superposition

listen to the wind blow
watch the sun rise
run in the shadows
damn your love, damn your lies

Peter pulled his mask over his mouth, crumpling up his sandwich wrapper into a ball before he leapt off the side of the building. He was graceful with his movements, falling swiftly through the air before he flung his wrist out, a web catching the side of a nearby building so he could pull himself up into the air.

The city was actually quite peaceful tonight, which he honestly wasn’t too surprised about. Whenever it got below freezing and it was snowing, it seemed like even the most hardened criminals didn’t want to brace the cold. Unfortunately, Peter wasn’t a criminal and someone had to keep the city safe. 

Besides, his suit kept up with the frigid temperatures well enough. Between the materials he’s collected and his ever-growing sewing skills, his suit was actually pretty impressive. It had hints of his own personal vibe as well as it paid homage to Peter Two and Three (something he often smiled about whenever he caught a glimpse of himself.) 

“Ah, goddamit!” His ears perked up at the frustrated voice, the teenager slowing down to hang from the side of the building. Peter focused his hearing, picking up the voice’s owner. “Fuck!”

He jumped down, swerving between two buildings until he stopped above an alley. With a graceful leap, he landed down beside a particularly smelly dumpster, his eyes landing on an older man who was kneeled over an array of groceries. “Need a hand there?” He called out, keeping his distance as he startled the man.

“Jesus!” He jumped, his head whipping around as he spotted the vigilante, Peter noticed a scrape down the side of his face. Damn, he probably slipped on the ice. “Oh, it’s you,” He sighed, scanning the boy. “The Spider-Guy.”

“Eh, it’s Spider-Man,” Peter shrugged, taking a step closer, “Semantics.”

“Right, semantics.” The man mumbled, turning back to the groceries. “Yeah, I guess a hand would be nice.”

Peter stopped beside the man, taking in the sight of the fallen groceries and the sodden paper bag. Yeah, he’d be frustrated too if his grocery bag broke, especially in this weather. “Shit, sorry man.” He said earnestly, leaning down to gather up what he could. Sadly, the eggs could not be salvaged. He was pretty sure the yolks were already freezing to the pavement. 

“It is what it is,” Despite his words, it was clear that this was a “drop-the-spoon” moment for the man.

“Yeah, sometimes things just suck,” Peter agreed. As he spoke, an idea came to mind and he gently set the groceries back on the ground. “So, what’s your name?” He asked, holding out his hand as he used his other to dispense his webs. 

The man gave him an odd look, “Jefferson,” He responded, “I’m assuming you got a name?”

Peter stifled a snort, “Just Spidey is fine, man.” He twirled his hands once more, beaming as he held up the makeshift web-bag. “There!” He exclaimed, 

Jefferson cracked a smile, the disheveled, frustrated look leaving his face. “That’s actually…not bad.” 

He couldn’t help but grin under the mask, kneeling down to start loading the groceries into the secured bag. “Thanks, that’s how most of my ideas tend to be. Not bad.” 

“You know, you’re not too bad either,” Jefferson nodded in appreciation, taking the bag from the teen and loading up the rest. 

“Eh, I try not to be.” Peter shrugged, “Just doing my job.”

The older man straightened up, looking at him with curious eyes, “But it’s not really your job,” He raised an eyebrow. At his better posture, Peter spotted the police badge that was previously hidden under the man’s coat. Oh great. 

He rolled his eyes, despite Jefferson not really being able to see it, “I mean, I may not be on payroll but I still have a responsibility.” 

“Really? From who?” From his tone, Peter could tell that the man was just humoring him, however he found that he really didn’t give a fuck. 

“Myself. My people.” He said simply, “Besides, if it wasn’t my job to help you, I don’t know how else you’d be getting your groceries home.” A smug smirk tugged at his lips. 

“I suppose you’ve got me there,” Jefferson said, “You remind me of my son, he’s also a smart ass.” 

Peter couldn’t help but laugh at the man’s words, “Sounds like a good kid.” 

“Oh, he’s the best,” The warm look in Jefferson’s eyes was endearing, however it made Peter long for someone to talk about him like that again, “Thanks Spidey, I appreciate the help.” 

