|Towards the Endgame|

•Chapter 102• Back Again

"The Vulture... like the guy that tried to kill the both of you? He's back? How could they let him walk out on the streets freely again?" Ned seemed almost beyond himself with worry. Terrified of what might happen to his best friends now that a supervillain was out on the streets again. "Prison let him go because of good behavior. And he already sat through almost half of his time that was given to him." Y/n explained. That was what Harley told her. "Just like that? After what he did to you guys? People knew you were involved, right?" Y/n shot a quick glance at Peter beside her. "Well, yeah, my dad was in court because he tried to rob his plane and also because he attacked me. But that was taken into some sort of private record because of... well, you know, the whole secrecy thing. The public knows that there was an Iron Man suit involved but no one ever knew I was in it." Ned turned his attention to his best friend. "He brought his family too? Liz is back too?" Peter nodded his head very slowly. His hand found the top of Y/n's head again and rubbed it gently. "That's kind of unexpected." Ned continued. To think that they would still want to be associated with that man. Last thing they heard was that Liz had to move away with her mother because her father was in prison and all that. "Could they afford that?" Ned questioned. "That's what sparked my radar. They moved back two days after Toomes was released from prison. They moved back into their old house too, and that is not cheap. I mean it's no Stark residence, but still." Ned and Peter shared a look, one which Y/n caught onto fairly quickly. "What? Tell me I'm wrong. I dare you." Peter leaned in to kiss her cheek gently. "No, you're right." He said, "But it did make us think."
"You guys think he's stealing again?"
"We don't know for sure. Harley said he hadn't stepped out of line anywhere. He hasn't visited any of my facilities anywhere throughout the country." Ned started shaking his head as he listened. He remembered the supervillain very clearly. Ned was the guy in the chair and no one would ever take that away from him ever again. But this did, however, make him feel a bit nervous. Peter and Y/n were both beaten up, blood over their faces, and limping with barely any energy left in their bodies to walk. Peter could probably take him. But in Y/n's current state... Ned's mouth formed an 'o' as it finally dawned on him. "He'll come after you again for revenge, won't he?" Peter nodded. "We think that he still remembers me because Liz contacted Flash. Y/n thinks Strange might have tampered with the spell a little bit when he fixed you and MJ." Peter explained.

Y/n rubbed the bridge of her nose. She might need to talk to Strange about all the complications of that spell. She hadn't spoken to Strange in a while. Her father might have regarding her current state. Strange was an actual doctor and surgeon, so for Tony to reach out to him would make sense. "So Liz still remembers you? That's kind of freaky." Ned replied. He glanced at Y/n. "And you're okay with that?" Y/n shrugged slightly. "As long as she keeps her hands off him." The more Y/n thought about Liz coming back into Peter's life, the more frustrated she started to become. It wasn't too bad, but it stung in the back of her mind. She should keep her grabby little hands off of Peter. Then, she wouldn't have to blast the girl's face off. Peter readjusted the blanket around her and touched her hand. Her skin was still icy cold. "Do you want me to make you some more tea?"
"Later. I don't want to pee every fifteen minutes. I'm okay, Peter, really." She said as she snuggled into him some more. Ned had noticed that she was cold, but also very pale, when he came in. It really worried him. "Anyway, we're not sure what Toomes will do. If he really bettered his life, we're not going to look for him. We have no reason to. Harley and some others are keeping a close eye on him and his activities. The money for the house came from somewhere. Maybe some rich aunt died or something and they used the inheritance to buy their house back. Who knows what Liz and her mother have been up to the past years." Maybe he really made things better for himself and wanted to move back to their home. Liz might have reached out to Flash because she wanted to be in contact with Peter again. She kind of gave him the cold shoulder when she left. Peter didn't have eyes for her anymore by the time she decided to give him some attention. "People like that don't change, remember?" Peter mumbled to her. She let out a sigh. They didn't, but they had to stay positive about this whole thing. Not everything meant instant death. "We just wanted to give you a heads up in case she tries to contact you as well," Peter told his best friend. There wasn't anything they could do. Toomes hadn't done anything yet. No crimes, nothing. Peter looked at Y/n sitting against him all snuggled up and warm. "I'm still not too sure about that presentation thing. Not without some form of protection."
"Peter, I already told you, I am not rescheduling. I don't want Spider-Man there either. Harley's taking care of everything." Y/n reminded him. Peter pinched his nose. "Why don't we want Spider-Man at that presentation?" Ned questioned. Y/n looked at Peter before turning back to Ned. "Because don't you think it's a little suspicious that Y/n Stark shows up with Spider-Man as her personal bodyguard when Peter and I are not exactly hiding from the public as we used to." They were never big on PDA or showing their relationship in general out in public. They didn't specifically hide it. "I mean, your dad was an Avenger and worked with Spider-Man in the past. People know about that." He wasn't wrong about that. It wasn't even made public yet that Toy Stark was alive. That's another thing she had to think about. Y/n put her hand over her forehead. So much to think about and so much to arrange. Look at her now, she was sitting on the couch in desperate need of physical comfort from her boyfriend. She was cold, in pain, you name it. "I'm not sure about this, Y/n." Ned started, "I mean, would it be that big of a deal if Peter was in the back? Even without his Spider-Man suit? And some people never figured it out in the first place. Remember when we were in school and you two fought Mysterio? Nobody even questioned it that you were flying around with Spider-Man."