I usually get so excited to post the chapter that I forget to write notes, but I'm making an effort this time
Sorry for the wait! I don't write super often, so I'm trying to figure out how to make each chapter a little better than the last. On the bright side, this chapter is almost as long as the rest of the chapters combined. I was high on the rush of validation hahah, so thank you for the comments and thank you for your patience :)
Beware, a Far From Home spoiler is mentioned!
He needs his suit.
"That's her. Morgan," says Peter to the quiet room.
He jerks his head towards Steve and Tony, but they're still coming to grips with the situation. Still processing. Who is this person? What are their motives? You know, asking questions they didn't have time to answer.
"Peter," says Natasha, "Who is she? Why her?"
Her gaze is sharp and piercing, as if she already suspects the answer to her question. He shares a glance with Wanda, who looks horrified. She understands what's happening here, who this is that's being threatened. Peter would answer Natasha's question but–
"There's no time, we need to go," he pleads.
Peter's skin is crawling; the man's message is ringing in his ears and the image of Morgan is burning in his head. He feels sicker and sicker the longer he waits and he knows it's only been a few seconds but this is important and he's just standing here waiting while Morgan's out there hurt–
The group takes too long to respond, so Peter takes off sprinting towards the elevator door and punches in the 'down' button about twelve times.
"Kid– Wait–" calls Sam.
It's taking too long. A few moments later, he finds himself slamming open the door to the stairs and throwing himself over the railing. He lets himself free-fall for a few stories down the center of the spiraling concrete stars before grabbing the railing with his left hand, causing a loud, echoey clang. He pulls himself up and rushes onto the new floor, continuing his crusade.
He heads for the vault where Tony keeps (kept?) confiscated materials and other odd knick-knacks won from various battles and scuffles over the years. It's always felt like more of a trophy-case to Peter with the way things were proudly displayed in pristine, glass cases, but Mr. Stark was just kinda extra like that.
Navigating the tower comes easy to him. It almost feels like he's walking through a graveyard, plagued with unsettling nostalgia. Although startlingly familiar, this building is a monument to everything that's changed in Peter's time.
He suppresses that last thought and turns another corner.
Upon arriving at the entrance to the vault, he slides to a stop. Peter smashes the entry code into the keypad. The 'enter' key cracks when he ruthlessly jabs it in with his thumb. He rushes into the room and locates his suit without much trouble.
By the time the others catch up to him, he's already slipped into his suit. He blows past Cap and Hawkeye, who've just made it inside the doorway to the vault. They call after him as dashes to the end of the hall and pulls open the window.
"I'll meet you there!" he calls back. They gape as he dives out the window of the 43rd story, as one does.
The sun has set, but the clouds are still alight in a deep red-tangerine alpenglow. Dark is rapidly approaching.
Pater hardly remembers the swing over, but he lands atop the building within minutes. It's one of the more expensive, well-known buildings, making it easy to locate. A crowd of onlookers, media professionals, and police have gathered at the base of the building. They peer up from below in anticipation, cheering at the arrival of Spidey.
Lantz turns to face him, looming dangerously over Morgan, who sits by his feet. He clutches a black pistol in his left hand.
"Spider-Man," he glowers.
"Spider-Man!" Morgan cheers.
The sharp clank of the Iron Man armor landing sounds out from behind Peter- a sound Peter never thought he would hear again. He fights to not tear up. Morgan gasps.
"Tony Stark."
"Hey, yeah, am I supposed to know who you are?"
"You don't know me yet, but you will," Lantz threatens. He roughly grabs Morgan's upper arm and drags her to her feet. She yelps.
"Ah, how ominous," says Tony, walking up to stand beside Peter. "Listen, I know you're pretty pissed, but are you sure we can't work this out some other way? Preferably without involving the girl? The whole 'I'm mad at Tony Stark so I'm gonna throw a tantrum and become a dangerous criminal' is waaay overplayed."
Peter can agree with that. He already dislikes the parallels between this guy and Mysterio. How many have come after Mr. Stark? He hates that they won't give him peace, even after he's dead. And even if Mr. Stark was tangentially or even fully responsible for whatever this guy was mad about, Morgan didn't deserve this.
Lantz wordlessly points the pistol at Morgan in response to Mr. Stark. Peter tenses.
