stark, peter parker

xix. that's a good thing. why do you not look like it's a good thing?

dakota had entrusted hazel with the body of madame hydra. she was being taken to raft prison, where she would eventually wake up with severe burns on her face from the explosion. her cell would be constantly guarded, leaving her with no chance of escape.

they would later learn that she had been planning a way to bring bucky and hazel onto her secret hydra team, though she didn't know that they both had grown to hate hydra for all it had put them through. she had truly lost her mind.

dakota was flying across new york, searching for the coordinates that j.e.e.p. had given her. she finally saw peter, who was standing with the two other spider-men, ned, and mj. the group all looked up as the black suit landed on the ground and then dematerialized into dakota's watch. "i missed the whole thing?" she asked, looking around.

peter shrugged, a small smile on his lips. "guess so." he moved closer to her. "hydra lady..?"

"secure in raft prison." dakota confirmed. "creepy goblin guy..?"

"no longer creepy. or a goblin. i don't think." peter said, turning to look at norman.

dakota nodded before looking up to where strange seemed to be straining against a giant hole in the sky. "giant black hole in the sky..?"

peter shook his head. "everyone who knows that peter parker is spider-man is trying to get into our universe."

"i thought everyone who knows that peter parker is spider-man was already in our universe?" dakota replied, her brows furrowed.

"not exactly." peter said, looking up to where strange was. "apparently there are.. a lot of universes. and a lot of people who want to kill me. and maybe destroy this entire universe."

dakota nodded. "okay, so what do we do?" she looked to peter, who was silent. "what do we do?" she repeated.

peter took her hands. "i'm having strange redo the spell."

"... the messed up spell that started this?"

"everyone is going to forget that peter parker is spider-man." he said.

dakota nodded. "that's good. that's a good thing." she was looking at his face. "why do you not look like it's a good thing?"

"everyone is going to forget peter parker."

she scanned his eyes for any sign of a joke. "w-what?"

peter shook his head, trying to avoid crying. "it's the only way." he said. "they're all in this universe because of me. because i'm peter parker. if peter parker... if no one knows who i am, then you'll all be safe." he turned to look at ned and mj.

dakota shook her head. "no. no, there has to be something else.."

peter squeezed her hands, which he was still holding. "it's okay... i'm gonna come and find you, and i'll explain everything. i'll make you remember me. it'll be like none of this ever happened. okay?"

"but what if that doesn't work?" she panicked. "what if that doesn't work, what if i can't remember you?"

"you will." peter assured her, though he didn't fully look certain of it.

"there's gotta be something we can do." dakota said. "we can't come up with like a plan or something? there's gotta be something we can do." she turned to look at ned and mj, who seemed to be just as worried as she was.

"there's nothing we can do." peter shook his head. "but we'll be okay."

"you promise?" ned asked.

peter nodded. "yeah. yeah, i promise."

they all hugged before ned and mj stepped back, giving peter and dakota a moment alone. "i don't think it's possible for me to forget you, peter." dakota said, feeling tears forming in her eyes. "i don't... i don't want to forget everything we've had."

he smiled a little. "i'll remember, and i'll tell you everything." he assured her.

she nodded. "i'll just.. i'll build another time machine."

he laughed. "i thought the time machine was broken?"

"i'll make another one." she said. "i'll get more pym particles, or whatever they're called, even if it means accosting scott lang-"

she was cut off when peter pressed his lips to hers, his hands on her waist. "i love you." he says.

dakota smiled, brushing some hair from his eyes. "i love you." she echoed as she wrapped her arms around him. "i'm not kidding about the time machine." she said, making him laugh again.

his face grew more serious as peter reluctantly pulled away from the hug, giving dakota's hand a comforting squeeze. "i'll find you."

she nods. "you better."

⎊‎⎊‎⎊

if dakota had learned one thing from being a superhero, it was that there was no such thing as a coincidence. everything had some sort of deeper meaning. and it was the search of deeper meaning that resulted in her knocking on a random apartment door in new york.

peter nearly fell over in shock when he opened the door to his apartment. he hadn't gotten any visitors at all, and never in a million years would he have expected to dakota stark to be the first. every part of his muscle memory longed to reach out and embrace her, but he stopped himself when he remembered that she, too, had forgotten who he was.

"are you peter parker?" she deadpanned, her eyes narrowing as she studied his face.

he was taken aback by the question and blinked, his eyes widening a little. "uh... yes?" no one had known his name in weeks.

"can you explain to me what this is?" she shoved a slip of paper into his hands, but he didn't even bother to look at it. he was too busy analyzing every single detail of her face; everything that he'd remembered and the minute details he'd forgotten. she had a cut on her cheek that he hadn't noticed before, and a new pair of earrings. "am i supposed to know who you are?"

her second question brought peter out of his trance, and he looked down at the paper in his hands. in her cursive print, it simply read 'find peter parker'.

peter smiled, knowing that she must have written it just before she forgot who he was. before the world forgot who he was. he cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "it's kind of... it's a long story." he finally said. "and you probably wouldn't believe it."

"i've been to space." she replied, as if this was supposed to assure him that she'd believe any story he had to share.

it only made peter chuckle dryly. "so have i."

her eyes narrowed. "who are you?"

THE END OF PART THREE.