Archive of Our Own

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Peter Parker stands in front of Doctor Strange. He doesn’t remember Peter, but he remembers erasing Spider-Man. He needed to talk to Peter about something. He still wasn’t sure what.

Peter missed MJ and Ned, honestly. He missed building LEGOS. He missed having a home. He missed everyone. He missed Thai food and weekly movie nights. 

Strange looked down at Peter. “I’m going to give you a choice, Spider-Man.” He starts, slowly. “Now, I would usually never do this, but this feels like a special occasion.” He takes a deep breath. “...Would you like to go to a different universe?” He questions.

Peter froze. What? Just… What? “...I can do that?!” He bursts out. Dr. Strange gives him a look. In response, Peter clears his throat. “Ah… I mean… What would that choice involve?”

Strange thinks. “...Well, for starters, you don’t have to see any faces of people you remember, who don’t remember you. I’m giving you this choice as a chance to start over.” He explains, gesturing. “Though, it can include lots of risks. The multiverse is… unstable. Your identity, age, appearance, and other aspects of yourself may become… malleable across the multiverse, and the universe I’m sending you to is in a separate timeline.”

Peter hesitates. He promised them he’d find them and make them remember. And he tried. Truly, he did. But…It’s impossible. And they’re safer without him. He thinks it over. “...If that’s a choice, I’ll take it.” He agrees, finally.

Strange seems surprised, like he hadn’t expected Peter to agree that easily. “Alright. Be safe.” He starts creating a portal. Peter stops him, suddenly.

“Wait-!” He starts. Strange raises an eyebrow, so Peter straightens. “Uh. Do… Do you think Mr. Stark would be proud of me?” His voice quivers as he speaks. Strange stared at him with this knowing look.

Dr. Strange lets out a sigh, finally. “He’d be proud no matter what, kid. Now go.” Peter swallows, taking a step through the portal. He stumbles, falling into an alley. It was dirty, bacteria filled, and dark. The sky was… murky and foggy. 

Peter lets out a quiet “huh”, before freezing as he hears his voice. “H-Hello?” He stutters out. He… He doesn’t stutter. Ever. He used to have a bad stutter as a kid, but he taught himself out. And even if he didn’t, his voice is higher, squeakier, younger.

He looks down at his hands. Small. He doesn’t know what to do with that. 

Neon lights flickered against pavement that was still wet from past rain, and towering gothic buildings loomed overhead. Every sign he passed bore the same unfamiliar name.

Gotham.

Peter blinked, utterly bewildered. “What the hell is Gotham?”

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Peter had, luckily, found an abandoned warehouse. With the way this place is, he’s not surprised by the graffiti covering the walls. For some odd reason, there was a yellow and black bat logo. He assumes it’s a company that’s popular.
He slept on the floors that were covered in probably bacterial liquids, the floor wet and iridescent in some parts and sticky and green/black in other parts. It was gross but it was the only place he had.

In the morning, he goes out, hoping to find someone or somewhere he can eat. He had no doubt he looked starved and wounded. Even though he just arrived here, he wasn’t in the greatest state before he left. Due to the fact all evidence of his identity is gone, from being in a new universe, he had no way to get a job or money or a house, or anything. There was no trace of his identity at his universe either, but at least there, as Spider-Man, people sometimes gave him food- Spider-Man! How was he supposed to be Spider-Man while this small?! No, priorities. That isn’t what he should focus on. He needs food first. He doesn’t want to steal, he knew better than that. So he has to find a legal way to get food.

He passes by a place called “Gotham City Library”. Original. Is it a law to have your city name plastered over every building? He’d visit, but he’s currently preoccupied with searching for food. He makes a mental note to go stop by whenever he can. It seems cozy.

He doesn’t find anything, so heads back to the warehouse for the night. That continues for days, wandering around, searching desperately for food. Sometimes he gets mugged, sometimes he doesn’t. He’s found food a few times. He stops by the park often. It wasn’t… the prettiest park, it was actually quite destroyed, and you could smell that there are people who smoke weed nearby, and the squeaking was bad enough for normal people, let alone for him when he has enhanced hearing, though his hearing wasn’t as good, due to the lack of food. But he liked the park.

