Chapter 1: Before the Blip
Chapter Text
His spider-senses had been tingling all day. He listened to his crime scanner, and briefly watched the news, but there was no mention of any major crimes. So he went out as Spider-Man, when he left his place his senses started to spike. Crime was low today, and his senses continued. Then he saw him. The man that he looked up to and wanted to be just like, Dr. Otto Octavious. That's what must be causing his spidey-senses to act all crazy all day. But they've never done this hours before he spotted trouble? He didn't have time to think about that, right now he has to stop him from committing more crimes.
-
He swings into action and his spidey-senses are off the charts. They are actually starting to become overwhelming, that's how bad it is. He gets distracted when he hears a loud crash, the source being someone tripping over a chair. It was only a split second distraction, but that's all it took for Dr. Octavious to swipe at him with one of his actuators. Everything came crashing down at once; the very little sleep he's gotten, the heightened senses, and the new wound he received from being stabbed just yesterday. Everything went black, but not before he heard Dr. Octavious coming towards him and saw his menacing grin.
-
Otto finally did it. He caught the spider-menace. The man behind the mask seemed distracted today, and he took that to his advantage. He's never gone down with one sweep, so Otto is careful not to get too close before seeing that he's out. One of the actuators peel off the mask and reveal..Peter Parker? That's Peter Parker. The young man that he had a discussion on nuclear physics and love with. And the same one that was supposed to see his glory, but ended up tragedy. His mind drifted to thinking of his beloved Rosie. He couldn't help it, anytime he thought of that day all he could see was Rosaline falling to the ground, and it was all his fault. He was immediately pulled from his wandering thoughts when he heard a groan. Shrugging the shock off he woke the young man.
-
When Peter woke up, Dr. Otto Octavious was standing over him. The older man had an expression of shock. And worry? Peter found this to be rather awkward, so he raised his hand in a small but painful wave.
"Hey, Dr. Octavious. "
"Hello, dear boy."
Dr. Octavious gave him a relieved smile.
"You're not going to commit anymore crimes, right? At least for today?"
Dr. Octavious gives him a worried, but humorous look.
"Brilliant, but lazy."
Peter chuckles at that. His relief is short lived though, because his spidey-senses keep getting worse and he feels like he can hear all of New York. He curls up in a ball and covers his ears to try and drown out at least the hearing aspect by a little. He doesn't care if the famous scientist turned criminal is staring him down with a face of concern, because it's all too much. He feels a hand rest on his shoulder.
"What's the matter Peter? Are you injured?"
Speaking of injury, the stab wound on his side has been re-opened. He shutters because of the dampness making his suit cling to him in an uncomfortable way.
"Stabbed yesterday, but that's not what's bothering me."
"You were stabbed!"
Dr. Octavious voice sounds terrified by those words. Next thing he knows, he's being lifted, and it hurts. Not because of the re-opened stab wound though. He feels like his insides are turning to dust and putting themselves back together at a not fast enough speed. He's been beaten, he's been stabbed before and he's even been hit by a train, but none of those compare to what he's feeling right now.
"Stop! Stop, please! Put me down!"
He's starting to panic, because everything is too loud and everything hurts.
"Peter, I need to get you somewhere where there's a doctor."
"It hurts."
-
The boy in front of him is becoming hysterical and he isn't sure how to approach this without causing any more damage. Otto tries to calm him, but he just clings onto him and refuses to loosen his grip. Guilt is beginning to overcome Otto. Then he recalls to Peter's earlier statement. The stab wound wasn't what was bothering him?
"What else is bothering you, Peter?"
"Everything hurts. It feel like my insides are pulling apart and coming back together, but then back apart again."
Otto doesn't know what this means. Was the young man ill? Peter's grip loosens, but only because his hands and arms are starting to turn to dust.
"Peter!"
Peter's shoulder start to do the same and Otto is trying to stop it. Peter then gives him a look of resignation mixed with guilt.
"I'm sorry."
He disappears and Otto is left alone.
~5 years later~
It's been five years since Peter vanished in his arms, just over five years since he saw Rosie die, and not even close to five years since he became a version of his old self again. He was pardoned for his crimes, because it was really the actuators, and he continued his work, but in other areas that aren't harnessing any power. He was only a shell of his former self though, he wasn't able to get past the deaths of Rosie or Peter. Rosie was his life, she meant more than all of his studies. And Peter, he was a brilliant mind lost, he never even got to start a life before it was ripped away. The blip is what it's called. Half of the world just disappeared by turning into dust. He couldn't get past the look on Peter's face and his last words. Why would Peter be sorry?
