note: i wouldn't suggest reading this chapter if you haven't seen NWH yet as it covers the first five minutes of the film.

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chapter one
WELCOME TO THE END
OF YOUR LIFE
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LENA ALWAYS THOUGHT that the end of her life would happen more dramatically than this. Every time she's witnessed another hero's death or downfall, there's been a buildup. A heart-pounding, dread-inducing series of moments that drag on and on, stringing them along as everything accelerates to one final, deafening crescendo. And then there's a pause to wind down— to process everything, to reevaluate and plan one's next move.

The trio's ruination doesn't grant them so much as a pause for air. Before she can even pinch herself to check if this is real, Jameson is continuing on his tirade of defamation.

"That's right! Peter Parker, 16, and Lena Santos and Graham Seager, both 17, high school delinquents, are harboring a homicidal..."

Someone seizes Lena by the arm, causing her to whirl around to face a wide-eyed young man whose face is mere inches from her own. "Is all of this true?"

"Did you really murder Mysterio?" another bystander calls out.

"No," Graham replies shortly. Even though their world is crumbling around them, he's still staying calm.

He reaches out to remove the man's hand from Lena's arm, but the guy jerks away so hard he knocks into the crowd rapidly forming around them with a cry of, "Don't touch me, man!"

Someone tugs hard on the synthetic strands of her braided wig. Lena reaches up and clamps her hands down on her head to keep it from sliding off, but she can't see the culprit. Everywhere she looks is a new face. The crowd is closing in on every side of them. They're poking, prodding, placing their hands on any bit of them they can reach like they're zoo animals, hurling questions and demanding answers. Someone's camera flash nearly blinds her, causing her to raise a hand to shield her eyes. One person jumps away in fear of her using her powers against them.

Her breath feels like it's trapped in her lungs by her rapidly crushing ribcage. Sweat breaks out on the nape of her neck. It's hot— boiling, even, and the sunlight is too bright. When she blinks, her vision sways.

"Okay, we're not doing this," Graham says. He grabs both Lena and Peter by the arms and melts into the shadows, causing the swirls of chaos to fade into the silence of the void.

They emerge onto the same rooftop they'd been on minutes ago. Of course, it looks exactly the same as before, but they may as well have materialized into a different world. Lena's fists are clenched to the point of pain. If she hadn't been wearing her fingerless gloves, her nails would have sliced into her palms. For the first time, she finds herself begging for those familiar blue pixels to appear and make everything turn to nothing.

"I knew he was up to something," Graham spits, bringing his hands up to run them over his close-cropped hair. He paces a few steps away before turning around again. "Why else would he have been wearing that stupid special effects suit on the bridge? He was wearing his costume in the video... but we never saw or heard him film that. What — What the hell is going on?"

"This is real, right?" Lena asks, her voice strained due to her contracting throat. "Like, this is actually happening?"

"It's real," Peter confirms. He puts a gentle hand on her shoulder, sensing exactly what she's fearing— or hoping. "This is all real. We just have to figure out how we can fix it."

"Fix it?" Graham repeats incredulously, raising an arm to gesture toward the city framing them. "The whole world knows our names. They think we killed fucking Quentin."

"I know, but..." Peter pauses as if searching for the right words. "We can always fix things."

Lena doesn't know if he actually believes that or if he's also saying that to convince himself. From the slight wavering in his voice, she thinks it's the latter.

The sound of whirring cuts off the rest of their conversation. Lena squints at the sky to see four helicopters approaching from each corner, various newscast logos slapped onto their sides. Cameras are already aimed at them. Lena instinctively reaches down to clasp onto Peter's hand and entwine their fingers, gaining strength from his presence.

Before, she'd had no problem with people taking videos of her in her costume. She'd always had the security that came with anonymity, knowing that, no matter how many criminals she stopped, she'd always have her normal life to return to. But now that safety net has been yanked out from beneath her. She's hurtling toward some chasm of the unknown and yanking the boys down with her.

It appears she's not getting that break anytime soon.

"Okay, new plan," Graham says with his eyes on the sky. He has to shout to be heard over the chopper blades. "Where to now?"

"My place," Peter answers. "May and Happy are on a date— it'll be empty."

Graham halts for a second, then shakes his head and wedges himself between them once again to loop his arms through theirs. "I have so many questions about that, but those are for later."

Lena sucks in a preparatory breath before he whisks them back into darkness. She hardly feels nauseous when they pop out onto the sidewalk of Peter's street, right outside of his apartment building.

"Dude," Peter says. The single word points out that this is not the spot they agreed on hiding.

"I've never been inside your apartment."

Peter sighs and glances at Lena. Even though his face is still covered by his mask, she knows what he's thinking without having to see his expression. She nods and aims her palms downward in readiness to flight. Peter wraps one arm around Graham's midsection; since the contrast in their height is so great, it would look amusing under any other circumstances.

