Just as he thought that he felt his body become nothing... Well even more nothing than it already was...
For a second he saw only white and then he suddenly was inside the spaceship, right next to Tony.
Confused he looked around but it appeared that he actually was on the spaceship he just moments ago thought he would never reach in time. Looking once again at Tony he saw the man standing in front of a huge window wall looking at Titan or more specifically the place where Peter had disappeared, tears running down his face.
And that was the moment Peter knew he would stay with Tony. He would be his guardian angel, ghost really, whatever it may take.
Peter was worried, not for himself but for Tony and Nebula. They were running out of food, water and oxygen and if there wasn't a miracle about to happen to save them they were going to die. As Tony was recording the message for Pepper, Peter was right by his side, as always. And once Tony fell asleep Peter cried because he just couldn't see Tony go, even though then Peter would probably be able to talk to Tony again, he knew that it wasn't Tony's time to go... And it wouldn't be for many many years to come. Peter just knew it.
And then suddenly everything happened so fast.
There was this glowing lady, bringing them home, back to earth. Once they arrived at the Avengers facility Nebula helped Tony out of the ship to his waiting ex-team (kinda now again team) mates and the first thing he told them nearly broke Peter's heart.
"I lost him... I lost the kid."
Peter was with him all the time, always by his side because even though Tony didn't know it Peter did and it just made him feel better.
The day Tony was finally healthy enough to tell his aunt that he disappeared as well he got a call telling him that she had died as an after effect from the snap. She had been in Ben's car (which she had kept even though sometimes it was more trouble than it was worth but she had kept it because Ben had loved the thing almost as much as he had loved her), driving home from work like so many others did when suddenly half of the universe started to disappear. The driver of the car driving on the street in the other direction started to panic as he saw his body turning to dust so, in his panic, he lost control over his car and crashed in May's. She had died on impact. After that call Tony just stood there not moving just standing there and starring into nothingness, Peter on the other hand had started crying. His aunt was dead. Gone. And even though Peter was dead as well he couldn't go to his aunt because somehow his death was different.
Peter felt the moment Thanos destroyed the Infinity Stones. He felt them being blown to millions of tiny pieces.
After the whole shit show went down, he 'stayed' with the Stark's. He stayed with them at the cabin they had moved in and even though they didn't know he was there they sometimes wondered if the house came with a house ghost because every once in a while they were walking into an empty room and yet it didn't feel empty. As if someone was there with them all along and they just couldn't see this person. Whenever that happened to Tony he would just smile and think that this could very well be Peter's doing. Of course, Tony knew that that couldn't be true but he liked to think it was anyway.
Peter was the first to realize Pepper was pregnant because apparently being a ghost came with the perk of being able to identify other life forms around you and the moment he felt three with just Tony and Pepper around he just knew that Pepper was pregnant.
And while he was happy for them he was also a little sad because he would never get to meet their kid...
The moment he saw Morgan Hope Stark for the first time he instantly fell in love with her, she was just a ray of sunshine.
During the nights when she was laying in her bed he always was by her side and if she was tossing and turning from a bad dream he would 'put' his hand on top of her head which always calmed her down and through this he realized while she couldn't see him she knew that there was someone with her.
She was four years old when something happened that Peter would never forget. She was laying in her bed, waiting for the sleep to take her away in a land of wonders where nothing was impossible, with Peter sitting next to her bed on the floor, his back against her bed when she suddenly started to talk.
"I know that you are here. I don't know who you are because I can't see you but I think you are friendly... Mommy and Daddy often tell me stories about my big brother, Peter. He secretly was Spider-Man. I really wish I could have met him but Mommy and Daddy say that he is with the stars now, watching over us. But you see I don't believe them that he is with the stars because... You are him, right? You are Peter... My big brother, right? You are watching over us but not from the stars but from our sides. I just... I wish you could have stayed longer so that we could have met each other in person... I love you 3000."
And with that she fell asleep and Peter sat on the floor for a long time thinking about what she had said and cried.
She was five years old when Tony finally figured out that Peter was his biological son. He had asked Friday for a DNA-analysis of Peter to figure out how exactly the spider bite had changed him. He had asked Friday for that before the whole Thanos thing went down so he never got to see the results and after Peter's death it was just too painful... Until now.
So he asked Friday to show him Peter's DNA and she did just that but she also showed him his own DNA. At first he was confused as to why Friday did that but as he was about to ask her what she was doing he saw it. He saw what she had wanted to show him and almost fell out of his chair. The hologram in front of him showed him that he was Peter's father. His biological father.
At that discovery he broke down crying. After the worst of the crying was over he went to Pepper and told her what he had just figured out. Then they cried together because it felt as if they had just lost him all over again (more so for Tony than for Pepper).
Peter on the other hand was just shocked because while he always (not so much in the beginning but later on) thought of Tony as his father he never thought Tony Stark could ACTUALLY be his father.
That night while sitting next to Morgan's bed Peter cried as well.
Two months after that shocking discovery Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Scott Lang showed up at the cabin and explained to Tony (and Peter) the possibility of time travel and getting everyone back. After they were done Peter said, even though he knew that nobody could hear him :"Don't do it, Dad."
Because, yeah of course he wanted to come back and be alive again but his spider senses screamed that that would NOT be a good idea.
Once he heard Tony refuse he was grateful.
But only until he saw him standing at a table figuring fucking time travel out after he had seen a picture of himself and Peter.
And Peter never wanted to shake someone so badly as he did in that very moment.
