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chapter twenty
THE FACE BEHIND
THE MASK
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NEW YORK PASSES BY in the form of blurred streaks of color while Lena sits in the passenger seat of the car. The windows are up and the air conditioning is on full blast to combat the extraordinary heat blazing from outside. The sunlight is nearly blinding, but she continues to stare out the window with her chin propped up on her hand.

Pepper Potts is driving with Morgan in the back seat of her car. The ride isn't silent — Pepper is playing music and Morgan is humming along — but Lena doesn't process any of it. She is merely filled with a conflicting mess of both excitement and dread. She's going to be visiting the lab she and Tony had used for the first time in over five years.

She'd just finished her first therapy appointment. It had gone well, though the session had been more of an introduction than an in-depth explanation of her problems, so she can't say it had made her feel any different yet. Maybe, if she'd had an opportunity to release some of the pent-up emotions inside of her, she wouldn't feel like a kettle that's billowing too much steam right now. Her leg bounces restlessly and her index finger taps her chin in even intervals.

Shuri had asked if she'd gone to the lab yet, but Lena hadn't been ready until now. Hopefully she and the princess can make more progress on stabilizing her powers now that Lena will have her own equipment to work with. Better yet, maybe Shuri can make a trip over here to check out exactly what she and Tony had been doing.

"Lena?" Pepper calls. The girl zones back into her surroundings, blinking and turning toward the woman in the driver's seat. "We're here."

They exit the vehicle and step into the intense summer heat. Lena is grateful that she'd chosen to wear a tank top; any type of sleeves would have been absolutely hellish in this weather. The concrete doesn't help. It traps the warmth, making her sneakers feel like miniature ovens within seconds of standing.

Pepper had taken the rest of the day off to pick her up from therapy, so she's dressed in a casual outfit as opposed to her usual business attire. Her strawberry blonde hair is tied back into a neat bun at the nape of her neck, not a strand falling out of place even as she bends down to help Morgan out of her car seat.

The building Tony had chosen for their lab is nondescript and somewhat on the outskirts of New York City. From the outside, it merely looks like an everyday office building. Nobody would expect two Avengers to be testing unstable energy powers outside of the Compound— and that's exactly why he'd chosen this location. One, it helps keep everything secret. Two, the entire Avengers facility wouldn't be destroyed in the event of a catastrophe with her powers.

"You ready?" Pepper asks as they step up to the front doors. Lena exhales slowly, then shakes off her nerves and nods. She's handed a set of keys. The door unlocks easily like it had been waiting for her to return.

As soon as they step inside, a light nearly blinds them as a full-body scan is done on the trio. Lena shuts the door behind them. Since the building hasn't been used in years, it's even worse than the outdoors, trapping all of the heat inside and smothering them with it.

"Welcome, Lena, Pepper, and Morgan," FRIDAY's voice greets them once their scans are accepted. The next door in front of them clicks as the robot unlocks it. Pepper heaves it open, ushering Morgan and Lena inside first.

The inside is dark. Lena's heart pounds, and in spite of the nearly overbearing heat, her blood feels cold. She tries to swallow down her emotions but they get caught by the lump in her throat. She's never seen the lab like this. Every other time she's been here, the lights have already been on, the temperature is just right, and Tony is waiting. Seeing everything like this is just another painful reminder that he's gone.

She feels a tiny hand slip into her own and squeeze it. She looks down to see Morgan gazing up at her with her large, dark eyes, giving her the support she needs. Even though the girl's purple sundress and hair clips emphasize her youth, sometimes Lena can see how wise she is already. She holds so much intelligence in her gaze.

"It's okay, Le-luh," Morgan whispers.

Lena manages a small grin. "Thanks, Morg."

"Mr. Stark requires the correct answer from Lena Santos in order to activate the lab," FRIDAY says. "'Permission to high five?'"

Her voice almost doesn't come out, but she takes a deep breath and manages to reply, "'Permission granted.'"

The lights immediately flicker on. A burst of pain in her eyes causes Lena to squeeze them shut, allowing them to adjust to the abrupt change in lighting before cracking them open again. The usually-sleek floors aren't as shiny as they used to be. Even from afar, she can tell that everything is coated in a thick layer of dust from years of lying dormant.

Everything else is exactly how she remembers it. There's a coffee station in the corner with a rack of mugs, three different machines for various types of coffee, and an absurd amount of space just for sugar. Next to that is the refrigerator containing snacks, beverages, and creamer for their coffee. The huge stereo that Tony had frequently blasted music on seems lifeless now.

