Chapter Text
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
Peter groaned and rolled over, burrowing his head in his pillow to stifle his alarm clock. It was a daily occurrence, and he knew he’d succumb to the need to get up and dressed soon enough, but right now? Right now he wanted to murder his past self. And yet, like every day before, all it took was three more beeps for Peter to slap a hand over his alarm clock and swing his legs out of bed.
Getting up at 5AM should be illegal.
Then again, he does it to himself, so he can’t really be mad at anyone. But he will anyway. He’ll find someone, he’s sure of it.
When he started university Peter had the bright idea to get up a couple hours before his first class so that he could patrol. There was a surprising amount of crime in the early hours of the day in Brooklyn. Not that there wasn’t in Queens, though Peter couldn’t really attest to that. In high school he would have rather stay up all night than wake up any earlier than 7AM, and even that was pushing it.
He ran a hand through his hair as he got up and started changing into his costume. It wasn’t as high tech as his old one, but it worked, and that was all he could ask for. Plus, it had already been a year, so he was used to it.
God.
It had already been a year since… since everything went down. Since Dr. Strange erased everyone’s memories of Peter Parker. Since Peter had to figure out how to graduate high school without anyone knowing who he was. Since he lost his home, his friends. Since Aunt May…
It all worked out in the end though. Peter had tried keeping his promise to MJ and Ned, he really had. He had gone back to MJ’s workplace and he was going to tell them, or at least try to rekindle a friendship with them. But they were so happy without him, and they got into the school of their dreams. Of his dreams.
It just wasn’t worth it.
So Peter left them. It was the one thing he could do for them to make sure they’d be safe and happy. They didn’t need him in their life, after all. He just caused pain and trouble for everyone around him. Everyone he got close to either died or got hurt.
So he did what he did best.
He moved on.
He was able to convince a local high school that his files had just gotten lost, which he supposed wasn’t really a lie. He was sure Midtown still had files of him laying around, but he was sure they had been thrown out or something, especially since no one would be able to link them with anyone. But he was able to complete high school, and that was important to him. Finished with a perfect GPA, even.
It would have been good enough to get into MIT, but now, with his lack of extracurriculars, and the fact that he didn’t have any references… well. It just wasn’t possible. Plus, before everything went down, Mr. Stark had been willing— despite Peter’s protests —to pay for some of his university.
“You’re gonna be one of the world’s brightest, and I don’t want you in some shitty community college just ‘cause you can’t afford it. Especially not when you know me! ” the man had said.
Peter laughed just thinking about it. Before, he had been mortified at the thought of taking the man’s money. After all, he had nearly died just trying to save Peter, and now he wanted to drop thousands of dollars on him? It was insane.
But now, Peter would do anything to get him back.
He honoured Mr. Stark’s wishes though. Even though Peter appreciated community colleges, he knew he wouldn’t be able to study what he really wanted to there, so he applied to some local universities. In the end, Brooklyn College was where he ended up. They offered him enough scholarships and bursaries to cover tuition, and with a part time job he was able to afford a shitty micro apartment. It wasn’t the best situation in the world, but he wanted to think that both Mr. Stark and May would be proud of him for getting this far.
“Get a move on Parker,” he muttered to himself, “No use dwelling on the past.”
It was already 5:40, and his first class of the day was at 8:00, which meant he had just over two hours to patrol, shower, and then get to class. And it was the first day of the winter semester, he didn’t want to give a bad impression. Plus, he was excited for this class. Most first year classes were super general, and honestly Peter found himself bored half to death in most of them. They just weren’t challenging in the ways he wanted them to be. But this class was experiential. They met two times a week; once on Mondays to go over theoretical material, and then on Wednesdays they did field work. Apparently the format of the field work changed each year, depending on what the Professor could swing, but no matter what it would be worth it. Getting an opportunity to work in an actual lab would be invaluable, especially to Peter. He needed all the references he could get so that he could get out of his fast food job by summer. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could take flipping burgers.
