"Fed, my man, I need you to do me a favor. Don't scream or anything okay?"

"Okay okay I'm ready. Hit me."

"So... the avengers are going on a mission back in time to stop Thanos from snippity-snapping our favs from existence...."

"Yeah?" He asked, anticipating my next sentence.

"They asked us to stay back and run point."

"Wait... like we're the guys in the chairs for the AVENGERS?"

"I told you not to scream or freak out!" I chuckled, pulling the laptop open on Tony's desk. "But yeah. They said they needed someone staying back and running things that they could trust. Plus Dee said I wasn't allowed to go soooooo...."

"Dude can I meet Thor? Can I shake his hand? Do you think he'll like me? Oo! Can I get a picture of all of them? Or can they sign my forehead."

"Okay okay chill, Fed. Tony already called in to school and said we were given permission to miss this week. Would your mom be fine with that?"

"Uh duh. I'll be over in an hour."

"Wonderful. You should pack food cuz we'll be here all week."

"Best. Vacation. Ever."

Ned arrived just as he said, an hour later. I gave him the quickest tour and we set up shop in Tony's office. He brought all of his fancy computer tech, though it was no match to what T had.

Anticipating long nights and lots of work ahead of us, Dee and Tony had pulled two mattresses into the office for us to crash on when we needed. Ned's sat in the corner while mine was placed in a nook behind Tony's desk. Once we had everything set up, Dee sauntered in.

I was busy logging into Tony's computer so we could run some hypothetical data tests, Ned hovering beside me. I saw him freeze from the corner of my eye and confused, I followed his eyes to my dad.

"Oh hey, Dad."

Ned's jaw fell open. With a gentle hand, I pushed it back up and his teeth clacked together but at least he didn't look like an idiot. "Do you remember Fed?"

"You must be Ned."

At this point, Fed took his place as a human again rather than just a Ned-statue. He fumbled over to Dee and shook his hand. "It's such a pleasure to meet you, Mr. War Machine, sir."

"Oh boy."

"Uh sure. Just don't call me all that."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry." Ned smiled and barely contained his joy as he cast a wide eyed smile at me and shook a thumb towards Dee. "He's the War Machine!"

"Oh boy. Again."

Dee rolled his eyes and walked over to me. "So kid. We finished testing today. Scott went through and it works."

"So tomorrow..."

"Were going to bring everyone back."

I fell silent, not ready to face the fact of them risking their lives yet. "I'm not thinking about what could happen right now. Hey, can we get pizza for dinner?"

"Yeah. Sure. We'll need like a thousand to feed all these people."

"Tony can pay."

I turned to Ned with a smile. "Okay, Fed. Here's your chance to meet the 'Vengers. Don't screw it up."

We all sat on the roof of 'Vengers HQ, a giant stack of pizza boxes between all of us. Ned had been introduced to everyone present, and had nearly cried when he met Thor, even though the god himself wasn't handling the snap well. Couldn't blame him, no one was or did. He always had a beer on him, but at least he didn't have a belly.

Ned sat between Thor and Banner, engaged in a raging conversation about some science crap. Bug, Flower, and I sat in the middle enjoying each other's company. Tony and Dee were still stressing over the design of the machine while Scott tried to put in his two cents every now and then. Stevie boy and the alien squad had decided to stay inside to have their pizza. Clint sat on the edge, dangling his feet over.

I slapped my hands together, getting the pizza crumbs off. A quick glance around showed happy faces amidst so much pain. I couldn't imagine what each of them was going through. The doubts, the hope, even what they had given up to do what they needed to tomorrow. A spark of hope lit in my chest. If they could do this, they could bring Peter back. I rubbed my face with a hand and sighed.

"Are you sure you're gonna do this, Bug?"

"I have to. We all do."

The surrounding conversations drew quiet and I glanced up at my super family's solemn faces. "But what if something goes wrong? What would the world do without you guys?"

Clint shrugged. "Well I've heard there's a new super in town. Taken up Spider-Man's mantle."

I stuck my tongue out at him through my tears. "But seriously...?"

"I am being serious, kid."

"He's right, Runt." Tony spoke up, lifting his head from the blue prints in front of him and Dee. "Nat has trained you well." I glanced over to my mentor and she smiled at me. "Honestly, one day you will probably be better than us."

I shook my head, curly hair falling into my face. "I couldn't replace you guys, no. The world needs their Avengers."

"Consider this for a moment, little one. Each member of this alliance that we have formed will grow old and will no longer be able to serve. A next generation of sorts will be needed, correct?" Thor raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged. He took that as his cue to continue after a swing of his beer. "That, will be you."

"And if all goes well, Peter too." May laid a gentle hand on my shoulder, casting a smile my way.

"I'm not an Avenger yet, anyways." I scoffed and wiped my tears with the back of my hand.

"I mean, they're aren't any papers to sign so..." T shrugged and cast a wink my way. "All in favor ?" He lifted his hand and I frowned.

"No wait. Hang on-"

I watched as every single person on that roof raised their hand, even Ned as if his vote counted.

Except Dee.

All eyes fell on him, and I met his eyes. He smiled and nodded at me. His hand slid up, too and the tears fell again.

"You have a heart of gold, Cori. One day you'll be the best of us."

"You guys suck!" I whined teasingly through my happy tears. Dee and Tony stood to pull me into a hug while everyone cheered around me.

"Yeah yeah, we know."
"Welcome to the team, Runt."