i know i said that other oneshot was the worst thing ive ever written but i really think this one beats that by far

When Peter thought of time travel, he imagined the stories that the original Avengers had told him, seeing as he'd been blipped away while it happened. When he thought of it, he thought of the team working together to bring everyone back in a sort of controlled environment.

He thought of being gone one moment, then back the next, having to watch his father-figure die, having to be reintegrated into the world after being gone five years. He thought about Europe, about how his identity had been revealed and tarnished, but with the help of Pepper, had it cleared.

Peter thought of all the stuff that had happened when he was a kid. He'd insisted he wasn't, but it was true. He'd been a kid. It had been almost ten years since then, and he still had no idea how he'd wound up in the situation he was in now.

When he thought of time travel, he didn't think of a bright light flashing in his eyes and suddenly landing somewhere else when he was in the middle of swinging home.

MJ had been waiting up for him, and if he knew his son, so was Ben. But as he looked around, still a bit disoriented, at the not-destroyed Avengers Compound, he knew that he probably wasn't going home anytime soon.

"Who the hell are you?" An eerily familiar voice demanded, and from the soft metal whirring he heard, there was a gauntlet aimed at him.

His mask was still over his face as he sat up with a groan, looking to the one and only Tony Stark. What shocked him, though, was a younger version of himself standing next to him. It was before the snap, then.

"S-Spider-Man?" His voice cracked of course, like it always did when he was stressed.

The billionaire let out a harsh laugh. "I know Spider-Man, and you aren't him." Tony spat.

The eyes of his suit were wide, mirroring his own, as he continued to stare. His younger self was gaping at the suit with something akin to admiration, and Peter almost smirked, if not for the fact that there was an Iron Man gauntlet aimed at his chest.

"Actually," Peter said awkwardly, ripping off his mask, "I am Spider-Man." He smiled awkwardly, and noticed the moment it hit both of them.

"Peter?" Tony breathed, doing a double take. The suited hero stood with a cringe. His entire body ached from crashing into the ground so hard.

"Yeah. Just. . . older." He provided, shrugging a bit.

"I'm still Spider-Man when I'm like thirty?" His younger self asked in amazement.

Peter's mouth dropped open in offense. "I'm twenty-six, not thirty!" He shot back, crossing his arms.

His younger self shrugged. "Close enough."

"Oh, well you must be twelve then." Peter said with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey! I'm almost eighteen!"

"Close enough!" Peter mocked.

"Hey! Peters!"

Both Parkers froze, looking to Tony, who cringed. "Okay, yeah, that's weird. Older Kid, you come with me, Kid, you get Happy to take you home."

"But I just got here!" Young Peter whined, and Peter smiled at the thought of seeing Happy.

His step-uncle, which had basically taken Tony's place as the only father-figure in his life, had become family to him, long before he married May. "Tell Hap I said hi." Peter suggested.

Tony gave him a sharp look. "Do not do that! Don't tell anyone about this." The billionaire hissed. Then he sighed. "Who am I kidding? You can't keep secrets, both of you come with me."

They shrugged and followed the exasperated man through the halls toward his lab. Peter smiled at his mentor, a sad look in his eyes as he imagined having his Tony back. Sure, they were the same person, but this wasn't the Tony that had lost him, then got him back, this wasn't the one who had admitted that Peter was like a son to him yet.

This wasn't his Mr. Stark. "So, are you dating anyone?" Young Peter asked curiously.

Peter faltered in his steps a bit. "Uh, no?" It wasn't technically a lie. He wasn't dating anyone. He was married. Young Peter narrowed his eyes at him but before he could say anything else, they'd made it to the lab.

"So, it's 2026 for you, then?" Tony asked as he collapsed into his seat.

"Uh, 2031, actually." He corrected awkwardly.

"That's. . . not how math works?" Young Peter squeaked.

"It's complicated, kid." Peter said with a sigh.

"I'm not a kid!"

Tony and Peter looked to the young Peter with flat looks and he deflated.

Peter glanced around the lab, settling into a chair across from his mentor and slipping off his gloves. His hands were getting sweaty, mostly from the anxiousness.

