Watching Spider-Man:FFH

Prt 6

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

"It's been an honor, Spider-Man."

"What are you doing here?" a new voice —recognizable as their physics teacher, Ms. Warren— appeared from Ned's end of the line. "There's a dance."

"Uh..." Ned stalled. Peter couldn't see it, but Ms. Warren was staring at Ned sternly. "I'm... looking at porn."

Peter set aside the memory, the thought of Ned's nervous but determined voice keeping him warm even now. Even when threatened with disciplinary action, Ned had refused to sell Peter out, sticking with his story. Ms. Warren had been scandalized. Principal Morita had been horrified. His parents had been appalled, and then furious, and then disappointed. Through it all, Ned hadn't wavered, choosing to quietly accept his punishment rather than expose Peter; for his troubles, he'd received two weeks' worth of detention from the principal and an even longer grounding from his parents.

And in the end, Ned hadn't even held it against Peter in the slightest. He'd simply bounded up to Peter the next time they'd seen each other, as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as ever, and said jubilantly, I saw what happened on the news. You kicked ass, Peter!

Ned hadn't once blamed Peter for dragging him into his mess. In fact, he never so much as brought it up, though Peter had never forgotten.

One thing was clear: not once had Ned ever given him any reason to doubt his friendship or loyalty. Peter said as much now: "Ned's always had my back. That has never been in question, not even for a moment."

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

The footage switched to the exterior of building, decorated by a banner reading Homeless Support. When the scene moved on, capturing the inside of the building, there were two people standing onstage—a woman and Spider-Man, facing an assortment of men, women and children clumped together in round tables.

"What the—" Tony blinked. "Oh. Hold on, is the one in the suit you, kid? 'Spider-Man'?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah." He hesitated. "Actually, you, uh, you gave me the suit, Mr. Stark." If you're nothing without the suit, then you shouldn't have it. "It's, heh, a lot more advanced than my old one. You, or my timeline's version of you anyway, put a lot of safety protocols into the suit."

Tony looked inordinately pleased. "Good," he grunted. "Someone has to keep you safe."

Peter flushed scarlet and looked away, a little embarrassed. But another part of him was also touched, because this version of Tony Stark didn't know him, and yet still he seemed concerned about Peter's well-being. "Y-Yeah," he stammered. "You... you keep"—'kept', Peter, it's 'kept' now—"me safe."

"Oh my god," Sam whispered suddenly in a burst of realization, cutting off anything Tony might have said in response. (Peter wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what Tony would have said to that.) Sam swung around and pointed an accusing finger at Peter. "You're that punk from the airport!"

Peter froze. Not grateful, he decided. Not grateful. "Uh, yeah?" he said nervously, bracing himself for Sam's reaction.

But Sam didn't say anything, simply gawking at him in shock.

It was Bucky who spoke first. "Dude!" Bucky was looking at Sam like he was an idiot. "You just realized that? Honestly, Sam, keep up. He was shooting webs in Berlin, and his name is literally Spider-Man, you dumbass."

"Oh, shit," Sam blinked. He's right. Jesus Christ, how did I miss that? More importantly, how did Barnes of all people come to that conclusion before me?