Some Catching up to do
The gauntlet fell off Tony’s hand as he stood up and staggered to away from the item. Peter and Harley ran as fast as possible to him. They noticed that part of Tony’s right side was burned and charred, the worst of which was on the arm. At least it looked like the suit they designed took the brunt of the damage. Harley quickly used the coolant once again to ease the pain.
“Tony come on… Are you there? You can’t leave us again,” Peter said in a broken voice as he started to tear up. They had just gotten their father figure back, and now… They were about to lose him again?
Felicia and Cassie approached their respective husbands. They embraced them, because they couldn’t fathom what was going through their heads. And this time… They didn’t know if they could save him.
“Tony… Hey… We… We won…” Harley trailed as tears fell from his eyes.
Steve was looking at them apologetically. There was already a high price paid for getting everyone back, one where Clint gave his life. And now, Tony was dying in front of his sons.
Rhodey landed near them and approached Tony. “Oh Tones…”
But Tony didn’t move or reply to any of them… And then Pepper showed up.
“Hey…”
“Hey, Pep…” Tony said weakly, but tried to give a smile.
“Karen, FRIDAY, health report?” Pepper asked.
“Life functions almost critical!” Karen replied.
“Tony needs immediate medical attention, or he’ll die for sure!” FRIDAY spoke up.
The heroes gathered around him suddenly felt a wave of hope through them. They could save him, but only if they acted quickly enough. So they were going to do their best.
Just then Shuri approached. “Wakanda has the best medical facilities in the world. If we can portal there, we might have a chance to save him.”
“Doctor,” T’Challa turned to Stephen. “If you may?”
“Certainly,” Strange did the gestures, and a portal opened.
Peter carried Tony off, and several heroes joined them as they went to the Wakandan hospital. He gently placed him on a stretcher, and let Shuri and Strange take over for now. They wheeled the man into another room to do diagnostics and perform the surgery.
Now, the only thing most of them could do was wait. And hope.
It was not easy for Natasha to break the news of Clint’s death to Kate.
To put it lightly, the girl was already going through an insane emotional rollercoaster. Kate practically blinked and suddenly, eight and a half years went by. Turning her head to check her surroundings, none of her Young Avenger teammates were around. She eventually saw the plaque and several bouquets of flowers nearby, all of which had cards which read: To: Kate, Love, Peter and Felicia’. Said plaque had her name, date of birth, and date of ‘dusting’ on it, above the phrase: ‘We do not have to rely on memories to recapture the spirit of those we have loved and lost – they live within our souls in some perfect sanctuary which even death cannot destroy. – Nan Witcomb’.
So of course she was already ridiculously taken aback by all of that.
And then some sorcerers arrived, asking them to join a fight. Another fight involving an alien army. With Thanos there. Then she remembered what just happened from her point of view. She thought it was just a continuation of the battle they just fought.
Walking through a portal, she saw that Peter and Felicia did age. Still, it was a relief to see the people she was in a ménage à trois with. Then, she heard someone refer to Felicia as ‘Hardy-Parker’, meaning those two got married. Her boyfrie- er, ex-boyfriend(?) married the third member of their throuple.
Then the fighting started. She pushed her emotions to the side since there was still a mission to accomplish. Thankfully, they won despite the scare of Thanos nearly winning again. However, that came at the expense of Tony’s health, with him risking his life. And she felt terrible for the man, since he really grew onto her. Kate decided to stay in the waiting room with the rest.
However, when she tried finding Clint, he was not around. For some reason, Hawkeye wasn’t present with the rest. Upon seeing Natasha again, they barreled into each other for a hug. After their hug broke and they had their teary reunion, Kate asked where her brother was.
Which caused a pained look in Natasha’s face. Obviously, that wasn’t a good sign at all. Kate’s heart fell as the worst-case scenario ran through her mind.
Her tears fell and she sobbed when Natasha confirmed that Clint was indeed dead.
“But… But why?” Kate sobbed out in a broken voice. She lost the only family member that she loved.
Natasha deliberated on whether she should tell Kate everything that to her brother and what he did as a result. A part of her believed that Kate deserved to know the truth. Another voice said that it could just taint Clint’s memory for her.
In the end though, there was only one real choice… Natasha would disclose everything, because Kate would find out one way or another. So the Black Widow did just that, and gave an overview of what Clint did as the Ronin. She didn’t articulate any details, but expounded when any inquiry was brought up. It was one of the reasons why Clint wanted to be the one to jump in the first place, so she might as well start from there.
Kate listened as intently as one with a broken heart could. By the end of it, the young archer never felt angry, but only sympathy for her brother. Maybe it was because she understood why it happened. Most of all… Maybe she would have done the same thing in his position.
“But none of that mattered to him though… At the end, he wanted you back. Clint… Clint wanted you to live out the life you deserved,” Natasha ended the explanation on that note. Her eyes became puffy at the reminder of his death.
“But at the price of his life?” Kate protested weakly while sobbing.
“It… It was supposed to be me,” Natasha cried out as her tears fell again. When Kate looked at her in a confused and broken expression, Natasha explained the dynamics of getting the Soul Stone. She cursed the method to get it, having lost her own brother in exchange for the item. It just wasn’t fair.
“I… I’m sorry I didn’t fight harder Kate,” Natasha apologized in a dejected voice, still full of regret and frustration.
“I don’t blame you,” Kate assured as tears flowed down her cheeks. Bringing her into a hug, they both held tightly onto one another.
The waiting room was far from quiet.
Pepper was crying into Peter’s shoulder, and the latter had tears streaming down his face. Harley, who was also bawling, was seated on the other side of their mom as he tried to rub soothing circles on her back while attempting to fight off a worse breakdown. Rhodey looked completely devastated from what he witnessed, as Bruce sat on the floor and leaned against a wall while staring into the hallway. Steve on his end was sitting with Bucky and Sam Wilson, all three of whom seemed quiet and frustrated.
They had just gotten Tony back and now the man was fighting for his life.
Felicia and Cassie were next to their respective husbands, their own eyes puffy. It broke their hearts to see their loved ones in such distress. They hugged them by their waists, and at least both men wrapped an arm around their respective wives. Ava and Sam were close by on their end.
Kate was seated next to Felicia, still working through the shock of everything that was thrown at her. Sure, it did help that Natasha was right next to her, also giving physical comfort in a hug, but still… It’s been a lot on her end.
