Spider-Son & Iron Dad two shots

Masks of Bravery

Spooktober 24: Mask

a/n: sorry for the late (and mediocre) post!!! had some personal issues, I'm trying to write thru them tho so hopefully no more spooktober skips</3

"Morgan?" Peter said, his voice hurried. He tried his best to sound calm. "Morgan, hey. Hey, it's okay. Just look at me."

Morgan whimpered. Her small hands gripped around his arm, fingernails desperately digging into the muscle. "Peter, I'm scared!"

There had been an incident.

Six years ago, the paparazzi had found out that Pepper was pregnant entirely by accident. They tried hard to keep it hidden, really, they did— but once it was out, it was impossible to hush it back away. It was part of the reason why they moved so far out, Tony had explained to Peter once, because they didn't want Morgan to grow up like some kind of circus animal being shielded from cameras whenever they went to the grocery store.

Since then, it had been really easy to stay away from all of that— but then the second snap happened. Peter Parker was notorious now for being a personal intern of Tony Stark, that part wasn't surprising. But the quick linking of news articles that pinpointed his appearances taking Morgan out for trips to Manhattan? That part was less than ideal.

He tried to get her away as fast as he could, all protective big brother instincts kicking in, and unfortunately that resulted in him scooping up Morgan in his arms, and then disappearing through a series of alleyways and smaller roads.

And swinging.

Morgan wasn't a fan of that.

She squirmed in her panic, yanked out of his arms— and Peter caught her, of course he caught her, and now that they were safely landed, she wouldn't let herself be set down.

"Hey," Peter said again. "Morgan, come on. We're safe now! Open your eyes, see? We're on the ground."

"No," Morgan cried. "No, I'm scared. Please don't let me go."

"I won't." Peter shifted her in his arms as she pressed herself closer with a scrambling alarm. "Morgan, it's okay. It's okay. I've got you, really, I'm not letting you go."

Morgan let out a pathetic mewl, burying her tear-soaked face into his neck as she sobbed.

The guilt was eating at him like a wolf licking at a wound. He should have been more careful, should have asked Tony to go with them. Tony wouldn't have let the paparazzi get even ten feet close to them.

He tried to think of something he could do to fix this— what did he do when he was afraid?

He blinked.

"Hey," he whispered encouragingly. "Morgan. I've got something super important for you. Are you listening?"

Silence, for a moment, all sniffly and cautious. He felt her nod against him.

"Good." He soothed his hand over her back. "Because I'm gonna give you some of my superpowers. They're really special, you know."

Morgan's sobs bubbled and quieted with some wet hiccups. She pulled back just a few inches away, still clinging to him with all the might and muscle of her little frame, and looked at him with red-rimmed eyes.

"Your superpowers?" She asked curiously, her voice quivering.

Peter nodded, continuing to run his hand in small circles over her back. "I do. I have a superpower that always makes me brave, but I think I can let you borrow it this once. How does that sound?"

She paused, considering, and then nodded slowly.

Peter smiled at her. "Alright, I'm just gonna get it. I need one of my arms, but I'm still gonna hold on to you super tight."

He didn't move his arm until he heard a weak "okay" mumbled into his shoulder. Then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his rumpled Spider-Man mask.

"I've got it," he said happily. He held it up to her for her to see. "You've just gotta put it on, and you'll immediately feel braver."

Morgan looked distrustfully at the mask in his hand, but carefully, cautiously, pulled back from his arms. She took the mask with both hands and messily shoved it over her face.

"Like this?" She asked.

"Yeah," Peter smiled. "Perfect. How do you feel? Is it working?"

Morgan went quiet, as if thinking the question over and self-analyzing herself, and then nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay," Peter patted her back. "That's good. Do you want to talk to Karen?"

"Karen?" Morgan returned her head to Peter's shoulder, worn out from all her emotions.

"Mhm," Peter began to sit down, keeping the girl cradled in his arms. "She's my best friend. She's FRIDAY's sister."

Morgan seemed to accept this easily, and began to quietly talk to Karen through the mask. With one hand, Peter texted Tony about everything that had gone on, and he had received a fast response that Tony would be there as soon as he could be.

In the meantime, Peter kept his ears sharp, and his eyes soft, keeping Morgan as calm and safe as he could. Nobody was going to hurt her— and he made sure of that.