riverview | Video; UN: p.parker

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Video; UN: p.parker

[The feed opens with Peter on his bed.

Not hungover, thank you.

But he looks a little rumpled, in that healthy way, a way that says he's actually gonna sleep early today.]

Ummm. So... This is weird. I, okay — here it goes.

Number one... Hey, hi, I'm — I'm 16-year-old Peter Parker. Not the puny one in the Iron Man mask anymore. But thanks a lot if you helped me out, back there; it means a lot. I was a little bit of a handful and all, but you guys were awesome babysitters? That's kind of embarrassing, but you know, that's just how a Parker rolls.

[Peter breathes out a sigh after a moment's hesitation, leaning back from the feed and tapping a pen on a notebook on his knee that is probably too full of science mumbo-jumbo and math notes — among other things. Liiiike bullet points on what to say for this message. He feels like he's got butterflies in his stomach, honestly. Which is stupid. But he's never been great at having an audience; you wouldn't catch him in drama with all those actor-types.

Okay, Pete. Just go down your list, you got this.]

Mr. Stark — Tony Stark, that is... and Sam Wilson, they've gone home. Captain America, too. A lot of people have: people from my world, some from worlds like it — and friends I got to make from wildly different places have left, too. And I just... wanna say, this place has been so good to me, you know? Sure, some really messed up stuff happened here and there, but. But it's been a place where I could think. And make new friends. And be way more open than I was back home.

I just know what I have to do now. It's been eating at me for a while, so... Decisions made. And all that.

I'm gonna take the next portal they can give me, and I'll be going home as soon as I get the word. [Some people know what that means. A lot of people don't, and he doesn't plan to tell them the grim reality behind it] There's a ton I have to do back home, responsibilities I gotta tend to and things I gotta be a part of, for better or worse. And it's not right for me to put it off. Like... how you avoid studying for the SATs until the night before? Yeah, it's super irresponsible.

... I don't know when it'll be exactly. I guess nobody does. Or else we wouldn't get pulled here or pushed away.

But yeah.

[He swallows.]

Anyway. I'd like to do as much as I can on my dumb to-do list thing, for this really weird and long vacation I've been on. I wanna hang out with all my friends who're still here and really just... have a lot of fun? Until I go back to my usual life. I hate goodbyes, so I'm not gonna think about saying them right now, but I just wanted everyone to know you've been so awesome, and I've learned so much, and I've had a blast.

... Mostly. Not including being hungover.

[He smiles a little more, warm and confident in his words.]

And, um, for certain people, I've got something else to tell them?

But I'll let you know in a more private feed.

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Peter, I--

[She hasn't talked about it with anyone. Thor had returned home soon after he'd showed her and everyone else...

And she knows Peter too well, and she just knows he's the kind of person to get mixed up in that, and all she can see is her brother running off into danger for the last time. Her throat tightens, and for a brief moment she can't find the words.]

I don't think that's the best idea.

[Peter's talked about it, but — sparingly, and with people he thought could handle it better than people from his world, for the most part. People who didn't have to worry about their own stakes in it, people who could help him work everything out in his head without panicking over their loved ones, or their own lives. But... here we are. And it sounds like Wanda knows something about it, too.]

Y-yeah?

[Stupid reply, Pete, think of something less stupid.]

What, uh. What makes you say that?

[Wanda steadily grows paler.]

Don't. Just-- don't.

[She closes her eyes.]

Don't make me say it.

[.... Crap.

His shoulders slump, and he has to take a moment to think of what to say.]

Did you... go back? Or did — someone tell you what happened?

...Thor showed me.

[She's studying a very, very interesting point on the floor instead of looking at the screen. Wanda's been left to wonder about most of it, but she'd seen the Mind Stone in that...in that thing, and Thor hadn't seen most of the team...

She could put two and two together that something terrible must have happened. But Wanda still can't say it.]

[Oh... That definitely is one way to figure it out. He has no clue what has been happening on earth — but this is just confirmation that the future is bleak for every side of the battle... which is a stupid confirmation. Of course everyone's suffering. Duh. He feels stupid, feeling this dip in his stomach.

He just... hoped. Even if it was pointlessly.]

... I'm sorry. I was told about it... Shown a little. Saw some, um, ghosts.

[It's at least confirmation for her, that he knows about home.]

I think...I think we lost. He had... [don't say it don't say it] ...he had everything.

[As long as she doesn't name it, it feels less real, but her throat still feels tight, like she's about to start crying.

Then again, the odds look very good that Vision and Stephen are going to be killed and she's never really been able to be detached and rational where the people she loves are concerned. All this power and apparently she was as much use to them as a pool noodle in a joust.]