Thor was seated near where Steve was. The god of thunder glared at the door, almost demanding it to give back his friend. He didn’t want to lose another teammate. Though he and Stark would butt heads at times, there was a level of respect and admiration that developed between the two before the Decimation. Val was next to him to provide any support she could. Loki was by his side as well, and Thor was relieved to have his brother back.
Carol was… Frustrated to say the least. She glanced at the genius duo to see their heartbroken and pained expressions. Shame coursed through her body. Maybe if she didn’t lose focus, perhaps Thanos never would have used the Power Stone on her. So maybe then, the father figure of her two close friends wouldn’t have had to risk his life to save the universe.
“Hey…” A new voice called out as the man entered. Harley and Sam Alexander could tell that it was Peter Quill, who was still wearing the red leather jacket. And Harley in particular could still see that the bruise and cut from his punch on the man all those years ago was still fresh on Star-Lord’s face. Quill also witnessed what Tony Stark did. “How’s… How’s he doing?”
“Still don’t know…” Harley trailed. Quill got a good look at the young man and his eyes widened as he recognized him. No longer an adolescent, but a full-fledged adult. Still, there were some prominent features that Harley had that didn’t change through the years. “So uhm… How’s your…” Harley trailed as he gestured to the left side of his cheek, which was where Quill’s bruise was.
“Oh you know, a few minutes just went by for me, so it’s not much better from when you last saw it,” Quill said sarcastically as he scoffed. He was somewhat jealous that years went by for the young man, since that meant that the latter’s old injuries have healed. Well, there were the fresh ones from the recent battle, but the same could be said for everyone.
Harley simply snorted then chuckled (as much as he could from all the crying). He was still smug about embarrassing Quill in a fight. And that was when he used one of his earliest armors. “We can always go for round two if you’re still sore about it.”
“Hey space pirate, next time don’t bite off more than you can chew,” Peter tried to quip.
“Better listen to that guy,” Sam Alexander gestured to Peter. “It’s not that hard kicking your a**, man,” he shook his head.
Quill rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything. He saw what each person who gibed at him was capable of doing, so he didn’t want to fight anyone of them.
“So… What happened?” Quill asked.
“Thanos nearly snapped… Again…” Steve answered hauntedly. “If it weren’t for Tony…” he trailed, and a shiver was sent down everyone’s spine. Especially Peter, Felicia, and Harley. They were the ones who almost faced a whole army by themselves.
“He… He knew what he was doing,” Wanda offered. When everyone turned to her, she continued, “I accidentally read his mind, and he… He didn’t want to lose his sons and Pepper because he failed to act.” She looked to the genius duo and their mom sympathetically.
That caused a new set of tears and sobs to come from Peter, Harley, and Pepper. Even Felicia, Cassie, and Kate all began crying because of that.
After another two hours of waiting, Strange and Shuri exited the operating room. He looked to everyone present and exhaled.
“Tony Stark is stable at the moment. He’ll probably be out for a while, but at least we were able to save his life and his arm. It might take a lot of effort, but he could get back some motor function with said arm,” Strange offered. Peter, Harley, and Pepper all breathed out in relief with that update.
“After some physical therapy of course. But it’s unlikely that he’ll do certain tasks like writing with that arm again,” Shuri added. That caused them to wince.
But at least Tony was alive.
Suddenly, Peter stood up, and Felicia immediately recognized the look on his face. Just before he took a step to Strange, Felicia quickly got in his way and placed her hands on his shoulders. “No, Lover… Please don’t,” she begged as her eyes were still briming with tears.
“Queens,” Steve called out as well, trying to chastise any violent reactions. He was always proud and impressed at how Peter regulated his strength against most opponents. But that look… That was the look of him not wanting to hold back anymore.
“Champ, relax,” Harley called out in a serious tone as he got in the way between the two as well. He was very much well aware that if Peter didn’t pull any of his punches, he could kill a non-enhanced Human in one hit. “Ya don’t have to do it, man.”
Peter closed his eyes and counted to 10. He still remembered that encounter with Thanos all those years ago in the Garden. How he wanted to snap and just beat the alien to a pulp. And now… He felt the same thing coursing through his body once again, but with Strange as the recipient of that. And that’s… That’s not him. When he opened them once again, he looked at Strange dead-on. “You knew,” Peter sneered out.
“I did,” Strange responded. He then looked to the ground.
When Peter’s rage looked like it could spike again, Harley spoke up. “Like I said Champ. Ya don’t have to do it.”
Peter audibly breathed out, almost sounding like a seethe. And Strange let out a sigh in relief.
“Because I’ll do it,” Harley stated plainly.
What happened next surprised almost everyone else. Harley called forth the gauntlet of his suit and did a hard spinning punch on Strange’s face. Of course, the enchantment of Mjolnir had worn off, and the rest of his suit was not activated, so really, the gauntlet merely functioned as fancy and expensive ‘brass knuckles’. Still, all those present in the room could hear the sound of the fist’s impact just before the sorcerer’s body collided with the wall.
“Harls!” Cassie cried out as she stood up.
“Slick!” Peter shouted as he held his brother back before the latter could do anything he might regret.
“1 in 14 million! Was this all part of your god damned convoluted plan!?” Harley snarled out. Apparently, he didn’t want Peter to go attack Strange, because he wanted to have first blood.
“Gotta say, if I wasn’t interested in hearing your explanation, I’d let this guy have at it,” Peter warned.
Strange groaned in pain. Quill had an idea of what it was like to be hit by Harley in an armored suit. However, anyone with eyes could tell that Harley’s current suit, at worst, made his suit from eight and a half years ago look obsolete and weak. So Quill was just silently thankful that he wasn’t on the receiving end of that punch.
“1 in 14 million where I saw we won, Parker and Keener…” Strange explained while wincing. “That’s the limit of the use of the Time Stone. I can’t see beyond my death, so in the timelines where I died early, I couldn’t tell if we won. But here, we did win, and most of us are alive and well.”
“Most,” Kate whimpered out. Everyone turned to her with sympathetic and apologetic looks. “I… I still lost my brother…” she explained as the sobs came out again.
“Couldn’t you have stopped that?!” Peter asked the man with narrowed eyes as he gestured to Kate. “Or prevent Tony from snapping!?”
