I Know You
An hour later the five of them were wheeling their suitcases across the pavement of the private Stark industries airport a few miles outside of New York City. The private jet was ready to go and waiting for them on the tarmac. As they approached a broad shouldered figure exited the plane and moved towards them.
Peter’s heart sank as he recognized Happy’s gait as he approached them. He didn’t know if he would be able to bare spending sixteen hours with a Happy would couldn’t remember him. Stealing himself, he strode up to Happy and shook his hand. He was still wearing his suit, but he had removed his mask. If they were successful then Happy would remember him soon enough anyways. “Good to meet you.” Peter said with a smile that felt only a little forced. “I’m Spider-Man.”
Happy paused before shaking back, scrutinizing Peter in a way that made him shift uncomfortably. “Hang on.” Happy said. “I know you.”
Peter’s heart leapt in surprise. “You do?” He asked tentatively.
“Yeah. You were the guy at May’s grave, around a month ago.” Happy said. And something in Peter sagged. He’d been so hopeful, but no, of course Happy couldn’t remember him.
“Right… yeah, I remember you.” Peter said as he lugged his suitcase into the underbelly of the plane. The others quickly stuffed their suitcases inside too and followed Happy and Peter up the steps into the actual cabin of the plane.
“I’ll be piloting today.” Happy said, his attention focused on Peter. He put air quotes around piloting, explained when he added, “The plane will do everything automatically though, I’ll just be there to step in if anything happens to go wrong.”
As soon as they were on the plane Tony made his way to the back, wrapped in his scarf, clad in sunglasses and a baseball cap. Peter could only hope Happy would be too preoccupied to notice him in the back corner of the plane.
Peter sat on the opposite side, Peter 2 coming to sit beside him and Peter 3 and Gwen sitting across from them.
“Alright this flight is going to be about 16 hours and 21 minutes. Should be relatively clear skies the whole way. We’ll be landing on top of the northern most mountain, and it’ll be a four hour hike down into the valley, so I’d suggest you get your rest along the way.” Happy said over the loudspeaker. “Please remain seated throughout the flight unless you need to get up to use the restrooms. Sit back and enjoy the ride.”
The flight was largely uneventful, almost disappointedly so. At one point, a good twelve hours into the flight Peter woke from the nap he’d been taking to go to the bathroom. The others were all asleep and when he got back Peter 2 had shifted so that his shoulders and up were all mostly in Peter’s seat. Peter sighed and stared at him, trying to decide if he should move Peter 2 and risk waking him or simply move to another seat.
Before he had made a decision Happy’s voice made him jump. “Who is he?”
Peter turned to look at Happy who was nodding to where Tony was sleeping in the corner. “Uh, he’s like a- a mentor of sorts. He’s been a big help to me ever since I was bitten by that spider and gained these powers.”
“You got your powers through a spider bite?” Happy asked, taken aback.
“Yep.” Peter said with a laugh. “That’s why I’m Spider-Man.”
“Spider-Man has been around for such a long time, but you- you’re a kid. Was there another Spider-Man before you?” Happy asked, walking towards the cockpit.
Peter followed along behind him. “Well I- uh- I blipped in 2018 after Thanos, you know… but yeah I’m the only Spider-Man you’ve seen on the news.” It technically wasn’t a lie. But it still made Peter feel bad. He knew Happy was trustworthy, but he was still apprehensive. But perhaps this was a good opportunity for him to try and get someone who he knew in his past life to remember him without any spell. “Happy, there’s something I think you should know.”
“It’s about Tony isn’t it?” Happy asked abruptly and Peter froze.
“What?” Peter glanced over his shoulder to where Tony was still sleeping with his hat over his eyes. He quickly returned his gaze to the cockpit control panel Happy had seated himself at so as not to be suspicious.
“Oh nothing, I was just thinking. Pepper said you were there… when he died. And I know you fought along side him and you were at his funeral, so I thought that maybe you were going to tell me that you were with him when he died.” Happy said gently.
Peter shook his head. “No, I- well yes, I was there when he died, but no- I was going to say I know you were close with May Parker before she passed. And so was I. I mean, obviously you know that since you and I met at her grave. But I… well my name’s Peter Parker.”
“Peter Parker.” Happy breathed. “Parker. You were… you were her son?”
Peter shook his head. “Not quite, she was my aunt. But my parents died when I was little and she raised me practically my whole life. She was the only parent I really had growing up.” His voice cracked it but there was nothing he could do to stop it. It was too late, he’s plunged too far into the well that was his emotion- his grief- and there was no taking it back now.
“You’re a kid.” Happy exclaimed. “I’m sorry about her, you know I am. But who are you living with now?”