“Anytime, sir,” He offered him a small salute, “Get home safely.”

“You too, kid.” Jefferson looked Peter up and down before adding, “Stay warm out here.” 

These kinds of interactions really reminded Peter why he was Spider-Man. New York was his home and interacting with its people meant everything to him. In the period where everyone saw him as a menace, he had grieved the casual conversation that he would share with a random New Yorker, among everything he had lost, at least he got this back. 

With the ghost of his smile still on his lips, Peter ventured back into the sky, once again swinging amongst the city’s buildings. 

“Starting without me, Webs?” He couldn’t help but roll his eyes as his comm crackled to life. 

“It’s not my fault you have a nine to five.” Peter bit back, earning a laugh from Kate. 

“God, like I want one. I’m going gray already, I’m not made for corporate life.” Over the comm, Peter could hear what sounded like Kate adjusting her quiver and bow. From experience, he could assume that she was perched somewhere in downtown Manhattan, she always started out there. 

“Hey, money is money.”

“Don’t start with me, I literally offered you a job.”

“Sorry, Katie, not all of us were born to be nepo-babies.” He couldn’t help but grin at his own words. 

“Oh, fuck off. What happened to the whole "no-names-on-coms" thing you always whine about?” She scoffed, however he knew that she hadn’t taken it personally. “Besides, I feel like I’m on the end of the nepo-baby spectrum where like, Dan Levy and Dakota Johnson are. Y’know, the good ones.”

“Please, you only included Dakota Johnson because you’re obsessed with Fifty Shades.” He shuddered at the thought of the movies. He was never watching those.

“Touche but also she’s like, a really good actress.” Kate spoke quickly, “Also, you know it’s based off of a Twilight fanfiction, right? And you like Twilight, so I don’t know where all this hostility is coming from.”

He smacked his hand to his forehead, landing on a rooftop, “Right, because whenever I watch Twilight, I’m thinking “wow, how can I possibly make this worse?”” 

“Don’t act like you don’t like the-” His brows furrowed as she went quiet, his spidey-sense tickling the back of his neck. 

“Hawkeye?” 

“Hey, something’s going down at the bank on Ninth.” Her voice was low. “I think someone’s robbing it."

“Sonovabitch,” He groaned, “I’m on my way.”

“Meet me on top of Chino’s, I have a clear view.” 

He followed her instructions, swinging discreetly through Manhattan until he spotted the familiar building. With a quick swoop, he landed beside his colleague, the older girl knelt beside one of the pillars on the roof. She was holding a pair of binoculars to her eyes, aiming towards the bank across the street. 

“It’s just one person,” She informed him, putting the binoculars down to look him in the eye. “A woman, I think she’s trying to get into the safe deposit boxes.”

Peter frowned at the information, turning his attention towards the building in question. Due to his heightened senses, he didn’t really need the aid of the binoculars. He stared into the tinted windows of the bank, catching a faint sight of the slender woman standing inside the building. “None of the alarms went off?”

“Not as far as I know,” The archer shrugged, “I think I’m the only one who noticed she broke in.” 

“How did she even get in?” 

“I couldn’t tell you for sure, I think somehow through the vents. She came down from the ceiling.” 

He scrunched his nose in thought, “Okay,” He said slowly. “Assuming it’s really just her behind this, I’ll go through the roof and see if I can get in the same way she did. Think you can pick the lock on the back?” At her deadpan expression, he continued, “Meet you there.” He nodded.

Most of the time when it was just the two of them, their plans tended to be mostly unspoken. They were aware of one another’s strengths and how each would work best depending on the situation. They tended to make a good duo. 

Spider-Man crept across the roof of the bank, using a mix of his enhanced strength and his uncanny ability to stick to any surface to pry the vent from the top. So far, nothing seemed to be amiss. If the woman really did break in from up here, she obviously did so with care.

“Curiouser and curiouser,” He muttered to himself, crawling swiftly through the vents. His spidey-sense was still ringing in his ears, keeping him on full alert. Something was telling him that this situation was only surface level, that this was not just some ordinary bank robbery. He just couldn’t quite put a finger on what exactly was going on.