“No, Parker… It is my duty as the Sorcerer Supreme to safeguard our reality. Those who were snapped have returned, and Stark made sure Thanos was gone for good. You and Keener were kept alive to improve the world, because even if we did beat Thanos, climate change and other disasters could have wiped out the Human Race within the century. Small sacrifices were made in comparison to the grand Calculus of the universe. We still won in the end.”
“You keep on sayin’ that we won. Keep tellin’ yourself that to justify what you did!” Harley sneered.
“Because you never bothered asking or caring about what we lost,” Peter continued in disappointment.
The brothers calmed themselves and headed back to their seats. They looked to the ground and continued to try and provide and comfort for Pepper. Cassie went straight to her husband, who shot her apologetic look. She waved it off and just embraced him.
While Cassie didn’t want to condone violence against allies, Strange definitely earned it from Harley there. Strange’s ‘plan’ involved half of life being snapped for almost a decade, while Harley had to watch his father figure die in front of his eyes. Then she herself watched Kate die, and then they had to somehow find Harley who was drifting in space. Afterwards, everyone found out that most of their loved ones were gone. And recently, Harley and Peter had to watch Tony nearly kill himself in order to win.
So she would not blame her husband for striking Strange that hard. And at least it was only once. While his suit wasn’t activated. Overall, Harley was courteous enough for those considerations he gave to the sorcerer.
Felicia then approached the downed sorcerer, whose blood was dripping from the cut on his face. “Technically, you’re no longer the Sorcerer Supreme. That title belongs to Wong, and he’s a hell of a lot better in that job than you are,” she told him plainly before returning to her seat next to Peter.
Strange sighed out. He didn’t bother contesting any of that. Besides, Wong did get the mantle by a technicality. But still, Wong was the current Sorcerer Supreme.
And a part of him did believe he deserved to get hit and to be scolded like that.
He looked to Pepper once again. “If you must know…” He trailed, and got everyone’s attention. “I looked a little into the future. Stark… Stark has a quiet life after all of this. He just spends time with his daughter and his surrogate sons, whenever those two are free.”
“That… That’s reassuring,” Pepper sobbed out.
“Yeah, it is,” Peter agreed, as Harley was nodding.
Now they were just waiting for Tony to wake up.
With Tony somewhat out of the woods, Rhodey excused himself first to attend some sort of press conference to explain what had happened. Sure, he would have to explain that the Avengers somehow reversed the Decimation along with the fact that the Avengers compound was now in ruins. But at least everyone else was back.
Felicia and Peter requested Wong to help them pick up the kids in the lake house, which the Sorcerer Supreme agreed to. He portal-ed them to the home, and found Happy watching over Morgan, Wally, Katie, Scottie, and Ollie. Of course, the twins were ecstatic to see their parents again, and well, Peter and Felicia forgot to call back their suits to hide their identities. For some reason, they subconsciously thought that they might as well tell them now.
Obviously, Wally and Katie were in awe that their parents looked so cool and were probably superheroes. Well, if they were going to bring them to Wakanda, where so many other heroes were at the moment, they might as well tell them, because it would be tough to explain otherwise. And pray that they knew the importance of keeping some things secret.
Happy was almost jumping for joy on his end. He knew that their mission to bring everyone back was a success, because he got a call from someone he thought he would never see again (Happy didn’t disclose who, because he feared incurring Peter’s wrath). Which was then followed by horror and trepidation upon seeing that the compound was attacked by anothergiant spaceship in the sky. Then he was just relieved to know they won and to see they were all alive. Afterwards, his heart sunk upon hearing that Tony was the reason why they won, which caused his friend to be in critical condition.
Everyone there helped the kids pack their things, saying they were going on another trip. Even Morgan looked interested and intrigued. At least T’Challa assured them that he was providing everyone rooms while waiting for the end of the surgery, and, ideally, for a few more days while Tony recovered.
The kids were all in awe of Wong calling forth a portal. What was more amazing was when they walked through, they saw Wakanda for the first time. ‘Never gets old,’ Peter thought to himself as he saw the amazed looks of the kids.
They headed off to their rooms first. Cassie, Harley, Ava, and Sam all met with them in their section of the palace, since those four did ask them to bring a few changes of clothes. Ollie and Scottie were overjoyed to see their respective parents again as they ran up to them and have tight hugs.
After changing their clothes, they met in the ‘living room’ section of the cluster they were in. They find Morgan trying to comfort her weeping mom, Pepper. The latter had just gotten Tony back, and now the man was fighting for his life again. The younger kids were of course confused as to the reason why their ‘Auntie Pep’ was crying, but they did their best as well to help make her feel better.
Peter and Harley on their end, still felt devastated that they didn’t do better. At least to their minds… Peter believed that with his suit and superior physiology, he would have had a better chance of surviving the snap.
And then Kate entered the room. Her puffy eyes were somewhat met with the stares of four toddlers. One of the kids looked like a younger version of Peter, so his face stunned her the most. Afterwards, she saw a little girl who was almost an exact copy of Felicia, but had Peter’s eyes.
“Hey kids, this is your Auntie Kate by the way,” Peter announced with a smile on his face.
“And she’s excited to meet all of you,” Felicia continued sincerely.
“Uhm… Hi,” Kate waved at them. It was still awkward for her to meet the children of her teammates. For her, not even a day passed, while to them… Years had gone by. She was still trying to wrap her head around it.
“Hewwo!” All the kids waved back and smiled sweetly at her.
“Am Ollie Ay’la,” the little girl introduced herself.
“I’m Scottie Keen’r!”
“Am Wally Parker!” The adorable boy raised his hand.
Kate found all of them endearing, cute, and adorable.
“And I’m Katie Parker! Katherine May! Do we have the same name?” The little Felicia look-alike asked cutely.
That name… Made Kate feel a number of things.
Surprise. Shock. Gladness in them using her name. A sense of honor that they wanted a part of her to live within their daughter. Relief that they didn’t want to forget her.
“Same first name,” Kate answered, trying not to sob at the emotions she was feeling. “I’m Katherine Elizabeth,” she knelt down and placed a hand on the little girl’s shoulder.
Katie scrutinized her for a bit before declaring, “She’s cool, mama, papa! I wish I got to meet her sooner!” She looked to her parents with a bright smile.
Kate on her end gave a bit of a watery smile. She was still somewhat heartbroken that it wasn’t her that ended up marrying Peter or having his kids. Not that she could blame them, because… Eight and a half years went by. Somehow, she found solace in the fact that they all moved on and continued living their lives.
Even though it hurt to know that it was without her…
“She’s one of coolest people around,” Peter answered with a smile of his own.
“And we really missed her,” Felicia added as she hugged Kate again.
“Oh you two…” Kate sniffled as a few tears left her eyes. Peter then wrapped his arms around the two women. “Come on, I think you all owe me a story?”
“Yeah, we do,” Peter said, but then there was a knock on the door. “Come in!”
The last few hours for May Parker, Lydia Hardy, and Hector Ayala were… Confusing to say the least.
May was just on the couch watching television in her apartment. Lydia had just arrived in JFK International Airport and was waiting for the company limousine. And Hector had just timed out in the precinct. Then suddenly, they briefly lost consciousness, almost like blacking out and then… Their surroundings changed.
So May was still in the apartment, but it was no longer her apartment… Someone else was there, saying that he and his wife bought the place over seven years ago. Lydia was still in JFK, but it looked more modern, and the color of the walls changed. Hector was still in the precinct, but a bunch of new faces there were staring at him and a bunch of other people as if they’ve seen a ghost.
Something must have happened. And they hoped their loved ones were okay. So the first instinct they all had was calling their kids (nephew in May’s case, but she always treated Peter like her son anyway).
When the kids did answer, they didn’t sound like teenagers anymore… They sounded older and more mature. Also, their voices sounded incredibly emotional, as if they were about to cry. Not due to them being morose or frustrated really. Instead, they sounded relieved. And the parents couldn’t understand why. However, the ‘kids’ just said it was good to have them back (which really brought them in for a doozy), and they promised to bring them all up to speed.
Then their hearts skipped a beat when they heard Peter shout ‘EVERYBODY GET DOWN!’ Just before the distinct twip of his webshooter was heard as he called out ‘FELICIA!’
For a split second they hoped nothing bad was going to happen to their kids.
And suddenly, they heard the multiple explosions and what sounded like a collapsing building. It was basically as if they called a loved one in the middle of a warzone. May, Lydia, and Hector all paled as their phones practically echoed the sounds. Even when it stopped, probably due to the phones on the other end being destroyed, their ears were still ringing with what they just heard.
They were stunned at what was happening. Generally, everyone, especially those around them, was confused. However, they feared that it was a continuation of the alien invasion they heard about; the one Wakanda was trying to repel.
It was no use trying to contact their kids’ phones again; the signal couldn’t be reached. So, they called each other. That was something May actually insisted upon: Having the parents and/or guardians of teenage superheroes actually be in contact with one another. That meant that numbers and contact details were exchanged amongst themselves.
Lydia somehow still got a hold of the limo driver. When he arrived, she noticed that the car was a newer and nicer model. The man (who was still in awe of seeing her again) explained that there was the ‘Snap’, otherwise known as the ‘Decimation’, that occurred, causing half of all life to disappear around the universe. Her mind was still processing everything. However, something that somehow snapped her out of her daze was the query of the driver as to a particular destination, or to just head off to the ‘Hardy-Parker Tower’ in Manhattan. Lydia, to her knowledge, never authorized the conglomerate to purchase a New York skyscraper because it would possibly bankrupt the growing group. Which meant that Felicia would have taken over and elevated the holding company to the next level. And… Named the tower after her and Peter? Thus, Lydia simply asked to be brought to the building, because she just had to see it to believe it.
When May called her, the former then patched Hector into the conversation as well. Lydia insisted that they meet up in the tower, which May couldn’t believe. Well, the latter couldn’t process her surrogate son being a multi-billionaire all of a sudden. And Hector wasn’t doing any better on his end.
All of them were still worried sick for their kids.
Ned, Betty, and MJ were hanging out in a coffee shop when suddenly everything just changed around them. It was incredibly weird. Ned and MJ exchanged looks, knowing that some members of their study group were actual superheroes, so it might involve Peter and the rest. They did try getting a hold of Peter, but it was no good. Same with Felicia, Harley, Cassie, Ava, and even Kate. However, Gwen answered. And she was practically sobbing to hear their voices again. Even Gwen didn’t know what happened all of a sudden though. She did warn though that a lot has happened over the years so ‘take it slow, got it?’ Was her overall advice.
Well, they did a quick Google search, and were practically FLOORED.
Doctor Peter Parker and Doctor Harley Keener were the consensus two smartest people in the world. Both of them had multiple Doctorates from MIT and were the proponents of some of the most important inventions and discoveries over the last few years. Cleaner drones that relieved the atmosphere and oceans of pollution, complimented by bacterium that broke down the pollutants into fertilizer for the vertical gardens that addressed world hunger. Then there were the mRNA vaccines that helped cure diseases and genetic disorders, which prevented a couple of pandemics. Afterwards, there were the new and improved arc reactors that made fossil fuels completely unnecessary. And the inventions weren’t under Stark Industries, but Parker Industries.
Apparently, Peter now had a multi-billion-dollar company with his name on it and was the CEO.
But the said company was affiliated with the Hardy Group, which was now being led by Doctor Felicia Hardy-Parker as CEO, Doctor Cassandra Lang-Keener as CMO, and Doctor Ava Ayala-Alexander as COO. All three had Doctorates from Harvard on their end. And all five of their friends were in the list of the top 10 wealthiest people in the world.
Their friends now headed the most valuable and influential conglomerate in the world! And they all got married! Did they have kids too?! Who’s the Alexander that Ava married? They were all billionaires now as well!
And their companies and homes were in the Hardy-Parker Tower.
They could not believe what they were reading.
Well, mostly because they missed so much of their lives…
“Eight and half years really went by…” Ned breathed out. He actually wanted to cry because the accomplishments of his two best friends in Peter and Harley happened while he was ‘dusted’. The two of them went to college, studied, partied, and changed the world together while he was gone. And then the weddings… He was not part of their entourages… It was none of their fault, but that thought stung more than he wanted to admit.
“Holy s***,” Betty muttered, still trying to process everything she was learning all at once.
“What the f***…” MJ trailed. A part of her believed that Peter would have outgrown Kate and Felicia and then maybe she’d have a chance. Now though, there was no chance. Peter married Felicia, and they had a family. Heck, they were heading the most valuable companies in the world now. Also, that’s not even accounting for the age difference between them now.