He stumbles upon one of those places with food for homeless people. Typically, he would kick himself before going here for food, or asking anyone for help, really, but he’s desperate, and this is his only hope.

He heads in, finding a young adult, around 23 years old, packaging sandwiches. He has black hair, with a white piece in his bangs. His eyes were an aqua color. He looked surprised by Peter. He was freakishly tall. Or, maybe, Peter was just short. He had yet to find out what age he was reverted back to, and every other adult had been around the height of this man. Peter stares. What the hell was he supposed to do in this situation?! What does he say?

“Uhh.. Hi.” Peter greets awkwardly. He winces at how high his voice was. The awkwardness of that word made the other guy snort. Rude. Peter was a child- or, not actually, he was 18, promise. But! The other guy thought he was a child. And you shouldn’t laugh at children.

The guy smirked. “Hey, kid. You here for a sandwich?” He questioned, to which Peter nodded eagerly. Peter gets lost in thought. Kid, the guy had called him. It reminded him of Tony. “Nice job, kid!” “Hurry up, kid.” “Kid, listen to me.” He hands Peter a box with food, though he now had a strange look on his face. “What’s your name?” He tilted his head.

Peter looks up. “Oh! I’m Peter.” He gives a smile, grabbing the box eagerly. He was hungry. Starving, honestly. It’s been too long since he last ate. The guy's expression softened imperceptibly.

“Jason.” He introduces himself, going back to making sandwiches. Peter takes that as a sign to leave, so he heads out, waving goodbye before heading back to the park and swinging while eating the sandwich. He was there for a little bit before others came near. The moment he saw people, he left the park and rushed home to the warehouse. He knows he’s more likely to get mugged if he’s seen with food. He learned that from experience. He mentally complains though. Jerks, not even saying hello. It was then that he realized he forgot to say goodbye to Mr. Jason.

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Jason enjoyed his job. He started working at a food kitchen that provides free sandwiches and soup for homeless people a few weeks ago. A lot of people came in. Kids, teens, adults. They never exactly liked having to come here, it was likely a last resort, but he’s still glad they’re eating

Today was a long day, but his job wasn’t too bad. Patrol was a bit rough though, and he got into another fight with Bruce.

He doesn’t know why he was so surprised to see a seven year old boy. He was just skin and bones, and pale enough to look dead. Something about the boy reminded him of Tony, though that didn’t make sense. Or maybe he reminds him of Demon Brat. The boy had matted brown hair and dark brown eyes. Jason was in the middle of making sandwiches when he came in. 

Kid was stiff, looking around nervously. He walked through the front door, walking slowly, hesitant. When he spotted Jason, Jason realized his surprise must show on his face, because the kid looked more awkward.

For a while, they just stared at eachother, while Jason kept making sandwiches and keeping eye contact. What can he say, he’s a good multi-tasker. Kid finally speaks.

“Uhh.. Hi.” Kid greets. Jason snorted at how awkward it was. He sounded so young. Poor kid looked so offended by Jason’s snort, he nearly laughed harder. But, alas, he has self control, so he does not. He looks down at the kid, deciding to engage in the small talk, mostly in apology for laughing.

“Hey, kid.” Jason greets. Something flashes in kid’s eyes at that. “You here for a sandwich?” Sarcasm drips from his tone, but kid didn’t seem to pick up on it. He nods eagerly, before his expression goes blank. “That was sarcasm, you-you do realize that, right?” Kid doesn’t respond, having zoned out. “..Seriously?” Despite the annoyance in his tone, he was more worried. What kind of kid zones out that easily? 

“Helloo? Can you hear me? Earth to kid.” He questions, while starting to make tupperware with a sandwich and a thing of soup on the side. “Here.” He hadn’t finished it yet, but he was about to. There we go. He hands it over just after kid zones back in. Kid looks confused by Jason’s expression, having apparently not realized he zoned out.

