the secret to getting ahead is getting started
“The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”
- Mark Twain
May 4th - August, 2019
The first thing Peter did after he left Tony in the tender care of the Thor and Rogers was find America.
When he’d finally swung into the alley and dropped down soundlessly where they’d first appeared he found the girl sitting behind a dumpster, all of their bags at her side.
She’d jumped when she looked up and saw him standing directly in front of her. “Vishanti! You scared the crap out of me!” She scowled, a hand to her heart.
Peter rolled his eyes and offered her a hand, pulling her to stand next to him. “I sure hope not.” He joked, wincing slightly and clutching his bruised ribs.
“Are you okay?” She asked worriedly, lips twisting.
Peter only smiled, patting her on the head. “I’m fine. I’m also not done out there yet but the portal is closed so I figured we should find somewhere to stay for a few days while I look for a more permanent gig for us.” He explained, as his suit retracted. Leaving him in bloody clothes, great.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” America asked again, scanning him for injuries.
Instead of answering, he squinted at the luggage Pepper had packed for him and shrugged, opening the first one.
As it fell open so did Peter’s mouth. He gaped down at the belongings Pepper had put in them. He unzipped the other side just to be sure before he just stared unblinking.
America yelped beside him. “Mierda! That’s got to be at least a million dollars!”
“More.” Peter breathed, shaking his head and closing the bad. A little bit of money. That lying liar. His chest clenched and he closed his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath and resolving to think about that later.
He quickly moved towards the other suitcase, unzipping it and sighing relief when nothing but clothing and a few personal belongings greeted him. He decided to ignore his companions muttering from over his shoulder in spanish and grabbed a pair of jeans and an MIT sweater.
“Turn around.” He muttered to the girl, changing quickly in a practiced manner. “Okay.” He called to her.
He then turned to zip the bag shut but startled when a familiar red piece of fabric wriggled through the cracks of the case before he could.
“What the fuck.” Peter said, closing his eyes tightly again. He did not want to deal with this shit. Why did he agree to this again?
“Levi!” America greeted in surprise, as the cloak nestled itself onto her shoulders, shrinking to accommodate her shorter stature.“What are you doing here?”
Peter didn’t pay attention as the sentient cloak started gesturing but did make an inquiring sound when America gasped.
“Stephen sent it to keep us safe and help us.” America murmured sadly, softly stroking the collar of the fabric.
“Wonderful.” Peter muttered, grabbing the luggage and walking towards the mouth of the street. “Come on, Karens scrambling the cameras. We should go.”
He quickly navigated through the streets until they arrived at one of the seedier motels that Peter was familiar with, since he knew they wouldn’t ask for identification. He paid up front for three nights and quickly made his way up to the room he had rented for them.
It definitely wasn’t luxurious but it would do until he could buy them an apartment. Or a house . A part of Peter then mused, thinking back to the money Pepper had tricked him into talking.
After setting down their belongings, Peter turned to look at America. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a few hours. There are still people that need help.”
“I can help!” America protested, determination shining in her eyes.
“I know you can ‘Mer, but we need to keep a low profile and you don’t have a suit to conceal your identity.” Peter said, softening his words slightly.
America frowned. “Why would I need to hide my identity?”
Peter sighed. “We need to keep a low profile.” He repeated. “Can’t have people sniffing us out until we’re ready.” He explained.
She slumped back into the bed but nodded, only pouting a little.
Peter smiled again. “Lock the door.” He said before making his way back down through the shoddy lobby, the smile dropping off his face.
He gave a short nod to the lady at the desk and then swiftly made his way back into the city, his Spider-Suit enveloping him without a word. Had he mentioned how much he loved Karen, because he did.
“Alright Kare-bear, what do you have for me?” He murmured, jumping off of a building and raising his wrist to shoot off a web. His heart sung at the familiar thwip.
“There are three civilians trapped in a car on the corner of Eleventh and Main-“ Karen spoke promptly, her lilting voice echoing in his ears.
He’d returned to the motel after nine hours, sweaty and tired. He climbed up the side of the building and tapped on the glass pane to their room. Once America opened the window he climbed in, his suit retracting as soon as it was shut behind him.
After a quick shower he had quickly started working on a plan with America. He would establish himself as Spider-Man while Karen hacked the government database and created their new identities as well as searching for a house for them.
