So… Here goes. This is my first ever solo Marvel story, and I am so nervous about posting. I have been intimdated by the amazing quality of writing I've seen in the Marvel fandom, and almost didn't post at all, but Snarkymuch gave me a pep talk and I listened.

A warning: I have been writing Marvel for less than a month and my knowledge is not as good as my SPN knowledge is when I am writing those stories. It wasn't a problem in The Difference A Day Makes as Snarks and I were working together and her knowledge is top notch. If there are inconsistencies, I apologize and hope you'll accept them from a newbie.

This chapter was beta'd by Snarkymuch who has my undying gratitude for bringing writing into my life 9 years ago and for bringing Marvel into my life now.

I'm done rambling now. Please read and – hopefully – enjoy.

1. The Snap

Peter blinked up at Captain Marvel, who had landed in front of him. He was hugging the gauntlet to his chest, protecting it with his body as if that could help. He was so far out of his depth that he felt like he was drowning, but he was pretty sure he wasn't the only one. Everyone here, even the Avengers, were just as lost as him, he thought. This was the craziest thing that had ever happened to him.

He looked up at her, trying to engage his mind to speak. She gave him a small smile, the kind Liz had given him once.

"Hi. I'm—Peter Parker."

She smiled again, the urgency in her eyes becoming more intense. "Hey, Peter Parker. You got something for me?"

Peter started to push himself to his feet, on the point of handing over the gauntlet and freeing himself of the responsibility of holding it, and then he stopped. His mind flipped back to a conversation he had once on one of the most amazing and mortifying days of his life. Iron Man himself had sat in Peter's bedroom—his messy and small bedroom, God, Peter, why don't you ever clean up?—looking at him like he was someone that mattered.

"When you can do the things that I can, but you don't... and then the bad things happen... they happen because of you."

He looked at the gauntlet, feeling its weight and power as if it was thrumming through his veins, and then he felt a wave of calm that was totally foreign to him. He didn't think of the danger he was in or what Mr. Stark would call his pure stupidity. For the first time in his life, he knew he was doing the absolute right thing.

It was like an out-of-body experience. He slid the gauntlet onto his arm, cold and heavy but also oddly right. It seemed to shrink, sealing itself against his skin as he lifted his hand.

Captain Marvel reached for him, shock in her eyes, and he heard a bellow echoing to him through the chaos of the battlefield. "Don't you dare, kid!"

"Sorry, Mr. Stark, I gotta," he mumbled.

He stared at his hand, the gems over his knuckles, then took a breath and snapped his fingers.

There was a scream unlike anything he'd ever heard in his life; it was inhuman, and only when his head started to swim with the lack of air did he realize it was him making that sound.

Weird, he thought. It doesn't even hurt that…

Then the pain came. He felt like he was on fire, his skin blistering, scorching, peeling away from his flesh to expose nerve and muscles that then burned away until he felt nothing.

He fell back and was vaguely aware of Captain Marvel being blasted away from him by a wave of colored light that spread from him like a nuclear blast, and then absolute silence fell, broken only by a quiet voice that he'd never heard before. It was British, precise and oddly neutral. "He's worthy."

He felt his lips move in a whisper, though he had no lips anymore, they had burned away. "I'm worthy?"

There was a sigh, and then he felt nothing at all. The pain was gone, sounds and sights were gone. For the first time since he had been bitten by the spider, since Spider-Man was created, he wasn't overwhelmed by everything around him.

It was the greatest relief.

So… How was that? It's very short, obviously, but I have the next chapter almost ready to post, so I won't leave you waiting too long. If you enjoy, please do let me know as this is such a new experience from me and my confidence is in my boots.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx