Accidents Happen

Chapter Thirty-Five-A Fighting Chance

They had been preparing for hours. This had to work. If it didn't work... Peter wasn't sure what he would do if it didn't work.

He had to get home. He wondered what Michelle was thinking about at that moment. Was it him? He wondered what May was doing at that moment. Was she worrying? He wondered if the world seemed different to his daughter. Did she notice he wasn't there? He wanted to go home.

Now they had Thanos exactly where they wanted him. Mantis sat on top of his shoulders, hands pressed against his head roughly as Peter and Tony frantically pulled at the gauntlet.

"Be quick!" Mantis cried, face contorting. "He is very strong!"

Quill stood in front of the titan menacingly, taking short paces in front of him. He was visibly angry. "I thought you be harder to catch," he laughed tantalizingly. "For the record, I came up with this plan. Now, where's Gamora?"

Thanos's face moved, his jaw shifting to show a look resembling pain. "My Gamora...."

"No, bullsh*t," Quill shouted, getting closer to the titan. "Where is she?"

"He is in anguish," Mantis said slowly, struggling to keep her hold on his mind. "He mourns."

"What does this monster have to mourn?" Quill snapped as the gauntlet began to loosen. For a moment, Peter had a feeling of hope. He was going home. The dream was dashed quickly.

"Gamora," Nebula told them quietly. Her face was one of the horrors as she looked on at the being she once considered a father. "He took her to Vormirnt. He came back with the soul stone. But she didn't."

Tony saw Quill grow even angrier, and he knew the situation was going south. "Don't engage!" he pleaded the man. "We've almost got it off, Quill. Don't engage!"

Quill ignored them, turning back to the titan. "Tell me she's lying!" Thanos only groaned. "A**hole! Tell me you didn't do it!"

"I... had... to..." the Thanos mumbled.

Tears filled Quill's eyes as he struggled to contain himself. "No... you didn't. You didn't." As the gauntlet finally came loose, the man pulled out his pistol and whacked the face of the titan with it, and Mantis let go. He didn't stop hitting the titan. "No, you didn't!"

"Quill!" Tony shouted, lunging for his arm, leaving Peter alone to pry off the gauntlet. He was so close. "Stop it, Quill. Just stop!"

The fingers of the gauntlet came completely loose as Peter continued to pull. "I got it! I got it!" Before he could pull it all the way, Thanos woke completely, shoving Mantis off and grabbing the gauntlet from the teenage boy.

As the gauntlet was ripped from Peter's grasp, he realized something: he wasn't going home.

---

May and Michelle sat at the dinner table anxiously, hardly touching their sandwiches. Harlow sat in her high chair, waiting for her mother to bring a small spoonful of applesauce to her mouth every few seconds.

May had rushed home as soon as she could, upon receiving a phone call from Michelle. Pepper promised to keep the girl updated

This is why Michelle never let herself care about people. Because they leave. She doesn't care if it was because they wanted to or because they had to save the world; the reason didn't make a difference to her because they left. They all leave.

She wanted to go back to a time before she started dating Peter. Before July 15. Before last summer. Before she met Peter Parker. She wanted to forget. But if all of that happened, she would still be the lonely girl in the back of the classroom.

Every time she looked at her daughter, she saw him. Harlow was definitely more like her, with her dark hair and tan skin, but Michelle only saw Peter.

No one spoke for most of the night, because neither of them wanted to ask the question looming in the air.

What if Peter never comes home?

---

Peter was mad. He was angry. And he blamed everyone. Quill let Thanos go. Stephen let Thanos have the stone. They all let him escape. Peter blamed himself.

He angrily kicked a rock, and because it took his mind off of everything, he did it again. And again. And again. He did it so many times that if a rock could bruise, it would have, and his own foot was likely bruised. He did it until Tony Stark limped over and pulled the boy close, tears streaming down the teenager's cheeks as he buried his face in his mentor's jacket.

"I want to go home Mr. Stark," he sobbed as the older man tried his best to comfort him.

"I know," Tony whispered, wondering what to say next. What do you say to someone who knows they just lost everything? "We're going to figure this out, I promise. We're gonna get you home, and you're going to see MJ and May, and you're going to hold your baby girl again, alright?" Peter didn't reply.

The rest of the group looked on at the spectacle and listened as well. They were surprised at what they heard. This kid, this little kid, wanted to go home. Not because he was scared or because he wanted to run; because he had a family. And they might have just taken his only chance at getting them back.

Tony helped the teenager sit on the ground and lean against the rock, continuing to cry. He didn't care who saw or what they thought of him.

He wanted to be home. He wanted to pull Michelle close and plant his lips on hers. He wanted to eat Thai with May after she burns their dinner. He wanted to hold Harlow close and feel her skin against his. He wanted his family back.

"Did we just lose?" Quill asked quietly, still watching the boy sob.

Stephen nodded. "We lost the fight." Then he looked at Peter. "Some of us lost everything."

Quill turned to face the sorcerer, a sad look in his eyes. "He had a family?"

"He had a daughter," Stephen replied quietly. "Stark tells me she was born a month ago."

"He's just a kid."

The sorcerer nodded. "I said I would let him die to save the stone; both of them. I couldn't. They're both needed far too much by far too many people."

"So you doomed us all?"

"So I gave us a fighting chance." He took in a sharp breath, remembering what he had seen. "Let's just hope we do it right."