The patrol was mostly boring, if he was being honest. Once he got out and swinging he found that it was still incredibly cold out (God, he missed the heater in his old suit), and that apparently no one else was crazy enough to be outside. Of course, there were cars zooming around, people talking loudly on their phones, and stores setting up, but there was nothing Peter could actually help with. Except for one old man, Mr. Brown, Peter found out, who had been emptying a truck into his shop. The boxes were clearly too heavy for the poor man, so Peter, of course, went to help. It only took about half an hour to fully unload the truck, so Peter then insisted on helping the man unpack everything too. He had the time, after all.
“Thank you so much, Spider-Man,” Mr. Brown said as Peter finished unpacking the last of the boxes.
“It’s nothing, sir! That’s what I’m here for,” Peter beamed through his mask.
“There isn’t anyone else like you, you know. No one else us folks can rely on to help us. Everyone else is busy with aliens and monsters and the government. But Spider-Man is always around,” Mr. Brown smiled. He rummaged through the kitchen for another minute before handing a sandwich and a coffee to Peter. “Take this, I’m sure a young man like yourself has places to be, so make sure you get enough food in you.”
“I—” Peter wanted to refuse. He was ok taking food and payment from people when it looked like they could afford it, but Mr. Brown’s shop looked like it was barely surviving.
But he could barely afford three meals a day with his paycheques right now… so…
“Thank you, Mr. Brown. If you ever need any help, just shout for me. I’ll come!”
And that was that.
What an exciting Monday morning.
On the plus side, Peter really needed the coffee. By the time he got back to his apartment to shower it was only 7:00AM, but he felt his eyes drooping. He shoved the coffee in the fridge, vowing to drink it cold on his way to class, and scarfed down the sandwich. If he showered quickly he’d have time for a fifteen, maybe twenty minute nap before he had to head to class. The one good thing about going to a local college was that he didn’t have far to go. Well, he did have to move from Queens to Brooklyn, but it wasn’t like he left much of a life behind anyways.
He showered, napped, and got dressed all over again, before grabbing his now iced coffee and heading out the door. It was days like these that his life felt both hopeful and meaningless all at once. It was only about 8AM but he had already helped someone. But it was also a cold January Monday and he had nothing really going for him except Spider-Man, school, food, and sleep. Every day was just a repeat of the same thing.
He didn’t have any friends. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t allow himself to get close to anyone else, not after everything that went down. He wasn’t sure if his heart could bear it. He had no family anymore. No one to really live for.
No one but New York.
So he just had to focus on that.
That, and getting to class on time.
“Shit,” he cursed, when he realized it was already five after eight. He was going to be late on the first day of class.
Great impression, Peter. Good job.
He ran as fast as he could to his class, barely breaking a sweat as he did. He opened the door to his lecture hall as quietly as he could, sneaking in with his backpack in hand and sliding into one of the last rows.
The prof made eye contact with him, but said nothing.
“Now, as I was saying,” he continued, “the field work portion of the class this year will be split up into groups. You won’t be doing group work, however. Instead, you’ll have the opportunity to work within different companies within New York. As this is a technology course you will, of course, be assigned to tech companies. If there is a company, or even a professor who runs a lab, that you’d like to work with and they aren’t on the list, simply let me know. The sign up list has been emailed to all of you, so please just email me with your top three choices.”
“Now, I’d also like to mention that we have been made a special offer from a very important company,”
The Professor paused, no doubt for dramatic effect, but it worked. The class erupted into chatters and whispers. The Professor just chuckled and watched them for a moment, before raising a hand and asking them to quiet.
It was immediate. Everyone wanted to know who it was.
“Now, Stark Industries has off—”
And the quiet was gone. The class erupted into more chatter, but this time no one was attempting to hide their voices.
“Oh my god, can you imagine doing a placement with SI of all places? They rarely take first years!”