After Tony figured out time travel (Peter still wanted to shake him) he put Morgan back to bed because she had come out of her bed and downstairs (she wanted a juice pop) (Peter could understand wanting to eat or drink something very badly)(he hadn't been able to eat or drink anything ever since becoming a ghost or whatever he was so for the past five years... Obviously he didn't have to eat or drink but it still was very strange.)
"I love you 2999", Morgan told their Dad after he had put her back to bed.
"Why 2999? That is an oddly specific number... Why not... 3000? Or... Did you tell Mommy you loved her 3000 and now it belongs to her?!", Tony asked her while clutching his chest dramatically.
Morgan giggled and replied:"No, Daddy. I love Peter 3000. You said he was watching over us so I figured he deserved to be loved 3000. I mean after all he keeps us safe."
"That's fair", Tony said and smiled but Peter saw the tears shimmering in his Dad's eyes.
With a quick "Good night" Tony left her room and went to Pepper, telling her that he had figured out time travel and now didn't know what to do.
Pepper just smiled at him and said:"You do what you have to do."
And Tony did.
The next day, right in the morning, he drove of to the Avengers compound.
Peter still wanted to shake him and scream at him to not do it because his spider senses were fucking going crazy with how intense they were screaming danger at him but he had no way of stopping Tony so he just would have to deal with the danger later on...
It worked. They actually did time travel.
Peter wanted to go with his Dad but apparently you can't time travel if you are a ghost which Peter did not like! But so, he waited there.
It worked...
They returned with the stones... Except Natasha...
Peter went near the Stones while the others all were outside grieving over Natasha's death... Normally Peter would be sad as well but something about her death didn't sit right with him, so he investigated.
Once he was just a few feet away from the Soulstone he suddenly felt two life forms coming from it... One of which almost screamed Natasha and that is when it hit him.
"A soul for a soul." Natasha had died so that they could have the Soulstone and so had Gamora. It seemed that the Soulstone "absorbed" the souls of those who had died for it... Or at least it had absorbed Natasha's and Gamora's soul. And with that knowledge Peter just knew that both Natasha and Gamora would return after the snap to get all of those back, who had been dusted, happened... He just knew it... It almost was like the Soulstone itself had put that knowledge in his head (unbeknownst to Peter the Soulstone had just done that because it liked the feeling of Peter's soul... Don't ask, the Infinity Stones are just weird...).
Peter stood right next to Tony as he finished the Infinity gauntlet and felt very proud because his Dad had done that.
And then everyone started discussing who should snap and Peter knew that now would be the right time to return to Titan because he should reappear there considering that is where he turned to ashes but his spider senses told him not to and so he stayed and watched to whole 'who should snap' drama play out.
Also wanting to some what contribute to the conversation he said (knowing that nobody could hear him) "Guys you should probably let Bruce-Hulk snap... With the level of gamma radiation in his body he would be the most likely to survive that."
And then he just hoped that they would come to the same conclusion, which they did... Eventually.
Bruce-Hulk snapped.
Peter was standing in the corner away from everyone else as he waited to become real again... However he did not expect for his body to start turning to dust yet again.
Though this time he wouldn't have known if he hadn't absently looked at his hands which were turning to dust once again but this time around he couldn't feel it... Thankfully.
The next thing he knew he wasn't translucent anymore! He had his body back! He was whole again! His spider senses on the other hand were still warning him about an approaching danger though it wasn't screaming at him (at least not now) it was more of a consistent humming.
As he was about to say something he realized that he could still feel the life forms around him... Not as good as when he was a ghost but still... Humans he was able to feel and two more life forms that originally hadn't been there a second ago... But even though he was alive he still couldn't feel his own but that kind of made sense...He knew that he existed so why should he feel his own on top of the others? Without having to look up he knew that the other two added life forms belonged to Natasha and Gamora.
Looking at everyone he smiled as he saw the huge smiles on everyones' faces because with Natasha and Gamora back they knew that their snap must have worked.
They were all talking and hugging each other even Gamora (even though they have never met) when one of Strange's portals appeared right behind Peter with Mantis, Drax, Quill and lastly Stange himself stepping out of it.
At hearing the unfamiliar sound of a closing portal (at least for everyone except Tony and Nebula) they all turned around ready to attack whoever dared to disturb their reunion only to be greeted with familiar faces.
Rocket, Nebula and Gamora launched themselves at their friends laughing, crying, hugging and kissing (Quill and Gamora). After Bruce-Hulk recognized Strange he went to him to welcome him back and started introducing him to the others who hadn't met Strange yet.
Tony though was yet to turn around and once Peter noticed Tony's shaking shoulders he just... Couldn't take it anymore.
In the last 5 years he had seen Tony cry so so so many times and he never had been able to help him! He never had been able to just hug him, be there for him and he had hated it, every damn second of it he had hated! Every time Tony broke down crying something inside of him broke because most of the times he had cried because something had remembered him of Peter and he couldn't help him!
So now upon seeing Tony's shaking shoulders which were an indicator that he was crying he couldn't take it anymore...
Without a second of hesitation he ran at Tony and then just flung himself at him and hugged him with no intention of ever letting him go (at least for the next few minutes).
As Tony felt arms closing in around him and almost squeezing the living day lights out of him he finaly looked down.
Upon seeing the oh so familiar brown curls and the IronSpider suit he started to cry even harder because now finally his kid was back! He was right there in front of him, hugging him as if there was no tomorrow.
Tony had been so afraid after hearing one of Strange's portals closing that he wasn't able to turn around because what if Peter hadn't returned? What if they had managed to bring everyone back except for Peter?
Then he would have failed him... Again...