He’d had her looking into townhouses with at least eight bedrooms and a basement. It hadn’t taken long for practicality to take over in regard to the money. Pepper had been right, he would need it. He needed to have a house big enough for him, America, and whatever guests they would acquire over the next few years. He also needed a functioning lab which he knew would be pricey. He quickly found that he could only feel thankful for his pseudo mother’s scheming actions.
They also set up a rough timeline of events with notes about which ones they would change and which ones they would leave alone. They needed to plan this carefully. One wrong move and disaster could strike.
“Tell us about ourselves, Karen.” Peter requested one night while they sat huddled on their crappy beds.
“Peter Edward Mayson.” The AI started, her hologram projecting from his watch, depicting a young woman with curly blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a light pink sundress. “Twenty-one years old. Born on August 10, 1990 in Queens, New York. Parents Virginia and Edward Mayson passed away in a plane crash in January of 1995. With no living relatives you were placed in the foster system for the next eleven years. It was in your eighth and last foster home that you met a young America Chavez who you forged a bond with over the next three years.”
Peter smiled slightly. “I guess we’re siblings now, ‘Mer.” He joked, earning a grin.
“At sixteen you were notified of a hefty inheritance of twenty million dollars from your late parents.” Karen continued matter-of-factly.
“Wait did you just say twenty million?!” Peter yelled in shock.
Karen paused, watching him with a smirk. “Mrs, Stark transferred a grand sum of two billion dollars to my servers on July 19, 2029. You will have to be careful about introducing it to this economy but the trust fund will be able to explain that small sum.”
“Small?! She-“ Peter stuttered, sighing and giving a mental thank you to the goddess that was Virginia ‘Pepper’ Stark.
“Continue.”
“When alerted of the amount, you applied for emancipation and it was accepted in late 2006. After you graduated high school in 2007 you were accepted to MIT where you attended mostly online for the next four years while traveling for the appropriate labs and exams. In 2011, you graduated with honors, Two Masters in mechanical engineering and coding and two PHD’s in bio-engineering and biochemistry.”
“Holy crap!” America blurted staring wide eyed.
Peter rolled his eyes. “I actually earned those degrees, you know? I graduated a few months ago.”
“Holy crap!” America repeated, staring wide eyed.
“Is that it Karen?” Peter asked instead of indulging the girl.
“After you graduated from MIT you worked at a small private lab in New York that was destroyed just yesterday. All records rather conveniently destroyed. The apartment in Manhattan you had been living in was also destroyed, you’ve decided to dip into your inheritance to buy a new house just outside of the city and are currently looking for a new job.” Karen finished, smiling in satisfaction at her tale.
“Nice K, it sounds perfect. Just enough of the truth to make it more realistic. Good job.” He praised his AI.
She preened at the compliment and grinned brightly, a slight blush on her artificial cheeks.
“I also took the liberty of creating the appropriate medical records and bank statements for both of you.” Karen added smugly.
“What about me?” America asked curiously.
“America Chavez. Eighteen years old. Born July 4, 1993 in Union City, New Jersey. Birth Parents surrendered you as a baby and adoptive parents Elena and Amalia Chavez passed away in a car crash on December 26th, 1999 and you entered the foster system. You were in six different foster homes from 2000 to 2011. When you turned eighteen you sought out your old foster brother Peter Mayson and made arrangements to move in with him. You graduated from highschool on May 1st of 2012, four days ago.”
America nodded, though her eyes were a bit teary as Karen spoke about her parent’s fate. They went through it a couple more times to familiarize themselves with their new identities and make sure there were no obvious gaps in their forged records.
Thankfully being foster kids gave them an excuse for their sparse paperwork. He thanked God that Karen was as advanced as she was. According to her, the defenses had been so plebeian that’d it’d been laughably easy to hack.
Their only concern would be JARVIS detecting that the records had been forged. They would deal with that possibility later.
All of their paperwork arrived within a fortnight and three days later they were the proud owners of ten bedroom, nine bathroom townhouse with a very large basement on the outskirts of Manhattan. Paid in full, cash. His heart craved the familiarity of Queens but he didn’t want to risk running into his younger counterpart and decided it was best to just visit as Spider-Man.
Peter felt a little lightheaded as he took in the pre furnished space. It was surreal, the fact that he owned this place. It looked more like somewhere Tony would’ve lived than him.
He huffed a laugh as America squealed and ran up the stairs to claim her bedroom, belongings forgotten at the bottom step.
