Peter's POV:

"I have a plan." I tell Ned once I'm finished writing it all down. He only gives me a weird look as he waits for me to continue. "Okay. First, I'm gonna see if I can have Karen do a search for ARTI by trying to trace back the message she left me. Second, I'm gonna keep looking through news articles for anything strange. Especially anything involving her abilities."

"Okay." Ned mumbles drawing the word out.

"Three, when we go to Venice, Venice is super famous for making stuff out of glass."

"True."

"So I'm gonna buy her a star necklace, because we always used to stargaze and talk on patrols and even more after you know her—"

"After she lost her Dad. I know." Ned finishes with a nod.

"Right. Four, I'll keep an eye out for her at all her favorite places and watch the shadows for anything odd. Five, I keep an eye out for anyone who has similar features to her and any of her disguises. Six, when I find her, I'm gonna convince her to come back so I can help her stop them and clear her name. And then seven, hopefully, she agrees and comes back."

"Oh, don't forget step eight." I click my pen, ready to write down the additional step as Ned continues, "Don't do any of that."

I let out a sigh and off him a look of disbelief. "Why?"

"Because, dude, you're obsessed. If she wanted to be found, she would be." Ned explains, "Plus, we're gonna be bachelor's in Europe."

"Ned," I complain, ready to launch into a full argument, but he cuts me off.

"Look, I may not know much, but I do know this: if Lia ever shows up, you should absolutely be with her, but you need to have to some fun because what if she doesn't? It's been six months, dude, and the entire time, you've been miserable. This trip is your chance to have some fun. Plus, Europeans love Americans."

When he says that, I remember how Lia used to say that to them, most Americans are considered loud and annoying tourists. "Really?" I ask him, questioning where he's getting this 'fact' from.

Ned remains unfazed as he continues, "And more than half of them are women."

"Okay, sure. But I—I really love Lia, and I miss her like crazy. I don't want to just give up on that, okay? She's funny in that offbeat way, smart, sassy, kind, and just—awesome. And sometimes, when I think about her, I feel like I stood up way to fast and—" I glance up to see MJ approaching us with her art folio tucked under her arm, "MJ's coming."

She offers us her usual impassive look as she stops in front of our table, "What up, dorks? Excited about the science trip?"

"Hey, yeah, we're just talking about the trip." I mentally cringe at how unconvincing it sounds, but it's not like I can tell her we're talking about a plan to track down our mutual superhero—now labeled criminal—friend.

"Yeah, and Peter's plan." Ned adds, which makes me bristle. I'm pretty sure this is just his way of trying to dissuade me from it, but I can't.

"You have a plan?" MJ questions.

C'mon, Peter, play it cool. "I don't—I don't have a plan."

Ned seems to realize the mistake and tries to help me cover it. "He's—he's just gonna collect tiny spoons when we're traveling to other countries." He offers me a wink as if he just solved everything.

MJ looks between us, "What? Like a—like a grandmother?"

Seriously, Ned? I shake my head, "I'm not collecting tiny spoons. He's collecting tiny spoons."

"Oh, okay. Well, that was a real rollercoaster." She pauses and continues, "By the way, travel tip: you should probably download a VPN on your phone, so the government can't track you while you're abroad."

My first thought is about Lia. Did she do that? Knowing her, she probably thought of everything. Lia's never been one to take risks when it came to protecting the people close to her. Maybe Ned's right. Maybe I won't find her, but I don't think I can sit back and not try.

She's my girlfriend. I love her, despite the fact that she disappeared six months ago. It wasn't her choice. There are people after her that backed her into a corner, and the least I can do is find her so we can get her out of it together.

I snap back to reality when the bell rings. Ned offers me a smile, "Dude, that went really great."

"If you say so." I get my things together. "Well, I've gotta go. There's this big fundraiser I have to go to tonight. So I gotta get everything done before then."

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Ned says as we go to head our separate ways, and he calls over his shoulder before the crowd gets between us. "Just think about what I said."

"Sure thing." I call back, and I do.

