ʟᴏꜱᴛ ᴄʜɪʟᴅʀᴇɴ || 𝟙

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 2

"Where did he upload the footage from? How many people know?" Peter demanded, frantic, as he swung in, quite literally, into the private Stark helicopter that hovered above his old apartment building while May was whisked off by private personnel the moment the news had been broadcasted to the whole of New York.

Who was he kidding? With social media, the whole world knew he was Spider-Man now.

"We're trying to track it now but he must have gone through several routers and he's protected it with so many firewalls that it's the digital equivalent of the Great Wall of China. The tech division is pummelling it with everything they've got but we're still coming up short." Happy replied, flicking a button that automatically redirected the chopper back to the newest Avengers Headquarters, the machine whirring only slightly as the technology began to take over the controls, flying them out of Queens.

"Is there any way to stop this?" Peter collapsed into the nearest seat, guilt weighing heavily in his chest like an anvil, recalling how he had left MJ in the uproar and the swarm after the Daily Bugle exclusive and his face was plastered on every screen in the immediate area. 

"Well, we can say the footage is fake, that's easily done, we just have to recover the original footage from EDITH when it was in Quentin's possession. Your identity on the other hand... if I'm being honest kid, it's not looking good for you. Jameson has had it out for you ever since you started slinging webs and monkey swinging all over town," Happy sighed, scratching at his salt and pepper 'Blip Beard'.

𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴.... 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆?  Peter grumbles to himself. 

WWTD. That was the first thing that Peter asked himself. What Would Tony Do?

Even the thought of his old mentor brought a lump to his throat and he could feel the familiar tears, shed many times over, burn behind his eyes. He thought he was over it, what with his hero's face being plastered, graffitied, painted and honored on every surface or wall around the world, but every time he looked at the blazing white light in the center of the red and gold suit, he was transported right back to the battle.

--

To call the final battle against Thanos chaotic would have been an understated blasphemy. For Peter it had just been a blur of  punching and kicking and freaking out over the fact that he was battling actual, real-life aliens. All he remembered was collapsing into Tony's arms as slowly, his body desiccated and was swept away, joining the soil of the Titan's former home.

He had woken up on the ground, Dr Strange taking charge, seemingly calm for someone who had just been erased and brought back to existence, five years of his life gone with a snap, barking out orders whereas the rest walked around in a daze.

"It's been five years, come on, they need us!" he had said before doing what Peter could only describe as the "yellow sparkly thing", opening up a portal from the deserted planet that spat them right back to Earth, literally seconds before the battle ensued.

Through all the fighting, swinging and web slinging, the only thing keeping him on his toes were his enhanced senses, ridiculously intuitive and upgraded suit. After tugging off a Chitauri soldier that was ready to slice Tony in two, he was immediately enveloped in an unexpected hug. In the aftermath of the battle, he replayed the look on his mentor's face, something akin to wonder, bafflement and the clearest, although strangest of all: love.