Characters: Peter Parker, Happy Hogan, Flash Thompson, EDITH
Mentioned: Pepper Potts, Morgan Stark, Tony Stark, James Rhodes, May Parker, Thaddeus Ross, Wanda Maximoff, Quentin Beck, JARVIS, Vision, Ned Leeds, Karen, Steve Rogers
Peter let out a huff as he landed on top of a skyscraper. He had just gotten off the phone with Happy, who was anything but happy at the moment. No, he was furious. Just not at Peter, thankfully.
“Okay, Kid. I just got off the phone with Pepper—”
“Happy!” Peter protested. “No, you can’t do that! Don’t put her and Morgan in danger over my dumb mistakes. Seriously, we can figure this out some other way. Besides, it’s not really a secret anymore that I was close with Tony. That’s the first place that they’ll look.”
“Too late, Pete,” Happy replied. “Rhodey’s on his way to get you, so stay put. Keep to the rooftops, and God forbid they send a helicopter after you, ask EDITH what to do. You have her connected to your suit, yeah?”
Peter sighed, lowering his head. “Yeah, yeah, I have EDITH in the suit,” he told him. “How long will it take Rhodey to get here?”
“About twenty minutes. Hang tight until then, alright? We’re going to figure this out. I promise,” Happy said. “Do you need me to stay on the line?”
“No, no, I’m okay,” he replied. “Just, take care of May for me? Please?”
“I will, Peter. You know that.”
Peter took a shaky breath. Ross was after him. Of course f*cking Secretary Ross was after him. He had heard stories of the Raft; where they took the Rogue Avengers after Germany. He wasn’t sure if still existed now, but he knew that Ross had no problem putting him there if it did, and he knew that he didn’t trust mutants. He had heard what he did to Wanda.
“Peter, you have an incoming call from an unknown number. It appears that you share a group chat with them,” EDITH announced.
Peter blinked, tilting his head slightly. “Yeah? Can you figure out who it is for me?”
“Of course,” EDITH replied. There was a pause as she did her silent work. “It appears to be a Eugene Thompson. Born in 2003, but Blipped in 2018.”
Peter huffed slightly. Of course Flash would choose now out of all times to call him. “Fine, okay, I kinda want to hear his reaction. Put him through,” he told her. He heard a click and spoke before Flash had a chance. “Alright, Flash. I don’t exactly have much time to talk, so whatever it is, make it quick.”
“It’s true, isn’t it?” Flash replied. Peter could hear a mix of emotions in his voice, but he swore that one of them was guilt. “It makes so much sense now. Why he was suddenly in D.C. and why you weren’t with us when he showed up. Why you have— why you had the Stark Internship. Oh my God.”
“Good job. You got it,” he sighed.
“I know you didn’t do it,” Flash said suddenly, catching Peter off guard. “I know the video was tapered with. You’re not like that.”
“Oh,” Peter was surprised, not completely sure how to respond. “Thanks, Flash. Didn’t really expect that from you.”
“I know I’m a d*ck,” Flash muttered. “But I’m not heartless, believe it or not. And as sh*tty of a person I’ve been to you. . . Sh*t, Peter, look I’m not good at this. Just, I’m on your side here. If you don’t want me to be, I get it. I’m not going to suddenly try to be friends and act like I was never mean to you, but you need all the help you can get right now.”
Peter knew that he was right. He had always really guessed that Flash was only jealous of him, anyway. And recently, after EDITH scanned his phone on the bus, he was sure that the other boy had something going on at home. “It’s okay if you hate me,” Flash continued when he didn’t reply immediately. “I actually always did kinda believe you, by the way. I get why he liked you.”
“I don’t hate you, Flash. Thank you, really. I appreciate it. I don’t really think there’s much you can do to help though. The f*cking U.S. Secretary of State is on my tail right now.”
“The Avengers? Have you talked to them?” Flash asked. “Surely they’re on your side. Right?”
“Rho— War Machine is on his way to back me up,” Peter told him. “Other than that, I honestly have no clue. I’ve not really spoke to. . . Well, anyone. Not since the funeral. Everyone’s still adjusting, you know?”
“Yeah, I get that,” he said sadly. “If there’s anything I can do. . .”
“Actually,” an idea popped into Peter’s mind. It wasn’t much, but like Flash said, he needed all the help he could get right now. “You still doing that vlog?”
“Great,” Peter replied. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want, but maybe you could make a video. . ?”
It took a second, then Peter realized Flash got what he was saying. “Right! I was there,” he said. Peter could hear the excitement in his voice. “Mysterio. I was there for the whole thing. Maybe not there there, but in the city. Peter, I don’t get many views.”
“I can help with that,” Peter told him. “EDITH, are you able to connect to the SI databases?”
“I could try,” EDITH replied. “Would you like me to?”
“Not yet, not yet,” he told.
“Woah, is that an AI?” Flash asked. “Like-like JARVIS? Vision, I mean?”
Peter couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Yeah, it is. He, um, Tony left her for me,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “I had a different AI in my old suit, but she was more like a coach, in a way. I wasn’t supposed to know about her, either. Ned and I hacked into the suit’s coding and unlocked her on accident. He never went back and took her away.”
“That’s so cool,” Flash breathed. “You two were actually really close, huh?”
Peter smiled weakly. “Yeah, yeah, we were,” he said quietly. He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering his conversation with Happy on the Quinjet. It had helped a bit, because he knew that Happy was one of the few people that he would open up to and what he said was likely true, but also made him so much more guilty at the same time. “I miss him.”
“I know it doesn’t really make a difference, but I’m sorry,” Flash replied. Peter had almost forgotten who he was talking to. He heard the other boy chuckle a bit. “I was always more of a Cap fan myself, but didn’t mean I didn’t like him too.”
Peter snickered a bit. “Cap’s pretty cool too,” he pointed out. “When this is all over, remind me to tell you about the first time I met him.”
“Yeah, okay,” Flash said. “Okay. I’ll. . . I’ll leave you alone now and work on that video. Do you want me to let you know when it’s up?”
“Yeah, you can let me know and I’ll see what EDITH can do about sharing it,” Peter told him. “I know this is probably so, so wrong but I think I can get it shared on SI’s social media accounts with Pepper’s permission. Also, hang on, email address?”
“Got that, EDITH?” Peter asked.
“Great. Send him your original footage from the moment I confirmed transfer to Mr. Beck on,” he told her. “You can use as much of it as you need. Just please don’t make me regret trusting you.”
“I won’t. I promise,” Flash replied, a hint of sincerity in his voice. “Consider this my apology to you. It’s way overdue.”
“Yeah, okay,” Peter agreed. “I need to go. Rhodey will be here soon.”
“Right. Be careful, Peter,” Flash told him. “If you can think of anything else I can do to help, let me know.”
“I will. Thank you, Flash. Seriously,” Peter replied before ending the call. “EDITH, save his number and email under the name ‘Flash’ please.”