Chapter Text
Six months. Six months since Aunt May died. Six months since he made a mistake of colossal proportions. Six months of suffering the consequences of those actions. Six months of loneliness.
Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, was not living his best life. In fact, he wasn’t exactly living at all, surviving would be a more accurate descriptor for what he was doing. Although he had a job it was only to pay for his tiny studio apartment and put food on the table. Beyond that, Peter Parker was on the back burner. Spider-Man was the priority and with no one around to say otherwise, Peter was running himself to the bone.
This hard work and devotion had in some ways paid off. The people of New York, seeing how much the hero did for the little guy compared to the rest of the former Avengers and heroes, were coming around to the idea of the vigilante. It helped that Peter and the public services had developed an unofficial understanding. If he arrived on a scene and the situation could be handled by public services, then he would only intervene if asked.
This agreement smoothed over a lot of issues he previously had with law enforcement and the people of New York. Of course, there would always be those who disliked him. The main one was J Jonah Jameson who ran a magazine called The Daily Bugle. JJJ was convinced Spider-Man was out for no good and his viewers supported this opinion. Subscribers to The Bugle were the type to only read The Bugle.
Ironically one of Peter’s jobs was selling pictures of himself to Jonah and The Bugle. The job didn’t pay well but it was enough to cover the rent on his studio apartment allowing for his job at Joe’s Pizza to cover food. Plus, he got a kick out of essentially using Jonah for his own benefit. Normally he would feel bad but considering Jonah slanders his name, Peter figured it was compensation for the bad press.
The combined income from his two jobs afforded him very little in the way of accommodation and amenities. Situated in a cheap area of Midtown Manhattan, Peter’s home was a small two-room apartment on the corner of the building. The apartment was in surprisingly ok condition for the rent amount but could still be better. To the left of the door was a small bathroom with a toilet and shower. Next to that was a single sink and countertop with a gas burner stove. A single cabinet sat above the counter and a fridge just next to it. The rest of the space was empty save for a bed and desk at the end of the room past the partition.
Despite everything, Peter found it oddly nice. It was a far cry from where he lived with May, but it was his own place. There was always the point that it could be worse. Since Peter moved in, he had managed to improve the place somewhat. There are now more lamps in the place to add more light in the evenings as the single ceiling light didn’t do much to light the space. Peter had also managed to find some more furniture such as a couch and oldish TV that he placed in the ‘bedroom’. Having found an old aerial, he had also managed to get access to cable.
Six months. Six months of the same routine. Six months of the same repetitive actions.
Every day was the same. Peter would wake up in his bed, have a quick shower because the water also became cold after five minutes and then have breakfast. Breakfast would consist of some cereal if he was lucky or somewhat stale bread and butter if he wasn’t. Then Peter would pack his bag with his Spidey suit, web shooters and web fluid before heading out to work. On his way, he would check dumpsters for any technology he could take and repair/repurpose. Peter’s eye for scrapping/inventing allowed him to improve his living conditions tenfold by fixing old appliances that people threw away or outright using parts to make new appliances. After work, he would patrol as Spider-man for a few hours before heading home for dinner and bed. Dinner would usually be leftovers from Joe’s or pot noodles or anything else he could get through his wages.
Today had started out like any other only he didn’t have work at Joe’s as the place was closed for a deep clean as well as improvements to the kitchen. Peter had instead suited up and headed out for a day of helping the people of New York. It was this decision to go out today that led to where he currently found himself. Halfway through the day, Peter picked up on a situation at a bank in central New York over the police radio. Once at the scene, Peter found the situation to be Rhino robbing the bank.
Aleksei Sytsevich, aka Rhino, earned his nickname through his mechanical suit which covered most of his body with the curved horn of a Rhino on his head. Peter had tumbled with Rhino several times and each time Rhino seemed to get better. His suit had certainly improved over the last six months. It now covered 90% of his body with only parts of his arms exposed. His boots now also had small horns which made him harder to fight.
True to the trend, this latest tumble with Rhino had been the toughest and most exhausting yet. In some ways, it reminded Peter of the first fight with Thanos on Titan. Aleksei was strong and his suit only made him stronger. Thanks to Spider-Man keeping Rhino’s focus on himself, the police were able to rescue the hostages and clear the scene. Unfortunately, this focus had come at the cost of his physical condition. After a tough half-hour fight, Peter found himself in the middle of the road, flat on his back and bleeding from several deep gashes on his sides.
