Chapter 2
They have to repair the ship, first. It takes a few days. Quill mutters about raccoons and gods (‘Ditch me for a God-Pirate? Fine! I’ll fix the ship myself!’), in between worrying about Gamora, which perplexes Peter and makes Drax and Mantis laugh. Dr Strange’s cape hovers by Peter, inspecting him for injuries.
“How did they do it?” the boy asks. Dr Strange only smiles.
The cloak shifts a bit in what may be a laugh. If cloaks can laugh, that is. Frankly, Peter wouldn’t be surprised.
He wonders what’s happening on Earth. He hopes that everything is fine, and that the planet has not exploded. He imagines tears, lots of them. He didn’t see Aunt May in the weeks (months? years?) they were trapped in the field. She must not have been dusted, but he doesn’t know if she’s alive. Anything could have happened: her building could have been destroyed, the weird Squidward-looking guy could have killed her. Or she could be sitting in their apartment, waiting for him to get home. Peter holds onto that hope desperately.
He tries to help with the ship, although he doesn’t fully understand the alien tech. The Other Peter tells him that it’s okay, that he’s got Drax and Mantis to help, and Dr. Strange, when he’s bothered. Mantis nods vigorously.
Drax says, “You are very puny, young one. It is fine.”
Peter says, “I’m a fast learner.”
Big Peter shrugs, and tells him to help Drax with the wiring. It’s long and tiring work. Peter’s fingers are sore and his back aches, but he keeps going. He imagines going home, seeing May and Ned and even MJ. He imagines them hugging, and shaking, and laughing. He keeps adjusting the wires.
Eventually, they’re done. Big Peter claps him on the back, saying, “Well done, kid.”
Peter smiles. They shuffle onto the ship to sleep.
They don’t know where Gamora is. It’s impossible to tell if she even came back, because she wasn’t dusted in the first place. Quill convulses with nightmares on the first night, so Mantis has to help him sleep.
Quill says, “Mantis, I’m fine. You sleep.”
Mantis tells him off, and says, “We need you to pilot this ship. I can sleep tomorrow.”
Peter gets the nightmares, too, but he says nothing. Quill’s are probably worse, and he doesn’t want to drag Mantis away from him. He turns to his right. Draw is lying flat on his back, unmoving. His eyes are open. He doesn’t notice Peter looking, even as Peter sees the tears lining his eyes. He shivers, feeling as though he’s invading something wildly personal. He turns onto his other side and tries to go back to sleep.
He dreams of Ned, and it’s a good dream. He sees them sitting on Peter’s bed, laughing. The Force Awakens is playing on a laptop which is perched on Ned’s knees. Peter lays his head on Ned’s shoulder.
“I missed you,” Dream-Ned says. He turns his head so his mouth is in Peter’s hair. Peter reaches for his hand.
“I’m sorry,” Peter says. “I love you.”
On the screen, Han Solo dies. Ned turns the volume down.
“This part always gets me,” he whispers.
“Yeah, me too.”
Dream-Ned sits up. Peter lifts his head and watches him. Ned’s eyes are full of something he can’t identify. “By the way,” he says, voice soft, “I do. I love you, too.”
Peter wakes up, and he’s crying. He’s not sure if the tears are happy or sad.
They do some final checks to make sure there isn’t any damage. Big Peter starts talking about finding Gamora. Dr Strange watches him with an unreadable expression.
He says, “We’ll find her. But Earth is where we need to be right now.”
Big Peter says, “How do you know? I don’t–I’m the one who lost her! I–I–Fuck you, man!”
He storms off. Mantis starts to go after him, but Drax shakes his head. It’s almost imperceptible.
“I want to find her,” she whispers. Sometimes, Peter regrets his super-hearing. He’s always accidentally eavesdropping. It makes him feel intrusive and uncomfortable.
“We will,” replies her companion. “But I think the caped man is right. She could be anywhere in the Galaxy. Finding someone who knows where she is: that’s what is necessary right now. Starting with Terra, because these–these humans have family, too.”