He lowered himself down from the vent, his feet hitting the floor softly. From a distance, he could faintly hear Kate pushing open the back door, the archer making her way into the bank as well. He took a moment to try and focus his hearing on the front of the bank, where the safe deposit boxes were, however to his distaste, it was oddly silent. 

All of the sudden, his spidey-sense was screaming at him and he only had less than a second to move before a metal deposit box flew past him. It’s a trap. His eyes widened as he came to this realization, ducking down once more as another landed in his previous spot. 

“Ah, Spider-Man,” The woman’s voice was giggly, as if she were having the time of her life. “You’re right on time! Just like He said you’d be!” 

“Well, I do have a thing for punctuality.” He bit back, he was getting real tired of everyone referencing this He. Spider-Man stood up straighter, meeting the eyes of the tall, slim woman before him. She was so obviously a supervillain, it was painful. With her white lab coat and her circular goggles that rested on top of her head, it was like she was straight out of a comic book. “I’m assuming you’re not the financial advisor on duty,” 

“Observant, aren’t you?” She laughed sarcastically, from the corner of his eye, he could see Kate ducking behind one of the walls. “I’m kind of freaking out right now, I’ve always wanted to meet you, Spider-Man.” She squealed. “You’re just so…fascinating.” There was a dark undertone to her words and it sent a shiver up his spine.

“That tends to be the general consensus with my fans,” He squinted his eyes, taking in her appearance once more. Something about her reminded him of a mad scientist, especially with her frizzy black curls and the manic grin on her face. 

“Oh, don’t mistake me for a fan,” She countered, “I’m fascinated with you the same way a scientist would be with a specimen, a lab rat.” The glint in her eyes could definitely be considered rabid. He tilted his head to the side, readying his web shooter. “You see Spider-Man, I didn’t just want to meet you. I would love to study you. Every. Single. Inch.” At her threatening words, an arrow whizzed by and would have connected with her in some capacity if it weren’t for the large, mechanical cream-colored arm that stretched out from the back of the woman, catching the arrow in its grasp and sending Kate fumbling.

The lenses of his mask widened at the display, his heart drumming in his chest, “What did you say your name was?” He fought hard to keep from having a waver in his voice. He had a feeling he didn't need to ask. 

She grinned vibrantly at him, “Olivia Octavius,” As if she’s rehearsed this numerous times, she pulled her goggles down over her eyes as two other arms came out from behind her, lifting her off the ground. “Doctor Olivia Octavius.”

“Doc Ock.” He felt sick by the observation, staring at her in shock. 

“I see you’ve heard of me,” Doc Ock turned, her arms following suit. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kate looking at him in confusion, god, he did not want to have to explain this.

“Something like that,” He mumbled, lunging out of the way, one of the tentacles missing him by an inch. He knew that variants were a sure-fire thing, but Peter never thought that he would have to face one of them so soon. 

“Ah, people always seem to hear of my greatness, but when they see me they are deterred by my gender,” She sighed.

Or maybe by the crazy look in your eye. He bit back the quip. Crazy people probably didn’t like to be told they were crazy. At least in his experience.

“Something tells me this was a trap.” Kate’s voice echoed in his ear.

“Figure that all out on your own, did ya?” He said sarcastically, catching one of the tentacles in his hand. These were different from Otto’s, they seemed to be a fusion of silicone and metal. Peter let out a hiss of pain as he was slammed harshly into the ground, they seemed stronger too.

“Are you kidding me?” He spat in anger as the arm was successful in ripping part of his suit across his chest. “Again?!”

“I’m gonna try to take out the arms, it looks like there’s some type of harness powering them.”

He leapt to the side, slamming one of the arms into the wall. He glanced between Kate and Olivia, the archer now going hand-to-hand with one of the arms. It seemed almost like Doc Ock was just observing as her tentacles did all the work. 

Spider-Man spotted the harness on her back, however his attention was quickly thwarted by another arm racing towards him, this time some mechanized drill was sticking out of it and it was aiming dangerously close to his head, “Goddammit, are these things insured?” He seethed, ducking out of the way as it slammed into the concrete wall. 