And everyone knew that if Peter was going to commit to something with all his heart, it was going to be 110% effort at worst.
They looked to each other sadly. They had missed so so much that a weight in their chests actually manifested. At least, that’s what they felt.
Then they felt they needed to see the tower to actually believe what they were reading.
“Lydia!” May called out when she spotted the woman in the lobby, whom she recognized from all the video chats that Felicia had with her. May on her end had just finished a call with Happy, who was incredibly relieved to hear that she was alive again.
“May!” Lydia waved as she sauntered to her.
Peter’s aunt was also walked to her, but she was looking around the room, which detailed the accomplishments and inventions of her nephew and the latter’s wife. And she couldn’t believe that too… Peter was now married, and to one of his high school sweethearts!
The two women embraced each other tightly. A sort of kinship between them, as they always cared for their kids, albeit in different ways. Now though, that kinship is apparent because of the mutual confusion.
“Oh how are you doing?” May asked.
“I’m alright… I think. What about you?” Lydia responded.
“As… Well as I could be… But I was on the phone with Peter and…” May tried not to choke on a sob.
“Oh gosh… I was on the phone with Felicia too…” Lydia trailed hauntedly. That was when they realized that they each heard that event over the phone.
“Ladies,” a new voice called out. The women turned to where it came from to see that Hector Ayala had just arrived. “I… I don’t know what happened to my hija… I know she was with Peter and Felicia but…”
“Oh Hector,” May sniffled as she brought him into a group hug.
“May Parker, Lydia Hardy, and Hector Ayala?” A new voice entered. They turned to him and they see a bald Asian man in front of… An orange portal?
“Y-Yes… That’s us,” May stuttered out as she answered for her group, the rest a little stunned at the sight. Today may not get any weirder…
“I am Wong, a friend of Peter and Felicia’s. Your children are looking for you, please follow me,” he requested politely.
While May and Lydia were a little hesitant, Hector’s instincts didn’t give off any danger warnings.
“We can trust him,” he assured with a nod. Both ladies looked to him and nodded curtly at that as they made their way to the portal.
“Can… Can we join?” The voice of a teenage boy asked meekly. May turned to him, being ever so familiar with that voice. Ned Leeds, one of Peter’s oldest friends.
“Of course, Ned,” May approached the boy and hugged him.
“A lot’s happened over last few years… Which somehow went by instantly for us,” MJ nodded as she looked around the lobby.
“Yeah… That’s true,” Lydia agreed.
May, Lydia, Hector, Ned, MJ, and Betty all walked through the portal and were instantly transported to Wakanda. As they were walking, the teens updated the adults of the ‘battle’ that recently happened at the now destroyed Avengers compound, having read and watched the livestream on the news while on commute. Wong on his end, gave his version of events, but basically stated that all their children and friends were alive, which settled them. And well… They had to explain to Betty that yes, a number of her friends are superheroes (but she took that piece of news quite well).
Wong then led them to a specific cluster, and they all met up with Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne by a door. They had just arrived as well, and were going to pay Cassie and Harley a visit. Wong then knocked on the door.
“Come in!” A voice they recognized to be Peter’s said.
When the door opened, they saw Peter, Felicia, Cassie, Harley, and Ava. All of them were in their mid-20s already, and were even better looking than they remembered. A Latino man in his 20s was also there, who was assumed to be Ava’s husband. Then there was Kate, who looked exactly like how they remembered her, which meant she was probably snapped too.
And of course, the toddlers. May and Lydia could definitely tell which children were Peter and Felicia’s. Hector could tell which one was his granddaughter. Hope recognized Cassie and Harley’s son quite easily. And everyone could tell that Kate was interacting with the Parker twins.
“Well, we have some important guests to introduce you kiddos to!” Peter declared happily as he approached to hug May. It has been too long for him since he embraced May, so he was not going to skimp on that.
“Oh Peter,” May sobbed out as she reciprocated the hug tightly.
“Princess,” Lydia gave Felicia a watery smile as they embraced too.
“¡Mi hija hermosa! [My beautiful daughter!]” Hector called out as Ava barreled into him for a hug.
“Oh papa…” Ava sobbed out as her tears fell.
“Mommy… You really are back,” Felicia sniffled, her eyes brimming with tears as well.
“I missed you, May… So, so much…” Peter trailed as tears fell from his eyes. After their long hug broke, he noticed the three other guests. “Good seeing you guys,” he gave quick embraces to MJ and Betty, while he did his special handshake with Ned.
Harley then followed that and then did the same handshake as well.
Those gestures definitely warmed Ned’s heart that his best friends never forgot about him.
After the quick reunions, the toddlers were introduced to the rest of the guests. Hope was amazed at little Scottie. Everyone could tell that he was a perfect amalgamation of his parents, with the hair, eyes, and face shape.
Hector was enamored with the cute Ollie. She was such a bright and bubbly girl, a seeming contrast to Ava’s serious nature. It was rather obvious that Ollie’s good looks definitely came from her mother, but the grey eyes can somewhat be credited to Sam.
Lydia couldn’t get enough of Wally. The little boy was so endearing and was so intrigued by her. It didn’t take long for him to warm up to his grandma and allowed himself to be carried by the woman who was his mom’s mom. And the eyes… Somehow, Wally’s eyes beautifully emanated both his parents’ irises: Felicia’s emerald green eyes that shimmered like a dream, but also had Peter’s sparkle of genius.
And May… May almost let out another set of tears when Katherine May Parker said her full name. Like Scott and Kate, there was an unreal sense of honor for a child of a loved one to be named after them. And of course, she was incredibly emotional to hear that her grand-nephew had Benjamin in his name.
“Felicia was the most insistent of those names,” Peter told her.
“Yeah… There was no other choice in my head,” Felicia articulated with a small smile on her face.
“That’s amazing, sweetie,” May sniffled out.
Lydia then put Walter down and pulled Peter into a tight embrace.
“I take it you’ve been doing your best with her?” She asked hopefully of him.
“Of course, Lydia,” Peter answered as he tightened the embrace ever so slightly. “I’d always keep that promise.”
“Thank you… For being there, for looking out for her. For loving her… Thank you,” Lydia said sincerely as a few tears left her eyes. Relieved as well that someone was looking out for her daughter when she couldn’t. She always had a good feeling about Peter being in Felicia’s life.
