Watching Spider-Man:FFH

Prt 5

Last Time on The Trials and Tribulations of Spider-Man, the People's Hero:

"I think we should leave any other questions for after we've watched all the footage," Happy spoke up in suggestion, knowing eyes softening with sympathy at the sight of Peter's regret. "The full story is, after all, a long and sad one. Believe me, the longer you don't know the true extent of Thanos's cruelty, the better."

"You know what they say," MJ smiled mirthlessly, eyes hazy with remembrance. "Ignorance is bliss."

"Right," Pepper agreed readily, not quite ready to rehash the nightmare that was Thanos. She still remembered every second of fear that had gripped her during the twenty-three days Tony was missing, stuck drifting aimlessly through space. "All of that can wait until later."

"Yeah, later." Rhodey nodded, a little desperate. "Let's just – let's just start the footage."

"EDITH," Peter called out. "You heard him. Play the footage for us, please."

"Of course, Boss," EDITH complied. EDITH might not have been able to see it, but for Natasha and Fury, it was impossible to miss the way Peter froze and curled in on himself at the title of 'Boss'. "Activating Protocol Freedom now."

"O – okay, great," Peter stuttered, biting back the instinctive snarl of don't call me Boss. "Thanks, EDITH."

Now on The Trials and Tribulations of Spider-Man, the People's Hero:

When the footage finally came to life, it was to the view of a lone vehicle driving across the countryside. The scene gradually faded to a shot of a demolished village, showing family homes, hotels and landmarks alike in ruins. Accompanying the vision of destruction, the words "IXTENCO, MEXICO" appeared on the screen, a clear indication of what they were looking at.

"Jesus," Tony whispered, his traitorous mind unwittingly flashing back to Afghanistan, ruined by his weapons. He swallowed, a familiar guilt flaring up in his chest before he forcefully pushed it aside. I need to stop making everything about me, he told himself firmly. He turned to the kid seated comfortably next to Happy—desperately ignoring the God of Mischief—and asked, "What the hell happened there?"

No one missed the regret that passed by Peter's faced as he tore his gaze away from the screen to look at Tony. "You'll see," he answered cryptically. Tony frowned, but Peter added before he could protest, "I wasn't there to see it, but I can guess what happened."

He sounds... angry, Tony realized. With himself?

Happy rested a hand on Peter's shoulder, sighing heavily. "It's over, Peter," he murmured in as reassuring a voice as Harold "Happy" Hogan, the most no-nonsense person Tony knew, could muster. He squeezed Peter briefly. "Everything turned out fine."

Peter stiffened, heart stuck in his throat. It's not fine, he wanted to argue. None of it is fine. People died. Entire cities have been laid to waste. I was framed by the man who ruined my life.

It's not fine.

But he swallowed down all of the arguments and nodded instead, allowing himself to lean against Happy briefly, taking comfort in the bigger man's warm presence. He wasn't in the mood to fight, not when this was the first chance he's had to see Happy—to see anyone from his past life—in months.

The car eventually rolled to a stop in the middle of the village, and two familiar figures disembarked.

"What the—? Hill? Fury?" Clint blinked in surprise, turning around to look at the two SHIELD members at his side. "Why would you two have business in Mexico? This looks like it was done by a hurricane, and SHIELD doesn't usually check out natural disasters—even when it causes destruction on a scale like this."