The door to the roof opens, signaling the arrival of the rest of the group. Cap steps out onto the roof, shield help up defensively. Black Widow and Scarlet Witch follow close behind. Vision materializes next to Wanda. Falcon lands off to Peter's right. He doesn't see Hawkeye, but Peter assumes he's around somewhere finding an advantageous position.
It's a stalemate; no one can act while Morgan's at risk.
The guy looks about ready to launch into his prepared Evil Monologue™ (which Peter's sure is incredibly interesting), but before he can begin, Peter spots something behind him. A flash of red.
It's Spider-Man, Peter realizes. Fifteen year-old Spider-Man from 2016.
Lightning-quick, Spider-Man snags Lantz with a web yanks him back a few feet. He loses his grip on Morgan and stumbles to the ground
It's a good a que as ever to get things started.
Everyone surges forward, but Lantz is back on his feet far too soon. With a grandiose wave of his hand, he opens a wide, expansive portal. A group of people clad in black body armor spill out onto the rooftop, armed.
The team might not be at their best, but they were a force to be reckoned with.
In this time, Iron Man is alive. Steve Rogers, OG war-hero Captain America, is still active. Natasha Romanoff, perhaps the finest spy of all time, is alive and well. Hawkeye is only Kinda Retired instead of For Real Retired. Vision hasn't had the infinity stone brutally ripped from his forehead, hasn't become a colorless, lifeless empty shell. These are the Avengers. Peter takes a moment to appreciate the fact that he's fighting beside his childhood idols, and that the world isn't ending this time around.
They are undaunted by the task ahead of them. The Avengers get to work.
"Peter, I need to know," says Tony, as he blasts a couple of goons. "Who is she? Why did he take her?"
It's important to the situation at hand, but Peter doesn't know how to even begin to approach this topic. He doesn't have the heart to tell Mr. Stark about the future he doesn't know he wants, the future he doesn't get to have. But he has to.
"She's– Look out!"
A portal opens up under Black Widow. It's too wide to have any possible handholds. Peter sees empty, black sky through the gaping mouth of the portal. She tumbles down, grasping at empty handfuls of air.
A chill runs through Peter. He would be damned if he let Natasha Romanoff fall to her death again.
He darts to the edge of the portal and reaches out with a web, heart in his throat. It catches her ankle. He yanks her back up, and helps her over the portal's edge just before it collapses. Nat's breathing hard, but promptly pulls herself back to her feet. She gives Peter a nod of appreciation and returns to the fight.
Cap, still holding off three other guys, lobs his shield at Lantz, trying to knock him back before he can get to Morgan. Lantz remains unconcerned and lets the shield get swallowed by a portal. Another portal opens in Hawkeye's (when did he get here?) blindspot, and the shield comes careening through right at him.
"Oh no, you don't." Peter snags it with a web, redirects it back towards Lantz.
He tries to open a portal again, but appears to be struggling. The portal he makes is too small to fit the shield. Its circumference inches wider and wider, but not fast enough to catch the shield again. He lurches left to dodge.
While he's distracted, Scarlet Witch sweeps Morgan up with a graceful swirl of her red-magic-stuff, swiftly pulling her away from danger. Peter flashes back to the last time he saw Scarlet Witch fight– the glimpses he caught of her crushing Thanos in his own armor. He's glad to have her here.
Lantz opens a stuttering portal beneath Wanda, forcing her to set Morgan down to focus on prevent her fall. With shaky hands, he opens up two more unsteady-looking portals, and deposits Morgan back at his feet.
Everyone else is occupied. Cap is busy blocking bullets (which somehow works for him, despite his shield being the size of a dinner plate) with Nat's beside him, dual-wielding her pistols. Sam is dipping and diving through the air, dodging bullets and taking out goons one by one. Vision and Wanda are working in tandem.. Hawkeye had found another vantage point, and continues to snipe people off.
Lantz's men were losing. Badly. Was he not expecting the Avengers? Maybe winning wasn't the goal here. He wanted revenge against Tony, and he was using Morgan to achieve that. Which means–
He was going to kill Morgan. Peter needs to get over there.
He punches the guy in front him harder than necessary, webs him to the ground, and starts running towards Morgan and Lantz. Mr. Stark meets him there, his gauntlet already charged up and aimed at Lantz.