It's hard not to. I mean, one day, things were as close to normal as we had managed, and by morning, she was gone and the papers were calling Phantom an international criminal, murderer, and a hundred different lies.

I remember she came by that night. She said goodbye and told me not to believe them, and some days, I think I'm one of the few who doesn't. The only people who knew her understood that she would never do those things, but everyone else was more than ready to call her a villain and turn against her.

"Hey, hon." May calls as I enter our apartment, which still is working to be home. "You ready for the fundraiser tonight?"

"Uh—yeah, I guess." I mumble and drop my backpack on the floor. "I just gotta finish my homework."

May, like always, can sense my sour mood. "Okay. What's going on?"

"It's just—I was thinking about Lia again. Ned keeps telling me that I won't find her unless she wants to be found and that we should enjoy our time in Europe."

"But you feel like you can't give up on her." May adds with a nod.

"Yeah. She was always there for me when I needed her. We went through so much together, and it feels weird not having her here."

"I know you're never gonna give up on her, but sweetie, letting yourself falling apart isn't going to help her."

"So I'm supposed to just give up?" I question a little louder than I should. "May, you know her. You know that she's not responsible for anything they said. I can't just let her do this alone. It's not what Mr. Stark would have wanted."

"Hey," May soothes as she wraps me up in a hug. "I'm not saying you should give up; I'd never tell you that. It's just—you need to keep yourself strong. So when you find her, you'll be ready and able to help. Okay?"

"Okay." I nod, understanding what she means. "I—um—I'm gonna go finish my homework."

It takes me a while to get everything done with how clouded my head is. I struggle to focus on what's in front of me, and the picture of Lia and I seems to taunt me from its frame. She was always taking pictures and videos to 'remember the moments.' This one was from the bus to our first Academic Decathlon meet.

"I'm not giving up on you. I promise." I whisper to the photo as if it was really her. Of course, it's not, but it makes me feel a little bit better to think she could hear me. Maybe, wherever she is, that no matter what, I'm always going to help her.

"Peter, please, tell me you're getting ready! We have to leave soon, or we'll be late."

"Yeah, just give me a minute!" I call back and grab my suit from my closet. It's the suit Mr. Stark gave to me when we were heading into space, which I do my best not to think about. Instead, I try to think of the happy moments with it—like the first time Lia said, 'I love you.' That was a special moment.

I shake my head and try to focus on putting the suit on and settling my nerves before this big fundraiser. May's all ready to go when I meet her in the kitchen—new fancy dress on and all. Most of the night goes by in haze of waiting for the event to come to a close and waving at the people attending. My head is still caught up in the upcoming trip, wondering if I'll ever find Lia, and what might happen if I don't.

By the time I come back to everything going on, May's already most of the way through her speech. She's halfway through telling the story of what happened when she came back, and I awkwardly put my hands on my hips in the hopes of looking more authoritative. "The wife thought that I was a mistress. The grandma thought that I was a ghost. It was—it was really a mess." She laughs along with the crowd before becoming more serious. "Thank you all for coming out to support those who were displaced by the Blip. And, of course, thanks to our very own Spiderman!"

The crowd begins to cheer and applaud, and I try my best to settle my nerves. I'm not usually one to stand in front of crowds, to have my picture taken, and anything of that sort. Lia was always better at this stuff. She always knew how to show everyone confidence—even when she didn't feel it. I do my best to act how she would—to pretend I know exactly what I'm doing.

May nods for me to move toward the microphone. I step closer and clear my throat, readying myself to give my speech. The microphone squeals, which makes me internally cringe.

"Thank you, Mrs. Parker, for having me." I lift two thumbs up to the crowd and continue, "And thank you, you guys, for having me." A long moment of silence hangs in the air before May moves to step in and take over again.

"And thank you, Spiderman. He'll be right back out to take photos and videos. Thank you."

I wave to the crowd as we both head out and rush through the curtain. Once I'm sure the room is empty, I lower my mask with a smile. It always feels awesome to finish another one of these events. "That was amazing." I tell May as we high five.