Of course, Kate’s heart constricted a little at that. Felicia was living out the dream life she had always envisioned for herself. A part of her wished it were all three of them together but… The universe didn’t allow that.
Peter then gave her another hug. “You’re always going to be important to us… To me,” he whispered in her ear, and she melted in his embrace. He then excused themselves from the rest and led her and Felicia to the master suite of the cluster. “Kate… A good part of you would always be beside me on the couch in the old apartment. Hugging, laughing, dreaming about a future we have always wanted for ourselves. Young and in love.”
That caused Kate to begin sobbing once again as she tightened the hug. A part of her knew that Peter and Felicia had moved on. In a way, she admired that strength and resilience in them. However… Another part of her didn’t want to accept it. To Kate, not even a day went by, and all of a sudden, the boy she wanted to spend the rest of her days with got a new life.
And well, now that boy was a man in his mid-20s, while she was stuck waiting for her 17th birthday. At least no one expected her to move on so easily. Also, Peter and Felicia were being extremely gentle about helping her work through things.
“I… I don’t regret anything I did or the time I spent with you. And I’d do this all over again, even if I knew it would still end this way. Everything again, except hurting you in those times you never deserved it,” Kate whimpered out. “And I’d move on. Eventually, I’d find a way to carry on and endure. I’ll always wish you the best, but I’ll never forget you. Maybe I’d go looking for my soulmate at some point, but I really thought it was going to be you, Pete. You are my light, and your positivity kept me afloat. People like you come once in a lifetime, and I’m so sorry if there were times I took it for granted.”
Another pair of arms wrapped around them. Felicia leaned in to whisper, “We’ve always reminisced what we shared together, Kate. Again, you’re important to us, and you’re no footnote in anyone’s story. We’re so glad you’re back.”
Tony eventually woke up.
It was three days after the surgery. Everyone who was Snapped got somewhat acclimated with what happened over the last few years. Of course, a lot of shock and surprises awaited them.
“Wait… You got married!? To Sharon?!” Sam Wilson asked Steve, and the latter nodded in response to that.
“And you have a son now!? That you named after birdbrain and I over here?” Bucky continued as he gestured to himself and Sam. Steve rolled his eyes because his best friends just loved to insult each other, but nodded again.
“Hey! Watch what ya say, one-arm!” Sam countered. Steve just let out a sigh at that point.
“I’m just surprised that Captain Rogers is no longer a virgin,” Loki said plainly before drinking some mead.
“Loki, seriously, it’s only 7:50 in the morning,” Steve deadpanned.
“I know, I’m actually a little late with this. I normally drink it at 6:30 in the morning,” Loki shook his head in disappointment.
Steve, Bucky, and Sam all shot him incredulous looks.
Just then, Sharon entered the waiting room while carrying a napping Jamie. “Hey everyone. Good seeing you all again,” she smiled at them.
Sam, Bucky, and Loki all took one look at the little boy and concluded that yes, he was Steve’s son. Suddenly the little boy woke up and began looking at all the new faces. After some introductions, Jamie got to spend time with his Uncle Buck and Uncle Sam.
Loki though simply contented himself with lounging on the couch.
“Ah good morrow fellow Avengers!” Thor declared happily as he entered. He was carrying an elated Wally on his shoulders. “This little one is Sir Walter Peterson!”
Everyone else snorted amusedly. Up until now, Thor still believed that last names followed Medieval convention. Well, they still did in New Asgard.
It was rather obvious, from the name alone, that the little boy on Thor’s shoulders was Peter and Felicia’s son. He was like… A younger version of Peter, but had a few of Felicia’s features. Bucky instantly noticed the boy’s green irises, which were bright and prominent like the mother’s, but had that sparkle of genius that the father had. He quietly smirked, since he planned to tease Peter that his son would be better looking than him.
“Mista Thor I wanna piggyback too please!” Little Katherine May approached them. She really was like a clone of Felicia that had Peter’s eyes. Bucky gave a watery smile at the sight of her. Peter and Felicia did their best after the Decimation, but still wanted to honor Kate.
“Of course, Lady Katherine May!” Thor said jovially as Wally (surprisingly) vault jumped off of the god of thunder’s shoulder. Everyone else present was a little surprised by that… Until they realized that the Spider powers might be manifesting sooner than they all thought.
When Katie was the one on Thor’s shoulders, Loki took a good look, and could tell that she acted a little more like Peter than Felicia, but just didn’t want to be left out from the piggyback experience.
The rest of the young adults arrived, along with the two other toddlers, Scottie and Ollie.
“Mommy, Daddy look!” Wally said excitedly to Peter and Felicia as he was bouncing up and down and then…
He jumped up high and was sticking to the ceiling!
Everyone in the room gaped. They could not believe what they were seeing.
Well, Thor was rather jubilant. “Amazing, Sir Walter! What about you, Lady Katherine May?”
“Lemme try!” Katie said, and then she jumped up and was sticking to the ceiling as well!
“YAY!” The twins cheered together!
“Oh… Oh wow,” Felicia mumbled out. Things were going to get a bit more complicated at home. She could already feel it.
“They-They just turned three…” Peter stuttered out as he stared at the twins. While he and Felicia anticipated their kids having powers, it was just different to actually see them manifest. Now they have to deal with toddlers on the ceiling.
“Hey every- Whoa…” Bruce trailed as he caught sight of the kids showing off their powers.
“Well Mister Parker, you and your wife are going to be busy with a few other things these days,” Loki said wryly.
“What’s going… Oh…” Scott also trailed as he entered. Hope was practically too stunned to even comment on anything.
It just simply meant that one, none of them would ever get used to Spider-Man’s power set, and two, Peter and Felicia had a lot of work to do with regard to training their kids to regulate their powers in public.
Then Tony was wheeled out of his room, looking better already. And that was despite the cast on his right arm. “Okay everyone your savior is here-” He tried to declare loudly and smugly.
That is, until he looked up. “Okay uhm… Those are some powerful drugs you all administered… Because I’m seeing a mini-Pete and a mini-Felicia on the ceiling.”
“You must be Uncle Tony!” Wally waved while on the ceiling.
“Hi Uncle Tony!” Katie said cutely as well. That was followed by Scottie and Ollie also greeting the man.
Tony just had to pinch himself. Sure, a few years technically passed by… But now there were super toddlers crawling on the ceiling.