He's backed up to the edge of the building. Lantz tries to make another portal, but it stutters and flickers before collapsing completely and smoothing back into normal space. Maybe he was getting tired? Overused his power? Either way, he's cornered.
It's completely dark out, and Lantz looks desperate and angry in the low light. Peter welcomes the lack of focus that brings, but doesn't want Lantz to make any irrational choices.
He still has Morgan. The coward is using her as a shield; his forearm is wrapped around her neck, positioning her in front of him. He holds a gun to her head.
"Stark, you've wronged me."
"Dude, I don't even know who you are," says Mr. Stark, putting his other hand up placatingly.
"Shut up! You've wronged me," he repeats, "and I couldn't get the revenge I deserve in my time. I figured that– I couldn't hurt you anymore, but I can hurt what you love. Your legacy. And I want you to know, I want you to watch."
"What the hell is he talking about?" Tony demands, not letting his eyes stray from Lantz and Morgan. "Who is she?"
Peter can't dodge the question anymore. He can't.
"Lower your gauntlet," threatens Lantz before Peter can respond.
"And why would I do that? What's to say you won't shoot anyway?"
To Peter's horror, a vindictive smirk crawls its way onto Lantz's face.
"You'd risk the life of your own daughter, Stark?"
"What?" Tony chokes, letting his gauntlet drop.
Peter's blood goes icy.
Mr. Stark lets his iron mask retract, gasping as if he were unable to get enough air. He's never seen Tony look like this before. Aghast. Pale. Mr. Stark is one of the smartest people Peter has ever met, and combined with all the shocking things that Tony's seen in his life, it's not often that he's rendered speechless. He gapes at Morgan with wide eyes.
An ugly, venomous chuckle bubbles out from Lantz.
Morgan sees an opportunity and jumps at it. She clamps her teeth down on her captor's thumb. Lantz screeches and drops her.
"Morgan!" Peter calls, because Lantz still has a gun and Peter's too far to help and Mr. Stark is checked out and he's definitely panicking.
Morgan moves to kick Lantz between the legs, but get's shoved to the ground.
With visible strain on his face, Lantz opens more wobbly, unstable portal just beneath Morgan's feet. It's just big enough. She screams as she falls through, and is immediately dropped from another portal about eight feet up. Morgan hits the ground hard, and Peter's just about ready to commit murder.
Peter hates the man. Hates the way he spits Mr. Stark's name. Hates the way he put his hands on Morgan. Hates him for bringing him here, ripping open wounds that haven't healed yet.
But now, Morgan is nowhere close to that wretched excuse for a human. The coward has nothing left to hide behind. No leverage.
Peter approaches him, slow and dangerous. He's on a warpath.
Lantz shoots. Peter shifts left, dodging easily.
He shoots again. Two times. Three times. Four times. None hit.
And then Peter's upon him.
Peter rips the gun away from him and smashes his fist into Lantz's face. Lantz's head snaps backward, and he collapses lifelessly to the ground. He doesn't get up.
The moment Lantz hits the ground, Peter's up and running. He's at Morgan's side within seconds. Miraculously, she's awake and sitting criss-cross applesauce.
She's still in her PJ's like the last time he saw her. Her pants were once plush, pink, and princess themed, but not anymore. The mismatched Iron-Man pajama-top is grimy and torn; he can hardly see the little printed arc-reactor under the dirt. Peter doesn't know if it can be salvaged.
Her hands are tied together behind her with zip-ties. Tightly. He sees dried, rust-colored blood staining her wrists, and it takes every ounce of his willpower stop himself from going back and bashing Lantz's skull into the concrete a few more times.
(He knows that with his strength he's easily capable of killing, but the only other time he's ever really wanted to was after he'd found Ben's murderer. Something grim and angry whispers to him now, begging him to follow through. It's sweet and alluring and scary.)
Instead, he breathes and focuses on what's important. He snaps the bright green zip-ties that bind Morgan with ease, tossing them away to the side. Slowly, gently, he takes her bloody hands and wrists and holds them in his own. He can't help but tear up.
He wasn't able to protect her.
Morgan doesn't seem to mind, and tackles him in a hug instead. Her small, bruised arms wrap around his neck. She's shaking.