“I can’t believe it, I’m definitely going to try to sign up for them,”
Peter, however, felt himself go into shock. He had avoided every and all talks about Stark Industries for the last year. Hell, he hadn’t even spoken to Mr. Stark since just a couple days after May’s death, and even then it wasn’t in person. The man had been on a business trip in Paris, so they had simply face timed. Before that, the last time Peter saw Mr. Stark in person had been in the November of his senior year. He just couldn’t bear it.
MJ and Ned, he could do. Kind of. He didn’t have to see them now that he was at a different university, and he hadn’t finished high school with them. And he knew that they were better off without him.
But Mr. Stark? Well… he was like Aunt May in a way. No matter how much Peter knew he was bad for Mr. Stark, he also knew he wouldn’t be able to stop the selfishness of wanting to be close to him again.
But he could still avoid him. Sure, trying to get into SI would be great, and it would do things for his resume that no other company could do. But it was doubtful that he would get in anyways. So he would just avoid it, he just wouldn’t apply. He’d choose somewhere else. Maybe Oscorp.
Actually, no. Nope. That was not a good idea.
He knew that the Norman Osborn he met the year before was from another universe, but he still wasn’t going to take that risk. Sure, this universe's Norman Osborn wasn’t evil, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t become evil. And honestly? Peter just wanted a normal semester. He just wanted to get some work experience, do well in school, and then find a good summer job. Was that so much to ask for?
“Alright, quiet everyone,” the Professor shushed, pulling Peter out of his thoughts, “I knew this would be quite competitive, and we want to put our best foot forward for Stark Industries, so I’ve already chosen the five students to go. I’ve organized you all according to cGPA, and the positions will go to the five with the highest ones. Now, they may refuse, and if they do, I will go down my list.”
There was an echoing of awws and damnits , but really, no one seemed all that surprised. It was going to be competitive anyways, so all this did was remove their hopes of getting it, and remove the chance of being disappointed when they didn’t.
“Now the five students I have chosen are; Elizabeth Leonards, Ronald Johnson, William Young, Nicole King, and Peter Parker.”
Of fucking course.
Of course his attempts to succeed at life would lead him right to the place he didn’t want to be at.
“Please email me your decision by the end of the day so that you may all go to your placements on Wednesday. For the five I announced, please let me know at the end of class if you would like to take up this opportunity or not.”
And that left Peter an hour and a half to ponder his future. Should he say no to it, and work at a lower company? It would be less emotionally taxing on himself, but it would be worse on his resume. Plus, it wouldn’t look good for him to turn down such a huge opportunity. What would he say? Or should he just say yes?
It wasn’t like Mr. Stark was known for mingling around interns, or on the lower levels. Or… well, with any of his employees. He mostly just kept to his lab, and ever since having Morgan he split his time between the lake house and the tower. But even when he was at the tower he stayed on his floor. He wasn’t even CEO, Pepper was. So the chances of running into him were low. So incredibly low that it was simply almost impossible.
And, well. It would look amazing on his resume. And if he sucked up to whoever was in charge of his lab he could get an amazing reference letter that could land him wherever he wanted to go in the summer.
He could actually work in his field, and maybe even make a good wage in the summer.
It was too good of an opportunity to pass on.
And so, after not paying any attention whatsoever to the lecture, Peter approached the Professor at the end of class.
“Ah, Mr. Parker,” his professor smiled at him, “I’ve heard some great things about you from my colleagues, they all say you’re incredibly bright.”
“Oh,” Peter fought off a blush, “Thank you sir. I just put in the work, that’s all. But I just wanted you to know that I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to do the placement at Stark Industries, and I’d love to do it.”
“Wonderful! I’ll notify them at once, and then email you with details on where to enter and all that,”
“Thank you sir!”
