He hadn't been on patrol all that much. Just putting on the suit made him think of Mr. Stark and while the suit gave him a unique feeling of being close to his mentor, it also made him miss him tremendously. It all depended on the particular day. Some days putting on the suit would help. It would make him feel part of something bigger, would make him feel like it would make Mr. Stark proud if he carried on with the fight, that he'd approve. He would feel strong and patrol his neighborhood like he knew Mr. Stark would want him to. And what else was there left for him to do?
Other days - and more often than not - when he would put on the suit, hoping to strengthen that bond to his mentor that was slowly fading away. But putting the suit on would just reinforce the loss he felt. The certainty that Mr. Stark wasn't there anymore to guide him, to talk to, to help him figure out what kind of a superhero he wanted to be. What kind of a man he wanted to be.
He'd spend the latter days just sitting on the edge of a building somewhere. Anywhere he could see Stark Tower from would do to torture himself. He knew it wasn't Stark Tower anymore but he didn't care. In his mind, it was and would always be.
He was lost in his thoughts when his senses flared up. He considered ignoring them but there was still a stubborn righteous part of him left, the part that knew he had to help the city. That it was the right thing to do. He found the scene without any difficulties. Two men seemed to be trying to use some kind of magical device to break into an ATM. They apparently had no idea what they were doing though and since he wasn't up for a chat, he swiftly tied them up and collected the device before he left them at the scene.
He swung himself back up to the rooftops of Queens and came to a halt a couple of blocks away from where he had left the burglars. He took off the mask to rub his face and slowly turned over the device in his hands, studying it, trying to read the inscription. He felt the familiar disturbance of cosmic energy behind him before he even had time to turn and see Dr. Steven Strange step out of his portal.
"I'll take that."
"What, not even a 'hello' from you, Strange?" Peter turned the device over in his hands. He had no idea what it was and no way to store it. Nowhere save anyway. He pursed his lips and chucked the thing over to Strange who caught it with ease. "Once again, leaving the dirty work to other people and showing up in time to reap the rewards, are we..."
"Peter..."
"That's Spider-Man to you, Merlin."
Strange sighed deeply. "It's normal to feel angry. I understand."
"You don't understand shit, Strange. You've demonstrated that for everyone to see."
Strange tilted his head the tiniest bit to the side, the faintest shadow of a pout appearing on his lips. "It was the only way."
"Fuck you." Peter spit the words with as much vile and force as he could muster. "I don't believe you."
Strange fell silent, his stoic face screwed up to what one could almost call "sympathy", maybe pity.
"You really think I believe that with all the choices made in the whole of the universe it would only leave us with give-or-take 14 million possibilities? There are more people in this state than there were possible future outcomes you decided to look at. Let's be honest: You found one and you chose to just go for that one, the first one that would kill Thanos because you didn't care what would happen to Mr. Stark in the end." He fell silent for a moment, fixing Strange with a stare. But the man didn't even have the decency to look ashamed. "It was quite impressive, how you played us, you know." Peter sniffed, then rubbed the back of his hand against his nose. "I mean you did warn us, didn't you. That you wouldn't hesitate to let either of us die for the greater good. It's almost impressive how you made us believe that Mr. Stark was the key to victory when all you needed was a sacrificial lamb." Peter's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "I saw you." He swallowed deeply. "I saw you motion to him before he went for the glove. You egged him on."
"Peter, there was no—"
"Shut up!" Peter took a step towards him, fists clenched. "And stay shut up. I know what you did and I don't give a fuck what you say. You think you were so clever, finding the only one way out." Peter shook his head slowly, dropped his eyes, staring at the ground. "He should have never tried to get us back. He should have left us where we were."
"You know, he'd never want you to even think that."
Peter's eyes shot up at him. "Fuck off, Strange. He didn't deserve this. He deserved so much better than this. And whatever magical hell hole you end up in one day, I hope you'll have plenty of time to contemplate the choices you made, because Mr. Stark won't be around to get any of us out of the next deep shit hole this planet will end up in. Earth has lost its best protector because you were fine with sacrificing him on the altar of who-gives-a-fuck. Don't expect me to do anything about it the next time you want to rant about the fate of the universe. I've seen first hand what giving up your life for the greater good looks like now."
With a swift motion, he pulled his mask over his face and backed off to the edge of the building with a couple of swift steps. He jumped without looking, leaving the wizard behind on the rooftop.