Chapter 1
After the snap, the whole world seemed different. While everyone came back, no one was the same. People in Peter’s class were now adults. The city looked completely different. The whole world now knew about space and aliens. Tony Stark had a daughter. Tony Stark died.
Peter still hadn’t really come to terms with that last part. He refused to go into any of the labs. His suit hadn’t been touched since. He had only been back to the tower once or twice. Everything just seemed to be one big reminder that Tony was gone. The only thing he could still bear to do was visit Pepper and Morgan at the lake house, and even that took a lot of coercion from Pepper (and Morgan’s puppy dog eyes).
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The snap had affected almost all of the high school. A lot of students found it difficult to wrap their head around the idea that they’re family and friends had lived a whole five years without them. But no one was affected as much as Peter was. On the outside, he became quiet and reserved. He stuck to the back of class and never really said much, a dramatic change from his old happy and eager self, but it was worse than that. Only MJ and Ned knew the full extent of it. Only they knew about the panic attacks, the paranoia, the PTSD, the constant re-living of the moment where Peter watched Tony, his mentor, his father-figure, die right before his eyes in order to save the universe. Peter kept this part of him hidden. No one knew what truly happened to Peter Parker.
Midtown Tech, in an attempt to raise their student’s spirit’s, decided to book a tour at Stark Industries. It will be good for the kids to see the company that almost single-handedly rebuilt the city after the war. Right?
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It was a normal Monday morning. Peter was quiet as usual, so no one noticed him freeze up and his face go pale after their field trip announcement. Well no expect MJ, who silently grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
The week leading up to the field trip seemed to drag on. Peter was beyond nervous. This would be his first time back in the labs since, well you know. He pleaded with May to stay home, but she insisted he go, claiming he needed to cope and that maybe having Ned and MJ there would help.
He tried to go about class normally. Stick to the back, stay quiet. No one noticed when he disappeared from class. No one knew that Ned found him in the bathroom twenty minutes later, struggling to breath from a panic attack.