I'm sorry.

[She wants better for him than this, for him to be able to finish school in peace and be happy with his friends and family. He shouldn't have to carry the weight of existence on his shoulders like this.]

[He nods, feeling kind of... tingly numb? He swallows hard.]

... We did lose. We do. [He rubs his shoulder, wondering how much she knows — did Tony tell her anything, after that? Thor didn't know — couldn't possibly know what will happen on that planet.] Me and Mr. Stark, and the Guardians... Mr. Strange. We're gonna fight Thanos on a — a place called Titan. But we won't be enough.

But... even though I know that, I can't just... avoid what time I've got with my family... or my friends. My city. And there are people I gotta protect and help. I can't stay here forever and leave that kinda burden on the other Avengers.

[She clings to that flare of anger because it's safer. If she's angry, she can keep going. If the despair ever catches up to her, she'll just lay down and not get up.]

You can't change anything from home. But here...maybe we can fix it. Bring one of the Stones here and destroy it.

[She can't keep her voice from wavering indefinitely, unfortunately.] I don't know what else to do.

[He smiles a little, expression smoothing.]

Maybe. Maybe one'll come through the portal. If that's the case, you should stay here and make sure it gets destroyed. Right? [He hesitates.] I don't think I'll be much help there, Wanda. I'm...

This is the most helpful thing I can do. I'll try to take something with me, something that can give the others a heads up to what's happening. Someone's gotta try, right? I'll have notes. I'll try to make myself remember.

[He holds up the notebook.]

... Then maybe, I can save us?

[He's not gonna get his hopes up, but it's not a worthless journey. Even if he never remembers, he can see May again. And Ned, and Mr. Stark. And his people, in Queens.]

It shouldn't be you.

["Stay here and make sure it gets destroyed." It's a simple enough sentence, and logically it's sound, but Peter doesn't understand the background of what he's asking. He might as well have asked her to rearrange the stars.

'I'll protect it. It's my job.' Except she never seems to be able to protect anything: not Pietro, or Sokovia, or Vision, or Stephen, or--

Wanda's a strong person. She's been through a lot. But 'stay here alone and try to save us while everyone else goes home to die' is too much. Oh, she can force herself through it as always, since she has no real choice and no right to demand that Peter or anyone else stay where they'll be safe. But it will break her.

She has no solution for him, no words of hope or encouragement. Just the tears it's impossible to hold back any longer. It's not fair; this shouldn't be on a child's shoulders but even though Wanda would be willing, she can't take his place. Because who else has a chance of destroying one of the Stones?

She has to stay. He has to go. But it's not right.]

Edited 2018-10-29 12:55 (UTC)

Maybe... Maybe it shouldn't, but it is.

And if that's my job... I'll try to do it. And if that doesn't pan out — being Spider-Man means I'll have a lot of other things to do. New York needs its heroes! Right? Riverview can't keep them all to itself.

[He looks alarmed, when he realizes she's upset — Crying. And so he panics a little, his throat feeling tight as he combats his own feelings.]

It'll — It'll be okay! Don't cry, I'm sure things'll work out; the other Avengers, they'll make things right. And I'll be okay! I'm okay. I'm gonna be okay. S-so...!

[He's gonna cry, after all this stiff upper lip stuff; don't make him cry when he was almost home-free here!]

Edited 2018-10-30 19:42 (UTC)

[Unfortunately, now that Wanda's started crying her body is super committed to it. She'd love to stop, but it's like the floodgates have opened and she just can't. Because even if he does remember, even if they do believe him, there's no guarantee anything will change. She doubts Stephen would destroy the Stone he carries and the other one...she doesn't even want to think about those possibilities.

...but she can't say any of that, and her throat is refusing to cooperate, so all she can manage is a very pathetic:]

Be careful, Peter.

I'll try to be, but you know me. I'm a mess!

[He grins toothily at her, a sort of 'what can ya do?' shrug to his shoulders. It's easier this way, to be the optimistic kid who is making light of a terrible future — he's so tired of it, already, being sad, being hopeless, being afraid of what's coming. He's tired of it, and he just wants to be him again.

He hopes this will help make him just that.

Peter Parker. Spider-Man. Not the kid who is hiding under a pillow in his apartment, wishing everything would just fix itself. Mourning over friends and himself and the strangers on the street he hasn't even got a chance to save yet. No, this has to be — something better, even if it hurts like hell.]

You're gonna come hang out at the diner with me later though, right?

There's this place downtown that is so awesome, but they're always empty! It makes no sense.

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