Peter slowly walked around, checking that everything was okay and scanning for bugs. Maybe he was being paranoid but he’d bet that would save them in the long run.
After claiming the master bedroom on the top floor which was the size of, if not bigger than, Peter’s entire childhood apartment, he finally made his way down to the basement.
It was huge, completely finished and Peter almost couldn’t contain his anticipation for setting up his lab. He’d already ordered a few things to be delivered with the credit card Karen had set up in his name as well as depositing a small portion of the money she had brought and making the account look appropriately used. She’d also made a card for America under his name and they’d both arrived late last night to the motel.
Once Peter made his way into the living room, throwing himself gracelessly into one of the arm chairs, America was waiting for him on the couch.
“I picked the room down the hall from yours. Now what?” She asked, eyes darting around the warmly decorated space.
Peter smiled softly at the girl. “Now we live. There are a good few months before anything is going to need our attention. I’m going to set up my lab, do patrols, and find a job. I have to start making connections. You can do anything you want.”
America immediately looked overwhelmed and Peter quickly threw out a few ideas. “You could go to college, or get a job, or just explore, travel, whatever.”
America gave him an appreciative smile and hummed thoughtfully. “I might do college later but I like the idea of exploring. And it’s not like I can’t just portal home if I need to.” She mused.
Peter gave an encouraging smile and nodded. “That sounds fine. You already have the card Karen made and I saw another custom StarkPhone that Pep packed so you can have that.”
“No no- I can’t-“ America protested.
Peter quickly pulled out the two phones, holding his own by his fingertips. “I already have one so she probably packed it for you anyway.” He hummed. “We should probably get some IPhones or something so people don’t get suspicious but-“ He shrugged, “for personal use.” He finished, handing the futuristic phone to her.
“Thank you.” She mumbled, inspecting the piece of tech with wide curious eyes.
“You’re welcome.” He said after a few seconds. “I’m going to go patrol.”
“Don’t get dead!” America called after him, earning a small snicker.
Two months had passed since they landed in 2012 and they were celebrating Americas second nineteenth birthday in the last six months.
Even though the teenager had already celebrated her birthday with Stephen and Wong, Peter decided to buy a cake and gift the girl with the new suit he had been making for her in his lab.
When she opened it, she squealed excitedly before running upstairs to try it on.
Peter smiled as she ran back down, hands running over the suit in awe.
It wasn’t nanotechnology but it was still advanced for the year. It was mostly blue and red with a flag decorating the chest. There was a mask that covered the top half of her face, concealing her eyes but allowed for her to keep her hair down.
She grinned happily and smothered him in a hug while thanking him repeatedly.
Then they sat down to eat the cake, Peter singing happy birthday to the sound of America’s snickers.
“Make a wish ‘Mer.” He whispered, and couldn’t help his grin as she blew out her candles.
Peter knew Tony was looking for him, Karen had been scanning for searches mentioning Spider-Man and flagged over a thousand different ones pinging from Stark Towers.
He couldn’t help the slight amusement at the thought of how frustrated his mentor must be feeling right about now. He knew how the man could get when he started obsessing over something and he had no doubt that that was what was happening.
He also had no intention of being found so he continued to have Karen divert Tony and JARVIS’ attempts to find information about him.
He’d even heard the faint sound of repulsors firing during his patrols and had made sure that he was out of sight. Then he made sure there was no pattern to his patrol routes just in case.
He’d also noticed Fury and his pet spies combing through the streets, looking for him.
The widow had gotten close a few times before promptly being left behind, Peters cackled echoing through the air.
He was pretty sure he’d even seen her flinch one as he snuck away.
He’d once again secured a job as a freelance photographer at the Dailey Bugle selling pictures of Spider-Man, who was a hot topic at this point in time. It was demeaning and he didn’t really need the money either but his pride demanded he have a stable income, no matter his current financial status.
When he wasn’t working or Spider-Manning he was finishing up his lab. It was almost done, he was only waiting for a few more orders to arrive. It was gorgeous but most of the time he found himself frustrated with the tech. He’d gotten used to Stark Tech, and future Stark Tech at that. Most of which hadn’t even been invented yet.
America had taken to exploring the streets of New York in her free time, comparing the differences in the city to that of their time. Meeting people and trying foods. The cloak had hardly left her side since it’d made its presence known and it seemed to comfort the girl to have something of her mentor’s (father figure’s).
She’d even made a few friends along the way that had come to the house to hang out, something Peter found himself only slightly envious of.
