Spider-Man: Homeless

Ch. 15: Worthless

"What!?" Peter said, choking back tears. "Who- who got Morgan!?"

"He was green, and- had a weird voice, like a Goblin." Happy answered.

"The Green Goblin." Peter mumbled. "Happy, can you stand?"

"Maybe..." Happy said. Peter helped Happy up and sat him on the couch, quickly bringing him an ice pack. Once Happy was situated, Peter pulled out his phone.

"Hello?" Jessica answered from the other end.

"The Green Goblin took Morgan!" Peter said, his voice cracking.

"Wait, what!?" Jessica exclaimed. "Dang it, Norman."

"What?" Peter asked.

"I'll explain later. Listen, I need you to stay there, and call Pepper if she's not there. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay." Peter said, hanging up the phone, mentally preparing himself to call Pepper.

...

"So you're saying that Norman Osborn, the man helping clear Peter's name, kidnapped my daughter!?" Pepper exclaimed after Jessica had explained what she found out about Norman.

"Yes. He's been using helping Peter as an excuse the whole time just to get close to him."

"That man will pay." Pepper muttered.

"Wait, so does that mean that everything Harry has done is against me?" Peter asked. Jessica could see the tears in Peter's eyes.

"As far as I know, Harry has no clue." Jessica lied. "We shouldn't tell him anything either. We need to wait and figure out what's going on."

"Can't you get to him if you know where he works? You said that you have clearance." Happy said from the couch.

"I don't think it's that simple." Jessica said. "Norman made sure to get everyone out of the house except you. He knew that he could take out one person. He knew that Peter was staying here and that taking Morgan would hurt him, so I wouldn't be surprised if he knew that I breached his system."

Peter felt his phone buzz and looked down at it. He found a message from an unknown number saying: If you ever want to see the little Stark again, you will meet us at 6pm tonight on top of the Empire State Building. Come defenseless and alone or you'll never see her again.

Peter looked back up from his phone to see everyone else still arguing about what to do. He spoke up. "I-I need some air."

Peter walked into the garage and looked around. He could see Tony's machines littering the place, all shut down, a reminder that their boss was no longer there. Peter fell to his knees and began to sob uncontrollably.

"This is all my fault." He said to himself, the tears still flowing. He looked up at Tony's work and spoke again. "I'm so sorry Mr. Stark. Ever since you left, I haven't known what to do. And the minute things seemed to be going well, everything just fell apart. I- I just wish you were here to help me. I can't do this alone, I can't seem to do anything right."

Peter continued to sob as FRIDAY turned on. Peter looked up to see her project a small video in front of him.

Tony stood at the sink, washing dishes. He was on the last dish when he sprayed water everywhere. He turned off the water and dried the dish with a towel, putting it in the drying rack. He began to dry off the shelf he had gotten wet when he stopped, noticing a picture. He picked up the picture and wiped it off. It was when Peter had gotten back from Germany, and Tony had staged a photo for Peter to use to keep May from knowing the truth about his trip. Tony looked at the picture with a pained look in his eyes, tears threatening to fall.

The video changed to Tony at the table, working on a design. "I've got a mild inspiration. I'd like to see if it checks out." Tony said. "So, I'd like to run on last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time in the shape of a Möbius strip inverted, please."

"Processing" FRIDAY replied as Tony watched the model.

"Right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle factoring in spectral decomp. That'll take a second."

"Just a moment."

Tony took a sip of water. "And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda..."

"Model rendered."

Tony watched as the model showed to be successful and fell back in his chair, exhaling sharply. He put his hand over his mouth before putting his arms out a saying in disbelief, "S***!"

FRIDAY turned off the video, and Peter sat, tears still falling from his eyes. Pepper smiled from the doorway behind him.

"You know, he did it for you." She said.

Peter turned around and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Time travel. Saving everyone. He didn't want to do it. He didn't want to risk the life he had made during the blip." Pepper looked into Peter's eyes. "You were the reason he tried. He believed in you Peter, and he loved you. The first thing he said when he got back from space was that he lost you. You being gone pained him, and everything he did to bring everybody back was so that you would have the chance to live. He knows that you're capable of great things, Peter."

Peter closed his eyes tightly, tears escaping. "I miss him so much."

"Me too." Pepper said. She pulled Peter into a hug, letting him cry on her shoulder, her beginning to shed a few tears as well. "Peter, I know how hard things have been for you, but he would be so proud of you. The fact that you're still going after everything you've gone through shows just how strong you are."

"Thank you." Peter mumbled into Pepper's shoulder. He let go and sniffed, wiping away his tears. "I'm going to go to my room, I'd like to be alone for a minute.

"Of course." Pepper said. She walked Peter inside and watched him depart up to his room.

Once Peter got into his room, he shut the door. He took off his Iron Spider suit and put on his black and red one he had made, and wrote a small note that he left on his bed. He took off his web shooters and left them on his bed as well. "Karen, I want you to disengage all defenses."

"All defenses are disengaged. To re-engage defenses, just say 're-engage.'" Karen replied.

"Thank you." Peter said. He opened his window and began to crawl out, looking at his room one more time before leaving the house.

...