Chapter 1
It was a bright sunny day. It didn't seem like a day for funerals; the rest of the world was celebrating and yet here they were.
Peter liked to think that the sun shined this brightly because it remembered everything good the person that died had done and the better the person was, the more beautiful the day was. He liked to think that way because he remembered though vaguely that it had been a warm day when his parents had died and he remembered clearly, as though it was yesterday that the sun was shining brightly too when Ben had been buried.
But now, here, he could see the flowers, hear the birds chirping and other little woodland creatures going about happily.
The lakehouse was like a sanctuary, untouched by the rest of the world and he wasn't at all surprised that Mr Stark would be the one that owned a place like this. He could imagine the life he had had here, how happy he must have been.
He could easily, too easily, imagine the little Stark and her father playing around here, carefree. He could see Mr Stark in everything around him and hell if that didn't hurt.
He exhaled.
Five years. He had been gone for five years. To be fair a lot of the people present there had been gone too but that didn't really make things better now, did it?
When he had reappeared, Dr Strange beside him, ((because he hadn't had a smooth arrival like the others. His body reassembling had hurt more than it disintegrating - he could still feel the phantom pain deep in bones and he was scared if the next gust of wind would end up with his ashes again.)) he had known that it had been a while since the last time they had been on the red planet.
His memories had been blank in that moment. To be frank, he couldn't even remember his own name then.Kid? Underoos? Spidey? Penny? Parker?Pete? Ben? May? MJ? Ned? Tony? Peter? Peter. Peter Parker. Peter Benjamin Parker. Peter Benjamin Parker.
On the battlefield, when he had seen Mr Stark, he had felt so relieved - finally something familiar - and he had ranted because he was being stared at in disbelief and because he knew that he didn't remember something and maybe Mr Stark could help because sometimes, when things didn't make sense, normally Mr Stark could help him understand it but then he hugged him for the first time and Peter's mind went blank.
He hadn't thought that this would end with him staring into his hero's dead eyes. Afterall, wasn't Iron Man invincible?
No, that wasn't right. Peter had never thought him invincible. Before Iron Man even existed, Peter had already been a fan of Tony Stark - Genius, Billionaire, Philanthropist. Then Iron Man came around and he knew he would never stop idolising him.
Meeting him had been surreal. His hero had come to life. The person who had said never to meet your heroes had obviously never met Tony Fucking Stark.
It wasn't supposed to end like this.
But then again, this wasn't the end, was it? It was a beginning. A sad beginning but a beginning none of the less and he knew that he couldn't think otherwise becaus Tony had fought, had given up his life so that he and million others could have this beginning.
"Peter." The familiar voice made him pull his gaze away from the lake and he offered a half-smile and a thanks to the other boy as he accepted the beer.
Harley and him had spoken several times before but it was the first time they had met face-to-face and both of them desperately wished it had been under other circumstances.
As soon as they had caught sight of each other at the beginning of the wake, they had stuck to each other both needing someone who understood them, who understood the loss of their father-figure.
"You were there with him, weren't you?"
Peter took a long swing from the bottle. He didn't feel anything.
"I'm not sure if I wish I wasn't." There wasn't space for lies in that moment.
"I wish I had been there." Harley said and Peter knew that had the boy not been snapped, Harley would have been fighting alongside them all in the Iron Lad armor.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I was able to see him, that I was with him I'm his final moments. But the vision of him...like that...I don't think it will ever leave me."
He downed the rest of his beer in one gulp wishing that it would make him feel something, that it would numb the pain but his enhancement wouldn't let it.
At times like this, he cursed the spider and himself. Had he not been at Oscorp that day, he wouldn't have had to go through this pain all over again. He was becoming more and more sure that the Parker curse did exist but at the same time there are things that he had been through after the bite that he wouldn't trade for nothing.
Even though, the didn't talk much after that, the companionship they got from each other was more than enough.
Harley had been snapped too. He had been in his workshop working on his armor because even if Tony had offered to make him his, he was a mechanic and he could build this.
The fact that this was a test so that he could prove that he was capable of this, to both Tony and himself was something he would never admit.
Abigail had been with him; she didn't understand the E of engineering and even she would never say it but she liked seeing him work. They were close siblings, closer than other, brought together from their parents being away. Their father having left and their mother working all the time.