At that thought tears had sprung to his eyes and he felt his shoulders shaking from trying not to draw any attention on himself by loudly crying. But then he had felt arms closing in around him and then he had seen Peter and that was when he knew they had made it... His son was back and would get to finish school, go to college, find a job, get married, have kids and then die after having had a long and happy life. And with that thought he hugged Peter back just as tightly.
Strange was opening a portal to Wakanda mainly for Steve who wanted to make sure that Bucky and everyone else who had fought and then 'died' there had come back as well.
While he was absently keeping the portal open his eyes remained on Peter who was hugging Tony and didn't seem on planing to let go of the hug any time soon.
Peter was supposed to return on Titan, with them. They were supposed to come to the compound to fight against Thanos one last time and then winning that fight thanks to Tony. That was what was supposed to happen, he had set everything up for this to happen and yet here they were at the compound without the mad titan blowing it all to pieces. Something had changed and he was pretty sure that Peter was the reason for that change.
He just hoped they would win the fight against Thanos in this timeline as well...
After they had finally realized that their idea of reversing the snap actually worked most of the Avengers imideatly wanted to go to Wakanda and great their teammates they had lost five years ago, so Strange offered to open a portal for them (with the first one only Steve went to Wakanda) to bring them there. Once the portal was open they all rushed through it while shouting the names of the ones who were dusted back then, leaving Tony and Peter behind. As Strange raised a questioning eyebrow at them Tony told him "I don't think we will be coming with you... Besides there is someone I would like for Peter to meet... So, you wanna come with me, kid?" At that Peter just nodded while smiling internally because he probably already knew everything that Tony wanted to tell him... Like the fact that Tony was Peter's biological father or that May was gone... Don't think to long about that Peter... You can't change it... You probably couldn't have changed it even if you had been there considering you turned to dust. At that memory Peter shuttered, remembering the feeling of his very own atoms tearing themselves apart while his enhanced healing desperately tried to keep him together... It had been terrible but thankfully he had had five years to deal with that so now it was just a memory... Yes, of course it was a painful memory but it was 'just' a memory.
On their drive to the cabin they talked about everything. The talked about their lab-nights and how they would always stay up until late in the night tinkering and inventing away while talking about everything and nothing.
How Tony's first creation of the IronMan suit (not the one he built in the cave but the one after) went, how he felt when he had been captured in this cave by those terrorists, how Yinsen helped him escape, what he thought as he had announced to the world that he was IronMan and how Tony felt as Steve Rogers rammed his shield in his arc reactor, almost killing him in the process. Unbeknownst to Peter the only other people Tony would talk to about the later in particular were Pepper, Rhodes and Happy.
They remembered the countless movie nights they had had where more often than not they both would fall asleep in the funniest positions known to mankind (once Peter had fallen asleep laying upside-down on the couch, Tony right besides him in an exact replica of Peter's position which had made Pepper take a photo to remember this hilarious moment forever).
Once they pulled up at the driveway to the cabin they were laughing so hard they had trouble breathing and were just happy.
As they were getting out of the car the door to the cabin flew open with Morgan running down the rather short flight of stairs to hug her Dad because she missed him even though he hadn't been gone all that long, to her it had felt like a lifetime. However as she saw the young man standing next to her Dad she stopped dead in her running and just stared at him.
Luckily Tony had told him about his daughter Morgan on the drive so he didn't have to act as though he didn't know who she was.
So, he went on his knees to be at roughly the same eye level as Morgan, opened his arms wide and said "Hey Morgan. I think your Dad already told you a thing or two about me. I am Peter... Care to give me a welcome hug?"
Without giving an answer Morgan just came running into his arms and gave him the best hug he had ever received.
Morgan was shaking and had tears in her eyes as she hugged her big brother as hard as her five-year-old body would allow it. She buried her tear streaked face in in his neck as she whispered "I love you 3000!" Peter who knew this sentence by heart whispered back "I know Morgan, I know... I love you too, little sis." and as he felt her stiffen up in shock he just pulled her a little tighter in the hug.
Tony was standing behind them tears shimmering in his eyes as he was watching Peter and Morgan. Once he was able to tear his eyes away from them he looked at the open door where his beautiful wife stood, a smile on her face and happy tears rolling down her face as she was watching Morgan and Peter as well.
And Tony knew, he just knew that that moment right there was the happiest moment in his entire life because now he finally had his whole family back.
After some time Peter stood up carefully with Morgan still in his arms because she wouldn't let go of her brother for a while.
He then made his way to Pepper who in turn hugged the boy and Morgan while simultaneously beckoning Tony to join them. So that's what he did. He joined the hug and he had never felt more at peace than in this moment.
They didn't know for how long they had been standing there just hugging each other but once they let go it was already getting darker so they went inside with Morgan still in Peter's arms though now she was falling asleep.
Pepper quietly went into the kitchen to get something to eat for Peter with Tony following shortly after her. Though before Tony had done so he had asked Peter to bring Morgan into her room and put her in her bed (she already was wearing her PJs) but before Peter had to ask where to go because Tony didn't know that Peter had been with them for the last five years as a ghost Tony told him that Friday would show him the way and sure enough a pathway was lighting up, directing Peter in the right direction.
Following the lights, he soon reached Morgan's room where he proceed to put her in her bed. Just as he was about to leave her room and go back to Pepper and Tony he heard Morgan's sleepy voice asking him something that made him stop dead in his treks "You never were with the stars, were you? You always were with us, watching over us from our sides... We just couldn't see you... Right?" "Yes, I never was with the stars... I always was with you, right by your side where I will always be... Goodnight." "Night Peter... Love you 3000." "Love you too, baby sis."