And he still wasn’t sure if the world was ready for that.
The following days, Tony finally met Morgan. And the man had absolutely no idea that he was a father until he saw the girl that Pepper was carrying. She had… His eyes and hair, but also Pepper’s facial structure. His daughter was beautiful as well.
With tears flowing from his eyes, he hugged her tightly, and promised that he would always be there for her from now on. No more Avengers more, no more excuses. Tony really wanted to make time as to being a dad. At least he had some practice with Peter and Harley.
Well, he kinda wanted to make time for his ‘grandkids’ too, in Wally, Katie, and Scottie. They are the kids of his surrogate sons after all. He was actually looking forward to that.
And he was so thankful he got to meet his daughter. He beamed brightly to Pepper, who was adorning a smile of her own. There was a certain pain to have missed the first few years of Morgan’s life… Which finalized his decision to retire from being Iron Man. He was definitely done with that.
Tony then shot an appreciative look to the young adults for having helped take care and raise his daughter. Especially his sons.
“I’ll never be able to thank you two enough,” Tony sniffled.
“Of course, Tony,” Peter gave a soft smile. They finally did it. Morgan got to meet her dad, and Tony can be a part of her life.
“Anythin’ for you, Tony,” Harley added, giving out a smile as well.
When Morgan went off to her ‘siblings’, Tony did have one question. “So… That suit you two made for me-”
“Endo-Sym based off the liquid metal nanotech we developed,” Peter explained smugly.
“Using extra Uru that Thor gave us,” Harley nodded, looking quite proud.
“Makes it incredibly durable. And since we upgraded FRIDAY’s code as well-” Peter continued.
“You included improved Asimov Protocols in her?” Tony finished thoughtfully. So that’s why the entirety of the suit formed a gauntlet, because it was to protect Tony from the worst of the radiation.
The brothers gave cheeky smiles as they waggled their eyebrows.
“You two are f***ing incredible!” Tony declared loudly and proudly.
Pepper, Felicia, Cassie, and Ava all looked at him in exasperation because all their kids were within earshot.
“Daddy, did you teach them that word?” Morgan asked, intrigued.
“Uhmmm…” Tony trailed.
“Oh, by the way, your sons taught your daughter her first word,” Pepper said, and that caused Tony to beam at her and then at Peter and Harley. However, the latter two paled slightly. “And it was a swear word. The one you just said.”
Tony blinked twice at that. “You mean to tell me that my sons taught my daughter how to swear? And as her first word?” He asked plainly.
“Yep,” Felicia, Cassie, and Ava said at the same time, with the ‘p’ popping.
“I… Am… So…” Tony trailed dangerously, and the ladies really thought that the duo was finally going to get what they deser-
“PROUD OF YOU TWO SONS OF BITCHES COME RIGHT HERE AND GIVE ME A HUG!” Tony declared in a yell as he extended his good arm.
Now it was the ladies’ turn to blink at that. Of course Tony would be ecstatic about his daughter being taught how to swear by his protégés. Why did they expect any differently?
Sam just ended up snickering at the exchange.
And of course, Peter and Harley embraced Tony tightly. Looking as smug as ever as well. Well, the relief washing over their faces was appa-.
“Bitches!” Morgan, Wally, Katie, Scottie, and Ollie all said as cutely as possible together.
Pepper, Felicia, Cassie, and Ava all looked to the kids with a mix of horror, shock, and dread.
Peter, Harley, and Tony all looked to the kids and blinked at them. Then they glance to their wives and see them giving exasperated looks. Sam was still snickering on his end (even after Ava threw him a glare).
“Just what I wanted the twins to learn,” Felicia said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. It was going to be challenging enough to teach the kids how to control their powers. Now, they had to contend with the swearing. Of all the things…
“Ditto Fee-Fee,” Cassie sighed out.
Pepper on her end just groaned. Peter and Harley really were Tony’s sons.
“Oh boy,” Ava was rubbing her temples.
“Well, at least it was Tony who taught them that,” Peter shrugged.
“Mmhmm,” mummed Harley.
“I take responsibility,” Tony raised a hand.
The young adults, their families, and the Starks all went to the lake house first. It was to let Tony be acclimated to the home his family had been staying in for the last few years. He found the place charming. And definitely big enough to accommodate the then teens when Pepper took them in. He didn’t think Pepper would have gone for the Antebellum style, but then usually, such mansions were big enough for large families, which was basically what happened when the former Young Avengers moved in with her.
Also, since the compound was destroyed, they needed a new place to build a new quantum time portal, so Pepper allowed it to be done in the estate. At least Hank Pym was willing to help and provide more Pym Particles, since the group brought him back to life and understood perfectly well of the necessity of clipping unnecessary branches in the timeline. He wouldn’t disclose the secrets of the particle just yet, but Peter could figure it out (if he chose to).
It took them no more than a day to be able to build another portal, especially since it was a smaller one. No need to build the one they used for the time heist, since the plan was to send one or two people return the stones. Peter, Harley, Bruce, Rocket, Hank, and Rhodey all knew what they were doing. Tony and Shuri were present because their curiosity took the better of them.
And Shuri respected the fact that Peter and Harley were now considered smarter than her. Well, they had years worth of research and tinkering to go along with alien tech and Asgardian Uru to build their repertoire. And they solved time travel, which she never did. Felicia and Cassie though believed Shuri simply conceded because she didn’t want to fight with the two guys she had a crush on.
Also, it was Peter and Harley who were going to return the stones, along with Mjolnir. They were worthy to lift the hammer, so everyone trusted them to do it. Plus, knowing that the brothers were going together on that mission eased everyone’s minds. They knew that those two would always look out for each other.
“Alright boys remember: The two of you have to return the stones at the exact moment we got them, or we’re gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternate realities from our timeline,” Bruce explained as he was pushing some buttons and turning some dials at the control panel.
“Yeah, the Ancient One was kinda stern about that,” Felicia added.
“No worries Dear and Jolly Green,” Peter chuckled as he lifted Mjolnir.
“Yeah. Clip all the branches,” Harley nodded as he picked up the special briefcase that had all the stones.
“You know…” Bruce trailed morosely. “When I had the gauntlet on, I really did try… Try to bring him back. I miss him, man.”
Peter took in a deep breath at that. Somehow, they all knew that Clint’s sacrifice was permanent. “We know Bruce. And we don’t blame you.”