Logically Peter knew he wasn’t going to make it out of this fight alive. Rhino was making his way over to where he lay and when he reached him, Peter would meet his end. Oddly enough Peter felt a sense of calm and peace wash over him. He always thought he would find it difficult to let go at the end.
He certainly had the first time.
This time though, he felt at ease. Peter knew he had given his all and had saved lives doing it. There was nothing more he could have done, and he was ok with dying in that moment. It meant he would be able to see Aunt May again, maybe Mr Stark too. There was no one to miss him or mourn him. No one to visit his grave and leave flowers like he did with May’s. Not that there would be a grave, just a missing persons case but he doubted even that as there was no one to report him missing. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the preferred way to go.
Rhino’s fist closing around his throat cut off his train of thought as he was lifted to eye level. There were some words said but Peter honestly couldn’t hear them, he was too busy looking up at the dark clouded sky through his lenses. A small smile graced his lips as he finally let go of his grief over May and forgave himself for his mistakes. The tunnel was still dark, but it no longer seemed as daunting.
As Rhino started to close his fist around Peter’s neck finally getting ready to end the annoyance that was Spider-Man, just as dark patches began to cloud his vision, Peter saw the bright light at the end of the tunnel. The sky lit up as something descended through the cloud cover bringing with it a hope Peter hadn’t felt in, Six. Long. Months.
“Something just entered the upper atmosphere!” The voice of Friday, Mr Stark’s AI, sounded in his head as his mind supplied a brief flash of a memory from the final fight against Thanos. A memory of a bright light descending from the sky smashing straight through the Sanctuary II, destroying it and thus ending the barrage of fire smashing down around him as he clutched the gauntlet holding the infinity stones.
The bright light got closer until Peter found himself gasping for air on the concrete while Rhino was thrown to the ground a few feet away. He was not sure what happened over the next few moments but when he came back to his senses, he found himself face to face with a blonde woman wearing the gentlest of smiles and shining a bright aura allowing Peter to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The universe was in a state of chaos.
It was arguably worse after everyone was brought back than it was post-Blip.
When half the universe was blipped out of existence, there was widespread chaos. Expires fell, companies crumbled, families grieved and whole planets lay abandoned. On Earth people moved on, families came together, new relationships were birthed, new companies formed, and life slowly came to a new state of “normal” by the end of the first-year post Blip. People like Steve Rogers ran support and aid groups for countries/communities that were still struggling with moving on. The monuments were constructed to remember those lost where people came daily to visit loved ones.
In the wider universe, new governments were formed in the wake of Thanos’ Blip that promised to be ready if this happened again. The new governments banded together forming plans and strategies with the goal of stopping the next madman or woman from causing this level of devastation. These planets didn’t have the Avengers, but they did have what was left of the Guardians and Captain Marvel.
Together they had managed to somewhat stabilise the less than ok areas of the universe but there were still places suffering years after the Blip. Those places received help from neighbouring planets and the newly formed galaxy-spanning coalition which allowed them to finally start to rebuild, to move on, to recover. It was a slow process but eventually, they would get there.
The Skrulls had even found a new home world out of reach of what was left of the Kree. Carol had been instrumental in this, even going as far as to stick around for a few months to help set up the basic settlements. With the Kree focussing on rebuilding and saving what was left, they had lost sight of the Skrulls keeping their new world completely unknown to their greatest enemies.
Everything was slowly getting better until the Blip was reversed. Once that was done, the universe reached a new level of chaos. Suddenly husbands and wives ‘woke’ up to find their partners had moved on with other people. Previously healed families fractured all over again. Suicides increased as those who were blipped found their lives ruined and found themselves incapable of dealing with it.
All in all, life was both improved and worsened by reversing the Blip.
Carol sat down at the table onboard the Benatar with Rocket to her left, Groot to her right and Peter Quill opposite. The Guardians, with Carol’s help, had just completed an aid relief mission to some obscure planet in a backwater galaxy with no name. It was the first time they had seen each other in nearly a year due to their relief missions taking them to opposite ends of the universe.
“Thanks for the help blondie” Rocket commented from his seat as he dug into the food placed in front of him.
“You’re welcome fur ball.” The blonde responded nonchalantly while sipping her drink.
Peter Quill smiled at Carol from across the table. He had always thought of her as beautiful. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone to disagree with that statement. It was never something he paid too much attention to before as his heart previously belonged to Gamora. Now with Gamora not being his Gamora, his mind was free to pay attention to new things such as the beauty of the goddess like being before him. It made him wonder about whether he had a chance with her or not.
“Where’s Thor? I thought he was travelling with you guys, yet I haven’t seen him once.”