Elizabeth Leonards, or Liz as Peter found out she preferred to be called, started a group chat with all the students going to SI. “The Stark Five” she called it, and put a little iron man emoji beside the name. Peter quickly changed it to a cape, sending a message “we’ll be the heroes in five years time when we land jobs to change the world,” which earned him a couple of rolled eyes.
He didn’t reply to the group chat much, but he did read all the messages. They seemed like a nice group of people, and they were all super excited to work at SI. William (Will, he had told them all early on), even asked if any of them thought if they’d meet Mr. Stark. Peter didn’t want to break it to them, so he let the group talk in fantasies about meeting the famous Iron Man. He knew it was exciting, he remembered being starstruck when he first met Tony. But now? He’d rather be anywhere than in front of the man. He was pretty sure he’d end up in tears if he ever saw him face to face again.
He did message a thumbs up, though, when Liz asked if they all wanted to meet up for a coffee around 7:30 on Wednesday morning and head to SI together. Even though he didn’t want friends, couldn’t have friends, Peter also knew that it would be nice to walk in as a group. It would ease his nerves, and then it wouldn’t bring back memories.
Memories of when he used to waltz into SI with a “Hey Fri!” and go right up to Mr. Stark. If he went in alone he’d either run away, burst out into tears, or go off muscle memory and try to get to Mr. Stark’s personal floor, which would no doubt get him blacklisted forever.
So, when Wednesday morning came, Peter decided to sleep in a bit, and skip patrol for the day. He was already jittering with nerves, so he didn’t need to be worn out and tired on top of it all.
He got dressed rather begrudgingly. New York winters were never kind to Peter, even before the spider bite. They never had enough money for really warm winter coats, so Aunt May and Uncle Ben would just layer Peter up with sweaters and scarves. After the bite, Peter relied on even more layers, until Mr. Stark found out and made sure the suit was heated at all times, and even got him a nice winter jacket too. Peter ended up selling that coat last year. He had needed the money for food, and he didn’t see any reason to keep a ridiculously expensive winter coat when he could just go to Value Village and get some cheap one. Now he just layered up as much as possible, but there were some days that he continued to feel insanely cold.
Sure, he kind of felt like a marshmallow, but at least he wouldn’t freeze to death.
He briefly considered swinging over, but he knew that he’d see something, get dragged into a fight, and then end up being late. And honestly, Peter was still just trying to have a normal semester for once in his life. He wanted to avoid getting in trouble on the first day of his placement, and have his classmates hate him for ditching their coffee meeting. Sure, he didn’t want to make any friends, but considering the five of them would be working together he should at least put in effort to be friendly with them.
He just had to make sure to not get too close.
So he hopped on a city bus, checking his messages as it went through the city. Nicole had texted everyone with a “see you soon!” and everyone responded with their own iteration. Peter replied with a small “on my way :).” Friendly, but non committal.
They were meeting at a small cafe near SI that Elizabeth knew about. Apparently she had grown up around the area and knew of all the good local spots. The bus ride was just about half an hour, which was the perfect amount of time for Peter to go over the entry email.
Unsurprisingly, he knew most of the procedures anyway. After the whole homecoming thing, Peter had started interning with Mr. Stark properly. Or, well, semi-properly. He didn’t work as an actual intern, but rather just alongside Mr. Stark on his personal floor. But he still knew some of the basic procedures, like wearing badges at all times while in the building, and not going anywhere restricted. The only new piece of information was that Peter’s badge and access card were a lower level now, and he was actually restricted from going places. He’d have to make sure to remember he wasn’t allowed to wander around freely anymore.
It shouldn’t be too hard. It was just like everything else in his life. Sure, he was Peter Parker, but he wasn’t Peter Parker anymore. He was just a person with no relation to anyone. No history. No real life. Peter Parker just had to get by and live so that Spider-Man, the person people still remembered, still knew , could do all the hard work.
And maybe that wasn’t the healthiest way of thinking, but it’s how he got through life right now, and that was all that really mattered.