Chapter Text
Peter feels lightheaded and his breath is short. He's shivering from both confusion and coldness, and the cold air is only making it worse. Then he remembers, his arms turned to dust and Dr. Octavious was standing over him, trying to help. He quickly gets up up to look at his arms making sure they're still intact. Yep, I still have arms. He feels a jolt of pain at his side. Yep, I still have that re-opened stab wound too. His spidey-senses are calm. Infact he can barely hear anything, but the thumping of his heartbeat. I think I can even feel my pulse in my ears. That's not good. He does the only thing he can think to do. He begins to crawl off the building to get away from the cold. When he reaches ground level, he passes out again.
-
Otto is watching the News when he hears about people who've died in the blip coming back. He's out the door and on his way to Peter as soon as he hears that.
-
Peter is woken up when he feels someone picking him up. He opens his eyes to see a very blurry Dr. Octavious.
"Doctor Octavious?"
"You're going to be alright. Just rest."
Peter begins to flail, then falls out of the actuators cautious, but still firm grip. He stands up right before doubling over in pain.
"Wait, what happened? How come everything looks different?"
Peter is frantically looking at his surroundings while taking in the new visuals.
"I'll explain later, Peter. Right now we have to get you somewhere you can be patched up."
"Right."
Peter for some reason, unknown to even himself, shoots a web at his side.
"Why did you do that?!"
"I don't know!"
-
After a long walk home with Peter moving constantly in his arms while he lectures him, and eventually Peter passing out again, he brings the boy into his living room. He places him onto the couch, while Otto grabs the materials needed for tending to a stab wound. Once everything is cleaned up, he sits by Peter's feet and waits for him to wake up.
-
Peter sees Dr. Octavious reading a paper, when he opens his eyes to a clear view. He begins to sit up, but he is quickly pushed back into his resting position.
"You have to rest."
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you, after you've rested."
"I can't rest if I don't know what happened."
-
Otto sighs when he accepts that Peter won't rest unless he tells him everything.
"There was a blip, and half of society disappeared."
"What? For how long?"
"It's been five years."
"Oh."
Otto is looking at Peter's face, but he's not able to distinguish his look. Maybe it's not registering right now? Maybe it'll happen later?
"How do you feel?"
"Bright as rain."
Otto is relieved to see that Peter has been able to keep some of his humor and sarcasm.
-
Peter is confused, but he's too tired to think too much. But he remembers Doc Ock wreaking the city's banks, so he feels he has to ask.
"How do you feel?"
"Ah, well I haven't been terrorizing New York if that's what you're asking."
"It sort of is. But I don't understand, how did you go back to normal if your inhibitor chip was broken?"
"Well it wasn't easy. After you disappeared, I started working on a new and improved inhibitor, despite the actuators best efforts to stop me from doing so. There was a lot of work with the legal system, but I was eventually pardoned."
Otto looks at Peter and he can practically see the gears turning. But now it's time for him to ask a question.
"Why did you say you were sorry?"
"Huh?"
"Just before you were dusted, you said sorry."
"Oh. I said that, because I felt bad about not trying to talk to you before we fought."
"Well, I was a threat."
"But, I still should've done something to help you."
"You're not responsible for anything anyone else does. With great power comes great responsibility for your own actions."
-
Peter feels like he's been hit by a train when Dr. Octavious says that.
"My uncle said the same thing once."
"Your uncle must be a wise man."
"Yeah, he was pretty great."
-
Peter thinks of Uncle Ben, the most important person in his life that was taken away too soon. And Otto thinks of Rosie, the most important person in his life that was taken away too soon. They have both lost people, but now they've gained each other.
Notes:
Sorry it took me so long to finish! This was my first fic, and I really like how it turned out. I just wasn't sure how to end it😅.
gotcha48sucker on Chapter 1 Wed 18 May 2022 08:21PM UTC
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Fandom_Rises on Chapter 1 Fri 20 May 2022 10:58AM UTC
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Alex (Guest) on Chapter 1 Thu 19 May 2022 04:33AM UTC
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Fandom_Rises on Chapter 1 Fri 20 May 2022 10:57AM UTC
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wp6runro (Guest) on Chapter 2 Mon 03 Jul 2023 07:42AM UTC
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