Castaway [Peter Parker]

24 - Cure

It was time to make the cure for the villains.

Peter dumped a bunch of objects from a bag. It was everything that was used for the cures but was broken.

He arranged them based on which one belonged to which villain and said each name as he picked up each container.

"I think I can repair the devices for Dillon and Marco," Peter said as the middle Peter put on a lab coat.

The oldest one picked up one of the devices.

"The others..."

"Well, I've got Conners," the middle Peter said. "I already cured him once, no big deal."

He was met with silence by the other two Peters.

"You cured Conners once before?" Chase said, impressed.

"Yeah," the middle Peter said.

"Sick," Chase said.

The middle Peter seemed relieved to know at least someone was relieved.

"I think I can make an anti-serum for Doctor Osborn," the oldest Peter said as Hailey and Chase went to help Anthony and Ned. "I've been thinking about it a long time. Gotta cure all of them, right?"

"Right."

"That's what we do."

Hailey stopped in her tracks staring at the three Peters.

"What?" her Peter asked.

"Its just... the three of you..."

Her Peter glanced back at the other two and smiled.

It was a lot to process.

The multiverse existed. There is a universe out there where none of this happened, a universe where Thanos didn't snap his fingers and everything was normal, where Peter didn't lose everything. In that universe, Chase and Peter and all of their friends would've been older than her and would have graduated high school and possibly college.

Chase wouldn't have lost five years of his life. What he would have been doing, she doesn't know, but she knew he would've done a lot more. He would probably have gone off to college and graduated at this point and possibly working.

The same thing would probably happen to Peter. He wouldn't be with her, but, like Chase, he wouldn't have lost five years of his life. She would probably just be Chase's little sister in Peter's eyes.

Peter and Chase weren't really close or anything, to begin with until the summer, but who knows what would've happened if Thanos hadn't happened.

Hailey couldn't help but wonder what the other universes were like.

How many Peter Parkers are there? How many of them look like her Peter? How many of them look different? Does she exist in any of them? If she doesn't, who would Peter be dating?

She knew in one universe, he would have dated a girl named Gwen.

So many scenarios went through her mind as she thought about what she and her family's lives would be like in different universes.

Hailey was to help the older two Peters when Ned rolled over in his chair.

"So," Ned said to the oldest, "do you have a best friend too?"

The oldest Peter didn't respond immediately.

When he did, he said, "I did."

"You... did?" Ned asked.

"He died in my arms," he responded.

Hailey's heart dropped.

"Oh my..." Hailey said in a small voice.