wow, me updating? it's a christmas miracle

peter took in a shuddering breath, dried blood crackling on his stained lips. his breath caught in his throat as he choked on his own saliva, resting his head back and staring blankly at the sky above him. his chest burned with pain as he laid there.

"spiderman, where are you?"

peter blinked at the voice of his mentor echoing through the comms, a sad smile etching its way onto his face.

"m-mr. st-ark?" he could barely talk.

"spiderman, where the hell are you?"

"mr. star-k, h-hi," the teenager whispered out, his mind a swirl of delirium.

"fuck it. FRIDAY, give me the kid's location."

peter let out a pathetic laugh, eyes rolling back into his head. he blinked, trying to focus on the foggy world around him. a puddle of crimson blood pooled beneath his body, leaking from the severe wound in his chest.

snapping in front of his face made him flinched, and he glared blearily towards a red and blue figure in front of him.

"spiderman, say something kid," steve muttered out, slightly shaking the boy. "spiderman, hello?"

peter coughed haphazardly, blood spitting out onto his lips.

"mmm-hi c-ap," he slurred dreamily. "how're you d'ing...?"

"tony, it's bad," steve said as tony landed next to him.

the billionaire stepped out of his suit, stumbling to his knees. he grabbed the teenager's hands in his own, sending icy chills down his spine. he slowly unraveled peter's mask, pulling it gently off his face, letting the boy's sweaty hair fall over his forehead.

"you're going to be okay, all right?" tony assured him. "help is on the way. bruce and helen are going to fix you up real good, okay?"

"mmm'kay," peter giggled. "i's really c-cold, mr. st'rk."

tony immediately shrugged off his sweater, draping it gently over the sixteen year old's body. he smiled sadly as a tear rolled down his cheek, catching in his goatee.

"bruce is almost here, all right kid?"

peter blinked and lolled out a lazy smile. "bruce..." he repeated before frowning. "w-who's bruce?"

tony stalled for a moment, taken aback. he glanced over at steve who looked just as, if not more, confused as him. he looked back down at peter, eyebrows furrowing.

"you know bruce-bruce banner? the hulk? he's one of your uncles, peter," he told the boy worriedly.

peter slightly shook his head. "mmm'nope. i don't rem'ber him," he mumbled.

tony looked up desperately as he heard the familiar roaring of the quinjet, a relieved sigh escaping as it touched down meters away from them. helen and bruce came rushing out with a stretcher, setting it down next to peter's limp body and loading him onto it.

"holy shit," bruce cursed, shaking his head. he and helen started heading back to the jet, "helen, i need two hundred milligrams of morphine stat."

>><<

peter blinked hazily as he awoke, blinding light causing glittering stars to dance across his vision. he sputtered out a weak cough, wincing as it rattled his ribcage.

"i see you're awake."

peter turned his head, eyes widening when he saw thanos sitting on stone steps beside where he lay on the dusty ground. he choked on his words, unable to speak.

"don't try, you're too weak, child," the titan continued, gazing out across the wrecked city. "i have decided to spare your life."

peter squeaked out a breath of surprise, hiccuping.

thanos glanced down at the injured sixteen year old. "however, my gift to you comes with a price."

it was silent.

"i will spare you, but when you have regathered your strength, you must come and work with me-be my apprentice."

peter's eyes widened drastically, and he went to protest, but only a high-pitched whine came out.

thanos thought for a moment.

"i will give you exactly one year-three hundred and sixty-five days-to accumulate your health, spend time with friends and family, and to continue on being spiderman. however once that year is up, i will come and take you away-i'll mentor you."

the teen breathed in sharply as thanos grinned.

"and don't tell anyone about this, not even stark, or else."

that was the last thing peter heard before everything went black.

>><<

peter recovered in record time to the amazement of the stark medical team and tony himself. what seemed like fatal injuries healed in less than two weeks, and the teen was up and running around by the third. everyone was shocked on how he survived, but peter knew.

it was a one-sided deal, really.

"come on, peter!" morgan giggled, calling out to her older brother. "let's play tag! you're it!"

peter gasped dramatically as morgan began running towards the woods around the cabin, disappearing behind the trees. he quickly sprinted after the young girl, dodging awkwardly hanging branches and jumping over large tree roots.

"i gotcha!" he called out as he came up behind her.

morgan shrieked as the sixteen year old swept her into the air, spinning around and around. the five year old laughed until she was crying, letting her tiny legs splay out.

"peter! put me down!" she giggled, kicking her feet.

"what's the magic word?"

"dum-E!"

"yes!" peter exclaimed proudly.

he carefully placed his sister back into the ground, raising an eyebrow as he glittery pink high tops soaked up mud. he pointed towards them curiously.

"won't mom and dad get mad at you for that?" he questioned.

morgan shrugged. "happy said he's getting me new ones next week for my birthday."

>><<

peter woke up at three in the morning on that dreadful morning, fear building up in his chest. he could stop jittering and flinching at every sound he heard, and his fingers could barely hold a pencil steady as he wrote a note for his parents.

dear tony and pepper (+happy and morgan),

i'm sorry about this, i really am. but i made a deal a year ago with a being more powerful than any of us combined. he spared my life in return of my loyalty and servitude to him.

tony, you're like a father to me. i've lost so many in my seventeen years, and i don't want to lose you too. promise you'll look for me if i don't come back, okay?

pepper, god i love you. you're like the mother i never had, and you took me under your wing when may was arrested. never stop baking cookies and singing nursery songs with morgan for me.

happy, i know we've had our ups and downs, but i do really love you. ever since freshman year when you started picking me up from midtown every day and hauling my ass over to the tower, i've known you and i were going to be close. and we are. make sure morgan is safe from the bad guys.

morgan, i'll miss you girlie. never stop defying gender norms, and please listen to mom and dad. this might be hard on them, so i need you to be a big girl and help happy and rhodey take care of 'em, all right?

i love you all, please remember this. i'm so, so sorry for doing this to all of you.

sealed with love,

peter parker-stark

peter left the note on the kitchen counter for his family to find when they woke up later that day. he got dressed in his suit, sitting out on the porch with his mask in his heads. thunder crashed above him and he flinched as it got louder, a brewing storm above him becoming violent.

a bright white light flashed before his eyes, and soon he saw a girl withe green skin emerge from thin air, her hands outstretched. she smiled at him, beckoning him over.

"hello, child," she said softly. "i'm gamora."

"gamora like... quill's gamora?" peter asked hesitantly, standing up from the porch.

gamora stuttered in her step. "you know quill?" she replied.

peter nodded. "i fought with him back at the war," he explained, beginning to walk towards her. "are you here to take me to thanos?"

gamora nodded.

"precisely."