And with that Peter carefully closed the door and returned to Pepper and Tony.
Sitting on a couch in the living room, eating a sandwich, Tony and Pepper filled him in on everything that had happened in those five years and even though he already knew that his aunt was dead it hurt to hear it directed at him and so he cried...
Once that was done and out of the way they told him how the 'Blip' (dear News stations... What the hell?!) changed the world completely, how they all had struggled to remain standing and how it had brought the whole world closer together.
And finally how Tony had figured out that he was Peter's biological father which Peter also already knew but hearing it knowing that it was meant for him to hear... That just hit differently.
So they cried again Tony, Pepper and Peter. Once they all had calmed down enough that they could talk normally Tony asked Peter if he were okay with Pepper and Tony officially making him a Stark.
Of course Peter was okay with that... He was more than okay with that.
After this eventful evening (night really) they went to bed as well, Tony showing Peter to his room before saying good night and going to his and Pepper's room. Peter of course knew where his room was but he couldn't just say that so he played along.
Before Tony went off to Pepper's and his room he hugged Peter once again and said to him "I am so glad that you are back." "I am too" was Peter's reply to that and then they both finally went to bed.
The next morning, Peter woke up some what early because his spider senses were telling him that something bad was coming... Not yet but soon. Not knowing what to make out of this he decided to ignore it for now and deal with it later.
Looking around himself he took in his room which had all his stuff from his room in May's and his apartment plus some pictures May had hung all over their place. He, of course, knew what his room looked like but as a ghost he never was able to touch anything, he could just look at it.
He wondered if the box was there as well... Going to his closet he opened the doors, crouched down and... Would you look at this, there it was, the box. Carefully he took it out and lifted the lid off of it to reveal a fake IronMan helmet and fake repulsors both made to fit a kid. Smiling he softly traced the IronMan helmet with his fingers, being happy that it was still there.
Placing the box back where he had found it and closing the doors of the closet he went downstairs only to find the others already there eating breakfast.
As he was about to ask where he could find a plate, a knife and a mug for himself he saw that, right there on the table's site opposite of Morgan, was exactly what he had wanted to get. It was untouched and he immediately knew that it was meant for him. Smiling he took a seat.
During breakfast they talked about everything and Peter felt... At home.
Once breakfast was finished and the table cleared Morgan practically dragged him outside to her tent so that they could play. And that was exactly what they did. They played the whole day, just coming inside for lunch and then went straight back to the tent.
In the middle of playing with the hero figures battling Ultron Morgan suddenly stopped playing and looked at Peter.
Before Peter could ask what was wrong Morgan spoke "Daddy talked a lot about you and told me that you were his favourite hero but he didn't tell me why you... Shortly after that I discovered the existence of Spider-Man, who mostly was looking out for the little guy but could take on super villains if needed. From then on I had two favourite heroes... Daddy and you. Once I told Daddy that he told me that my big brother actually had been Spider-Man before the Blip had taken him away... So you are Spider-Man... Right?"
Peter was speechless for just a moment then beckoned Morgan to lean forward just a little. Then he said "Yes, it is true. I am Spider-Man."
At that Morgan beamed happily up at him and said "Being a hero must run in our family!" "Yeah, yeah I suppose it does."
After this they went back to playing as if the conversation never had happened but Peter knew it had.
After they had eaten dinner Morgan was practically dead on her feet so Pepper took her to bed while Peter and Tony cleaned the table and the plates, knifes, forks etc. up. As they were doing so they once again started talking.
Tony told him that he had been the reason for Tony to figure out time travel because he deserved a second chance at life.
From there on they talked about many different topics until eventually they ended up taking about heroing.
"You know, kid" Tony began as he was drying up the last plate "the first time I saw one of those Spider-Man videos on YouTube I was pretty impressed but after I figured out that you only were 15 I was baffled and then after our conversation you truly had my respect. You were only 15 and in no way hold the responsibility to go out and do what you did but you did it anyway. Everyday you went out there in that ridiculous excuse of a suit and saved lifes while putting yours on the line and you never even told the world that you were Spider-Man... You did all the things you did and never even wanted recognition for any of it."
"Well I couldn't just go to a press conference and be all like 'Truth is... I am Spider-Man.', now could I? But you know primarily I wanted to keep my identity a secret because I wanted to protect my friends and May so that they wouldn't become the targets of any villains I once put behind lock and key by using them to get to me..." Peter answered, smiling softly at the memory of his aunt and his friends who he had to text later on.
At hearing that answer Tony just nodded and they went back to talking about lighter topics.
The next day Peter decided to try and contact his friends who luckily (at least for him) had been dusted as well.
Ned and MJ just were happy to be back together with their parents who also had been dusted whereas Harley found it a little weird because not only were his Mom and sister now five years older but on top of that his Mom also had had a boyfriend for the past three years so yeah, that was totally weird. Peter and Harley had met through Tony and just instantly hit it of.
Shuri was like Ned and MJ just happy to be back with her family and friends. Shuri and Peter had met on a science website for 'Nerds' where they both had been geeking out over one of Dr Banners books on gamma radiation. After that they had started writing eachother private messages on that app until they eventually gave the other one their cell phone number.
Ever since then they had been friends and talked about everything from vine to the nerdiest things imaginable.
During one of these conversations Shuri had told him that she was the princess of Wakanda to which Peter simply had replied with "And I am Spider-Man." Of course neither of them believed the other... That was until T'Challa and Tony met to talk about some stuff and dragged Shuri and Peter along with them. As they were introduced to each other their eyes just comically widened before they started talking so fast that Tony and T'Challa both were lost and decided that it probably was for the best to just leave them be and go talk about the business stuff.
