"Avengers . . . assemble!"

Captain America's battlecry began the fight against Thanos after the wizard - Dr. Strange, was it? - used his sparkly circles to transport the heroes from the Soul Realm to the battleground that once was the Avengers Compound. Peter joined as the now great army of soldiers fighting against Thanos for a second time sprung into action. Thanos' army ran forward as well. Ant-Man was huge, like in Germany. People and monsters were flying overhead, and weapons were flying everywhere.

Fighting ensued, and Peter was simply awestruck that he was fighting with so many amazing heroes alongside him. Wait a second, was that Captain America fighting with Mjolnir? and Hey, Thor has a sweet new axe. Huh.

Despite being surrounded by so many superheroes, monsters, and enhanced humans, Peter really only wanted to find one person. He had been snapped out of reality for five years, and the last time he had seen Mr. Stark, Peter died in his arms. He had to find Mr. Stark.

It was chaos. The battleground seemed to stretch on for ages, and the fighters on both opposing sides seemed to be numberless. Peter searched frantically as he continued to use the features Mr. Stark had installed into his new suit, the Iron Spider. Yelling, shooting, the clanging of weapons and the sounds of falling bodies filled the air around him.

Peter continued webbing up all kinds of monsters that he probably should have been more scared of. Mr. Stark was nowhere to be found.

"Karen!" Peter cried, wishing he didn't sound as desperate as he felt.

"Yes, Peter?" Karen faithfully replied.

"Where is Mr. Stark? I gotta find him! I haven't seen him since I died and I gotta see him!"

"Scanning for Tony Stark."

Peter fought Thanos' army for what seemed like hours while Karen completed her scan of the battlefield for Peter's mentor and friend.

"Scan complete. Mr. Stark has been located."

Peter's vision darkened slightly, except for the outline of a familiar figure that glowed blue. Mr. Stark's silhouette, lit by Karen's systems, glowed not 25 yards from Peter.

His breath caught. All of a sudden, Peter was overcome with feelings of relief as he saw Mr. Stark fighting Thanos' army with the other Avengers. Peter suddenly had no need to grieve a relationship that would never exist or develop between him and his mentor - Peter was back, and all they had to do was beat Thanos and then life would go back to normal. Peter would have his mentor, friend, father figure back.

He was forced to come back to reality, though, when the unthinkable happened: Iron Man was shoved aside into a pile of rocks by a huge creature fighting for Thanos.

On instinct, Peter ran and webbed the monster before it could deliver another blow. He pulled the monster backwards towards him as Ant Man stepped on it and crushed it. Peter's heart pounded in his chest as he approached the Man that just minutes ago, he wasn't sure if he would ever get to see again.

He pulled Mr. Stark up to a standing position, gripping his forearms.

"Hey! Holy cow! You will not believe what's been going on!"

Peter was finally reunited with his childhood hero. He could feel the word vomit coming already; it didn't matter that they were quite literally in the middle of a battle. He had his mentor back to talk to. Among the chaos, everything started to feel okay again.

"Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? Well, I must have passed out because I woke up and you were gone, but Dr. Strange was there, right? and he was like 'it's been five years, come on, they need us!' and then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing he does all the time… what are you doing?"

While Peter spoke, his mentor wore an expression Peter had never seen on him before. He looked almost proud? happy? content? Usually Peter worried he was annoying his hero. He felt none of that as Iron Man looked at Peter like he himself hung the stars in the night sky.

Then Tony Stark pulled Peter Parker in for a hug.

"Wha… what are you doing?"

Peter remembered the last time he thought Mr. Stark was hugging him. They were in the car and Mr. Stark leaned over Peter. Peter clapped his hand to Mr. Stark's back in reaction, to which Mr. Stark responded, "Not a hug, I'm just getting the door for you. We're not there yet."

But this? This was it. This was right. After losing him once, he supposed that Mr. Stark felt like they were 'there' now. Peter felt Mr. Stark grip him tighter, like he was afraid Peter was going to turn to dust in his arms again, and the only thing keeping him together was Mr. Stark's embrace.

"Oh, this is nice."

Around them, the battle continued. The hug stopped as the fight raged on around them and the two heroes rejoined, each filled with a new energy and motivation.

The strategy now was to return the stones so that Thanos couldn't snap again and turn half of the world to dust. The gauntlet complete with the Infinity Stones was being passed from hero to hero as Hope and Scott Lang worked on their van.

Fires were burning everywhere. With every second, more soldiers on both sides were falling. Peter watched as the Black Panther, surrounded by purple energy, ran with the Gauntlet to keep it from Thanos.

Then he watched as the Gauntlet fell.

The Scarlet Witch fought Thanos while the Black Panther ran to retrieve the Gauntlet. A creepy looking creature lifted the gauntlet away from T'Challa by lifting the rocks from the ground and pulled them towards him while T'Challa sprang forward and took hold of the gauntlet.

Peter webbed himself towards the Black Panther and the Gauntlet. "I got it!" He yelled as T'Challa threw the gauntlet up towards Peter, who swiftly caught it as he swung by. He landed on the back of one of Thanos' warriors and watched as many more surrounded him as he held the future of the world in his arms.

Peter was now the target of Thanos' entire army. More and more warriors surrounded him until Peter knew there were too many for him to fight off. The other Avengers rushed to Peter's aid and started fighting Thanos' army as Peter frantically scanned for Scott's van.