Peter shook his head free of thoughts about Carol and him. Girls like her don’t go for guys like me. Besides, I’m not giving up on Gamora quite yet.
“We dropped him off back at New Asgard around six months ago.” Carol nodded her head at the information, “He felt it was time to go back to his people before going off to save others.” Peter leaned back in his chair after he finished speaking, taking a sip from his drink as he did so.
“I am Groot” came the sad sound from the tree like being to Carol’s right. Although she couldn’t understand him, you could pick up on the tone and infer that he was sad the God of Thunder was no longer around. Rocket and Groot were both the closest to him within the Guardians after all.
“I agree Groot. It’s been a lot less fun without Thor around” Rocket responded to Groot.
“Hey! I make things fun.” Peter argued sounding more than a little offended.
“Not as fun Quill.”
Carol chuckled at the exchange shaking her head good-naturedly, the conversation reminding her of a conversation she overheard at Tony Stark’s funeral. The conversation had been between Stark’s daughter and his prodigy Peter Parker aka Spider-Man. Morgan had been, understandably, very upset during the proceedings, but Peter had cheered her up despite being obviously affected by it himself.
Not for the first time Carol had found herself admiring Peter Parker. When she had first met him, he was clutching the gauntlet tightly, protecting it from both the barrage and those trying to get to it. Later into the fight she had witnessed him taking down hostile after hostile while also protecting anyone around him. When she had found out how old he was, she had been in disbelief.
“Did you check in with anyone else while you were there?”
“Uhm…” Quill affirmed, “Bucky and Sam seemed ok, Barton was off the grid with his family, so I assume he is ok. Banner was doing much better than when we last saw him. He is back to doing research with funding from Stark Industries.”
Carol listened as Peter went on to talk about the rest of the people they had seen and spoken with. She smiled at the thought that what was left of the Avengers had found their own versions of happiness. Whatever form that may take.
Her smile soon turned to a frown when Quill finished talking having not mentioned Spider-Man at all. She knew that they had spoken during the funeral, seemingly getting along well. “What about Peter Parker? How is he doing?”
“Who?”
“Peter Parker? Spider-Man?”
“That’s his name? Huh, who’d have thought. Glad to know there is another hero called Peter out there.”
Carol looked very confused and not at all amused but the very obvious joke. “That’s not funny Quill. How is the guy doing? He didn’t seem to be doing so great by the end of the funeral.”
Peter shared a look with Rocket and Groot. “I’m not joking Carol. I genuinely didn’t know the guy’s name. I didn’t speak with him much.”
Carol saw the look the three shared which caused her concern to grow further. It didn’t seem as if he was joking. Had she dreamt it all? Am I losing it?
Peter, Rocket and Groot watched as Carol stood abruptly and headed for the airlock with haste. The three shared a confused look before shrugging and going back to their food. It wasn’t unusual for Captain Marvel to just leave without saying goodbye. Although the circumstances were a little odd. Peter glanced out the viewport at Carol’s disappearing flight trail.
What’s up with her? I hope she is alright.
Carol flew as quickly as possible to Earth, specifically New York, more specifically Queens. Something was wrong. It had to be. She had not imagined any of the events that had happened at the funeral. She had not imagined Peter having a conversation with Peter. That had to be real because the alternative was a terrifying thought.
As Earth loomed into view, she made a brief wish that she wasn’t going insane before moving to break the atmosphere and the cloud cover following that. Once done she could see New York rapidly approaching but what her eyes focussed on was Spider-Man with his throat slowly being crushed by a seemingly metal robot.
Once close enough she gripped the thing’s, ‘man’s’ she corrected now that she was close enough to see beyond the metal, wrist and snapped it causing him to drop Peter. Carol raised a fist and fired a photon blast knocking the man back several feet, knocking the fight out of him. She briefly watched the police move in to apprehend the man who looked oddly like a Rhino if she squinted. As soon as she saw the police moving to apprehend, her attention turned back to Peter who she knelt next to as he was lying on the ground barely moving.
“Hey Peter Parker, you look like you’ve seen better days.” Captain Marvel’s voice spoke softly into his ear as she kneeled beside his prone form. Her eyes did a once over taking note of the cuts, bruises and gashes littering his body. “Don’t worry about that metal weirdo, Police have him in custody.”
Peter nodded his head as he slowly pushed himself to his knees so that he could see around him. True to her word, Rhino was cuffed with his suit laying destroyed on the ground with officers collecting the evidence. His eyes moved back to Captain Marvel who was kneeling beside him, the concern on her face evident though it was hidden behind her bright smile. Her hair was longer than when he last saw her. Those golden locks now down to around her shoulders.