One said friend was a seventeen year old Kate Bishop, who America had stumbled across and found herself unable to resist talking to her once close friend and confidant, even if she was now two years younger than her instead of over ten years her senior.
Peter had been stunned when he walked in to see the young teen staring at him with bright eyes. He’d quickly excused himself to his lab instead of dealing with that.
The two quickly found themselves settling into a comfortable routine. They grew closer as the months passed, taking comfort in their shared experience.
The world around them was still reeling from the recent alien invasion and subsequent appearance of the Avengers but New Yorkers were resilient and within a few months the city folk were back on rhythm.
Any time he found himself faltering, listening to the dark thoughts in his mind he would go for a swing through the city and take in the sights. To remind himself of why he was here. What he was here to do, who he was here to save.
There were a few more instances where Tony almost caught up to him on patrol but so far the man had been unsuccessful in making contact. Peter had to admire the his persistence even if it was starting to get annoying.
It was early August when their peace was abruptly interrupted, someone banging on the front door while they were eating dinner.
“Stay here.” Peter said to his companion, making his way to the door where the person continued to knock.
Looking through the peephole he almost yelped in surprise. Standing at his front door was someone clad in full Deadpool regalia, katanas and all.
And from the things the man was shouting at the closed door, Peter would bet this whole house that the person was one Wade Winston Wilson.
“Babyboyyyyy!” He sung. “Let me innnn! I know you can see me. You’re just gonna leave me standing out here in the freezing cold talking to my-“
His words cut off as Peter swung the door open so fast it bounced loudly against the wall. “Wade.” He whispered, feeling lost.
The man skipped forward, entering the house and pushing past Peter’s shoulder. “Nice digs.” He said with a whistle.
“Wade.” Peter repeated dumbly, not even reacting as America cautiously peeked into the room.
“That’s my name, Petey-pie!” Wade called, still obnoxiously inspecting the house and not looking back.
Peter was still standing in the middle of the foyer, dumbstruck. America moved forward and shut the door, poking him in the side as she passed on her way back to the kitchen.
“Ouch!” He yelped, jumping a little before returning his attention to the mercenary in front of him with little pause. “How are you here?” He whispered.
“Oh I’m not really here. Well I am but I’m not your Deadpool. Well, I am your Deadpool just younger.” Wade rambled. “Hey we’re like almost the same age now!”
“Wait? You’re saying you’re from this universe. But then how do you-“ Peter started, heart pounding.
Wade danced back towards him, smiling through the mask. “You know how I am, Petey.” He said, cuddling into Peter’s side. “I just know things.” He finished with jazz hands.
Peter took a deep breath and pinched his nose. “I cannot believe I’m about to say this but I’m so glad you’re here.”
Wade squealed, bouncing on his toes. “I told you he loved me!” He said to no one (the boxes) before turning his attention back to Peter. “Well good because I’m moving in!” He announced.
“You’re what?!” Peter yelped.
“Yup!” He answered, popping the ‘p’. “There’s a moving truck outside.”
“A moving truck.” Peter echoed dumbly.
“Yuh huh!” Wade chirped, moving back towards the front door. “Come help me, I need all of those delicious muscles.” Wade ordered flirtatiously.
Ignoring the flush on his cheeks and the warmth in his chest, Peter did as ordered.
God help him, this universe was getting more and more annoying and amazing.
Once they’d carried all of Wade’s things to the room directly next to his own at Wade’s personal request, Peter lead him back towards the kitchen where America was washing her plate.
He quickly made a plate for Wade before sitting back down and finishing his mean.
“Hey Miss A!” Wade greeted the teenager, a grin on his scarred face.
“Hey DP.” She said neutrally, but Peter could see the amusement shining in her eyes and this turn of events.
“How’re you finding this universe?” Wade asked conversationally after taking a large bite of fettuccine alfredo and slurping obnoxiously.
Peter grimaced and America grinned brightly. “Oh you know, new universe, par the course for me. This one’s pretty cool though.” She answered indulgently.
“Fantastic!” Wade cheered, spittle flying from his mouth.
Peter swatted at the other man. “Chew your food.”
“Yes boss!” Wade said with a mock salute.
Peter rolled his eyes but couldn’t help his lips twitching.
“So what are you really doing here?” Peter asked after a few minutes of small talk.
