Chapter Text
A few days had passed since they landed back on Earth, and everyone had gathered at one of Tony's new properties- a nice little cabin alongside a lake. Truth be told, Peter wasn't sure exactly why Tony had bought a cabin when they had Avengers Tower and the Compound, but it was a nice secluded spot, he'd give it that much.
The quiet was nice following the chaos of the past few weeks.
Immediately after they'd landed, Strange had left, explaining to Peter that he had to go (along with other sorcerers- someone called the Ancient One was involved? it was kind of confusing) and ensure the stones were in the right places and not in any more danger. Peter had just nodded along, trusting that they would figure it out better than he ever could.
He still felt like this was all a wild dream he'd wake up from- a dream where Thanos was dead and everyone was alive and not snapped away, and he was here with May and the Avengers celebrating their victory.
Of course, it wasn't all good. It'd taken him a few days to settle down from the high and realize the implications of him being stuck in a timeline that was almost two years behind his mental timeline.
He didn't look all that much older than someone starting sophomore year (which he was, in this timeline). But technically he was in the middle of junior year.
Even if he weren't thinking about having to relive a whole year and a half of school, there were so many other things that the earlier version of him hadn't experienced yet, at this point in time. And because he already knew about them, and the timeline had already been changed, they may never happen.
Take the Vulture, for instance. Now that Peter knew Toomes was the Vulture and he was Liz's dad, so many interactions between them wouldn't happen. Peter wouldn't allow a redo of the Washington Monument, because he already knows that ends badly; nor would he ask Liz out for Homecoming because he already knows Toomes is going to try and take off with the plane. And that took place at the end of sophomore year. It's only the beginning of sophomore year at this time. And you can bet he won't let Toomes collapse a building on him again... but that doesn't mean he won't stop having nightmares about it. About an event that will never actually happen in this timeline.
He heard the planks creak behind him as someone else walked out onto the dock. Peter himself was sitting at the very end, shoes off and toes splashing in the cool water. From the sound of the heartbeat and the gait of the person walking towards him, Peter knew it was Tony.
He continued to stare straight ahead as Tony settled beside him with a soft grunt. In the distance, Peter could hear the sound of the Avengers talking and laughing, and knew some of them were discussing the plan of Tony and Pepper's wedding that was supposedly being planned. He felt a little bad about not socializing, but he needed a quiet place to really think about his thoughts.
This whole plan had saved the universe, sure, but it'd placed Peter a year and a half ahead of his time, potentially ostracizing him from his peers and completely fucking up his mental timeline.
Did he really regret it, though? After saving the universe from who knows how many years of grieving over friends and family? No. No, he didn't really.
There was a soft knocking as Tony rapped his knuckles against the wood of the dock, shaking Peter out of his thoughts.
"Hello? Anyone in there?" his mentor teased slightly. "Are you talking to the skulking astral form of the wizard in your head or as he fucked off to somewhere else?"
Peter snorted, making a sound for the first time since he'd been sitting out here. He turned his head slightly to face his mentor, who was surveying him with a raised brow and piercing eyes, despite his light and teasing tone.
"Mr. Stark, he was never in my head, it was just his astral form following me around. He was never tied to me; he could go wherever he pleased and he never got tired either, so he was spending the time while everyone was asleep looking for solutions. He did find one- he's talking to his present-time self about it, but he was talking about how he'd finally found a spell to merge two astral forms into one so they could coexist in one body."
"Mm," Tony said noncommittally, critically surveying his mentee. They sat in the comfortable silence for a few more minutes until Peter spoke up again, voice soft and carried by the cool lake breeze.
"He says that's what happened to me, by the way." the teen said, looking over the water.
"Come again?"
"To me. The past version of me disappeared when I showed up at the airport battle. Strange said something with the stone caused our astral forms to merge together, and past Peter's form disappeared when that happened." he paused. "That should have been a movie plot, imagine that happened in Back to the Future..." Peter trailed off, ignoring the slight protest from his mentor at yet another pop-culture reference. "All I know is that he's right about us merging; I can feel the shadow of a presence in the back of my mind."
Tony eyed him. "So, are we talking about DID here, or...?"
Peter shook his head. "No, not split or multiple personalities. We're not fully merged yet, but we have been over the past couple of weeks. When we fully do merge, it won't make a difference, because I experienced everything and more that past-Peter experienced anyways."
Tony knew he was being logical, but there was still a pang in his chest at the thought that they'd lost a Peter- even if he wasn't lost per se- it still felt like a failure to him. The loss of a Peter who could've gone on to do something amazing (not that this Peter wasn't capable of anything he set his mind to).
Peter drew in a breath and released it. "It's hard, Mr. Stark," he admitted, not used to voicing his worries but needing someone to talk to after all the crazy shit his mind went through. "I've experienced things that haven't actually happened here yet. I'm two years- well, one and a half- ahead of everyone- as Spider-Man and as Peter Parker. And yet those things won't happen since I changed reality."
"For the better." Tony reminded him, ignoring the knot in his stomach that reminded him that nothing was ever easy for Peter. Even if it was for the better, that wouldn't stop the mental suffering the teen had to go through.