"Peter," she sobs.
"Morgan," he whispers back, his voice raw.
He holds her as close as he can. Peter staves off the urge to clutch her as tightly as possible; he doesn't always know his own strength, and he's worried about hurting her.
"Daddy!" She gasps, suddenly ducking out of their hug.
Peter twists his head around and spots Tony leaning against the wall at the edge of the building's roof, legs sprawled out on the ground in front of him. He looks rather uneasy, which Peter supposes is appropriate considering the recent revelation.
Morgan runs up to him, plants herself on his lap, and throws her arms around his neck. Mr. Stark looks completely baffled. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he lowers his arms and hugs her back.
"I missed you," Morgan says softly, tearfully. Peter stills, wondering if she just tipped Tony off to his future. Thankfully, Tony doesn't seem to take it that way.
Her hands find their way to his hair. She lets her fingers roam through his dark waves and curls.
"You look different. Where'd your wizard hair go?"
Peter knows that any other time Tony would be indignant at the suggestion of him having gray hair, but he's too busy staring at Morgan. He's in awe.
Tony's not the only one.
Sam and Clint watch this scene unfold in complete disbelief.
Cap's jaw has dropped, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Finding out about Clint's family had been shocking, but Tony? Father to this cute little girl?
Wanda's grinning, quietly laughing at the others' reactions. She shakes Vision's arm in excitement. Vision himself doesn't seem that affected, but smiles anyway.
Natasha raises a single incredulous eyebrow, a ghost of a smirk gracing her face. She's enjoying this.
"Mr. Stark?" Past-Peter tentatively cuts in. "Hey, yeah, I know you're busy, but uh. . . I was wondering if you knew what was going on with all" – he gestures vaguely to to Future-Peter and Morgan – "this?"
"He's you," offers Mr. Stark in a far-away voice, still completely enamored with Morgan. "From the future."
"Wait, really? Oh my gosh," 2016 Peter says, spinning towards 2023 Peter. "That's- insane! Incredible!"
He gives his future-self an animated once-over.
"Woah, I look so much cooler! Look at the black on the suit! Did you go through some sort of edgy character arc? It looks sick, I love it. And the redesign on the web-shooters! Woah! Mr. Stark, this guy's out here living in 3016!"
"Hah," Peter chuckles, "something like that. 2023, actually."
"Seriously? That is awesome, dude."
This is him. From 2016. Peter wants to take another step back to process for a minute because what kind of life is he living here? This is insane.
His optimism is welcome but disconcerting. This Peter is– it's hard for him to describe– lighter? Happier? Not yet old and crusty and full of regret?
He hasn't faced the bitter failures that Peter has.
He hasn't died.
He hasn't had that awful, all-powerful golden gauntlet in his grasp, hasn't felt it slipping from Thanos' fingers. He didn't taste victory, only to have it ripped away in the worst way possible.
(Tony might not have died if he'd gotten the gauntlet off faster.)
Amidst Peter's reflecting, Tony drags himself to his feet and makes his way over to Lantz.
Lantz's face is a disaster. Blood rushes from the unsalvageable mess that used to be his nose, draining over his lips and dripping steadily onto his shirt. His left eye won't open. He's barely conscious.
Mr. Stark grabs Lantz by the front of his shirt.
"You– If you even look at my kids again–"
2016 Spider-Man takes a nervous step back. Peter remembers how scary Mr. Stark was when angry. Even with a cute five year-old girl wrapped around him, head buried in the crook of his neck, he manages to look murderous.
Mr. Stark doesn't finish the threat.
"Uh, hey Pep"
"Tony! What happened?"
"So uh, you know the kid I was telling you about? The one from from the future?"
"What, like there's more than one? But yes, what about Peter?"
"Funny you should say that, actually. He came here in the first place because someone kidnapped this girl. We just got her, we're headed back now."
"There's another one? Huh. Is she alright?"
"She's shaken, but mostly alright. We still need to get her checked out to make sure. She seems pretty tough."
"Okay, that's good."
"Listen Pep, the reason I called– it's about the girl. Morgan."
"Morgan, like my uncle?"