Wades eyes widened dramatically. “I thought you missed me Petey so I decided to grace you with my presence.” He said but quickly got serious at Peter’s unimpressed stare. “Just thought you might want a little help with your mission, ya know, besides a teenager.” He finished with a shrug.
“Hey!” America yelled in offense.
Peter let out a sigh and smiled, meeting one of his closest friend eyes. “Thank you.” He muttered, grumbling when Wade grabbed him into a tight hug.
“Anything for you Spidey.” His friend said with far too much seriousness for Peter’s liking.
“Hopefully not anything. ” Peter joked lightly.
Wade laughed an obviously fake, obnoxiously loud laugh. “‘Course not.” He said with a hum.
Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath, ignoring the smiles on his two companions faces.
Wade settled himself into their lives with annoying ease and often disappeared for hours or even days at a time. He was tightlipped about whatever it was he was going but the grim look on his face kept Peter from prying.
America and Wade had formed some kind of weird alliance with one goal: annoy the everloving shit out of Peter Mayson.
They were driving him insane but the laughter in the empty house helped fill a hole in his chest that he hadn’t noticed was there.
Another thing that changed with Wades appearance was the addition of Deadpool tagging along during Spider-Man’s patrols. It was a refreshing splash of familiarity that eased Peter’s loneliness immensely.
He was also pretty sure that the man’s comments had grown more lewd and suggestive than they used to be but he resolved to ignore that and the blush that covered his face and reached his chest at some of the more explicit remarks.
The one time he’d questioned it Wade had only looked off into the distance and yelled. “This is a Spideypool fanfic, right?”
Peter never asked again.
It was surreal; watching history happen around him in real time and he wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to it. Or that he even wanted to be.
A large part of him just wished he could go back and say no to Strange. But then he would look around and see the city, millions of people that were still alive, that he had the ability to keep alive.
He was surprisingly satisfied with how things were going but he couldn’t help a bit of impatience. Peter was getting bored, and he despised boredom.
He’d spent a good chunk of time in his complete lab, working on getting Karen wired throughout the entire house. He was deploying Tony fucking Stark level security.
He’d decided to fill the rest his time by taking down a human trafficking ring that had been infecting Hell’s Kitchen.
That was another change. He’d decided to stick to New York in general instead of just Queens. Before, he’d had the luxury of relying on other vigilantes to pick up the slack in other cities but a majority of them weren’t even powered up yet so he’d have to shoulder it alone until they started making moves.
Plus, he felt a particular responsibility for Hell’s Kitchen and made sure to keep an eye out for Matt while he was there. He hadn’t seen the man yet and he wasn’t sure when Daredevil and the other Defenders became active in the super community.
Normally Wade would be with him for missions like this but Peter had waved him off. He had some steam to blow off. And some criminals to beat the shit out of.
He tilted his head as he picked up the sound of a large truck in the distance, small muffled cries sounding from the vehicle. He fingered the weapons strapped to his suit as he calculated where they were coming from.
Not for the first time since he’d ended up in the past he sent a mental prayer to Matt, thanking him for helping him train his senses. It took him less than three seconds to figure out exactly where they were.
Ordering Karen to deploy his mask, he grinned dangerously, waited for the armored truck pass under him. And then descended upon them.
Before he knew it, his 22nd birthday was upon them. He hadn’t planned to do anything but when he’d gotten home had walked into a ‘surprise party’ consisting of only America and Wade. That was it. But Peter couldn’t have asked for better people to spend the day with.
He had spent most of the morning moping around his workplace and desperately trying not to think about his last birthday.
It had been the first one since everyone knew about the spell and he’d spent the whole day in the cabin surrounded by friends and family.
A luxury he no longer had.
But he had Wade and America and that would have to be enough.
America had bought him a Spider-Man plushie that she had found in a corner store and he couldn’t help his grin as he held the thing. It was surreal to him that Spider-Man was now seen in the same league as the Avengers from the beginning.
Wade had presented him with a whole slew of new knives as well as some kevlar which he appreciated and planned to incorporate into both his and Americas suits.
The knives were beautiful and obviously custom made if the red and blue spider web design was any indication.
He couldn’t wait to test them out in the room they’d designated for training.
He sighed in satisfaction as he bit into the tripe chocolate cake Wade had baked (???) for him.
“Mmm.” He groaned into the bite before swallowing and looking up at his two friends. “Thank you both.” He said seriously.
They both smiled brightly at him and nodded but stayed focused on their own slices.