"Hold on," Peter tells him.

"Oh, God," Graham groans, and then Peter swings them both into the air. Lena follows with a stream of energy from her hands and feet until they reach Peter's window. Graham all but rolls through it and falls onto the floor due to his awkward position. Peter motions for Lena to climb inside next, then follows and presses the spider on his chest so his suit expands and begins to slip off of his body.

The others copy his actions. Lena's outfit retracts into the metal plate on her chest. She wears a pair of leggings and a tank top underneath, leaving her decently dressed as she yanks off her wig and mask. Graham is in basketball shorts and no shirt. And Peter, well... Peter is only in his boxers.

"Peter—" Graham tries to tell him.

"I know, I just—"

Lena hisses, "What do we do?"

"Um... wait, no..."

She gives up and begins rummaging through Peter's t-shirt drawer in an effort to get both boys fully clothed, only for the bedroom door to burst open, revealing a very alarmed Happy Hogan and a confused May Parker.

"Not again," Graham says.

Lena exclaims, wide-eyed at the implications of that sentence, "Graham!"

Happy instantly pivots and walks back into the hallway to go bleach his eyes. Peter kicks his suit off of his feet and trips in his wild scramble to find clothes, his skin flushing from his face to his neck.

May blinks. "Oh, my God."

"I didn't see anything!" Happy promises, placing a hand over his eyes. "I didn't see anything!"

"No, no, no, no, no," Peter rambles as he fumbles with a t-shirt. "This is not what it looks like."

May walks in to close the door, calling over her shoulder, "Practice safe se— oh, hey!" She abruptly hurries back inside and pulls a half-hunched-over Lena into a hug, then does the same with a still-shirtless Graham. "So good to see you guys!"

Graham musters an awkward smile before Lena tosses a robotics t-shirt at his face. He pulls it over his head, frowning when the hem stops above the waistline of his shorts.

"This isn't what it looks like at all, I promise," Lena tells May.

Peter's aunt turns to her with a wink. "Don't worry. I won't judge whatever you guys have going on." She looks at the small shirt on Graham and purses her lips. "It's a fashion statement. You know, crop tops are kind of in for men right now."

Lena's pleading seems to fall on deaf ears. "May, really, we all just needed to get out of our suits."

"Happy—" Peter cuts himself off when he realizes something. "Wait, have you been crying?"

Happy slowly slides into the doorway again, and Lena can now see that Peter's right. The older man's eyes are watery, the skin around them red as if it had been irritated. His body language is unusually timid when he replies, "We... broke up."

An awkward beat of silence follows before Peter says, "Oh. Oh, uh..." He uses a webshooter to slide his window shut and close the shades over it, encasing his bedroom in shadows. He quickly yanks the 'I survived my trip to NYC' shirt that Tony had given him over his head. "I didn't know you guys broke up. I thought you were in love, May."

He puts an arm around his aunt and leads her into the hallway. Lena calls, "Wait, Peter!" while holding up a pair of his jeans and a belt, but he simply continues guiding May in his boxers while everyone else talks at once. She sighs and pushes herself to her feet with his clothes clenched in her hand.

Realization dawns on Graham's face. "Shit. Our parents."

He disappears without another word, leaving Lena alone in Peter's room. She meanders out into the hallway where Happy is standing stiffly. Giving him a halfhearted smile that probably looks more like a grimace, she scurries into the main living area and jumps when the intercom buzzes from the front entrance.

"Hey, is that the door?" Happy questions.

"Not important!" she hastily exclaims.

Lena chucks Peter's clothes at his chest, trusting him to catch him, which he does, giving her a grateful nod. She pretends not to hear May's lecture involving him being so awkward about sex. Instead, she focuses on closing the windows and curtains. The apartment is a bit stuffy in the summer heat, but she'll take a little discomfort over people trying to peer inside at them any day.

Peter's phone begins buzzing on the coffee table. He briefly interrupts May's tangent to ask, "Lena, can you just see who that is?"

"Yeah!" She picks it up to see several messages on his lock screen, which she notices is a photo of her from their picnic date in Central Park. It brings a smile to her face in spite of the anxiety churning in her gut as her eyes take in the messages.

NED: dudeee

NED: dudeeeeee

2 MISSED CALLS FROM NED

NED: DUDEEEE

NED: call me backkkkkkk

FLASH: YOU'RE SPIDER-MAN?????

FLASH: PETERRR??

FLASH: PETER PARKER?!!?AWI;GOAE

Oh, fantastic. Lena digs her own phone out of her pocket to see if she has similar notifications.

CINDY: uh, hey?

CINDY: [Link: SPIDER-MAN, HAVOC, AND SPECTER'S IDENTITIES REVEALED!]

CINDY: what's going on??? are you safe????