"I know," Peter said softly. "And I don't regret it."
Despite the pain in his voice, the unfairness of this all, Tony knew he meant it.
"But... what if I slip up? Say something that never happened even though it was actually really big in my universe? Liz's dad..." he hesitated, and Tony rested a hand on the kid's shoulder (a bit awkwardly, but he was getting better at it).
Peter sighed. "Dr. Strange offered to wipe those memories, you know," he said quietly, and Tony's not sure why his heart clenched in his ribs. "He knows what it's like since he's merging with his present form, too. And apparently his present form was in the car crash a lot more recently, so his hands are still, well..." he sighed again, silent for a couple of minutes.
Tony didn't try and fill it for once; he knew the kid needed to say something, "But as much as I'd like to never have nightmares about the Vulture, or the Ferry, or the Washington Monument, or the warehouse, or the dusting- or-or anything, I know I have to have them. Each experience taught me something new, y'know? Made me who I am today. And I was going to have to learn those lessons in some way, I just..." he broke off, and Tony brought him into a side hug (a less mushy-mushy hug than a normal one), neither saying anything for a while.
"I get it, kid, you don't have to explain." he said, even if he knew he would never 'get it'. Only Peter and Strange could ever understand the true effects of what they'd gone through. But he could try to understand, at the very least. The two sat there, at the edge of the dock in amiable silence. Peter broke it again.
"Thanks, Mr. Stark," he said quietly, and Tony smiled.
"Anytime, kid," he replied, and then hesitated. He wasn't sure if the news should come out now, or later, given the conversation they just had. But Peter caught on.
"You wanna say something?" he asked mildly. Not condescending, not pushy, just... open. Peter was like that. Tony huffed out a laugh, figuring they could use a little levity following the heavy conversation.
"Yeah," he said. "How would you like to be a big brother?"
Peter's eyes widened comically and he gaped. "May is going to have a baby?"
Tony snorted and couldn't keep the amused smirk off his face. "No kid, don't worry. Pepper and I. Are planning to have a kid. Relax, you don't have to worry about your aunt's sex life." he half-teased as the kid's face screwed up in disgust at the mental image. "Or mine," he said pointedly, and he found Peter's face even more hilarious because, well, how else did he think they were gonna have a baby?
Peter couldn't stop his disgust from showing in his squinted eyes and gritted jaw. "That's disgusting, Mr. Stark."
Tony snorted. "Oh please, you're a high schooler, you've heard worse than that. Frankly, the news has heard more about my sex life than-"
"Just because I've heard worse doesn't mean I want you trying to go break that record," Peter said blandly.
Tony snorted. "You know me, records were made to be broken."
Peter sighed and shifted closer to his mentor, both of their legs splashing water at each other as they sat together. An amiable silence fell over them until Peter spoke.
"Thought of any names yet?"
Tony nodded. "Yeah," he admitted.
Peter squinted up at him when he didn't say anymore. "Are you gonna elaborate or leave me hanging like this?" he asked. "I mean, I know I'm Spider-Man; I'm not quite that accustomed to that type of hanging, but I can swing with it if you want," he said, grinning, and Tony laughed again, this time warm and deep.
"You're going to be a bad influence on your sibling with those jokes," he said. When he got no response, he looked over to Peter, who looked a bit shocked.
"My sibling?" he asked, carefully, like this was illusion and he didn't want to shatter it. "Mr. Stark, are you... are you sure?"
Tony could hear the hidden meaning behind those words. Sure, he'd asked at the start of the conversation whether he'd like to be a big brother. But this solidified it, made Peter a part of the Stark family. The kid had lost three out of four family members, and that made him scared to get close to people for fear that his Parker Luck would fuck that up. He didn't trust himself with the idea of another person so young and vulnerable. Fortunately for him, Tony disagreed.
"Yeah, I trust you kid." The flash of emotion that overcame the kid's face made Tony's chest tighten and he dismissed the feelings the best way he knew how: humor. "Though you may have to drop the Mr. Stark; it'd be kind of pathetic if both my kids called me the same way the reporters do. How am I supposed to figure out who's calling my name?" He was teasing, of course. He wouldn't mind if Peter started calling him Tony; in fact, he's certain he'd like it. But at the same time, Peter's manners were one of the things that made him so unique; hearing Peter say anything but 'Mr. Stark' would be a jarring shock for anyone.
Peter just shrugged with a small smile. After sitting in the quiet for a couple of minutes, Peter, being the talkative teen he was, decided he needed to restart the conversation and he prompted Tony: "So... you were saying about a name?"
Tony nodded and closed his eyes, allowing the warmth of the setting sun to bathe him in yellow light. The golden haze behind his eyelids contrasted starkly to the inky, cold cosmos that littered his nightmares. He let out a breath, content to sit with the warmth of his kid and the promise of another child on the sweet-tasting wind.
Smiling once more, Tony allowed the name that fit like a lost puzzle piece in his dysfunctional family to roll off his tongue.
"Morgan."