After that meeting Peter would often help Shuri out with one of her inventions and so people eventually started to get to know and like Peter. To his next birthday Peter received a gift from Shuri... A Spider-Man suit made out of vibranium that looked like a watch but was always ready to transform into the suit.
Peter never took that watch of. NEVER!
As the people of Wakanda (they don't know that Peter is Spider-Man) heard what Shuri had given Peter to his birthday they all were a little relieved that he now had a suit that would protect him from almost anything should he ever need it.
Little did they know Peter would need this suit sooner than they had hoped.
After re-bonding with his friends a little bit (via the internet etc) he spent the day much like he did the day before with Morgan, Pepper and Tony just being... a family and Peter enjoyed every second of it.
But even though everything seemed to be perfect and safe his spidersenses would act up every now and then telling him about an incoming danger and that he should be ready for anything.
The first few days he was able to ignore it but as it was becoming more and more insistent until it practically screamed at him he knew he couldn't continue to ignore it any longer.
So as everyone already had gone to bed on the seventh day that the dusted were back he went in the lab at the cabin and began to work, finally giving in to his senses.
It was the next day, around noon, when chaos hit.
Peter and Tony were talking about Tony literally figuring out time travel when Friday alerted them that the Avengers' compound seemed to be under attack by... Thanos? Without a second thought Peter pressed the button on his watch transforming it into his vibranium Spider-Man suit while Tony called upon his newest IronMan suit.
Seconds later they were standing on the porch of the cabin ready to leave and fight Thanos one last time (hopefully). Pepper and Morgan came running at them and hugged them.
Morgan had tears in her eyes as she hugged Peter as hard as she could.
Leaning closer she whispered "Promise me that you and Daddy will be okay. Promise me that you will comeback!"
"I can't... I can't promise you that, Mo. But I will do my best to come back to you, okay?" Morgan nodded shakily before she went to Tony and gave him a hug as well.
Suddenly Peter found himself in Pepper's arms almost being crushed by her hug. She had tears in her eyes as she looked at Peter, staring at him in case this was the last time she would see him alive and said "Do what you have to do, alright?"
"Alright. Mom, Mo I love you."
After saying their goodbyes Tony and Peter went of to fight Thanos for the final time.
As they arrived at the compound it was an absolute mess. The building was blown to pieces and in the middle of it all was Thanos with a huge army behind him.
Opposite of him was Steve, no army behind him and yet there he was ready to take on Thanos and his army on his own.
Without hesitation they went to Steve and stood to his left (Tony) and his right (Peter) side.
Just as they were about to go against Thanos hundreds of portals opened up behind, next to and even over them with every single hero and their friends coming through.
There was a huge Ant-Man with the Wasp next to him, there were all the other Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Asgardians, Wanaknandans(?) and so many more it was unbelievable.
Steve took a deep breath and yelled "Avengers, Assemble!"
And with that they threw themselves into the battle.
Everyone knew that Thanos was looking for the Infinity Stones which they hadn't yet returned because they just wanted to spent some time with the people they had lost five years ago before going on that final mission... Oh if only they had returned the stones the moment they had realized their plan had worked but now they had to deal with the consequences.
It wasn't looking good... They were losing... Terribly.
Thanos had the stones again. In one last hopeless attack Captain Marvel tried to get the gauntlet (in which they had left the stones) off of Thanos hand but Thaons just used the power stone and punched her away.
Peter saw all of this play out right in front of him and knew that he had to act now. Taking a deep breath and looking one last time around the battlefield to all his fellow heroes he launched himself at Thanos, hoping that his plan would work.
Once he felt the searing pain running through his right arm and then slowly taking over his entire body he knew that his plan was working.
Thanos grabbed Peter by his neck and threw him through the air, causing Peter to hit the ground a few meters away from Thanos.
The whole battle stopped as everyone looked at Thanos, anticipating the snap.
"I am inevtibale." Thanos said and snapped but nothing happened. Everyone looked around the battlefield in confusion, not knowing why nothing had happened.
"Oh...We are using our made-up names then... I am Spider-Man."
As those words rung around the oh so quiet battlefield everyone's heads turned to the source of these words which turned out to be (surprise) Spider-Man, kneeling on the ground, his right hand raised in the air, showing all the six Infinity Stones, seconds away from snapping to end this battle once and for all.
As he said "I am Spider-Man." his mask retreated, showing everyone the face of a young teenaged boy with brown, curly hair and brown eyes which held nothing but determination even though he must have been in extreme pain.
Taking a deep breath, Peter snapped.
Everything went white.
As he came to again, he was leaning against a pile of rubble, Tony kneeling in front of him, tears streaming down his face.
"Oh kid, Peter... Why did you do this? Why did you have to do this? Why did you have to be the hero to save us all? Kid... I can't... I can't lose you Pete... Not again..." Tony sobbed, more and more tears streaming down his face and falling onto the ground.
Suddenly Pepper was kneeling next to Tony in her blue IronWoman suit, faceplate lifted up so that people could see her face and the tears shimmering in her eyes, slowly following the laws of physics and falling to the ground.
Peter could hear every single teardrop hitting the ground and it hurt him because he knew he couldn't do anything to make it hurt any less for them.
"Life functions critical" Friday declared without having been asked to do so.
"Tony we have to... We have to let him go... We have to let him rest..." Pepper sobbed quietly while resting her shaking left hand on Tony's shoulder.