Jason tilted his head. “What’s your name, kid?” He decides to ask. He can’t just keep calling him kid.

Kid’s eyes lit up at that. “Oh! I’m Peter!” Kid- No, Peter greets. He gives a smile before going on the tip of his toes to reach the container, and snatched it like it was about to disappear. Judging by his frame, he hasn’t eaten in a while.

To that, Jason just nodded. “Jason.” He goes back to making sandwiches, done with the conversation. He sees Peter walk away, waving from the corner of his eye. Poor thing. Guessing he hasn’t been on the streets long, if he’s still that happy. Jason doesn’t want that ruined.

After Peter left, Jason continued with his job before realizing his shift is close to ending. He heads back to his apartment for the day. He bought it recently. He hated that Bruce was paying for it, but Jason already has two jobs and neither are paying jobs.

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It’s been about a year by now. Peter’s been surviving here for a while. He misses Peter 3 and 2. He visits the park almost everyday by now. He still hasn’t found a chance to visit the library. He’s made the warehouse feel more like home, and he visits Jason for sandwiches often. Jason’s kind of nice. Though, Peter’s pretty sure Jason’s surprised he’s still alive.

Peter made friends with the owner of a nearby tech shop, often making stuff for him in payment for scrap parts. Mostly because Peter doesn’t have money. He’s learned muggings are way too common here. Jason’s apparently rich, and gives Peter a lot of stuff. Typically, he’d decline, but he’s desperate. He doesn’t have the money for proper clothes, and he can’t thermoregulate.

Today was just a normal day. He was eating soup from Jason, sitting on the rusted swings of the playground, before a car stopped. His heart quickens. It was an expensive limo, and he wonders why it’s here. Did he do something? No one really visits the playground other than him, let alone rich people.

A kid steps out of the car, a year or two older than the age Peter is now. Two people step out with. A formal butler in a suit, half bald, with white hair, and a man that looks kind of like Tony. It’s impossible, so Peter passes it off as him missing his former mentor. He’s dead, Peter reminds himself.

Peter decides to greet the kid. “Hi!! Are you here to play? Do you want to play with me?” Peter half-expected him to say no just because Peter was… well, broke. Especially with the way he scrunches up his nose. Peter prepares for rejection.

The kid scoffed. “Tt. I do not “play”. I am here to strategically get some sense of environmental awareness and improve my improvisation and creativity skills. Playing would infer that I am here for entertainment, which is entirely false.” Despite his words, the kid was red, entirely.

Peter stares. What the fuck did this kid just say? How does he respond to that? He really wants to play with this kid, so he needs to respond somehow… “Oh! Okay! Do you want to… improve your improvisation and creativity skills with me, then?” He settles on that for a question. That works, right?

The kid stares back at Peter, surprised. He stays silent for a while, before finally responding. “Fine. If you would like that that much, I suppose it would be beneficial.” He mutters, before dragging Peter to play together.

They had fun. Now, Peter was heading back to his warehouse to tinker with some spare parts the owner of the mechanics shop gave him. As Peter heads back, he realizes that he never caught the kid’s name. Shit.

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Peter wakes up in the warehouse, per usual. He’s been shooting webs from his wrists recently, without the webshooters, so there’s large webs everywhere. He didn’t mind though. It made for a more comfortable sleeping place than the stone floors. He felt like an actual spider, sleeping in webs. Next thing you know, he’ll be trapping a villain called “Fly Man” in his webs. He’d pay to see the irony of that.

 That would be a horrible name, though. He’d feel bad for the villain. His lips twitch as he keeps thinking. His stomach growls, but he only goes to the kitchen once a day. It’s not the best for his metabolism, sure, but he doesn’t want to take advantage of the place. He heads over to the mechanic shop, as usual. He thinks. Spider-Man has been on his mind more. He wants to go back to being Spider-Man, but he’s a bit too small for that right now.

