Avengers Imagines

You Can Be Better - irondad/spiderson

A/N: an after-credits (or end of endgame) deleted scene headcanon bc i'm pretty sure this actually happened?

Description: He's about to leave the kitchen when a glare of light stops him. It's coming from a more hidden corner of the room, some kind of frame reflecting the light. Oh. A frame, yes. With a photograph being held in it.

Warnings/tags: angst, supportive dad tony, sad son peter, rhodey is a good friend, post endgame, canonical character death, all marvel movie compliant, references to spider-man homecoming, no happy ending, jk hints of a hopeful ending

Word count: 2100

i'm thinking of doing a bunch of one-shots on what i think this so-called "deleted scene" kevin feige is teasing might/should be about. this is one of my headcanons

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He's tired. That's the only thing he can comprehend right now. This has, honest to god, been the longest day of his entire life and he spent five years being dusted, so that's saying a lot.

It's dark out finally. The crowd has started to disperse and those remaining are in the living room drinking, reminiscing, celebrating despite their grief. He supposes that's all well and good, Mr. Stark would've wanted it that way, wouldn't have wanted anyone to suffer or blame themselves.

Maybe all of them do have something to celebrate. They got five years with him, five extra years that Peter will never get to have, will never get back, and surely that's something to celebrate. Peter knows what he'd do if he had five more years with Mr. Stark. He'd listen and watch and admire, he'd laugh and send him stupid pictures and use his genius to win science fairs. They'd go out with Morgan, Morgan who doesn't know how good she had it, doesn't know how hard her life is going to be now. They'd be, well... they'd be a family.

It's easier to think about all of the things he could've had rather than the ones he did have. The good memories feel so hard to grasp, as though they were just dreams of someone else. Maybe they were.

Peter's not cut out for this, has never been a fan of all of these emotions. It's much better to push them away, pretend they're not there and eventually deal with them when they all bottle up. But this, losing someone this important to him, seems to be something that won't let itself be forgotten.

He'd excused himself to the kitchen to avoid all of the reminiscing from the last five years and so on. His relationship with Mr. Stark is best kept to himself— no one could truly understand what they meant to one another, what the impact of all of this is. Not even Pepper. Not even Happy.

He's about to leave the kitchen when a glare of light stops him. It's coming from a more hidden corner of the room, some kind of frame reflecting the light. Oh. A frame, yes. With a photograph being held in it.

He knows he shouldn't snoop, this isn't his house or his things. He has no right to be here, hasn't for five years now. But still, a part of him is so desperate to know and have another part of Mr. Stark, one he'll never get from the man himself.

That part wins in the end.

When he nears the frame, he recognizes the picture instantly. It's him and Mr. Stark from the day he finished his internship with Stark Industries. They both look ridiculous and he can remember that day with striking clarity. It seemed so formal for what was surely the best job of his entire life. Working for Mr. Stark had never felt like a job at all, it was life changing. Knowing what he knows now, he'd say it was a gift.

As he picks up the frame, he notices the fingerprint smudges on the side. How many times did Tony pick up this same picture, thinking back to that same day reminiscing about a better time?