Mantis takes his arm, and starts to cry. “I am sorry,” she says. Her antennae droop.
“Do not be,” he mutters. They sit there for a moment, tears silently dripping from Mantis’ face, her hand on his shoulder.
Eventually, they go and find Quill. They’re gone for an hour, voices muttering quietly.
Dr Strange says nothing when Quill returns and punches in Earth’s coordinates.
It takes barely an hour for them to return. The ship is far better than it looks.
In an attempt to cheer Quill up, Peter voices this.
“Well, little Peter,” he says, “it is my ship. Of course it’s amazing.”
Mantis shoots him a grateful smile. For what, Peter’s not sure. He’s not done much.
When Earth appears in the window, Peter nearly shouts with glee. It hasn’t exploded, at least.
“Where do we–where should we land?” he asks the room in general. Nobody replies.
“I–I’ve never been anywhere on this planet but Missouri,” says Big Peter. “I don’t know where anything is.”
Dr Strange looks thoughtful. Finally, he says, “Wakanda. We land in Wakanda.”
Peter nods. For a moment, he starts to fly downwards.
“Wait,” he says, suddenly. “Where is that?”
They have to wait for someone to okay their ship before they land in Wakanda. It takes a while, but it happens. Somebody must be here that knows the Guardians, then. Peter feels his heart refill with hope. He watches as land approaches, and wonders. He’d heard about Wakanda on the news, he’d met the king, but being there was completely different. It’s his technology dreamscape. He laughs a little when Drax expresses his admiration of how advanced Terrans are.
Peter laughs. “Nah. That’s just here. Everywhere else is far more, uh…” He searches for a word.
“Backwards?” offers the Other Peter.
“Yeah, I guess.”
They land in front of what must be the palace. Several people are waiting for them, including a raccoon standing on its hind legs and their sentient tree-friend–Groot. Drax shouts with joy. Mantis grins widely. Peter cheers. Even Dr Strange looks relieved.
Soon enough, the door is opened. Groot runs at Drax, who catches him in his arms. “Hello, little friend,” he says. “And hello, Rocket.”
Rocket grins. They all return it.
It takes only a minute for the mood to drop. Groot says, “I am Groot?”
Rocket looks stricken. Peter shakes his head. “We don’t–we don’t know where she was, when… she wasn’t–we don’t even know if she came back,” he murmurs. Groot shakes until Drax lets him down.
“I am Groot,” he murmurs. Peter looks away, because this is unbearable. He walks with the Doctor towards the other people who have appeared. The Captain, and War Machine, and Scarlet Witch file out of the door. And then comes Mr. Stark. The noise his mentor makes when he sees Peter is unbearable.
“Kid,” he says, chokingly. Peter starts to run without thinking about it.
“Mr. Stark!”
It’s the first time he’s ever hugged Mr. Stark properly. He feels something wet on his shoulder, but doesn’t comment.
“You’re okay. Oh, God, kid. You’re so grounded, you’re not leaving your apartment until college.”
Oh. “My aunt,” he says, “is she–?”
“She’s fine,” Tony says, releasing him. “Her, and that little friend of yours–Ted, Ned, I don’t know, they’re safe. I made sure.”
Peter can’t find the words to express his thanks. Tony claps him on the back. “It’s okay. We got you.”
He looks to where Dr. Strange is whispering with War Machine. “That guy, he saved us. He sent the Time Stone forward, when Bruce first warned us of Thanos. We used it to–to stop him. You’re safe–you weren’t ever really dead, just trapped in the soul stone.”
“Really?” Peter asks.
“Yeah, kid. You’re alive. You’re fine.”
He’s stuck in Wakanda for two days, for Medical Exam after Medical Exam. He meets T’Challa’s little sister, the one he said was a genius tyrant. Shuri’s the most awesome person Peter’s ever met. She shows him her tech, which is beyond insane, and then she ropes him into pranking Thor, which goes as well as one would expect. Which is to say, they get to Thor’s rooms to set it up, and accidentally walk in on him making out with the Hulk. Peter goes bright red and mutters apology after apology. Shuri laughs in his face, and orders another Medical Exam so he can’t go home and avoid the embarrassment of ever seeing either of them again.
