Earth to Peter
“Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
“Yeah maybe if Temple of Doom was never invented.”
“If Doom was never invented, then they’d have room for an actual good movie.”
“Harrison Ford heard that, and now God will judge you for it.”
Peter Quill and Peter Parker had been at this for hours. They took the normal route of getting to know somebody and completely flipped it. Before even knowing each other’s likes or dislikes they had nosedived straight into the personal stuff. Surprisingly that stuff was not half as controversial as their conversation now. Beforehand they had bonded over their irregular upbringing, childhood traumas, excessive flashes with death, etc. Quill lost his mom at a young age, Peter lost his parents. Quill was half god, and Peter was some degree spider. And while they were both adopted by someone known to their family, Peter Parker’s had been a bit more… continental. Their stories were not mirror images by any means, but it was nice to have someone who understood the heavy weight of being irregular.
Moving on from the dense topics is where the rift started forming. It was all making sense as to why Star Lord thought “Footloose” was the best movie in history…. Because he has terrible taste. In fairness, his knowledge of cinema did take a sharp dive after like 1985, where movies like “The Matrix” or The Lord of The Rings trilogy would have surely changed his ranking----But seriously, who ranks “The Thing” over “The Shining?” Peter was starting to wonder if maybe he could find another way home.
“Mikey, I like to think of myself as an educator, of sorts. Taking those without common sense under my wing.” He paused and mouthed ‘DRAX’ dramatically. “---So I’ll do you a solid. I have The Terminator on an old school VHS tape, and I will be your gracious guide into the realm of good movies.”
Peter opened his mouth to protest his definition of ‘good’, but Quill was quick to continue. “I know it’s scary… coming from such mediocrity to the world of the greats but you’ll thank me when you’re older.”
“We’re on a flying spaceship after the most historic battle in the Universe, and you want to watch a movie that can’t crack the top fifty of best movies?”
“Call it training. We’ll start with the basics and work our way up.”
Peter laughed at that. The tensions were high then, but Peter really didn’t realize how much he liked Quill on Titan. He was self-assured, that one was obvious, but he was also insanely funny and while he used kid nicknames (Peter had some problems with calling him ‘Mikey’… that was the lamest goonie!) he really didn’t feel as though Quill treated him like a kid. Like someone younger, sure, but also like someone who could handle his own. It was refreshing after having his every step questioned as to whether he was old enough to ride the superhero ride.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to fit all this in one back-to-Earth trip.” Peter laughed. Although truthfully he wouldn’t mind skipping movies like Footloose.
Quill didn’t laugh with Parker. Instead he got an unfocused glaze in his eye and his eyebrows scrunched as if in deep thought.
“What if…” He started, forming his words carefully. “---you stayed? Not forever of course, but I mean there’s a whole wide universe out there. We’ve got a room, and food, and all that essential stuff. This is probably what, your first time in Space?”
Peter nodded. He’d only ever been out of New York itself once, when Mr. Stark took him to Germany. And that hadn’t exactly been a ‘vacation’ kind of trip.
“Exactly! There’s plenty of other planets, and plenty of time later in life to spend on Earth. Everybody will still be there when you get back. I could teach you how to pilot a real space ship. You know, see the stars, live a little. ”
Peter was speechless, which was a rarity. On the one hand, he was being offered a once in a lifetime (if even so lucky) deal. Travel the universe with Star Lord and his gang. At first he thought he could see things like Saturn’s rings, or the moons of Jupiter----and then he realized that was barely scratching the surface. There were entire planets, and solar systems with people like Drax or Groot on them, and Peter could explore a whole new side of life. New customs, and food, and ships, and all the while traveling with some pretty cool people. And thus far, he had only been gone for what, like a month? He was sure the people back home could do without him for another. They’d still stop at Earth, and Peter could explain his reasoning with proper goodbyes and be back in thirty days having achieved the unimaginable. If he was being completely honest, he wasn’t quite sure when he’d want to slide the mask back on anyway. This could be a nice getaway.
On the other hand, he had missed everyone greatly. For him it had only been like two (ish) days away from home, but even still he felt the gap in his life like a missing limb. He missed May, and Ned, and hell, he even kind of missed school. Maybe it was normalcy he was longing or familiarity with the people around him, but he genuinely could not wait till they reached Earth. He especially missed Tony, but since he still hadn’t heard back from FRIDAY about Peter’s message he’d been trying to think less and less of Mr. Stark. What if he really did want nothing to do with Peter now? Maybe he wouldn’t care if Peter accepted the offer.
“I---“ Peter started, abruptly cut off by three distinct beeps from the overhead.
“That’s the system telling us we’re close.” Quill explained, stretching before getting up to head for the cockpit. He held a hand on the door out, and froze for a second too long to be normal. “You don’t have to answer now, just… think about it.” He said, moving so that he was now out of sight. “And think about your Indiana Jones rankings, I’m giving you a second chance.”