“Y’know Spidey,” Olivia’s tone was now sing-songy. “I don’t know how you do it,” She paused, obviously waiting for his response. 

“Alright, I’ll bite, do what?” He asked, voice annoyed. If he could distract her enough, maybe Kate could get a shot at Doc Ock’s harness. It was definitely different than Peter Two’s Doc Ock, he wondered if the arms had control over Olivia too.

“Your uncanny ability to make people so angry,” She seethed. Two of her arms came flying towards him only for the vigilante to sidestep it easily, flipping over one of them.

“Hey, it’s kind of unfair to put that on me,” He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You guys are going to have to take some of the responsibility, maybe try anger management?” 

He cast a glance to Kate as she was struggling against the third arm, her hand-to-hand combat keeping her from unsheathing her bow again. “I have to say, the girl is new,” Olivia cackled, having caught onto where his attention had gone. “Although He did warn me about her.”

“Lady, who the fuck are you talking about?” He questioned, annoyance obvious in his voice. He held his hands out, trying to catch the robotic arm in his grasp only to be shoved up against the wall as the other arm connected with his legs. 

“Oh, but that’s all a part of the fun, isn’t it Spidey?” She sounded giddy as he groaned in pain. Spider-Man reached out, flicking his wrist as he shot a web at the ceiling, yanking himself out of the arms’ grasp. 

“Fun for who?” He asked, “I am not having a good time.” He landed beside Kate, landing a punch on the arm as she did a somersault over it, dragging an arrow across in an attempt to damage it. 

“Yeah, me neither!” She agreed, panting slightly. “Not a typical bank robber, are ya?”

“Please, like I care about the money.” Olivia scoffed, “And I don’t believe I was talking to you, girl!” She hissed, lunging forward towards Kate, the other two arms following her lead as one caught the archer by surprise, sending her to the ground with a surprised yelp. 

“Shit!” Peter’s eyes widened as he watched the arm dig into the girl’s thigh. That was definitely not good. Something about Doc Ock’s movements told him that she was just stalling and that their little altercation was a set-up for something else. They needed to get out of here. “Hawkeye!”

“I’m good, I’m good. It only hurts…a little.” The tremble in her voice, even over their comms, was enough to tell him that it hurt more than a little.

He dove across the room, using one to web one of the arms towards him as he grabbed the other. Maybe he could try and tangle them together and web them down, giving him and Kate a chance to escape and hopefully keep Olivia down long enough for the police to arrive. 

“I’m getting really tired of this bullshit,” He groaned, adding another layer of webbing only for one of the arms to come undone again. 

“Did you really think this would be that easy, Spider-Man?” His villain questioned, her tone mocking. 

“Y’know, I hoped that at least one of these days, something would go my way!” He exclaimed, landing a particularly hard hit in an attempt to keep it down. This seemed to only anger Olivia. He peered over to where Kate was pulling her quiver from her back, still scuffling with the arm.

“Oh, Spidey,” Doc Ock’s tone was dark, “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.” With that, she lunged forward, except she wasn’t going for Peter. She was going for Kate.

With wide eyes and high anxiety, Peter immediately went into overdrive. In an angered frenzy, he practically tackled the crazed scientist, sending her to the ground. This time, he wasn’t targeting the tentacles, instead the person behind them. If only he could…

He had Olivia against the wall, the scientist struggling against his enhanced strength as she was frantically calling out commands to her arms but Peter wasn’t listening. He needed to get Kate a clear shot of the harness. 

“You idiot boy!” Olivia called out, her voice heavy with anger. “Trust that if I had it my way, you wouldn’t be getting out of here at all!” She screamed.

“Now!” He yelled, turning his head slightly so he could spot Kate notching an arrow. He held Olivia in place as the arrow pierced her inflatable harness, sending the arms down as their power source was currently deflating.

“Don’t think this is the end, Spider-Man!” Doc Ock screamed as he followed Kate towards the backdoor, “He will have his vengeance and so shall I!” 