Suddenly Peter’s brain caught up with what Marvel had said when she first spoke causing confusion to cloud his mind. Dr Strange’s spell was supposed to wipe all knowledge of him from everyone who knew Peter Parker. If it didn’t work correctly, then everything could still be in danger. However, from his experience so far everyone had forgotten him. Captain Marvel was the first person in six months that knew his name. At least as far as he knew.
“We need to talk,” he told Marvel as he slowly got to his feet. “Meet me on the top of the Empire State Building.”
With that and in a decent amount of pain, Peter lifted his wrist and fired a web line over to the roof of the nearby bank. He pulled himself off the ground onto the roof before firing another line to the next building. Peter swung carefully but swiftly over to the Empire State Building before climbing up to the roof where he found Captain Marvel waiting for him.
“So, Peter Parker, are you going to tell me why no one seems to know who you are?”
Peter pulled his mask off as he turned to face Captain Marvel with a look of confusion and concern covering his face. This look caused concern to flash over her own face as she regarded the bags under his eyes, the scruffiness of his face and the pain hiding behind his eyes. It was clear as day that something bad had happened since she last saw him at Tony Stark’s funeral on top of the fact that no one seems to know who he is.
“First off, just call me Peter. Second, it’s a long story.”
Marvel raised an eyebrow before walking to the edge of the building and taking a seat on the ledge, her legs hanging over the side of the building. Peter looked at her for a moment before joining her. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Peter thought about how to say what he wanted to say. Explain what he wanted to explain.
It was Captain Marvel who broke the silence first with a hint of sadness in her words, “I have all the time in the world. No one’s waiting on me.”
Peter turned his head to look at her for a moment before deciding to speak. “Me neither.” Marvel moved her body to face his, her eyes locked on him as the young hero continued to look out over New York. “I made a mistake. A series of mistakes really.” He paused to collect his thoughts which was something he hadn’t done at all since Mr Stark’s funeral. So much had happened over the last seven-odd months that it’s difficult to know where to start.
“After Mr Stark’s funeral, I was given something that I didn’t feel like I deserved. So, I gave it to someone I trusted, and they betrayed me. Once I stopped them, they exposed my identity to the world. It caused a whole host of problems that led me to try to find a way to make people forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.”
Captain Marvel maintained her focus on Peter while staying silent to not interrupt him. No matter how many questions she had, she’d wait until a good time to voice them.
“I found out that Doc Strange had something that could do it. After stealing it from him I tried casting the spell with my girlfriend… ex-girlfriend and my ex-best friend.” Peter paused once again, thinking about how to explain what happened in a way that would make sense. A lone tear escaped his eye at the thought of MJ and Ned. “I made so many alterations to the spell that it caused a rift to open in the multiverse. I met two alternate versions of me as well as villains from their universes. At first, I tried to cure them which was working at first but then one he… he…”
Peter choked up as he remembered the apartment fight and how May died at the hands of Norman Osborne. Marvel laid a hand on his shoulder as a show of silent support, a reminder that she was there without suffocating him. She felt a little awkward as she didn’t know Peter well but a hand on the shoulder seemed like a safe thing to do.
Thankful for Marvel’s silent support, the hand on his shoulder gave Peter the strength to continue. “One of the villains turned on us and killed my aunt. Despite everything, she s-said we did the right thing.” Tears streamed down his cheeks now, so Peter took a few deep breaths to calm himself. “With the help of the other Peters, we managed to cure them all, even the one who killed my aunt. I wanted to kill him so badly but that’s not what May would have wanted nor how she raised me.”
After another few deep breaths Peter finished his story, “Doc Strange turned up, but it was too late, the spell had been broken, and the universe was being torn apart by entities that were coming for me. The only way to fix it was to make everyone forget Peter Parker. I said goodbye to my friends, to the other Peter’s and the new spell was cast. It’s been six months since and true to the spell, no one has remembered me. Except you. I’ve just been devoting my time to Spider-Man as I can do more to help that way than Peter Parker ever could.”
Captain Marvel blew out a breath as she absorbed all of what Peter had been through over the last half a year. He had obviously left some things out, ok a lot of things, but the important information was there. She felt an unusual kinship with Peter born out of her own experiences. Like Peter, she had no one who knew her, missed her or loved her. Like Peter, she had lost everything that mattered to her. Like Peter, her life revolved around being Captain Marvel, around helping people. However, she always felt like something was missing, like she could be more than Captain Marvel.