"That was great." She agrees. "That was so cool. I was so nervous."

"I'm sorry. I was a little stiff. I wasn't in the pocket." May apologizes as she shakes out her arms.

"No, I thought you did great!" I argue. I mean, she was a natural out there.

"Yeah, actually, I did think you were a little stiff." She admits with that calm reassuring tone she often uses.

I suddenly feel the wave of awkwardness come back in full force and tuck my hands under my arms as I attempt to brush it off. "Uh, yeah. I felt that too. I felt that too."

"It's fine. It's fine." May repeats, trying to dispel the moment. "Did you get your passport?"

"Yeah."

"Mini toothpaste?"

"Yeah, I did."

The door creaks and I quickly snap my mask back on. Luckily, it's just Happy coming in—with a jumbo check. He tries to slide through the door, but the check gets caught and flops back into place. "Hey! Sorry I'm late."

"Happy, hey!" I call and lower my mask again.

He pretty much ignores me, his attention going directly to May. "Oh, you look lovely."

May's smile brightens, which makes me look between the two of them weirdly. "Thanks. You too."

"Thank you. New dress?"

"Yes, yes, it is." May replies as she looks down at it. I look between the two of them in confusion. Am I missing something here? Are they—are they flirting? "Is that a new beard?"

Happy mangoes to rely with a stutter, "It's my—my Blip beard. 'Cause I grew it in the Blip. It's a Blip beard."

May laughs, her eyes crinkling from her wide smile. "I see. Yeah."

Okay, they're almost definitely flirting.

"Oh, um, anyway, "the reason I'm late is this was misplaced." Happy seems to snap back to himself as he extends the check to May. "Can you believe it? It's enormous. I mean, not the amount. The size. The—uh—the amount's nice too. They're very generous. Pepper Potts said, sorry she couldn't be here."

My mind immediately goes back to Lia. Did Miss Potts hear something from her? I mean, she's the last of Lia's family, if she would reach out to someone, it'd definitely be her Mom, right?

"I think I'm gonna change the Sterno under the vegan lasagna." May and Happy exchange this look, and honestly, I don't even want to think about the subtext of it. She turns to me and nods toward the curtain. "Spiderman, go shake hands."

"Will do." I reply with a hesitant salute before turning to Happy. "What just happened?"

Happy completely dodges the question with a less than smooth topic change. "Heads up. Nick Fury's calling you."

Panic starts running through me. Does he know I'm searching for Lia? Am I supposed to help him find and arrest her? "Nick Fury's gonna call me? Why?"

"Why? He probably has some hero stuff for you to do, and with Lia off the grid, you're who he decided to call. You're a superhero. He calls superheroes."

"Well, I mean, if it was that important, he'd probably call someone else, not me." I pause and debate whether or not to ask Happy what I really want to know. "Do you think—that maybe it's about Lia?"

"I don't know. You'd have to talk to him to find out." As if on cue, my phone starts ringing. I pull it out of my bag and look at the cracked screen, Happy doing the same thing over my shoulder. "No Caller ID. That's him."

"I really don't wanna talk to Nick Fury." I reply. "I've got this big trip coming up, and I don't want to get Lia into any trouble if I find her."

"Answer the phone."

"Why?"

"Because, if you don't talk to him, then I have to and I don't want to talk to him."

"Why won't you?"

"Cause I'm scared of him. Just answer the phone." I look Happy right in the eye as I decline the call. His face quickly morphs into a mix of terror and shock. "You sent Nick Fury to voicemail?!"

"Yeah."

"You don't send Nick Fury to voicemail!"

"Did you hear that?" I ask, even though I heard nothing. I just need an excuse to get out of this situation quickly. "They're calling me. It's—I gotta go."

"No, you've gotta talk to him." Happy tries to argue, but I back towards the curtain as he does.

"I'm gonna call him. I promise. I'm gonna call him. I will." I try to ease Happy's nerves a little bit, and I mean, it's not entirely a lie. I do plan to call Nick Fury if I don't find Lia.