“You know, I can always accompany you two,” Steve offered with a proud smile on his face.
“Easy Capsicle! They told me all about Madripoor!” Tony cackled. “You’ll just slow them down!” Then he began snickering like there was no tomorrow. That right there was one of the best moments of his entire life.
With that, Steve pouted and turned into a funny shade of pink.
“That was truly an amazing story!” Loki joined in, then began laughing hysterically.
Sam, Bucky, and Kate still could not believe that the Madripoor adventure (or misadventure) happened. When they first heard it, they were convinced that the former Young Avengers took a bunch of random storylines from Dan Brown’s novels, stitched them together, and then added embellishments. Apparently though, it was all true.
And Pepper was eventually brought in on it. Mostly because they deemed it safe enough for her to know. She did have a lot of words though, and that mission would always make her question any decision from Steve, Nat, or Rhodey. Just sometimes.
As Peter and Harley walked up to the platform, Kate did have to ask, “How long will that take?”
“To them, as long as they need,” Felicia answered.
“But to us, 10 seconds,” Cassie added.
Kate mouthed a ‘Wow’ at that. Her ex-boyfriend and his brother by bond figured out time travel. That’s pretty wild. And well, Shuri was a little jealous that they figured that out before her.
“Exactly,” Bruce nodded, though Sam and Bucky were still confused. “Ready boys?” He asked Peter and Harley, who nodded and called in their Quantum Suits. “Alright then, going Quantum in 3… 2… 1…” Then Bruce pulled a lever and the two of them were gone.
After a few seconds, Cassie counted down. “Returning in 4… 3… 2… and 1…” And Bruce pressed a button, then Peter and Harley came back.
“Okay, just saying that the Vormir guy was creepy…” Peter said in a drawl as he shuddered, and the suit disappeared.
“I’ll say,” Harley snorted. “He really was a ‘red skull’ and was freakin’ floatin’ er’body!”
“The Ancient One though… Kinda awkward that she asked us if we were the ones Strange traded the Time Stone to save,” Peter added.
“Yeah, I did have to mention that,” Felicia chuckled nervously.
“Saw that with my own two eyes,” Tony raised a hand.
“And the look on Thor’s mom’s face when we returned the hammer,” Peter chuckled.
“Man, I’m gonna miss that hammer,” Harley said thoughtfully. “But it’s Thor’s,” he shrugged.
“Still can’t believe you two can lift it,” Tony snorted. “But maybe I should have expected it. You two were meant to be the best among us,” he gave them a proud smile.
“Thanks Tony,” the brothers responded together.
“Wait… What do you mean you were surprised they lifted it?” Felicia asked, and Cassie followed up in agreement with her question.
“An enchantment was bestowed upon the hammer. Our father placed it there,” Loki answered as he gestured to him and Thor.
“Only those who are worthy can lift it. Worthy to be the leader and King of Asgard,” Thor articulated with proud smile to the two young men.
Everyone who didn’t know about that was slack jawed for a bit. Peter and Harley were worthy to rule Asgard?! And they didn’t know!?
“… So that’s what it means…” Peter muttered out.
“Yeah… Yeah, Champ…” Harley trailed.
“Wow…” was all that escaped from their wives’ mouths.
“So what of the Avengers then?” Steve asked as they all gathered for lunch by the lake.
“Well, there’s no compound, and I doubt they,” Natasha gestured to Peter and Felicia. “Would want the Hardy-Parker Tower to house the Avengers.”
“Let’s just put them in a mansion,” Tony offered with a shrug. When everyone looked at him curiously, he continued, “Look, even I don’t have any old storage facilities that we can convert to another compound. I know there are some old properties here and there that we can just purchase to house the heroes. All we have to do is renovate a bit. Besides, the world would still need superheroes here and there, plus the new teen team still needs guidance.” He then turned to the young adults, “Good on all of you for finding them by the way.”
“Actually yeah,” Kate nodded. “I think I’ll join the New YAs as well.”
“You sure about that, Kate?” Peter asked. “I mean, you’re still qualified to be in the main group.”
“I’ll stick to my age group first,” she chuckled out her response. “Physical age at least.”
It was weird how victims of the Snap didn’t age… Governments were trying to figure out how to deal with ‘resurrections’ and… New birthdates? There were some messes involved in reversing the Decimation on a date other than the anniversary of it.
“Seems like a good plan though,” Steve agreed with Tony and Kate.
After the lunch, there was a bit of a plan as to how the Avengers were going to continue. SI would purchase a mansion in New York and would place training facilities and labs there. It would be big enough to house the heroes, and even the teens when they were present on weekends to train.
Tony would never go on missions again, but his ‘new hobby’ would be tinkering in the lab of the superheroes. And somewhat help mentor Riri. Basically, he was going to kinda follow Steve’s playbook.
“And you all?” Tony asked the young adults.
“Ah you know, still keep inventing,” Peter gave a cheeky smirk.
“It’s what you suggested right?” Harley shrugged, but then gave a s***-eating grin.
“Go on missions when absolutely necessary, buuuuuut…” Felicia drawled, then they all looked at the kids.
“Someone’s gotta look after the super kids,” Cassie smiled the sight of the children playing together.
They all called their kids back. Everyone said their goodbyes for now. Then they all got in their cars.
And though they said that they would still go on missions where their skillsets were absolutely necessary…
Something told everyone that won’t ever happen again.
Somehow, some way… They all knew that Peter, Felicia, Cassie, Harley, Ava, and Sam all retired from the main Avengers group that day.
It was the end of their journey in that regard.
As Tony watched the cars exit the estate, a fond smile formed on his face. It wouldn’t be the last time he would see them. But the last battle they all fought together might have been the final one that the Avengers would have with the young team he brought in all those years ago. Maybe they would still have missions together as New Avengers, but they would never risk everything, like what they just did, again.
They kept the world safe when he gone. It was all he ever hoped for. He just didn’t expect them to exceed his expectations by so much.
“I hope they’ll enjoy retirement,” he blurted out mindlessly.
“I think they will,” Pepper agreed with him as she wrapped her arms around his waist. A part of her is relieved that her kids would never have to risk their lives again.
He looked to her, and then back at the exit. The cars were already gone. No doubt headed back to their home.
“They deserve it. All of them,” he continued, the smile still on his face.