He shrugged. “I’m living on my own.” He stole himself and said, “How did May die?”
Happy faltered. “I- what do you mean?”
“How did she die? I- what did they say happened to her at the funeral?” Peter asked. “I couldn’t be there.”
“I’m not sure.” Happy said slowly. He shook his head and then said, “A building collapsed on her. My apartment building.”
“How?” Peter asked. “How did it fall?”
“I- I- it, she, I don’t know. It was some freak accident.” Happy said shortly.
“Oh. I’m sorry. It’s just that no one would tell me anything and I had to know what happened to her.” Peter whispered.
He spent the rest of the flight in the copilot seat, headphones clapped over his ears to match Happy’s as they checked everything and prepared the systems for landing. They landed without a hitch. Happy clapped Peter on the back as they got to their feet.
“Thank you, Happy, for everything.” Peter said. He knew Happy wouldn’t know it, but those words encompassed more than simply this trip. Those words were for Germany and the Netherlands and London. For everything Happy had ever done for him and May. He took in a deep breath and said, “Be ready to take off at any moment. We have no idea what state we’ll find Wanda in, she may react hostilely to us.”
He nodded and Peter turned away, popping off of the plane and skipping all of the steps down to the ground. True to his word they were on top of a mountain. The trees were tall, so tall in fact that Peter could not see down to the valley below. Within minutes the others were out of the plane too and standing at Peter’s side. He turned to Tony and asked, “Do you have your suit?”
Tony flashed his expensive looking wristwatch and said, “Of course I do, kid.”
“Okay good.” He spun in a slow circle, making eye contact with each of the others. “As soon as we’re out of Happy’s sight line, suit up. It’s an eighteen mile walk down this mountain and into the valley. I don’t know about you, but I’m not in the mood to walk for four hours. Mr. Stark how about flying down and the rest of us can swing down.”
Tony nodded. “I don’t think my body could handle walking down anyways, I’m getting too old for this shit.” He said with a laugh.
“Oh please.” Peter said. “Steve had you by nearly fifty years and he still ran a marathon every morning.”
“Kay first, twenty miles, not a marathon. And second, that man was so stubborn that even if he became an old frail man he would keep running everyday out of spite.” Tony replied as they began their long journey down the mountain.
Peter rolled my eyes. “I hate the fact that you’re probably right.”
It took them less than five minutes to get completely out of the view of the jet and then they were swinging from tree to tree as Tony flew beside them.
About an hour into the journey, Peter felt the energy around them shift. It was like entering a bowl of jell-O. It was hard to breathe and his movements were sluggish and took a considerable deal of effort. “What the hell is that?” Gwen asked from just ahead of Peter as she began to experience the same thing.
Tony had stopped short of entering the dome like force that was generating this oddity. “Perhaps it’s best for me to wait here.” He suggested. “It’s Wanda’s first line of defense. It can detect anyone who enters and if someone who makes her feel threatened enters then it can force everyone out without more than half a thought on her part.”
“How do you know that?” Peter 3 asked from Gwen’s side.
“Because FRIDAY- my suit’s AI is detecting the same power readings that were around Westview when SHIELD called me in to help them. They thought that my presence might be seen as someone trustworthy to Wanda. It was quite the opposite though. I do not think she would react any differently to my presence here.”
Peter 2 nodded and looked to Peter for confirmation. That was when he noticed that they were all looking right at him. It was weird realizing that somehow in all of this he had been given the position of leader of this group, all of whom were older than him. He supposed it made sense in that it was his mess that needed to be cleaned up, and therefore he should be the one to call the shots. Even so, it was bizarre and rather nerve wracking for him.
He inhaled deeply before making the call. “Okay, we’ll go on without you. Let’s do comms though first.”
“Right.” Tony said and pulled several little earpieces out of slot that had materialized in his suit. He tossed one to each of them before placing the last over his own ear. “Testing, testing, this is Tony. Passing it off to Pete.”
“Testing, testing this is Pete.” Peter 2 said. “Gwen.”
“Testing, testing. Gwen, going to Parker.” Gwen said with a smile as she glanced to Peter 3. He smiled back as he repeated the test. Peter followed suit.
“Alright, everyone good?” Tony asked. Everyone nodded. “Okay good. Good luck.” The last bit was said as he made and held eye contact with Peter.
Peter took another deep breath. They had no idea what they were walking into. This could turn into a massacre if they weren’t careful. He needed to quickly access Wanda’s mental state as soon as they found her so they would know whether to try and reason with her or just abort the mission altogether. At least they could be certain that she was here. She would not keep this area so avidly shielded if she wasn’t somewhere within. Peter wondered if she had taken note of their presence within the boundary yet as he called out, “Let’s go.”