 …Illusion tech works? No. He’ll wait until he’s a teenager. He can wait. He waves at the mechanic, in greeting, before getting to work. He’s there for two hours, before going to walk to visit Jason. Of course, he gets pulled into an alley on the way, and had to fight a mugger off of him without hurting the guy.

 Jason had grown accustomed to seeing Peter injured, at this point. Had grown used to seeing Peter at this time in general. Peter hated how much Jason treated him like a child. But, to be fair, in Jason’s eyes, he was. Jason’s eyes seemed greener than usual, and he looked pissed. Peter cracks a grin as he sees Jason had already made him his favorite kind of sandwich. He was worried about why Jason seemed like he was about to pop a vein.

 “Hey, Jace!” He greets playfully, going on the tip of his toes to climb into a chair. “Sorry I’m late.” He wasn’t actually late, he had no required time he had to be here. He’s just later than he usually was. 

 Jason rolled his eyes, which seemed to have gone bluer after he noticed Peter. Which… Eyes don’t change colors, so Peter decided he was imagining things. “Hey, kid.” Jason greeted gruffly. “I have your sandwich. Say, what do you even do after you leave here?”

 Peter raises an eyebrow, his grin spreading wider. “Wouldn’t you like to know, weather boy?” At Jason’s confused look, Peter remembered this was a different universe. “...Sorry, it was an inside joke between me and… old friends.” Peter lies. He hopes he looks sad enough that it's believable and Jason will leave him alone.

 Jason nods. “Right. Sorry, kid. DIdn’t.. Think that would be a sensitive topic.” He apologizes, though it sounds wrong from Jason’s voice. Ugh. Peter would’ve shivered if he wasn’t acting right now. “You didn’t answer my question.” Shit. “What do you do after you leave?”

 Peter sighs. “I go to the ruined park nearby, and eat my sandwich there.” He explains, looking up. “Why?” He decides if Jason wanted to pressure him to answer a question, Peter’s earned a question.

 Jason shrugs in response, getting on Peter’s nerves. “I wanted to get to know you. And yeah, I know the one. My little brother was there yesterday.” Peter’s head snaps up at that. He wasn’t expecting Jason to have any family. Jason didn’t seem to notice his shock- or ignored it. “But it sounds fun. Good for you.”

 Peter smiles. “Thanks!! I made a friend yesterday,” Jason’s expression softens at that. “I’m hoping he comes back today, because I forgot to catch his name.” Peter explains, taking his sandwich. “Goodbye!”

 Peter heads back to the park, eating his sandwich on the swing. He waits for the kid, but he never comes. So Peter heads to his warehouse, and grabs his computer he made with spare parts at the mechanic shop. Now, there’s something he’s been meaning to do. 

He wants Karen back, even if he’s not Spider-Man. He wants his friend who happened to be an AI. So he was going to make another one, and find something to connect her to. Maybe he can make an earpiece and program her to be in here. Of course, he can’t name his AI the same thing twice- he’ll just name her after she’s programmed. 

He likes to think Mr. Stark would be proud of stuff like this Peter’s done. Maybe he’s daydreaming, or maybe Mr. Stark really would be proud. He doesn’t know, probably never will. But he can pretend. He gets to coding. Maybe he should start looking for public schools… Eh. He doesn’t have a legal guardian or even legally exist. He can’t do that.

 A picture of Jason flashes in his mind, as well as words Jason has said. “You can come to me for anything, kid. I’m here to listen, or to blow up a building, if that’s what you’d prefer.” Peter had laughed at the moment, but now… now it started to sound like a good idea.

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I'm going to be late to updating because there has been a death in my family, my grandmother just got out of the hospital, and my brother is currently in the hospital. I'm really sorry, I am working on the fic right now but we're all healing. It was all of my half-sibling's dad, so I've had to be there for them, and my mom was still best friends with him after the divorce and so we've all been really busy and barely home. I'll update as soon as possible!!