Peter could feel his organs shutting down... He knew he only had seconds left and so, with the last little bit of strength he still had he said "Could you...Tell Mo that... I am with... The stars... For real? I love you Mom and Dad..." and after that was done and Peter knew he had given everything he could for this universe he finally could close his eyes for good so that was what he did.
Tony and Pepper were sobbing uncontrollably while holding onto each other.
Everyone was silent, still in shock at how young Spider-Man was and what he had done to save them, to save the whole universe, to save so many people he never even got to meet and now never would.
And then heroes all over the battlefield started to kneel, paying their respect to a hero who had been to young to die and carry the weight he had carried but he did it anyways.
They had won but the cost was great.
After that everything was a blur to Tony. He remembered Strange's wizard friend (Wong) approaching Pepper and him and offering to take care of Peter's body so that he would be ready for the... Funeral.
He remembered absently wondering why the wizards would offer taking care of a body, he remembered Pepper saying yes to the offer, he remembered Strange coming to them, Strange's cloak carefully lifting Peter up and following Strange through the portal. He remembered Wong creating a portal for Pepper and him to go home.
Now he was standing in front of the cabin with Pepper next to him. Both were still crying as the door flew open and Morgan came running at them at full speed, her arms wide open for a hug.
Pepper got out of her armor, crouched down and caught Morgan who threw herself into her mother's arms.
Tony got out of his IronMan suit as well and looked back at the door where Happy stood with a frown on his face because... Where was Peter?
Just as Happy was about to ask exactly that question out loud he looked at Tony's grief striken face and just knew what had happened.
So silent tears started running down his face because god damn it he had liked the always way-too-talkative-and-happy kid... He reminded him of how Tony could have been had his father been more of a... Father to him.
Tony went to join Pepper and Morgan in the hug and so they just hugged a confused Morgan while silently crying "Mommy, Daddy what is going on? Why are you so sad?... Where is Pete?" Morgans muffled voice was heard after some time.
Tony and Pepper both took a shuttering breath before breaking the hug. Tony then proceeded to kneel in front of Morgan and looked her in the eyes as he spook "You know how Petey and Daddy had to go and fight some really, really bad guy? To defeat him for good your brother had to use some very powerful stones but the thing is that nobody should hold this much power so after defeating him he had to go... He told us to tell you... To tell you that he now is with the stars... For real. He is going to watch over us..."
After hearing that Morgan knew that it was true... She could feel it in her heart so she cried and hugged her Daddy and her Mommy and uncle Happy again.
Ned was watching the News with his parents not yet knowing that exactly an hour ago his best friend had died, saving the universe. Suddenly the TV turned black only to seconds later show Peter Parker in his Spider-Man suit, mask off.
Before Ned could even begin to process what was happening the Peter on the TV began to speak "Hello everyone... This is going to be shown worldwide so that everyone knows the truth. If you are watching this then it has been exactly an hour since I died. How I know this? I programmed this video to be shown one hour after my death. Ever since I returned, my Spidersenses, which warn me of incoming danger, have gone crazy, always alarming me that danger was approaching... I didn't and still don't know what said danger is but there is a pretty high chance that I will not make it out alive. So yeah... I guess I just wanted the world to know who Spider-Man was behind the mask. My name is Peter Parker-Stark... I am Spider-Man. Sorry Dad for stealing your dramatic sentence but this was too good an opportunity to not use it. Yes, I am Spider-Man."
And with that the TV returned to the News where everyone looked utterly and completely shocked some even had tears running down their faces. Ned just broke down crying because he had lost his best friend.
That day and many following ones the world was as if most of its colours had been drained out of it leaving behind a sad and cold world.
Every country mourned the tragic death of such a young and brave hero.
Tony took a deep, shuttering breath as he was crouching down at the edge of the wooden pathway on top of the lake where a small piece of a beautifully polished wood was floating on top of the water's surface of the lake. The wooden piece was cramped to the brim with flowers leaving only a tiny free space right in the middle open. That space was where Tony now placed Spider-Man's mask.
With tears running down his face he pushed it away so that it was silently and calmly floating away on the lake.
He stood up and went to his wife and daughter who were not even standing a meter behind him crying as well as everyone else.
Looking around he saw that everyone who had been friends with Peter had come as well as everyone who had fought in the battle alongside him against Thanos and, without expectation, everyone was crying.
Mourning the death of such a young and joyful hero... But they were also mourning the death of a crush (MJ... Don't you dare say anything!), of a best friend (Ned, Harley and Shuri), of a big brother (Morgan) and the death of a son (Tony and Pepper).
They all watched on as the boat was floating away on the lake until it was just a small point on the horizon.
And that was when it finally clicked... Spider-Man... Peter Parker was gone... Dead so that they could live...
After that ceremony only the original Avengers and Ned, Harley, MJ, Shuri, T'Challa, Dr Strange, Bucky, Happy, Rhodey and obviously Pepper, Morgan and Tony remained. They all returned inside the house sitting in the living room thinking about Peter Parker and everything he had done as suddenly Friday was heard "Peter recorded a message and instructed me to play it after his death and with everyone in this room being present."
Before anyone could have reacted to what Friday had just said there already was a hologram showing Peter sitting backwards on a chair. There was a moment of silence and then Peter started speaking...
"I really hope there will not be a reason for this message to be played but... If there is then things probably went according to my plan...Which involved my death. Yeah... Not my best plan I must admit but if it worked... If Thanos is beaten and everyone is safe then don't judge my plan!