-

Tony tried not to let his dejection show as he trailed through the penthouse but it was hard to keep his back straight and his mind focused as he thought back to what had happened last night. 

Peter thought he was a ghost. A hallucination. 

He would be lying if he said that it didn’t break his heart.

“Daddy!” Morgan leapt onto the couch beside him, shaking both him and the cup of coffee in his hand. “Someone’s on the phone for you,” She drug out the last word, bouncing up and down on the seat cushion, “Captain Juice Pop!” 

He couldn’t help but smile at his daughter, the toothy grin and excitable nature enough to somewhat settle his nerves. It was a miracle how quickly she adapted to this whole situation, “Oh yeah? What’s he saying, babydoll?”

“I dunno,” She shrugged, “The phone rang and I answered it cuz you were all the way in here and then he said “Hi Morgan, can I talk to your dad? ” and then I said, “Sorry, I’m not his secretary.”” 

Tony laughed loudly at her recount of events, this was definitely his kid. “I’m sure Cap loved hearing that.” He ruffled her hair, “Did you leave the phone in the kitchen, honey?”

“Yesss!” She squealed, fumbling for the tv remote as he stood up. Steve calling wasn’t necessarily unprecedented but also he couldn’t really imagine what the man could be calling about.

“This is Tony Stark,” He put the phone to his ear, “I believe you spoke with my assistant?” 

On the other end of the line, Steve let out a laugh, “Yes. I did. I hope a raise is in her future, she’s quite good at her job.”

“I’ll be sure to let the boss know.” There was a moment of silence before Tony spoke again, “Is there something I can help you with?”

Steve sighed, “Bucky and Sam are back, with Yelena. At the Compound.”  

Tony raised an eyebrow, “That’s…good, right?” The tone of Steve’s voice was misleading.

“It should be, right? I don’t know.” There were only a few instances in this life where Tony has heard the good Captain sound so…nervous. This was one of those times. “Clint’s talked to me a bit about…well, I guess me. I’m not really sure how they’re going to react to me or honestly any of us being back.” 

It was weird that he knew what he was meaning, given the context of his words. When they had first shown up in Clint’s garage, he had basically told them the fate of both the Tony and Natasha of this reality; however when it came to Steve, he seemed more hesitant to give up that information. 

He didn’t make it back from returning the stones.

The way Clint said it, Tony had a feeling that there was much more to that story than just that little bit of information. He would bet good money on the real reason being something that would cause some real controversy. 

“You want to explain what you did?” Leave it to him to be blunt. 

“I probably should,” Steve mumbled, “But that’s not what I was really calling about.”

Tony sighed, leaning against the counter, “C’mon Cap, use your words.”

“Look, Nat and I…” He paused for a moment, “Will you come with us?”

Oh. They want him to go with them? When Tony picked up the phone, he wasn’t expecting this to be the reason. Sure, in the years during the Blip, the three of them had grown closer, more-so like they had been before Ultron and the Sokovia Accords, but he didn’t think to expect this. 

“Me?” His confusion and surprise showed through his voice.

“Yes, Tony, you. It’s just the three of us, in a way. I think we should stick together for something like this.” Tony considered what would have happened if Steve and Nat joined him in finding Peter, what kind of reaction the kid would have had if he walked into three Avengers versus only one. Maybe it would have gone better.

“When are you heading to the Compound?”

“Honestly, I think we’re going to leave here in the next five minutes.”

Tony pursed his lips, glancing towards the living room where Morgan was currently watching Bluey. “Alright, I’ll meet you there.” He settled on as he ended the call, “Fri, be a dear and get a hold of Happy.”

-

The Compound was different, which honestly wasn’t to say much about the discrepancies in this world because the last time that Tony saw it, Thanos and his fleet had just turned it to rubble. 

For starters, it was much bigger than its predecessor, and the tech was updated beyond what Tony had already had installed. There was also a slight Wakandan touch to it, one that left him in silent awe. He would be looking forward to reconnecting with the King and the Princess. 