His snap had been painless physically. He has felt wierd and only had the time to utter his sister's name before he vanished.
When he came back, nothing had changed except for the layer of dust that now coated everything.
He had been disoriented and had stumbled back to fall into one of his many projects. His sister had heard the noise and come to investigate.
She had screamed and cried when she saw him and once he recognized the twenty-one years old girl that was supposed to be younger than him - not older he had cried too. He had cried until until the feeling of desperation left him, leaving behind only anger at who had done this and had the fight not already been fought, he would have finished his armor and went a few rounds with the purple dick.
Anyways, Abigail told him that their Ma had been driving when the first snap had happened and she was hit by a car that had lost its driver. She was going to be sent to foster home having no one left but their father had showed up apparently having only then realised how precious they were once he had lost everyone important in his world.
When Tony came back to Earth and recovered, one of the first things he had done was to check on the Keeners. He had offered to take in Abby but she had refused and preferred to stay with his father. She promised to call him if she ever needed anything. Tony had relented but had bought the house while his sister went to live with their father.
Apparently, she and his father had become close and "He's changed Harley!" but Harley was still mad at him for abandoning them. Abby had been too young to remember that but he did. He remembered how his mother had cried silently when she thought he wouldn't hear her and he remembered being a social outcast because he was the kid that not even his own blood wanted.
Maybe it was true that he had done his redemption but Harley was not going to forgive him and he sure as hell wasn't going to live with him until he got used to how things were again nor was he going to live with his sister and her boyfriend as a guest in the house that used to be his.
He had hugged his sister, promised her to stay in touch and had taken a one way ticket to New York. He had come with not even the beginning of a plan, firstly planning to get through the funeral but Pepper, Goddess that she was even in these hard times (and because his sister was a snitch) had invited him to stay with them.
He had fully intended to refuse but she had told him that it would give her something to do instead of just mourning and he would be able to help her with Morgan. The deciding point however had been when she assured him that he wouldn't be intruding because Tony had had a room built for all of his children.
The boys were both bought out of their thoughts once they heard the soft patter of feet on the docks.
Harley had already met the littlest Stark and although she had given him a heart attack when she called him her brother, he quickly grew fond of her.
"Morgan hey what are you doing here?" Harley asked, his voice going soft.
But the girl ignored him, her attention completely focused on a certain spider. "You're Peter, aren't you?"
That finally broke Peter out of his daze. She looked so much like her father. He met her eyes and immediately had to stifle a sob. They were the exact same eyes as her father's.
He felt Harley's hand on his knee and finally remembered to reply to the little angel. "Yeah, yeah I'm Peter."
"Where were you and how did you come back?" He felt Harley's hand on his knee tense up, he grabbed it and started drawing circles with his thumb.
"Why-why are you asking me and not someone else here?"
"Because you are one of my brothers and because you were at the fight too!"
Now, it was Peter's turn to stiffen up and Harley squeezed his hand.
He sighed and turned a thankful smile to the older boy. "Harley, would you mind going to tell Pepper that this one is here with me before she goes mad with worry?"
He knew a dismissal when he saw one and he also knew that it was important that they had this conversation alone.
And by the look of Morgan's face, she knew what he was doing as well and he didn't mind at all.
"Why do you think that she won't worry more when she knows that her daughter is with you alone." He teased, walking backwards away.
Peter, being the very mature person that he was, stuck his tongue out while Morgan giggled at the exchange.
As he walked away, he heard Peter asking her if she'd like to sit down.
His mission of finding Pepper to inform her was easier that he thought as she was above the docks, ducked out of sight with Happy but close enough that they could hear the conversation happening between Peter and Morgan.
Harley didn't say anything but smirked at them which did the job.
Happy groaned as quietly as he could knowing that Harley would never let this drop.
Pepper on the other hand seemed guilty. "I'm just worried. Morgan doesn't fully understand what's happening now but she knows something and well she saw Peter earlier and asked about him. I knew that she would go to speak with him at some point and-and well I hate that I'm leaving this for him to do but he was also a genius child that had to go through that loss at the same age as Morgan. If anyone could explain things to Morgan, it would be him."
