Come on Parker, think!

Panic coursed through Peter's veins as he bulldozed through his room. He was supposed to be at school in an hour, and he was no where near done packing. After rummaging through the same drawer ten times, Peter gave up on looking in his room. His only hope now was to search the rest of the apartment. Peter's bedroom door flew open and he breezed passed May on a beeline to the living room.

"You know, Peter," May started, "If you'd started packing a few days ago like I suggested, you wouldn't have this problem."

Peter, stressed as he was, decided to ignore his aunt; he'd already had this conversation and wasn't too keen on repeating it. May was right, of course. Leaving the country was a pretty big deal, and Peter's packing probably shouldn't have been left to the last minute. The class trip to Europe had snuck up on him, between the excitement, confusion, and grief (good lord the grief) of the past few months. But, although it still hurt, Peter decided to take the trip with his friends and enjoy life, because that's what Mr. Stark would have wanted. Missing five years made Peter realize that he wanted to explore the world and see more than just his friendly neighborhood, and the opportunity to go to Europe was the first thing Peter had been excited about since the battle with Thanos.

That being said, Peter was so busy catching up with news, school, and Spider-Man, that he failed to pack in time. So here he was, whirling through the house on a hunt for his wallet. His wallet in which his student ID, credit card, and pre-exchanged Euros resided.

"Did you check under the couch?" May asked. Peter slowed, then took some purposeful strides toward the old sofa.

"No," he sighed, "but it won't hurt to check."

Without even thinking, the teen reached down and lifted the entire couch from the hardwood floor, balancing it on one forearm. There, the wallet lye, unearthed among the spare change and dust bunnies. The excited boy kicked it to the side, put the furniture back in its place, and scooped up his wallet.

"Yes!" exclaimed Peter, "Thank you Aunt May!" He ran over to his aunt and gave her a quick hug before darting back to his room to finish packing.

May stood there for a second, still a bit shocked by the short exchange. Then she smiled and shook her head. Sure, her nephew had freaky super powers and could toss furniture around without breaking a sweat, but that was a good thing. Peter has seen a lot of death in his short life: his parents, his uncle, and most recently his mentor. May was just happy that his powers gave him a way to protect himself. Beyond that, they gave him the means to protect others.

May counted her blessings, thinking of how selfless and heroic her nephew had become. She thought of Tony, who went out of his way to become a much-needed father figure to Peter in addition to building suits to keep him safe. She looked up and blinked away a couple of tears that lingered in the corners of her eyes, not quite spilling over. May didn't know Tony very well, but they shared a bond in that they both cared strongly for Peter. She thought often and fondly of the man who had sacrificed his life for half of the population.

With a sharp breath, May reeled in the tears in a plastered on a smile before heading down the hall to help Peter finish packing. He needed this trip; he needed to be social, to be happy, to be a kid. And May needed to be the adult, to be strong and stable for Peter to lean on. She might not have been bitten by a radioactive spider, but May Parker was every bit as strong as her nephew as she folded clothes into his suitcase, drove him to the school, signed his waivers, and waved goodbye as the school bus whisked him and his friends to the airport. She was every bit as strong as she cranked the engine to her beat-up car, ready to drive back to an empty apartment. She was even as strong when she turned the engine off and cried, for the first time since Tony's funeral. She sat and she cried, because the reality of going home without Peter, and without Tony, was devastating.

After the snap, May would call Tony and they would talk about Peter whenever she couldn't bear the quiet of an empty apartment. Now, she was alone. But May Parker was strong, so she dried her tears, pulled out of the parking lot, and turned up the radio to drown out the silence.