He had followed Clint’s car through the security leading into the property and if he were being honest, the closer he got, the more he felt a little bit more…anxious. During their final battle with Thanos, Tony didn’t really get the moment to speak with Sam or Bucky upon their return and considering that their last interaction didn’t end well, he wasn’t sure how they would react to his own resurrection. 

That, and any relative of Natasha was sure to leave him slightly paranoid. 

This was definitely going to be interesting. Good thing that Tony was a fan of excitement. 

He stepped out of his car, straightening his jacket as he stepped forward. “After you, dear,” He smirked as he pulled open Natasha’s car door, obnoxiously spreading his arm in the direction of her exit. 

“Ah, and here I thought that the chivalry was dead.” Natasha smiled, “I appreciate you coming.”

“Anything for you, Miss Rushman.” She rolled her eyes at the inside joke, standing beside him. Tony turned his head, meeting Steve’s eyes as the blond stopped in front of them, Clint by his side.

“I think it would be best if I went in first and you guys waited a sec,” Clint explained, fidgeting with the hearing aid in his ear. “FRIDAY already knows that you’re back so it won’t set off any alarms when you guys come in so it wouldn’t hurt to give them a little bit of a heads up.”

Steve nodded, “I agree.”

A softer smile danced on Natasha’s lips and it warmed Tony’s heart. He often thought that if any of them deserved a happy ending, it was her. Seeing her sister again was one step closer to that. 

“Give me like five minutes.” Clint instructed, turning on his heel to enter the compound. 

“The longest five minutes of my life,” Steve mumbled, putting his hands into his pockets. 

He could relate to that sentiment, having felt the same thing last night while he was waiting for Peter. Tony couldn’t help but frown at the memory, the image of the kid’s demeanor and the lone apartment had him longing for answers as to what had exactly happened within the last two years. 

“You’re thinking about Peter.” It wasn’t a question, Natasha knew what she was talking about. 

“Ya got me,” He sighed. “I should be worried that no one seems to know he is, right?”

“I think you’d be crazy not to be.” Steve responded. “It definitely doesn’t make sense.”

“Someone has to know something.” Natasha said.

“You’d think.” He widened his eyes slightly, pursing his lips as to express his frustration. He had a feeling that if anyone did, it would be Clint’s little apprentice. 

“We’ll figure it out,” Nat offered him a supportive smile, patting his shoulder.

“We will,” Tony agreed, “But right now, I think it’s time for us to go in.” He gestured towards the door of the Compound, “Time to face the music.” He pulled open the door, waving his arm for the other two to go in. 

“Time to face the music,” Steve repeated, his tone soft. 

Similarly to what he remembered, the main area of the Compound was not too far from the entrance and the voices of those occupying the space were hard to miss. 

“Clint Barton, you are aware that I have a dog to go home to, yes?” The unmistakable accent of Yelena Bolova carried through the halls. “I came to debrief, nothing more.” 

“Yel, if you could just trust me-” Clint sounded defensive. 

“Ha! That is rich!” The young woman laughed, the sound getting louder as they grew closer. 

“It is kind of hard to be “trusting” when we have no idea what’s going on.” He noticed the way Steve stiffened up at the sound of Bucky’s voice.

“That’s…well, that’s fair but-” 

“What the fuck?” Clint didn’t need to explain himself, as he was cut off by Sam as the man caught sight of the three people entering. 

“Natasha?” Yelena was staring directly at her sister.

“How the hell…?” Bucky whispered, staring at them with his jaw slightly dropped. 

“Barton-?” Sam didn’t even have a chance to get the sentence out before Clint was nodding his head, somewhat of a defeated expression on his face.

“Yup. It’s what it looks like.” 

Tony stood straighter, looking between all of them. This was so not what he was expecting. Maybe some yelling, or some hugging. But this…weird kind of acceptance? What the hell was going on.

“What it looks like?” It seemed that he wasn’t the only one to share this sentiment, as Steve looked questioningly at Clint. Natasha stayed quiet, staring at Yelena with a longing look on her face. 

“You guys…” Sam started slowly. “Are here.” His eyes were scrutinizing, his eyebrows raised slightly. Tony felt a bit like they were in a standoff.