Instead of the van, Peter's eyes finally met the eyes of his mentor's. He again remembered their interaction from five years ago. Peter, along with half of the universe, had been reduced to dust after Thanos snapped the gauntlet with all six Infinity Stones.

If the stones and the gauntlet had enough power to eliminate half of the universe in one snap, surely it would have enough power for Peter to snap and eliminate Thanos and his army?

The roaring battlefield fell silent. Peter knew exactly what he had to do.

Holding the gauntlet in his hands, Peter looked again at his mentor over the fighting that surrounded him. Mr. Stark looked scared; Peter knew that Mr. Stark knew what Peter was going to do.

"Pete!" Mr. Stark yelled.

"I -" Peter's voice broke. "I'm sorry.."

A tear slipped down Mr. Stark's blood stained face as he started forward. "You don't have to do this! Listen to me right now, kid. You give me that gauntlet right now! Don't you dare . . . we will find another way!"

Peter looked down at the fighting around him. His team was starting to lose. Captain America himself was thrown aside by Thanos as if he was no more than a doll in the titan's way. Thanos was quickly approaching Peter. Shaking, Peter realized it was now or never.

Peter looked up again at his mentor with resolve as his expression. Tears streaked down Peter's face and a shaky hand rose to wipe them away. He didn't want his mentor to remember him being weak in what he knew could very well be his last moment.

"Peter!" Screamed Mr. Stark as he quickly approached Peter. "Peter, no! I can't lose you again! I can't -"

Peter slid the gauntlet onto his hand. Electricity shot through his body and shook his frame. Thanos growled as he ran towards Peter and the rest of the onlooking Avengers.

The pain was blinding. Inhabilitating. Still Peter found it within himself to look up at his mentor who was helplessly and desperately flying towards him.

With a raspy, pained voice just above a whisper that shattered Tony's heart, Peter said, "I just wanted to be like you."

Then he snapped.

All around them, Thanos' army began disintegrating just as half the world had at the first battle against Thanos five years prior. The Avengers and Wakandans watched in wonder as the fighting began to cease. Finally, Thanos himself turned to dust with a final gasp of air. Peter staggered backward and relaxed into a pile of rubble.

The Iron Man suit disappeared around Tony Stark as he fell to his knees, unable to move. Unable to breathe.

Dr. Banner was the first person to reach Peter. He took hold of the gauntlet and tore it from Peter's hand. "He needs medical attention, now!" screamed Bruce. The Avengers gathered around and processed what had just happened. Colonel Rhodes and Pepper rushed to Tony's side.

"Oh, Peter," whispered Wanda. Bruce was working with Karen to get Peter's vitals as Bucky and Sam looked over his shoulder.

"He needs help! Someone get the Quinjet! He needs to get out of here!" Clint obeyed Bruce's orders and ran to fly the Quinjet closer so that Peter could be loaded on.

Tony gasped for air as Pepper and Rhodey pulled him to his feet. He willed himself to be moved, but his eyes were glued to Peter, his kid, as he laid limply against the rubble. This can't be real, he thought. There is no way this is real.

Pepper clutched Tony's hand to her heart so Tony could feel her heart beating. She cupped his face with her other hand. "Tony, you have to breathe with me, baby," She said gently. "You can't help Peter if you don't breathe."

Tony let his eyes drift from Peter to Pepper, meeting her eyes as she tried to help him control his breathing. As his breathing slowed, his senses returned. In that moment, Tony heard the quiet voice of Peter's AI relaying his vital information to Bruce.

"His heart rate is dangerously low, as are his blood pressure and blood-oxygen levels. Immediate medical attention is strongly recommended."

Peter was alive! Hurt badly, but alive.

Tony wrestled himself from Pepper and Rhodey's grips and ran to Peter's side, falling again to his knees.

"Kid, kid! It's me, Tony! Are you with me, buddy? Say that you're with me. Come on, Peter!"

Peter's eyes shifted to meet Tony's, but his body remained still. A groan escaped Peter's lips. Tony ran his fingers through Peter's bloodied hair.

"You're gonna be fine, kid. I gotchu. Bruce will take care of you. This will all be fine. It has to be." Tony didn't know if he was trying to reassure Peter or himself.

Tony was again pulled to his feet as the Quinjet was landed 20 yards from the group. "Sam, Bucky! I need you guys to lift Peter onto the jet. Be gentle and be quick."

Again, Bruce's directions were followed as Bucky scooped Peter into his arms and Sam cleared the path to the Quinjet. Tony followed quickly behind. Bucky, Sam, Tony, Steve, Thor, Pepper, and Rhodey boarded the Quinjet. The others would be able to get home with the Guardians, or the Wakandans, or something. Tony didn't care.

"Is he going to be alright? Tell me he's going to be alright, right now!"

Peter was laid on a medical bed towards the back of the Quinjet. He was quickly hooked up to an IV, and Bruce got to work stitching up some cuts on Peter's skin.

"Tony, I can't lie to you, I am not sure what is going to happen. I promise I will do my best, but I just don't know yet."

Tony couldn't breathe again. Pepper rushed to his side to try to calm him down. As she reached for his hand to clutch against her chest, he pulled it away and instead grabbed Peter's hand. Pepper ran her fingers through Tony's hair, urging him to stop his oncoming panic attack.

Tony was sure the only thing keeping him alive was the steady beeping of Peter's heartbeat monitor. He leaned his head into the crook of Pepper's neck. "I can't lose him again," he cried. "I can't lose him again."