𝙢𝙧. 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚🕷 (PETER PARKER X OC)

• 14. bad dreams on earth •

• JUNE •

I felt the heavy feet of the ship land on the ground, but I almost didn't want to leave. If I left the ship, it would truly mean that he's gone.

Mr. Stark grabbed my hand, tugging it as a way to tell me let's go. I gave him a sad look, but he only returned it with one of his own.

Nebula helped Mr. Stark down, he was ten times weaker than I was. I trailed behind the two, feeling numb as I watched Mr. Rodgers approach us. They began to walk ahead of me, but I could still male out what they were saying.

"I couldn't stop him."

Mr, Rodgers sighed. "Neither could I."

"Hang on," Mr. Stark said, pausing. he took in a deep breath before saying, "I lost one of the kids."

Mr. Rodgers turned to look at me: really look at me. I could see the pity in his eyes, the one I'd seen a million times before. My parents were divorced and shit, and now I'm all alone.

Oh, I hope MJ and Ned aren't gone too.

"Tony, we lost." Mr. Rodgers' lips turned down into a giant frown. He glanced back at me again, motioning for me to join the make-shift hug.

Mrs. Potts was the second person to greet Mr. Stark. She hugged him, crying with relief that he was alive and well. I felt happy for her. At least she still had him. The three began to walk away from the ship, ready to head inside, but I couldn't bear to walk.

He was gone. Really gone.

Mr. Stark, Mr. Rodgers, and Mrs. Potts turned back to looks at me. My eyes brimmed with tears, threatening to spill. "I'm all alone," I whispered. "I'm really all alone."

The three adults turn to look at me, sadness and pity clear on their faces.

Mr. Stark speaks first. "Hey, Underoos. Let's get you your meds and we can meet up with everyone else, alright?"

•

"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth," Mr. Rhodes explained, crossing his arms in front of himself. I watched with a blank expression as the holograms shifted between people I knew and loved. Mr. Barnes, Ms. Maximoff, Dr. Strange, Peter. And even people I'd never met. Scott Lang, Nick Fury, Shuri of Wakanda.

"World governments are in pieces," Ms. Natasha began. She tucked a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear, leaning back. "The parts that are still working...are trying to take a census and it looks like he did—he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out 50% of all living creatures."

"And—and we couldn't choose?" I questioned, voice raspy. I felt a tear escape before I hastily wiped it away from my cheek. "I can't trade myself for someone else?"

Mr. Rhodes shook his head solemnly. He knew that I was talking about Peter. It was always about Peter.

"And where is he now?" Mr. Stark piped up, turning to Mr. Rodgers. He raised his eyebrows, seemingly expecting them to know.

"We don't know." Mr. Rodgers leaned back against the table behind him, staring at Tony with an unreadable yet hard expression. "He just opened a portal and walked through."

Mr. Stark then turned to Mr. Thor. "and what's wrong with him?"

A voice chimed in. "Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which of course he did but there's a lot of that going around, ain't there?"

"Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear," Mr. Stark retorted to Rocket, the small raccoon who apparently helped Mr. Rodgers while they fought in Wakanda.

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now," Mr. Rodgers reported. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, almost willing for this bad dream to end so we could all wake up and realize we were dreaming the whole time, and that our friends and family were still here. Not dust. "Deep space scans and satellites and we got nothing. Tony you fought him. With—with her."

Mr. Stark followed Mr. Rodgers' pointed finger to me. "Who told you that? No, we didn't fight him. He wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight because he's not beatable."

"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" Mr. Rodgers asked.

"Of course not," I muttered, wrapping my arms around myself. God, it's freezing in here. "Why does it matter anyway? It's not like we know where he is, plus, I don't know if I can stand being alive any longer."

"Hey, don't say that," Ms. Natasha said. It was apparent that she didn't normally show sympathy, so I must be lucky. She placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"It was a joke," I told her, gently shrugging off her hand. "I forgot that none of you are Gen-Z."

Oh God I just want to wake up from this horrible dream.

•

ugh i forgot how sad endgame is. anyway, sorry for the late chapter haha. hope you all enjoyed it!

-maya