"Huh, yeah. Exactly like your uncle. Anyway, funny story. Morgan, she's– She's our–"
"She's what? Tony, are you alright? You sound stressed. You're breathing so heavy, are you having a panic attack?"
"No, no. I'm all good. Mostly. Kinda. It's just- God, why is this so hard?"
"Tony, take a deep breath. What happened? You don't have to tell me now if you can't right now."
"Morgan. She's our kid. From the future."
. . .
"Pep? Pep, you still there?"
"Oh my God."
"I know."
"I think I need to sit down."
"Okay, you do that. I just– I wanted to give you a heads up. I don't know how to deal with this by myself."
"You've been involved a lot of impossible situations before, but I think this one tops the rest. You're sure she's ours?"
"Wanda confirmed it."
"How old is she?"
"Like five? Maybe six?"
"And you said she's okay?"
"She's a little banged up, but I think she'll be okay. She's with Peter right now, she loves the kid."
"And uh, how long till you get back?"
"Within half an hour, I think. We just need to tie up a few loose ends."
"Okay. Okay. I'll see what I can pull together. See you soon."
"Bye Pep."
Upon their return to the tower, everyone sits down to take a breather, trying to process the recent revelation. They're sitting around the coffee table, where they were when they started. The room is dim, but lit warmly by various lamps. The group sits in an exhausted but peaceful silence.
Tony sits next to him on the sofa, sipping coffee. Morgan is curled up and dozing in his lap. One hand is twisted into Tony's shirt, the other holds Peter's hand.
"Oh my God," drawls Clint, disturbing the quiet, "you're a dad. Welcome to the club."
Tony chokes on his drink. "Absolutely not," he sputters.
"Dude, you're totally a dad. You already have two kids!" says Sam. Peter blushes, which encourages more chuckles around the room.
"Three if you count Harley," chips in Pepper from across the room. Pepper's presence is often announced by the crisp click of her heels, but Peter didn't notice her coming in. He must be tired.
"Stooooop," Tony whines to Pepper. Morgan pops up at her mom's voice. She squirms out from between Tony and Peter on the sofa, and scrambles towards Pepper.
"Mommy!"
Pepper takes it like a champ. They had hoped that calling ahead would help; they didn't want to completely bamboozle her with the news.
"Hi, sweetheart," she smiles softly.
Peter detects a hint of nervousness in her voice. Being the woman behind running Stark Industries for as long as she had been, Peter didn't know she was capable of being nervous anymore. She's clearly thrown off by this, but was by no means upset.
"Oh no, your jammies are all dirty," frowns Pepper. "Let's get you cleaned up, okay?"
"Okay! Do you think we have any Spider-Man band-aids?"
Both Peters blush.
"I'm sure we can find some," laughs Pepper. She slips off her heels before scooping a giggling Morgan up into her arms. They pad out of the room.
Peter tries to imagine how strange this must be. Earlier this year, she and Mr. Stark were having some trouble together. Peter knows that they were on a break, but recently got back together. Recently got engaged, actually.
And now they have a five year-old daughter.
Parkour, right?
"So, what did you think you were doing, walking towards the guy shooting bullets at you? How suicidal are you?" asks Mr. Stark, arms crossed.
"I dunno, he looked like he knew what he was doing," says Clint.
"Admit it, he's just a badass," 2016 Spider-Man chips in.
"Nuh-uh," chuckles Sam. "You're biased. And, like, twelve."
"What? Where'd you get that idea?"
"You're a baby, Pete," teases Wanda.
"What? Pete? Who's that? No Peters here."
"Yeah, sorry kid. We unmasked future you earlier, thought he was an impostor or something. You know how it is," apologizes Steve.
"Argh, nooooooooo," says 2016 Peter in despair, sinking further into the sofa. "I'm ruined. My life is over."
The conversation continues like this for awhile. Happy. Gentle. Heavy subjects are avoided, and Peter welcomes it. He knows he has to have hard conversations tomorrow, but for now, he feels good. Better than he's felt in a long time.
Peter starts to sink into the couch, warm, lulled by the chatter of people he's missed. He listens to Natasha's laugh. It's crisp but soft, and Peter decides it's one of the best things he's heard in his entire life.
He dozes off on Mr. Stark's shoulder, trying to forget that he has to tell Tony how he dies tomorrow.