Yelena didn’t speak, instead pursing her lips as she whistled a low, melodic tune. Imagine his surprise when Natasha quickly followed suit, the two looking at nothing else but one another. It was a touching moment, honestly, but horrifically confused as to what the fuck this weird series of events were.

“You guys don’t seem,” He paused for a moment, weighing his words, “Particularly confused. At all.” He crossed his arms, fixing Clint with a hard look. 

“Oh, trust me,” Bucky said, his tone bitter as he looked towards Steve with an odd look of betrayal. “I’m confused as all hell,”

“Shocker,” Sam muttered mockingly under his breath, earning the middle finger from the disgruntled soldier.

“This,” Bucky gestured towards the three, “I was not expecting but…” He trailed off into silence. 

“But?” Steve questioned, his voice thick with emotion. It was obvious, at least to Tony, that the man wanted nothing more than to hug the two and that the continued distance between them was becoming overwhelming.

“But we knew it could be a possibility.” Yelena finished the sentence. Her accent seemed much thicker in person versus over the comms’ speaker.

An identical look of confusion overcame all three of the multiversal travelers’ faces, as much as they may have wanted to hide it. For them, coming from 2023 and all, time travel was the biggest feat that they had been able to accomplish. There wasn’t even a thought of multiversal travel until they had been taken to The Watcher. 

“That being said,” Sam cleared his throat, “How are you guys here?” Tony could sense an underlying question.

“We were brought here,” He said softly, not giving anyone else a chance to respond. “For good. That’s what we were told.” 

“For good,” Yelena whispered before she pulled Natasha into what seemed to be a much needed hug. “You promise?” This question wasn’t for him.

Tony turned his attention away from their reunion, giving them space to feel the reconnection. Instead, he focused on the other four, three of which were sharing a very awkward and intense aura. 

“How did you know this could be a possibility?” Steve questioned. Leave it to him to leave the tension hanging in the air. Tony wished he could be surprised.

Clint was the one who responded, with a large sigh and a hand dragging down his face. “Look, I didn’t exactly know how to say this before y’know, given the way that Tony was asking about Spider-Man and where he was, I wasn’t exactly sure how you all would react to this information.”

His words brought forth a very uncomfortable feeling in Tony’s stomach and if he hadn’t already had proof that the kid was alive, he would have thought he faced a nasty fate. 

(Little did he know that his assumptions were, in fact, true. Just not in the way he thought them to be.)

“What are you talking about?” Tony asked quickly, feeling his temper rising.

At the same moment he spoke, both Bucky and Sam did as well, their eyes landing right on him, “You know who Spider-Man is?”

His eyebrows furrowed, “What do you mean “know who he is” ? I-” He was at a loss for words, which honestly said more.

Clint put his hands up, in a placating sense, “Guys.” He said firmly, “I can explain only one thing at a time. Just…just let me talk to Tony first, alright? I think you all have some catching up to do, anyways.”

Tony took a deep breath, trying to slow the intense beat of his heart as he followed Clint towards a more secluded part of the Compound. He casted one more glance towards Steve and Natasha, though they seemed to already be preoccupied with the people in front of them. He could only hope that things went well. For all of them, honestly. 

“Well,” He said, his voice impatient. He had been looking for actual information about Peter and his whereabouts since 2023 since he had arrived and to know that Clint had been keeping something from him, how else was he supposed to sound?

“Tony,” Clint’s voice was light, although it carried a certain defense to it. “I’m not…look, I still have no idea what yo-what all of you, are talking about. We have no idea who Spider-Man is. Or didn’t, at least not until you told me.” He let out a small laugh, although Tony didn’t see what was funny. 

“Then what? ”

The archer took a deep breath, obviously wary as he seemed to be calculating his next words. “You guys being brought here, it’s not our first time dealing with the multiverse. There was an incident in 2024. A little more than a year after…well, everything. None of us really know much of everything, SWORD and SHIELD have both done a good job of keeping any details from getting out, as much as w-”

Tony cut him off, fixing his friend with a hard stare, “What happened?”

“There were three Spider-Men, Tony.” Clint said flatly, “Three.”