Avengers Imagines Book

What If...

What If... Peter Kept EDITH?

Just like with my others in this series, this isn't a self-insert, but still check it out!

Ever since Tony Stark saved the universe by sacrificing himself, Peter has felt... off. He grieves the man he started seeing as a father but also his mentor. The world also wants him to be the next Iron Man, but that wasn't possible, Peter thought.

Still, he did his best to try and do things to make Tony proud. Yet, he also needed a vacation sometimes. That's what this was supposed to be. A vacation.

But Peter Parker is Spider-Man, which means he can literally never catch a break. Not even all the way over in Europe.

For the longest time, all Peter wanted was to be an Avenger, to really help out. Then, he disappeared for five years, came back, watched him mentor and father figure die, and had to deal with the trauma of everything.

All he wants now is to be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man everyone kept telling him he was. Yet, the same people now need him to be something more.

Peter gripped the glass of lemonade in his hands, being careful not to shatter the thing. He looked down into his lap and saw the glasses sitting there.

The glasses. Tony's legacy. Did he really want Peter to be the next Iron Man? Cause, at this point, Peter doesn't know if that's something he could do. He nearly blew up his class and only barely helped save the day with the Elemental.

There was no way he could live up to Iron Man's legacy. Especially when he thinks about the people he loves and what could happen to them if he decides to reveal his identity and be the 'new Iron Man.'

And those words Fury said... they kept ringing in his ears.

"Hey. You gotta celebrate. We did something good tonight." Peter turned and looked over at Quentin Beck. The only person who seems to understand that all Peter wants to be is a kid, because that's what he is.

Peter mumbled, sat up a bit, and sighed. "Fury was right. Tony did a lot for me... so... I owe it to him, to everybody." It was obvious to anyone by Peter's tone that he might believe that, but he didn't like it.

He was content to just play with the straw wrapper in his hand, but Beck wanted to keep going.

"Do you?"

"Yeah," Peter said, and it sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "I mean... Mr. Stark gave me the chance to be more. He wanted me to be better than him. And Fury wants me to live up to that."

"What do you want, Peter?" Beck immediately asked, leaving no space between his and the kid's words. He was picking up on Peter's less-than-enthusiastic tone.

Peter looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"What do you want?" Beck asked again.

The kid scoffed. "I don't know," he dismissed.

"What do you want? You! Peter Parker. Now," Beck rushed out. "I know you're thinking about it-"

"I wanna go on my trip," Peter said, sitting up straight. He ignored the random noise he heard. "Right? I wanna go back on my trip with my friends. And... go to the top of the Eiffel Tower with the girl who I really like and tell her how I feel and... give her a kiss!"

Beck raised his eyebrows and made a small noise and laughed, causing Peter to feel a bit embarrassed and brush him off with a, "Shut up, man." However, he wasn't too hurt, and was able to laugh a bit, too.

"You're not gonna do that, are you?" Beck asked.

"No, I can't." Peter was defeated.

"Why not?" Beck exclaimed.