"Okay, so, how do we do the whole time travel thing? I have to say, I'm not a fan." The older spiderling said conversationally.

"Well- Hey, wait a second, is that a ring?" Tony exclaimed.

Peter glanced down to his left hand, cheeks reddening as he saw his wedding ring. He slapped his other hand over it. "No."

Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, the lab doors slid open, and in walked Morgan Stark.

Peter squeaked, eyes wide. "Who are you?" Tony demanded, terribly confused.

"Morgan, how'd you get here?" He asked.

The young Stark gave him a flat look. "Dad's time machine is still sitting in storage. Now come on, doofus, MJ and Mom are worried as shit." She said, her hands on her hips.

"Shit, how long has it been? Is Ben okay? Is Michelle okay? What about Mrs. Stark, did anything ha-" Peter rambled, shooting up.

"Oh my god, chill, Peter, it's been like two hours. I found out you traveled rough time like the second I got the readings off your suit."

Peter breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly glared at her. "Watch your language, Morgan, you're twelve." He scolded.

"Oh my god, you are just like Mom." She groaned, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry, who is this?" Tony demanded yet again.

Morgan's eyes softened at seeing him, and she smiled sadly. Then she looked to the younger version of her brother and her brows shot up. "Dude, you were right! You had such a baby face!"

Peter laughed, and Tony snickered. "Still not getting an answer." Tony sung.

"And you'll get one in, uh, a while." Morgan answered with a cringe.

"Why didn't you just wait for Mr. Stark to invent time travel?" Peter questioned his little sister, wincing as the man in question sat up in alarm.

"Strange did some calculations. He wouldn't have been able to make it, didn't have the incentive yet." She explained, then, "and besides, would you really be willing to wait that long? MJ is mad at you."

Peter's eyes widened. Young Peter spluttered. "Wait, MJ? As in Michelle Jones?" He gasped.

"That's what the J stands for? I could never figure it out." Morgan murmured.

Peter grimaced. "Let's stop affecting this universe's timeline and go."

"This universe?" Tony piped up.

"Yeah, once I time traveled here, this universe branched off from my own." Peter explained, and it felt surreal that he was really talking with his mentor again.

"So, you could tell us stuff then, couldn't you? Because it wouldn't effect your timeline." Young Peter hedged.

Peter looked to Morgan, who shrugged, eyeing her dad. "What could it hurt?" She questioned.

Peter blew out a breath. "Yeah, you're right, Mo. Alright, I'm married to MJ, and we have a little boy named Ben. This girl here is Morgan Stark, yours and Mrs. Stark's daughter." He explained, staring straight into his mentor's eyes.

"M-mine?" The billionaire breathed, eyes wide.

Morgan nodded, smiling sadly and stepping forward, squeezing her dad as hard as she could. "Miss you, Dad." She whispered.

"M-Miss me? Why?"

Peter bit his lip. "You died in 2023, Mr. Stark. You've been gone a while." He said sadly, sighing.

"In a few months, aliens come to earth searching for the Infinity Stones. Thanos, their leader, gets them, and he wiped out half of all life in the universe, me included." The older Parker told them, remembering how it felt to crumble to pieces.

Young Peter was pale. "Uh, it's hard to explain now, but it took five years to bring everyone back. There was a battle and I was told Miss Nat died, and then you-" he couldn't bring himself to say it, breathing shakily.

"Don't take the stones, okay? Just give them to Carol or even Steve. They'd be able to take it. You- you were only human." His voice broke.

"Peter. . ." Morgan trailed off, eyes sad. He sucked in a breath.

"Anyway, that's all I can give you. We have to go home."

After giving them one last look, Peter and Morgan went back to their own time, where they both received a major scolding from Pepper, and then Peter from MJ.

Maybe he didn't have his Tony back, but thinking of a world where the Avengers had united and defeated Thanos, where there was no blip, where there was no secret identity reveal in Europe, where he didn't lose five years of his life, where his kid grew up knowing Mr. Stark as Grandpa Tony and Morgan got a dad, Pepper a husband, Peter knew things would be okay.