"Pepper-Pepper." Harley placed a hand on each of her shoulder. He had rarely seen her so frazzled. He smiled at her to show her that he understood. "It's alright and I know that while it may be difficult for him, Peter would love that he can help."
She still looked guilty but they settled to listen to the conversation.
"-and you came back but now Mommy says that Daddy is gone and he's not coming back. But if you came back then why can't he? Did I do something wrong?"
Pepper bought a hand to her mouth and slumped against Harley. He didn't know what to say so he didn't.
"Oh no sweetheart. Don't say that and don't think that or your father might just break the laws of the universe to come scold you."
She giggled a bit sadly. "He would do that?"
"There's no doubt about it." Peter laughed but he sighed. "Obviously you know me and I'm assuming that your dad told you about me, what did he tell you exactly?"
"Just that you were my brother and that you were gone very very far away and couldn't come back. Also that you are Spider-Man. He told me stories about your adventures together. You're my favourite hero after Iron Man."
Peter's voice was rough when he spoke again. "Well you have excellent judgement. Iron Man is the best hero in the universe."
They didn't hear anything from Morgan but Pepper could easily imagine her beaming at her brother.
"Anyways, what you don't know about me is that my mom and dad went where your dad is now too. I was the same age as you actually when they went away."
"Why did they leave us?" She asked in a small voice.
"C'mere." Peter muttered. "You're a smart girl, I have no doubt that you're a mini genius like your father was so I need you to listen to me very carefully and understand what I'm going to tell you, okay?"
He paused for a moment, probably waiting for the affirmation from Morgan before continuing. "The fact that your dad left is not your fault, just like the fact that my parents left wasn't my fault. I had no one to tell that to me and I blamed myself for the longest time but you have me and I'm telling you and I'll keep telling you until you believe it, it's not your fault. Your dad loved you very much and he would have loved nothing more than to be here with you and watch you grow in the wonderful woman I know you will become and even if he is not here right now, he is watching over you and your mom and everyone he cares about and he still and will forever love you so so much."
Pepper closed her eyes. Even if she still felt guilty that she had let Peter be the one to do this, (he shouldn't have had to. He's still a kid himself. He shouldn't understand death better than her. He shouldn't be the one having to explain to his little sister that their father was dead.) She knew that she had made the right decision when she heard Morgan started crying.
She wasn't full out bawling but it was little sobs and it meant that she was finally understanding and that she was finally starting to mourn.
"But-" Morgan hiccuped. "But why did *they* have to go and why now? Why didn't Uncle Steve go, he's older than Daddy!"
Peter sighed. "Tell me something. Have you ever gone exploring in the forest?"
She seemed confused by this change of subject but still answered the question. "Daddy and I used to go and we would bring back flowers for Mommy."
"And when you choose the flowers, which one do you usually take?"
"Dandelions, lillies, marigolds, roses all the most beautiful ones!"
Peter hummed. "Your dad was a great man. The best the ever was. If he was a flower, I think he would be the most unique and beautiful rose, with a golden stem with its sharp thorns and the most vibrant red petals ever."
"It would look so pretty.", She said excited of the idea of her father as a rose. Then. "Oh. It's because he's the most beautiful rose that he was taken first."
"Yes but that doesn't mean that he has left us. As long as you remember him, as long as you love him, he'll live on. I don't doubt that you're his greatest love Morgan and I don't doubt that he found a way to be watching over you - over all of us right now. What he did, what happened was cruel like many things in life are but it was necessary. What he did, he probably did thinking that at least you'd get to grow up and live a happy life so honour that."
Pepper didn't hear the rest of the conversation, preferring to walk away, letting them have this moment to themselves. Peter had done what she had expected of him and more.
Listening to him talk to Morgan made her heal slightly too.
He had been right afterall. Tony was watching over them. He had to be. He wouldn't leave them all alone.
And with Tony's three kids - Harley which was Tony's in his walk and his talk, Peter that was Tony in his kindness and recklessness and beautiful little Morgan which was so much of her father she would neven end listing the similarities - her three kids, she knew she was in good hand, she would be alright.
They would all be.
Peter looked up as she adjusted Morgan in his lap. He could almost see Mr Stark smiling softly at the sight of them together and hugged his sister tighter.
He would make him proud.
He would protect her with his life.