It's Not Over Yet

Ch. 10

When Peter asked if Michelle and Ned could stay the night, Tony didn't hesitate in saying yes.  He ordered pizza to the Tower and the three of them sat in the living room talking until late into the night.  Eventually, they moved into Peter's room and shut the door so Tony and Pepper wouldn't be interrupted by their talking.  Pepper brought extra blankets and air mattresses for Ned and Michelle to sleep on then made sure Peter was going to be okay before going to bed.  She hoped he wouldn't have any nightmares, but she knew his friends would be helpful if he did.  It would just be embarrassing for him if he woke up sobbing and Ned and Michelle woke up too.

"So, how did you guys kill Thanos?"  Ned asked after setting up his bed.  He looked up at Peter and Michelle who were laying on Peter's bed.  Ned was laying on his bed beside Peter's and they laid across Peter's bed with their feet sticking off the edge.

"Yeah,"  Michelle said.  She turned to Peter, propping her head up with one arm.  "And why haven't we seen you in two years?  You missed you're 17th and 18th birthday."  Peter laughed nervously and neither Michelle nor Ned missed it.

"I don't actually know how they killed Thanos,"  Peter told them.  He played with his hands and avoided looking at both of his friends.  "Mr. Stark and I ended up in space with a wizard—his name is Doctor Strange and he was really cool.  Then these good aliens joined us but when we tried to fight Thanos, we ended up failing.  After that, I kind of turned to dust and apparently spent the last two years in one of the infinity stones with everyone else that disappeared."  Ned and Michelle just blinked at him.  Michelle was the first one to respond.

"Okay, what?"  she asked.  Peter gave an awkward smile and nodded.  "You mean to say you died two years ago and you didn't bother to tell us?"

"I mean, I kinda couldn't,"  Peter muttered.  Michelle was not having it.

"Peter!  I mean, sure we thought you were dead after not hearing anything about Spider-Man for two years, but we didn't actually think that,"  Michelle said.  Finally, Ned seemed to come to his senses and joined Michelle in scolding Peter.

"Yeah, man,"  he said.  "You're supposed to tell us these things."  Peter rolled his eyes.

"I am telling you,"  he replied.  "I just did, didn't I?" 

"You should have told us sooner,"  Michelle mumbled. 

"Sorry,"  Peter said sarcastically.  They dropped the subject and sat in silence for a while.  After a while, Ned asked what it felt like when he turned to dust.  Peter gave him a sharp look and Ned's eyes widened.  He raised his hands in surrender.

"Sorry!  I just, no one else seems to remember it and I wanted to know what it was like being trapped in an infinity stone,"  Ned said.  This caught Peter's attention.  The others couldn't remember it?  Why not?  If he remembered it, surely the others should have.  Maybe it was something that non-enhanced people couldn't handle?  He would have to ask Sam if he remembered anything from it.  It seemed unfair that everyone else could forget the horrible experience of living in the soul stone was like.

"Do you remember?"  Michelle asked.  Peter dropped his head and nodded.  Michelle and Ned glanced at each other.  "Was it bad?"

"Can we stop talking about it?"  Peter asked anxiously.  He looked back up at his friends who nodded.  "Great."

* * *

The next morning, Pepper walked into Peter's room to wake the three of them up for breakfast.  She opened the door slowly and stopped short when she saw the three friends.  All of them were curled up on Peter's bed with Peter in the middle.  Michelle was wrapped up in his arms and Ned was laying on his back, taking up half the bed.  Michelle and Peter looked more like one person by how tangled they were and Pepper smiled.  She shut the door and walked back into the kitchen.  When she told Tony how she found the three, he smiled then frowned.

"FRIDAY?  Did Peter have a nightmare last night?"  Tony asked.  He knew there was no way they just happened to all fall asleep together.

"Yes, sir,"  FRIDAY replied.  Pepper frowned as she took a bit of her omelet.

"They all looked so peaceful,"  she said.  Tony nodded.

"At least they were there for him,"  Tony replied.  Pepper agreed and they ate their breakfast with little talk.  Just as they finished, Ned came wandering down the hall.  He looked confused until he saw Pepper and Tony.  "Good morning, Ned,"  Tony said.  He kissed Pepper's cheek as he took her plate and put it in the dishwasher.  "Can I interest you in an omelet?"  Pepper had made enough omelets for Peter and his friends then put them in the warmer under the oven so they didn't get cold.

"Sure,"  Ned said.  Tony grabbed a plate and put an omelet on it.  He handed Ned a fork then sent him to the table.

"Are Peter and MJ still asleep?"  Tony asked.  Ned swallowed his bite of omelet before answering.

"Peter is,"  he said.  "MJ is gonna stay with him until he wakes up."  Tony nodded and began to wash the frying pan.  "Is May dead?"  Ned suddenly asked.  Tony almost dropped the frying pan.  "I mean, it's just that I would have thought Peter would be with her after everything."

"Yeah,"  Tony said sadly.  "May got caught in the cross fire of a battle."  Ned nodded solemnly and continued eating his omelet.  "Don't mention it to Peter, though.  He's still pretty upset about it."

"No problem, Mr. Stark,"  Ned said.