GUY IN THE CHAIR: [To The Gang] CAN ONE OF YOU PLEASE RESPOND

GUY IN THE CHAIR: [To The Gang] HELLO???!!!!??!?!! ASJKDFNJKAEAEG

NOT BARRY ALLEN: Santos I don't know how you got the money to bribe the news to pull this prank but I swear to God this isn't funny

NOT BARRY ALLEN: [Voice Memo]

NOT BARRY ALLEN: Don;t lisren to that it's jusy me cryign

"Who is this random child in Peter's room?" Happy questions, pulling her attention away from the overwhelming influx of texts. "Hang on. One of Graham's brothers?"

"What?" Lena asks.

She turns to see Owen Seager wandering into the hallway, slowly sliding down a large pair of headphones from his ears so they hang around his neck. He gives Happy a small wave and introduces himself to May. "Uh, hi. I'm Owen."

Max follows him, his eyes flickering around until they land on Lena. He clamps his hands down on his twin's shoulders, causing him to jump as if he hadn't known he was there. "Oh, Lena's here, too? Party at Peter's!"

Lena realizes what's happening just as a very bewildered Mr. and Mrs. Seager join their sons. Mrs. Seager's pale face looks waxy and ill; a hand is pressed firmly to her mouth as if she's fighting back nausea from shadow traveling. Her husband's arm is around her and his calculating gaze sweeps across the apartment.

Mr. and Mrs. Seager had not known about Graham's powers until now.

"Okay, that's everyone," Graham's voice announces. He urges Ma and Pa into the corridor as well, forcing Happy to side-step into the living room from the number of people.

Lena's parents must have been in the middle of cooking— Pa's hands and wrists are coated in flour while Ma wears an apron over her clothes. The sight of them causes reassurance to flood through her veins like a tidal wave that douses out most of the fear. Graham had known exactly what they'd needed: all of their family members in one place, where they could ensure they were safe from harm. She mentally thanks her best friend for being so smart.

"Oh!" May exclaims, shooting to her feet. "I didn't realize we were having visitors."

"Lena, anong problema?" Pa asks her.

She replies, "Sandali lang, Pa."

"What's that sound?" Happy questions.

"Uh—" Peter stammers, using more webs to yank down the two remaining windows and shades that Lena hadn't gotten to yet. One woman calls out to him being Spider-Man from the street, but he ignores her and continues securing the shades with webs.

Lena glances at the television. It takes her a second to recognize that she's looking at Peter's apartment complex, and an additional second to recognize that she's looking at Peter's apartment complex right now. The sound that Happy had been referring to must be the helicopters following them. They've tracked them right here.

"Cameras are showing Parker's apartment, which appears to have the most activity from inside. Neighbors report that the Santos and Seager residences may be vacant right now."

"Hold up," Max says. He's the first of his family to break their ranks in the hallway, turning the corner to stare at the television. Owen follows, as do Ma and Pa, but it takes some gentle prodding from Graham for his parents to even budge.

May gasps. "Is that—"

"Is that here?" Happy finishes for her.

Peter grumbles incoherently for a second before reluctantly returning to the closest window and opening the shade. May and Happy peer outside at the several news copters recording their every movement.

"Graham?" Owen asks, staring at his buzzing phone. "Why are people telling me my brother's..." He glances at their parents, suddenly aware that they don't know the secret, and clamps his lips shut.

"Your brother's what?" Mr. Seager demands with his brows raised.

"Really awesome?" Graham suggests weakly. One withering glare from his father has him backing down. He sighs, uncharacteristically fidgeting with nervous tension before admitting, "I'm... Specter. Like, the vigilante dude. Avenger. And Lena's Havoc. Peter's Spider-Man. We're all... super... heroes..."

Mrs. Seager plops down hard onto the armchair as if it's the only other alternative to fainting.

"The whole world knows," Lena adds somberly.

She glances at her parents, hoping to draw reassurance from them, but the look on Pa's face only confirms her first fears. This is going to cause more damage than she ever thought possible.

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a/n:

aaannnnddd we're back, baby! hello to my returning old readers, and hello to the many people who've already caught up since no way home's premiere. your support on this series has overwhelmed me (in a good way!) and i was astounded by the excitement for this act. this one will probably be even more painful than act three, which is saying a LOT.

i have many exciting plans for this act, and once again, i'm going to be writing many of my own scenes to slow the film down like i did for far from home. i'm really going to delve into the psychological effects of their secret being revealed, which the movie didn't do as much as i thought it would.

it felt so good to write lena and graham again after so many months. i missed them endlessly and only survived by adding pins to their board on pinterest. it has 3.3k pins. oops.

also, one last thing: ned and flash's texts to peter are actually from the official spider-man app where you can "access" peter's phone. i laughed so hard when i saw flash's response!!

thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed the chapter!

—kristyn

TRANSLATIONS:

Anong problema?: What's wrong?

Sandali lang: Wait/Hold on/Just a moment