Happy still doesn't seem to happy by the answer because he keeps shouting at me as I go, "You do not ghost Nick Fury.

"I promise you—I'll call him." I tell him one last time and let the spider legs close the curtain and hopefully ending the conversation for a little while. "After my trip." I finish without happy hearing. It makes me wonder though—what could Nick Fury possibly want from me?

Nope, I can't think about that right now.

I raise the mask and head back out onto the stage with a fake cheerful, "Hey!" Immediately, everyone is surrounding me, shoving microphones and cameras in my face, and shouting questions over one another. "Okay. Okay. One question at a time." I call and point to a random woman in the crowd.

"Are you the head Avenger now?" She's finally able to call as the others start to quiet a little.

"Uh, no. I'm not" I answer. Truthfully, I don't even feel like an Avenger anymore, which I'm okay with after everything that happened. I'm fine with being the friendly neighborhood Spiderman again. My only complaint is that I'm doing it without my girlfriend and partner by my side.

The crowd resumes shouting their questions until I point to someone else. "If the aliens come back what are you gonna do?"

I can't help but look around at everyone and wonder if all the questions are like this. "Does anyone have neighborhood questions?"

They all begin to clamor again, the one woman looking unhappy that her answer didn't get a real question, but I don't have an answer. I have to keep going and point to someone else. "Sean Wilford, Queens Tribute." He introduces himself. "What is it like to take over from Tony Stark." The second he says the name, my ears being to ring and the only other thing I can hear is my own heartbeat. This was a question I didn't expect. I never wanted to be the one to take over for Mr. Stark. I just want to be a neighborhood Avenger. Lia's the one who should be taking over for him, not me, but nobody knows that she's his daughter. Even if they did, her reputation is still a wreck.

Everyone keeps shouting their questions, and I swear, their closing in on me until I can't breathe. "I'mma—" I struggle to get the words out, "I'm gonna go. Thanks, everyone for coming." The second I finish talking, I jump and climb out of the building, swinging onto the rooftop.

It takes me a second to catch my breath. "Hey, Karen? Can you—can you pull up her message?"

Lia's face pops up on my lenses, and I swear I already have everything she says memorized. "Hey, hot stuff." She smiles and shakes her head. "Sorry, I'm deflecting again. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to make these videos. Because, if you're seeing this, it means they know. I don't know yet what they'll do, but I'm assuming it's gonna suck.

"Anyway, I'm making these videos in case something happens. I need you all to know a few things. First, I love you. I've probably told you that a ridiculous amount of times, but I can't let you forget that. Second, if something happens—if they find me, take care of Morgan. She needs someone to be there for her, and if I'm gone, I need you to be that for her." Her eyes start to fill with tears that she hastily wipes away. "Third, don't worry about me. I'll be okay. I faced off with a Titan and nearly won. Stopping these sociopaths may take some time, but I'll do it.

"Lastly, Pete, if you forget everything else, remember what I'm about to say, please. If you ever need me, truly need me, you'll know how to find me, or I'll find you. It might seem hard at first, but trust me—trust yourself. No matter how hard it seems, you know how to find me." She sighs and stares up at her ceiling for a second before focusing back on the camera. "I really hope you never have to see this, but knowing how things go for me, it's only a matter of time—just like us finding our way back to each other. I love you, spandex, always have, and I always will."

I sigh and lower the mask. It's been months since I found her message, and every day I can't help but wonder what she's doing or what happened to her. She told me not to worry, but I can't help it. Lia and I went through so much together that letting her face this alone feels wrong. I've searched for her every day for months, but I can't find her.

"You're wrong, Lia." I whisper to the heavy Queens air and look over at a large mural of Iron Man. They're everywhere these day, and I know that Mr. Stark wouldn't want me to let Lia to this alone. Everything seems to loop back to her these days, and I keep talking like she can hear me. "I need you so much, and you're not here. I'm keeping my promise though. I'm going to keep my promise. I will find you."