The cafe was, thankfully, a short walk from the bus stop, so Peter didn’t have to brace the cold for too long once he got off the bus. It was also just a block away from SI so thankfully they wouldn’t have to walk too far to get to work.
The door to the cafe opened with a sharp jingle, and before Peter even had a chance to look around, one of his group members was already calling his name and waving him over.
“You’re the last to get here, Peter!” Will said, gesturing to the table of four other students.
“Ah, sorry, I woke up a bit late,” Peter gave a sheepish smile.
Which wasn’t a lie, he had slept in. It was also intentional, but they didn’t need to know that.
“We’ll go get your coffee and breakfast and sit down. We’ve only got another 20 before we have to be there,” Liz was a bit more abrasive than the others, but not in a bad way. Just in a way that Peter could tell she knew what she wanted and didn’t want any bullshit.
Usual New Yorker energy, really.
Once he ordered his drink, ensuring it was in a to-go cup, Peter sat down with his classmates. And it wasn’t until the drink was in his hand that Peter realized he had been to this cafe before. Well, he hadn’t actually ever been inside before, but it was Happy’s favourite coffee shop, so everytime Mr. Stark sent the man out to get them something to drink, it was from this spot. Peter used to just get a hot tea, or a London fog if he was feeling fancy. According to Mr. Stark, he “didn’t need any caffeine,” so he was delegated to lightly caffeinated drinks like tea, or pop. God, if only he could see him now.
Something about university really made Peter perpetually exhausted and now he really did need the extra caffeine.
“Iced coffee? In this weather?” Liz questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“I like cold brew,” Peter shrugged. They could pull his iced coffee out of his cold (literally), dead hands. Something about it was just so much more satisfying than hot coffee.
They passed the next fifteen minutes talking about their own expectations of the placement. None of them knew if they were all going to be working in the same department, or if they’d be split up. Liz and Ronald seemed to want to stick together, apparently they had gone to high school together and liked working together. But the rest, including Peter, seemed to care less. This stuff was cutthroat after all. Sure, they were all classmates, but they were also all smart and hardworking classmates, which meant that if they wanted to stand out they’d have to outdo each other. That would be significantly harder if they were all together.
But no matter what, they were all still kind to each other, and Peter even found himself smiling and laughing at some of the things his classmates were saying. Will reminded Peter a lot of Ned, if he was honest. He seemed really interested in computer science, and definitely had the brains to go along with it. Plus, he was already as loud and sociable as Ned. Instead of finding it comforting, though, Peter just found himself wanting to text his former best friend more than ever.
But neither of the girls were anything like MJ.
Peter didn’t think there was anyone like MJ in the whole world.
Once it was about ten to eight, the group of five decided to grab their drinks and head out, despite SI only being about a five minute walk. If that. It was always better to be a little bit early than a little late.
They walked mostly in silence, with only Liz and Ronald chatting quietly to each other. Peter was finding himself too nervous to say anything at all at this point. Was FRIDAY going to remember him? The spell erased people’s memories, but what about technology? But if she did remember him, wouldn’t Mr. Stark have found out? And he was curious enough of a person that he would have gone searching for Peter long ago. But since that didn’t happen, FRIDAY certainly didn’t remember him, right?
He couldn’t imagine walking in and her greeting him like normal. It would be the first time in over a year that anyone actually knew him.
And Peter couldn’t tell if he really wanted that to happen, or if it would be the worst thing in the world.
Once they arrived at the doors to SI everyone seemed to freeze. Peter was frozen because he didn’t want to confront his thoughts just yet. He didn’t want to be proven right or wrong yet, he just wanted to live in a small fantasy world where he would walk in, run up to Mr. Stark and give him a huge hug.
Everyone else was probably frozen because they didn’t know what to do.
So once Peter gathered what little courage he had, he rested a hand on the shoulders of the people beside him, Will and Nicole, and smiled.
“Alrighty, let's go, everyone!” Peter beamed.
And that was enough to get everyone walking in.