He calls May, on the first night. She cries. So does he. Hearing her voice again is the best feeling in the world.
“I’m coming home,” he says, “I promise.”
She says, “You’d better. You’re grounded for the next century.”
He laughs. “I missed you,” he says, “so much.”
“Me too. Don’t ever do that to me again.”
On the day he’s finally cleared to go home, he goes round and says goodbye to everyone. The Scarlet Witch hugs him hard and tells him to believe in himself. Bucky Barnes claps him on the shoulder.
He says, “You’re strong, kid.”
Peter turns red. Thor shakes his hand firmly and Bruce Banner tells him to swing by the labs so he can show him some of his experiments. Peter almost faints with joy. Mr. Rhodes says Peter is too young for hero-ing but tells him he’s a good kid anyway. Shuri high-fives him and T’Challa calls him brave. Even the Black Widow smiles at him when he wishes her goodbye.
He says goodbye to the Guardians last. They’re sitting together discussing which planet Gamora could be on. Each wish him goodbye and smile at him gently.
“Bye, little Peter,” says Big Peter. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”
“I will,” he whispers.
Dr Strange vanished days ago, so Peter doesn’t go to find him. Instead, he climbs onto the plane. Happy is sitting there, smiling. Peter isn’t sure he’s ever seen Happy smile before. He feels as though he’s flying. He actually is flying. He’s coming home. The thought bubbles through him until he’s giddy with it. He is fat with the excitement, though he says little. He watches the window, each second bringing him closer to home. It’s a Wakandan plane, which means it’s faster than most, but it still feels like the time is trickling by. Impatience begins to replace the excitement, until Peter has to start a conversation with Happy to keep himself distracted.
And then finally, finally, the car pulls up outside his building. Everything looks so normal, as if nothing had ever happened. He passes into the tiny lobby, and ascends the stairs at a run. He knocks. The door opens. He falls into May’s arms. He’s home.
May grounds him into the next century. (“Climbing onto a random spaceship without telling me? I thought I raised you better than that!”) MJ laughs at him.
She says, “You’re a loser, but life is much less interesting without you,” which makes Peter smile so hard his cheeks ache. Ned hugs him harder than he’d ever been hugged before.
“I thought you weren’t going to come back,” he murmurs.
“Hey,” Peter says, “I’m here. I’m back.”
“I’m never letting you leave a field trip to fight aliens again,” is his response. Peter laughs. He feels so impossibly tired, and lost. They all sink onto the couch. The first channel that shows up is the news. May makes to change it, but Peter shakes his head. The anchor is talking over a video of a spaceship landing in Wakanda. As she disappears, the footage expands to show the door opening slowly, and an alien approaching. Peter can’t shake the grin that spreads across his face as Gamora descends from her ship. She’s back. The Other Peter runs into the shot, and they embrace, before the footage cuts away. He sends a text to Tony. Tell Gamora hey from me.
Mr Stark doesn’t reply, but Peter knows he’s seen it. He sinks back and lets his aunt choose some terrible rom-com for them to watch.
Ned stays the night. They stay up, neither of them wanting to sleep. Peter can’t shake the feeling that if he sleeps, he’ll wake up back on Titan, or back in the stone, alone again. So they stay up, watching the Star Wars sequel trilogy and whispering. They perch the laptop on Ned’s knees. Peter lays his head on Ned’s shoulder, and smiles softly.
“I missed you,” Ned says. He turns his head so his mouth is in Peter’s hair. Peter reaches for his hand.
“I’m sorry,” Peter says. “I love you.”
On the screen, Han Solo dies. Ned turns the volume down.
“This part always gets me,” he whispers.
“Yeah, me too.”
Ned sits up. Peter lifts his head and watches him. Ned’s eyes are full of something he can’t identify. “By the way,” he says, voice soft, “I do. I love you, too.”