Spiderman Stories

I'm Proud Of You Kid

"What the fuck!" Peter cried out. Mysterio was dead but his last trick had been to reveal Spiderman's identity to the world. Peter closed his eyes and shook away all the thoughts of what could happen next.

He then opened his eyes and looked up at where the screen had been. He gasped at what he saw.
"Stop messing around kid, I need the suit," Tony, the real, flesh and blood, Iron Man suited Tony, said.
It's a trick. It has to be, Peter thought to himself.
"I need the suit Peter. Nothing you say will change my mind. Come on, hand it over," Tony said as he stepped towards Peter, but Peter stepped back. Instead of looking at Tony, he turned and looked over the water.

An orange ferry, sliced down the middle and held together by Tony's robots and some loose spider webs, was swaying calmly on the surface. Rescue boats were surrounding it and great billows of smoke were rising up from it. In that moment, Peter knew when and where he was, but he didn't know how he got there.
"Enough of the moping kid, just hand over the suit," Tony said as he placed his hand on Peter's shoulder.

Peter felt it, panicked and pulled away.
"Peter?" Tony asked in worry as he looked into Peter's eyes. "Are you feeling ok?"
"Mr... Stark...?" Peter whispered as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Yeah, it's me kid. What's going on? Are you hurt?" Tony asked as his voice became soft and gentle.
"I'm sorry," Peter whispered and Tony became deeply concerned. More tears were forming in Peter's eyes and he looked scared. He looked very scared, as if his life was being threatened.
"What's going on Pete. Have you been injured?" Tony asked again. Had Peter been injured while dealing with the ferry and he was only now feeling the effects? Had Tony not noticed?

Peter nodded softly.
"Yes," He replied. Peter had been badly injured, many times, and now Tony could make the pain go away. He could make all the pain go away. "Tony," Peter whispered before he slowly walked forwards and embraced his mentor.

Tony was taken aback and he stood frozen to the spot. Peter was different: the way he had spoken, the words he had used and his very body language was all more mature than anything Tony had seen previously.

Tony slowly embraced Peter back and he felt him breathing against his neck. He also felt Peter's tears falling onto his shoulder. Tony's mind quickly returned to the question that he had asked Peter, and he turned his head towards him.
"Where does it hurt Pete?" He asked, and Peter pulled away from him. He kept his hands resting on Tony's chest, so he took Peter's hands into his own.

Peter looked up at Tony with his tear-streaked face and he thought about what to say. Tony was staring back at him with concerned, yet loving eyes. Tony didn't need to worry about him, or at least he didn't need to now. But he was worried then: or was then now? or was this now the future now? and should Tony be worried?
"One," Peter said.
"One?" Tony repeated, trying to find meaning in the word.
"One in 14,000,605."
"One in? Don't give me statistics kid, tell me what's wrong," Tony said as he started to become frustrated. He couldn't help Peter if he didn't tell him what was wrong.
"Nothing's wrong Mr Stark," Peter said as he smiled. "Everything's good. Really good. I finally kissed MJ: I saved the world from Mysterio, well technically just Europe: I survived being hit by a train: I made this awesome new suit that you'd love but I left it in my room with Happy and May, and I think I might have annoyed Nick Fury a bit by ignoring his phone calls: but I'm a full Avenger now and I've proven that I can take on both the responsibility of Spiderman and my friends," Peter said all at once before he took a breath in and looked at Tony. "I think you'd be really proud of me."
"And I think you've got a concussion," Tony said. "You've been hit on the head and I need to have a look at you, come on," Tony said before he wrapped his arm around Peter and led him to a step.

Peter sat down and Tony knelt in-front of him.
"Ok. Look at me kid," Tony said and Peter did so. He took Peter's pulse while looking at his eyes. "Does anything hurt?"
"No."
"No headache, nausea, broken bones?"
"No."
"Ok. Well, your pulse seems ok and you don't seem to be bleeding from anywhere," Tony said before he released his fingers from around Peter's wrist. "Your pupils aren't dilated, which means you're not concussed," Tony continued before he lent forwards and wiped Peter's eyes. "But you're still crying kid."
"I know. But I wouldn't change anything Tony."
"Ok. Hold up. What are you talking about?" Tony asked and Peter sighed. "You've got to be honest with me kid or I'll get Bruce to give you a full medical examination."
"I'm from the future," Peter said slowly and honestly. "And I don't know how I got here or how much time I have with you. I'm not even sure if I'm stuck here and this is the new future."
"Ok."
"You believe me?" Peter asked in disbelief. "Just like that?"
"It's more plausible than other things you could have said. And I always knew that time travel was possible."
"It is possible, or so Pepper says. None really knows what happened but there was a big battle and everyone came back, and you were there, and..." Peter paused before he opened his hand. In his palm was a cracked capsule with fluid inside of it that was glowing.
"What's that?"
"I must have accidentally broken it when Mysterio revealed my identity."
"What?! Someone revealed your identity?!" Tony cried out and Peter looked at him.
"Yeah, but that's not important now Mr Stark. Look, Pepper gave me this. She told me that it was for when life gets too much," Peter said and Tony picked the capsule up carefully and he examined it. "She also said that it was from you," Peter added and Tony looked at him.
"From me?"
"I think you wanted to send me back to this moment. After everything that's happened, I think you wanted me to find peace with you."
"Find peace with me?" Tony asked before it dawned on him. "Tell me honestly Pete. Am I dead?" Tony asked Peter and the colour drained from Peter's face.
"You sacrificed yourself," Peter choked out after a moment. "You gave your life to save everyone."
"And, by everyone you mean?"
"Everyone, Mr Stark. Across all the worlds and all the galaxies," Peter said before he cut himself off and tears began falling down his face. "I died in your arms Tony. And May, and Happy, and Ned, MJ, Flash, they all died. We were brought back, 5 years later. Half of all life came back, to all the broken worlds, but you didn't. You left our world when you snapped Thanos away."
"Hold on kid. Thanos?"
"Thanos came and got all the infinity stones, and... I shouldn't be telling you any of this," Peter said before he shook his head. "You can't know what happens, you can't."
"Ok, calm down kiddo," Tony said and Peter looked at him. "This capsule sent you back in time, to this moment?"
"Yeah."
"Ok. So what happens if you break the capsule?"
"I don't know. I think that I might return to my future."
"And what happens to this moment?"
"I don't know."
"Ok, we won't worry about that. I'll sort it out."
"But you can't know what happens in the future Tony."
"If this moment remains, I'll forget everything you said. Or at least I won't act upon it."
"Ok... Oh, I'm so sorry Mr Stark, I messed everything up. Again."
"No you didn't. If I had been thrown back in time I would have blurted everything I knew out as well," Tony reassured Peter and he sighed in relief before he looked at the capsule. "Does this thing have a timer?"
"I don't know," Peter said and Tony put a hand onto his shoulder.
"I'm proud of you kid. You sound like you've been through a lot but you've become more than I ever imagined," Tony told Peter and he smiled like a child does when their dad is proud of them. "If time starts from here, I will not act on anything you told me."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. But I wish you'd call me Tony kid."
"I'll call you Tony in the future, just not right now."
"I love you Peter."
"I love you too," Peter said before he held his gaze with Tony. He wanted to stay here forever, away from the whirlwind that was his own life.

After a few minutes, Tony smiled and he wrapped his fingers around Peter's hand. He then crushed the capsule. Peter blinked and he was back in the exact moment he had left.

Time reset and Peter looked up at Tony Stark.
"I don't have any other clothes."
"Alright. We can sort that out," Tony told him, unaware of the precious moment that he and the Peter Parker had just shared.