From there, Earth was on the horizon in twenty minutes. Quill started playing some old school Rock that Peter vaguely knew the words to, and Peter experienced the weirdest sensation of breaking through the atmosphere to Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky”. It felt like a lifetime ago since he last saw the green of Earth, and an even longer time since civilization as he knew it. As he neared the ground, his heart rate was picking up speed with excitement and he couldn’t think of a way to calm it----or even if he wanted to.
Rocket had given them coordinates to follow that took them far past the extents of Peter’s geographical knowledge. They clearly weren’t headed towards New York as skyscrapers became a thing of Peter’s past, and as they neared a large expanse of rock, Peter had mere moments to say his prayers before the expected collision------ only to be met, once again, with life. He really had to start trusting fate with the number of times he’d falsely run in with death.
“Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Quill joked, and Parker had to physically remember to close his mouth after the initial shock. This place was beautiful! It was both innovative with towering buildings, and a clearly bustling hub while maintaining its natural evanescence surrounded by lush mountains. Life moved below them, and yet was unfazed by a flying saucer above. If Peter was a betting man, he would guess this to be Wakanda, the place the Blank Panther was from. Tony visited occasionally after the events in Germany, and he would always come back with some new idea for his suit in the back of his mind, the latest being nano-technology. The suit was impressive, but with Peter Parker getting a good look at its real birthplace, the suit was kind of a understatement to possible greatness.
They parked the ship in one of the rolling plains outside what Peter would guess to be the city. There was an amphitheater of sorts that held a wide variety of people. People lounging outside, underneath the canopies, and others walking in and out entranced by conversation. Peter couldn’t see a single person alone in the wide sea of bodies, and quickly he understood with a sickening clarity that nobody wanted solitude after the week they’d had.
Quill was the first to exit, followed by Drax, Mantis, and eventually Peter. Despite being noticeably smaller than others in his party (Drax), he couldn’t help but crane his neck to see as much of the crowd as he could. Both because Wakana was so ethereally beautiful and because it theoretically was where Tony Stark would be. Theoretically.
Before the guardians could even make it to the entrance, they were recognized.
“The return of the A-holes!” Rocket, or so Peter assumed (how many sentient raccoons were there anyway?) announced. He was walking casually towards the group, but his friend, Groot he would assume from the numerous times he’d proclaimed it, rushed forward and caught the Guardians in a tree limb hug. “I am Groot.” He said.
“Yeah, yeah, you big mush ball.” Rocket said when he reached them. He crossed his arms, and rather than joining the hug just scowled at the embrace. Even Peter, who had known this guy for less than a minute could tell his pride was the only thing stopping him from hopping in. Luckily, Groot seemed to sense that as well. A single branch extended towards Rocket that he immediately accepted, and thus the Guardians were reunited. It was a touching moment.
Peter was happy for them, he really was. He and Quill had gotten pretty personal on the ride back, and he knew how much these people meant to him, and it was clear Quill was happier now than ever. But watching this family reassemble only made him miss his own more.
The thought vanished when a man who Peter could only assume as Thor entered the party next. Even if Peter had no prior information, if he had been living under a rock for the past sixteen years, he could still deduce the word ‘god’ just from looking at the man in front of him. He was a hulking mass of intimidating muscle, blonde, sun-kissed, cropped hair, and an objectively handsome face. Vaguely Peter remembers when Quill described Thor as ‘not that good looking.’ Yet another thing they’d have to agree to disagree on.
“Morons!” Thor called gleefully. He greeted the guardians like friends despite his contradictory words and Peter spared a glance at Quill who was rolling his eyes so hard that Parker wasn’t sure if they’d ever return to normal. “You have made it back to Midgard!” Thor hugged the Guardians same as Groot, but something about his godly presence made it all the funnier. If Peter were to see him in battle, or hell even just on the street he’d probably be very acutely scared of this man. I mean, his bicep alone is bigger than Peter’s head! But right now, as his smile almost extended ear to ear Peter felt like he was watching the goofy big brother he’d never had, but immediately loved.
“And you’ve brought a smaller moron!” Thor added when he finally saw Peter in the queue. Peter opened his mouth to respond----only to realize he didn’t know how to. It was becoming more and more evident that Thor had the wrong definition of moron.
“P-Peter.” He said nervously, holding his hand out. Thor rejected the outstretched hand and instead went in for a hug just as he had with the others. It felt like being hugged by a warm transformer made entirely from muscle----but like, in a good way.
“Peter!” Thor responded. Clapping a hand on his shoulder when they broke apart. “Welcome.”
“So what happened?” Quill asked in an unusually deep voice. Peter did a double take to see if maybe Quill had fallen suddenly ill or something, but other than the fact that he was puffing his chest out he seemed same as usual.
“Thanos has perished!” Thor laughed then, and Peter could swear the ground rumbled with him.
“Yeah, we got that part. But how’d it happen?”
“That is a long story that I shall share over the festivities tonight. It took a year but we have triumphed, reversing Thanos’ curse.”