This time around I really am dead and will not come back to life... But there are so many things I wanted to tell you guys but apparently I never could so... Let's do it this way. MJ, Ned, Shuri, Harley you were the best best friends anyone could have ever asked for. Ned, you were an amazing guy in the chair, Harley the pranks we could and would pull of were hilarious, MJ thank you for covering for me because I was too late or had to leave a little early because of my Spider-Man duties and saving the little guy and all that... Not even the teachers dared to question me after you covered for me, Shuri I am so happy that we met each other because what would I be doing without the Meme-Queen? I admit that this is not the ideal way to tell you this MJ... Truth be told I wanted to do this in a super romantic way, I didn't know how exactly I just knew it had to be perfect... But that will never happen, so here it goes... MJ, I have a huge crush on you. It was probably selfish to tell you this now but you deserved to know... Guys, please look out for one another, okay?
Rhodey, Happy you were pretty much the cool uncles. Rhodey I loved the stories of you and dad during your college years, they were amazing. Morgan once you are older ask Rhodey about their college years it is worth it. Happy, thank you for telling me embarrassing stories about Tony whenever I felt like I made a total fool out of myself... They helped. Avengers I hope you now realized that you are at your strongest as a team so do me a favour and at least try to rebuilt the friendships that were destroyed... Strange you keep an eye on them so that they don't start fighting again as they did once. Mom, Dad I don't know what to say to you to be completely honest because if you are seeing this then I am dead and what do you tell parents who just lost a kid? Yeah, I don't know it either so let's go with this: I love you so much and I am so grateful that I could consider myself a part of this family. Mom you were an amazing Mom to me and I know that you are going to continue being an amazing Mom to Morgan. Dad I know you were afraid that, should you ever have kids, you would turn out to be a bad father... Just like yours. But I can assure you that that is not the case. You are an amazing Dad, to Mo and to me. It wasn't your fault that I died... It was nobody's fault. Dad, don't blame yourself for what I did... Mo, I am so sorry that we just had a week to truly be brother and sister but that one week was enough time for me to realize that one day you will be doing amazing things, people will love you. You will be amazing because you already are. I love you 3000."
After that all was said Peter stood up and everyone thought that that would be the end of his message but then he continued...
"You know... My uncle once said something to me and well... Those words helped me become who I... Was... I guess... Anyway these words turned into my motto and I couldn't just go without having shared them...With great power comes great responsibility... Friday please end the recording." After Peter had said that the hologram of him disappeared. Everyone was silently crying because now they knew Peter was really and truly gone... Those were his last words to them...
Tony just sat there crying because he had lost his kid! He had lost his kid!!! And he had lost him all over again. You would think that after losing him once he would know how to deal with it but the truth was he didn't... In fact this time it was even worse because he knew that there was no bringing him back this time... He was gone... Completely and utterly gone...
After the funeral everyone returned home or, in Strange's case, returned to the Sanctum in New York.
So, there he was, sitting in a chair and just thinking... Wondering. How was it possible? What had happened on that battlefield to change the outcome of it all so drastically? It all had happened the way he had seen it in the one future they had won up until it... Didn't.
Peter had been supposed to return on Titan together with them, Thaons was supposed to attack right after the reverse snap took place and lastly... Tony was meant to do the final snap... Not Peter.
So why did everything come differently?
He had been thinking about that ever since he had seen Peter with the Infinity Stones but he just couldn't figure out what had happened to change things so drastically... Nothing he would come up with made sense in the long run. He knew that there must be an explanation for what had happened and why he never saw it coming... Something... Anything...
But nothing came to his mind to make sense out of all of this and so he fell asleep totally exhausted.
The moment Strange opened his eyes he knew he was dreaming but this one dream felt different than the other countless dreams he had had in his life... This somehow seemed more real.
"Stephen" he heard a voice coming from behind him and he froze.
He knew that voice but he had thought that voice and the person belonging to it gone forever. Slowly he turned around not knowing if he should hope for it to be real or not.
It was real, or as real as a dream could be.
There, a few feet away from him, stood the Ancient One. She looked exactly as he remembered her.
As he was slowly starting to walk towards her he stumbled which caused him to look down, which lead to him actually taking in his surroundings... Not that there was much to speak of. It was just a plain white space as far as the eye could see.
Once he continued walking he muttered "Where am I?" It was not meant for the Ancient One to hear though Stange was not surprised as she answered him "You are some place safe... I can't tell you what or even where this place is for I don't know it either. I have been here ever since I died. I do not know why I am here or how you managed to reach this place while still being alive. I always wondered why I was here but now I know... I am here to help you find the answer to a question you yourself don't know. So, tell me, to what question do you need an answer to?"
And so Strange told her everything. He told her of Thanos's attack, of all the possible futures he saw, of how Tony was supposed to snap that final time and of how, in the end, it wasn't Tony but Peter who saved everyone.
After the tale was told the Ancient One was silent for quite some time before finally answering "Peter's dusting was different from everyone else. After you and everyone else were dusted you all were unconscious and in the Soul world. You weren't quite dead, yet also not quite alive. Peter was different. He really didn't want to leave Mr Stark, his aunt and his friends behind so he didn't. Of course his body turned to dust but his consciousness didn't fade away as did yours and everyone elses'. His consciousness stayed where his body last was and because of this his body did too... To some extent. He became what you would call a ghost. He was there the whole five years, people just couldn't see him but he was there. With him being there everything changed. Everything changed because he just didn't want to leave."
A week after Peter's funeral Tony finally found it in himself to go into Peter's room. Tony knew the room was just as Peter had left it that one fateful day not knowing that that battle would be his last and at the end of the day he would not return home. Taking a deep breath he opened the door and stepped into the room. His bed was made, even though it was a little messy. On his desk were many sheets of paper, some filled with difficult looking math equations and some with new design ideas for his Iron-Spider suit.
