𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑. ( 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 )

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍. regression of the mean

xiii. - REGRESSION OF THE MEAN
🕊 ↳ ˚ ✧ ☁️ ∵ ☽ ↶ 🕸 ✶
˗ˏˋ i just wanna have a good day ˎˊ˗

GREIF WAS A HEAVY WEIGHT TO BEAR. The day Tony Stark showed up at her apartment door with a freshly shaven face and sickly underweight- is a day she'll keep with her until her time comes as well. She'd never met Tony before then, only heard of the great stories and the praise Peter had for the man. She'd seen news casts of his expos and glamorous parties, she's done school projects on his company and his brand. The idea of Tony Stark wasn't new, but she'd never met him face to face.

It was global news when Iron Man went missing in space, less popular was the fact that Spider-Man had disappeared too. Half of the world population, reduced to ash in an instant. Jane had watched at Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones disintegrated in front of her eyes. Her two best friends nothing but piles of dust on her shoes, and Peter wasn't even on the planet.

She hadn't imagined her first time meeting Tony would be like this. Tears and grief, a sickly man attempting to catch her as she collapsed to the floor. A man desperately trying to hold himself together and find a way to tell this kid that he'd held Peter when he died. To tell this girl that Peter's last words had been about her, that he'd apologized to his soulmate in his final moments.

Peter Parker wasn't coming home to her. He'd promised he'd be safe, that he'd be careful and come back home. He didn't.

The first year proved to be the hardest. She graduated high school as Salutatorian, refusing to take the mantle after learning the student who'd won Valedictorian- Abraham from the decathalon team- had dusted as well. And every student who'd volunteered to make a speech, wasn't alive. It was an empty and hollow graduation ceremony. The celebration felt like a mass funeral instead of a monumental occasion of excitement. Parents of dead children invited to the event to be awarded a graduation cap, children with no parents left to celebrate alone, and an entire student body left to mourn half of their classmates who should've been beside them.

Jane gave a speech to the small class, reluctantly. It wasn't long, mostly just thanking the few she wanted to personally mention. Aunt May had survived the blip (as it had come to be called) and attended the graduation as Jane's guardian, seeing as Jane didn't have any clue to whether her dad was dead or dusted in some random state or country. Tony had also attended, and his wife Pepper Potts. Jane was the only student they knew personally, and it was only their second time meeting- but it felt right.

Jane thanked the Avengers in her speech, acknowledging their sacrifice to protect the world from an evil the common couldn't fathom. Despite the fact they'd lost, the fight was still valiant, a worthy cause to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. She thanked Spider-Man, who'd made her high school experience nothing less than exciting, and she thanked the fallen students and their parents for helping make this celebration feel whole- even though it was a lie.