“I-I don’t know what to say Peter.” Marvel started after a moment of silence. “I can’t begin to imagine what that’s like. To lose the people you care for most, but I do know what it’s like to be alone. What it’s like to live only the hero life.”
Peter looked at her, their eyes meeting and forming a connection that linked them in ways neither had felt before. Marvel’s hand squeezed his shoulder before retreating to her side. “I’ve never talked about this, but I wasn’t born with these powers. I was given them at the cost of my memories and life before them. For the next few decades, the life and past I knew were a lie. When I eventually recovered my memories, I no longer felt anything for the people I once knew. Whether I would ever feel the same for them again I don’t know. I don’t stay around long enough to find out.”
Peter watched her intently, a small sad smile on his face, his tears stopped and wiped away. “Trust me when I tell you that I know some of what you are going through. Not all of it but some.” Her hand then rested on his shoulder again, “You said May wouldn’t want you to kill the person who killed her?” Peter nodded to which Marvel continued, “Well, she wouldn’t want you to do this either. She’d want you to move on, go to college, get a job and find a partner to settle down with. To live. You can help people in more ways than just being Spider-Man.”
The words entered his mind where they swirled around as he pondered on them. Peter hadn’t given much thought to his life as Peter Parker. His grief and pain had held him back but now he had started to let that go some of that he could see another path. One where he balanced his life as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. One where he could do good as both. It was a path that didn’t exist before he had been prepared to accept his death at the hands of Rhino. It wouldn’t be easy but nothing worthwhile ever is.
Maybe I should fill out an application to ESU. It shouldn’t be too hard to either take or fake GED tests/results. Right?
For the first time in six months, a hopeful smile graced his lips as the feeling of hope filled his body. A new plan began to form in his mind as well as a sense that everything would turn out ok. With or without Captain Marvel by his side. Questions remained for both of them, but they would answer those in time. For now, Peter had a new plan, one he was oddly eager to put into action.
“Thanks Marvel. For listening and the words of wisdom and advice.”
“Carol.”
“Huh?”
“That’s my name. Carol Danvers.” She introduced as she looked at him with a smile.
“Nice to meet you Carol,” Peter replied, smiling back and taking the risk to bump his shoulder against hers.
“You too Peter.” She replied as she bumped him back.
Carol stood up from the ledge as her communication device pinged and Peter watched as she stepped away to answer it. His thoughts turned back to the new path laid out before him and the renewed sense of hope he felt. For the third time in six months, Peter smiled while looking out over the New York skyline.
“I have to go. People to save and all that.” Carol said from behind him.
Peter jumped to his feet and turned to face her, “Me too. Peter Parker has somethings to do to get his life back on track.”
Carol smiled, thankful that her words had helped, even though she was unsure if they would. “I’ll be back at some point. I’ll swing by and say hi when I am. I think we could both use a friend.”
“I’d like that.” Peter pulled his mask back onto his face before stepping back onto the ledge. “Just one question, how did you know to come save me?”
Carol shrugged, “I didn’t. I was catching up with the Guardians when I realised none of them knew you. Something had to be wrong because I knew what I had seen was real, but they didn’t know who you were. So, I flew back to find out what was going on.”
What is different between the Guardians and Carol? Why does she know me, and they don’t?
“When were you last on Earth?”
“Not since the funeral. The guardians were on Earth six months ago though. They were dropping Thor back off at New Asgard.”
Did it only affect people on Earth?
Peter nodded, “Hm… Alright, thanks for indulging my question.”
“Anytime Peter” Carol affirmed with the utmost honesty and softness.
“I’ll see you around Carol.” He stated before jumping off the building, free falling for a few seconds before shooting a web line to swing home. First to attend to his wounds and the suit, then to plan his future.
Carol watched him swing away with an odd feeling in her chest that she couldn’t quite identify. For once in her life, she had a reason to return to Earth and she found herself oddly looking forward to coming back. She didn’t know Peter, but her words were true. They both needed a friend, and she felt that Peter would come to be the best friend she or anyone could ever have.
With that last thought, she shook her head before shooting up into the sky trailing a brilliant blue, white and orange line behind her. It remained visible for a few brief moments before her figure disappeared through the cloud cover into the atmosphere. A small smile seemed to be stuck on her face as she reached the void of space. The same small smile that seemed to be stuck on Peter’s as he reached his apartment.
One thing was certain about the future for both of them, it seemed a little brighter than it did before.