As his eyes were wondering around they were captured by a 'shimmering' air on one of the bookshelves. Curious, Tony went in front of said bookshelf where he then proceeded to try and touch the 'shimmering' air. He knew that it most likely just was an optical illusion and that there probably was nothing but his gut told him otherwise.
As his hand made contact with the 'shimmering' air, which was solid so there most definitely was something, he heard Peter's voice from behind him. "Hey Dad."
He turned around so fast he was surprised that he didn't lose his balance.
There right in front of him was a hologram projection of Peter, once again.
"You are probably wondering what all this is about. This message is meant for you and only for you so I recorded this message to be played once you had touched the 'shimmering' air, which is not air at all, as I am sure you have figured out already. I had asked Friday to disguise it but now I think it is time for Friday to turn the disguise off."
Tony turned around just in time to see a plastic IronMan helmet with fake repulsor gloves on top of it in the place where seconds ago there had been nothing but 'shimmering' air.
As Peter started to speak again Tony turned back around.
"I don't know if you actually remember this but at your StarkExpo, the one that totally went south, there was a little kid wearing the helmet and the fake repulsor gloves you probably were looking at just seconds ago. That little kid really was a huge fan of your work as IronMan and as Tony Stark... You can't even imagine how happy that little kid was once you announced that you were done with producing weapons. He looked up to you, he wanted to be as smart and as cool as you were. So, when the robots started attacking he went up to one of them, held one of the fake repulsors up and wanted to shoot the robot. Of course it was idiotic and the kid would have died if it wasn't for IronMan landing right behind the little kid and shooting the robot. This kid still remembers the words you said to him before you took off again...
"Nice work, kid." That was what you said. The interaction didn't take long and there was nothing special about it and yet the kid still remembers it as if it had happened just yesterday. Ever since that day that kid wanted to be like you... He wanted to save and help the people who could not save and help themselves. You probably already know how I know all this but I am going to say it anyway... I was that kid you had saved back then. That had been me... And I think now it is time for me to save you. Dad, I love you. I don't know if you will ever see this message or if I will get to tell you all of this myself but if you are seeing this message I suppose I died. I instructed Friday to just activate this recording if I am not alive anymore. I hope that that wouldn't be the case but I have a feeling it will. If my feeling is correct just know that I have made my peace with death a long time ago. You could even say we are old friends... Dad, I love you."
And with that the hologram disappeared leaving a crying Tony Stark behind. Seeing next to nothing because of the tears that were running down his face he almost did not manage to pick up the plastic IronMan helmet and the gloves but once he finally did pick them up, he clung to them as if they were his lifeline.
He remembered that kid and over the years he had been wondering every once in a while who the kid was and how he was doing today.
Now he knew.
He knew who that kid was and what he had been up to before... Before he died and this time there had been nothing he could have done to prevent Peter from doing what he, in the end, had done.
He had been able to save him all those years ago just to lose him now.
Tony stayed in Peter's room the whole day, remembering Peter, getting lost in happy memories he had made with the kid who one day would be like a son to him... In every sense of the word.
He cried because Peter would never get to finish High School, go to college, marry, have kids... He would never get to change the world. He would never get to see Morgan grow up. He wouldn't get to do all of these things because he died way to young.
With tears in his eyes Tony fell asleep in Peter's bed missing his son so much it hurt...
If only he had stayed awake for just a few seconds longer, then he would have heard the words.
Words that seemed to be carried by the wind because they could be heard throughout the whole house.
They reached Pepper and Morgan who both were in Pepper's and Tony's bed because while they understood that Tony wanted to be alone right now they didn't.
The words reached both of them... The wind, which had been carrying the words, caressed their cheeks lightly while the words echoed all around the house.
The wind-gust that carried the words to Tony seemed as if it was trying to embrace him.
And even though they were all sleeping the words reached them.
They heard it in their dreams and were suddenly able to relax because they knew these words to be true.
"I will always be with you."
The next morning at the breakfast table they were all quiet, wondering if the others had heard the same words in their dreams.
But nobody wanted to bring it up in fear it had been just a dream and nothing more so they all kept quiet...
Well, Morgan did not.
She was thrilled that her brother was still with her... Even though she could not see him. And as Morgan told her parents about it they both knew that whatever had happened in the night had been real and not something out of their imagination.
They did not ask any questions on how any of what happened was possible because in Tony's line of work (heroes) the impossible very often just became the possible.
While they knew that Peter was dead and would never return, the knowledge that he was somehow still with them made it better.
And so everyone began to heal.
It was not easy, not even in the slightest but they were healing. It was slow and painful but they were healing.
They found themselves thinking less and less of Peter until they reached the point where his death was... Reality.
It would never be okay but it was the way it was and they couldn't change it.
Every so often they found themselves stopping and wondering what Peter would be doing if he were still alive.
But they had accepted his death which didn't mean they didn't wish from time to time he would not have had to die.
In the end though he did what he had to do and he had made peace with it, so they did too.
Tony, Pepper and Morgan were the last to move on but eventually they did, too. They moved on but never forgot him.
The whole universe never forgot Peter Parker-Stark, Spider-Man, just a 16 year old teenager who had sacrificed his life so that they could live.
By day he had been just a kid from Queens.
By night the world had known him as Spider-Man.
And now the universe knew him as Peter Parker-Stark, a true hero to all of them.
(11.656 words)
Well, that was a lot...