He’d like to blame it on his sluggish senses, but the reality of what Thor had just proclaimed hadn’t quite set in with Peter as it had with the others.
“What the fuck?” Quill was quick to question, overshadowed by the “A year?” from Mantis, and “the fool!” from Drax.
A year. It had been a full length year since Peter had left Earth. Since Peter had left life, even. 365 days, where Peter Parker just did not exist. A year where half the Universe simply did not exist, and a year till it would be whole again. What about the half that survived? Possibly people like May or Ned who Peter never got to say goodbye to, and spent the year assuming Peter would never come back. And Tony----- god, Tony who was stabbed before the snap, and watched as Peter fell had to fight for a year longer than his stamina probably wished. Peter had finally gotten over the initial shock of seeing the Norse god in person, and he didn’t mean to be rude, but Thor, Rocket, and Groot’s faces were not the ones he wanted to see right now. It had been a year since he’d been home.
“Yes, a year. Did I get that correct? Three Hundred and Sixty Five of your human days is a year? I tend to confuse that with century. Captain Roger’s metallic brother was none too pleased.” Thor looked off in the distance as if he could see a memory there, and then shook his head as he continued to speak. “And where is your green friend, guardians?”
“Gamora, Thor. We practiced this.” Rocket interjected. Thor replied hastily with “Ah yes, Rabbit! Gamora.” And Groot, yet again made sure to announce “I am Groot.”
“Groot’s right, if she’s looking for Nebula, that chick left already. You’d think after all the times I held back from killing her, it’d be worth some recognition but no--- when she arrived she didn’t say a damn word to us, and left a minute after.”
Rocket crossed his arms and huffed, looking up at Quill where he should expectedly be replying with some tame explanation of why their friend wasn’t at the reunion party.
Quill’s eyes never left the ground.
“Gamora is dead.” Drax answered, sadly. “Thanos traded her life for the soul stone’s.”
A weight settled in the group as the news set in. Groot was brimming with tears.
“I am sorry to hear that.” Thor replied in a morose tone. “You have my deepest sympathy. Losing family is very difficult.”
Rocket still seemed to be processing. “But we got the gauntlet. Everyone who died came back----- Gamora should have come back.” He continued to stare at Quill as if he could explain the unexplainable. Peter remembers this feeling from the night of Uncle Ben’s murder. The desperation for some small sliver of hope, no matter how outlandish the explanation. The impossibility of never seeing a face you once saw daily, and the hurt of knowing you’d never see them again. He wanted to console Rocket, but immediately got the impression that being coddled was the last of the raccoon’s wishes.
“This was before the snap. Gamora took Thanos to Vormir. We caught him on Titan. I was too late.” Quill answered in such a soft voice, Peter strained to hear him.
“I am Groot.”
“I agree. We’re the goddamn Guardians, we can’t accept this!” Rocket’s voice was wavering, but his confidence was coming back in steady increments.
“It’s death, genius. You don’t get to decide which ones are legit. Gamora is dead.”
“I am Groot.”
“Well, no we haven’t gone to Vormir. We kind of disintegrated a couple of minutes after our tango with the grape dick-head.”
“I am Groot.”
“Really, you too?”
The Guardians were quickly losing themselves in their own conversation, going back and forth about who did and didn’t get claimed by the reckoning and what the fastest passage to Vormir was. Clearly not necessary for this part of the conversation, Peter dipped out stealthily.
Every face that passed he searched, and while in reality it was only a few seconds, it felt like a lifetime. No one here he knew. Some people he could name by popularity alone, like to the left of the entrance was The Scarlet Witch and The Falcon, and he and Thor had just exchanged pleasantries but no one possessed the face he was looking for.
So he strayed further from Quill & co. as an idea popped into his mind and he slipped into the thicket of the surrounding forests. He was back on Earth, with a proper signal now and whether Mr. Stark was in New York a million miles away or next door, Peter’s message should reach him as his own user now. As silly as it sounded, he still didn’t want his Spider-man secret to leak so he continued through the forest until he could hear no sound from the city.
When he was positive he was alone, he slipped the mask on once again, and waited for Karen to boot up. It was no face-to-face reunion like he’d dreamed of, but it was a start.
“Welcome back, Peter.”
Peter greeted Karen back.
“You have seventeen missed messages.”
“Seven---- what? From who? When?” The screen lit up in response----and Karen was being generous. The seventeen messages were just the voice ones from today. There were over a hundred in general varying from missed calls to detailed texts and Peter felt a surge of pride shoot through his veins. Mr. Stark was looking for him! He didn’t hate him, or wish he’d never met him, but was actively still caring about Peter Parker.
He couldn’t help but smile as he said “Karen, call-----“
But the message would never go through.
At that very moment, Peter’s name was called from somewhere other than his mask. And without having to take it off, or ask the voice to repeat, he knew exactly who it was. And for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, he could say he was home.
“Mr. Stark!”