But the thing that catches Lena's attention the most is their lab coats hanging on hooks near the door. Thanks to Lena having been only three inches shorter than Tony, they're practically identical. The single difference between them is the initials embroidered where their hearts would be. Lena walks with Morgan until she can reach them, her thumb brushing over the cursive T.S. with extreme care.

"Hello? Is this thing working?"

Lena's heart freezes in her chest at the sound of his voice. She almost doesn't want to turn around, remembering the result of that in Beck's grand illusions, but Morgan's excited exclamation of, "Dad!" gives her the courage to do it.

It's not actually Tony. Rather, it's some sort of hologram of him standing in an empty spot on the floor, glancing around at something none of them can see. He doesn't look completely transparent, but she can tell that the light from the projectors is making him appear a bit brighter and paler than he would be in real life. He has one of his signature pairs of glasses on and sports an AC/DC band tee along with a casual pair of jeans.

Morgan releases her hand to run to Pepper. Lena steps a bit closer to the hologram, eyeing it from top to bottom in awe. She can come so close to it it's like she's standing in front of him again.

"Is it working? Yes? No? Oh well. I'm just gonna start talking, and if it turns out I've been talking to myself for five minutes for no reason, I'm just gonna—" The hologram of Tony cuts himself off after hearing something that doesn't transmit through the audio. Following a pause, he continues, "Oh, it is working? Okay, good. Let's get this thing rolling.

"Hey, kid. If you're watching this, that means something happened and I can't get to the lab anymore. You may be freakin' out, but don't worry, I haven't left you in the dark. I've set up this whole place to be fully functional without me. I call it the YISIC protocol— an acronym for Yes, I'm Still In Charge."

Lena gives a quiet laugh. She turns around to see Pepper with a bittersweet expression on her face, Morgan tucked into her side.

"If you ever need help with something, you can ask FRIDAY for the instruction manual. I recorded about a trillion of these to explain practically anything you may not understand. I also added some automated responses. Just ask for a quote with, 'Hey FRIDAY, what would Tony say if X, Y, and Z?' and it'll work if I did it correctly. Ah, who am I kidding? Of course I did it correctly. I'm me."

Even though she knows it isn't possible, it appears like the hologram of Tony looks right into her eyes when he says the next bit. "I know it's overwhelming, and it may be tough sometimes, but you've got this. Don't give up on yourself. And remember, always wear your lab coat and safety glasses."

Lena's eyes shine. She reaches out as if to touch him, only for her hand to pass right through the beams of light. She'd known what to expect and still feels the same prick of ice in her heart anyway. After a moment, the hologram disappears, and she feels more alone than she had upon entering.

She faces Pepper and Morgan again, unable to speak without feeling like she's going to burst into tears. Pepper notices her gleaming eyes and smooths Morgan's hair with one hand while she glances around the lab for a few seconds.

"He tried coming here," she eventually says, voice level and calm. "He only made it twice... maybe three times. Tony wanted to make sure that if you ever came back, he'd have some progress to show you. But so much time passed and he started to think it was all over."

It feels like a knife is twisting into her gut when Lena tries to imagine Tony coming here while she'd been snapped away. At some point in time, he'd stood here, feeling the exact same harrowing sensation of loss that she is right now. He'd looked around and couldn't handle being the only one in the room. Is that why he'd recorded all of those things for her— so if he couldn't make it back, she wouldn't feel so lonely?

Pepper walks toward her and brings her into a gentle hug. More tears prick at Lena's eyes that she tries to furiously blink back, her throat aching from the lump growing inside of it. She feels a tiny pair of arms circle around her legs as Morgan joins in.

It's pretty strange to be hugging Pepper Potts and Morgan Stark. Prior to Thanos had infiltrated the Earth, they'd never met. Then they all came back from the snap and Pepper's hands became full from her workload, so she'd asked Peter and Lena to babysit Morgan. They've spent many days at the Stark residence in upstate New York, singing dramatic Disney duets and playing dress-up. It had started to feel like another home to her after a while.

After a moment, Pepper releases her. "Do you want to try out the recordings?"

Lena nods, swallowing hard and releasing a deep breath to steady her voice. "How do I make sure the energy is contained properly for testing?"

Another hologram appears near the control panel. The panel forms a half-circle around the protective vessel for her energy, and the image of Tony leans on the edge of it with his legs crossed at the ankles. He begins launching into a calm explanation and points to the necessary buttons while he goes. It feels like he's right there with her, still working.

She becomes curious about how many of these Tony had recorded. He'd claimed the number was a trillion, but had he truly thought of everything?

The most random question she can think of is, "Can you tell me how to make a Caffé Americano?"

A new hologram materializes by the coffee station. "It's a single or double shot of espresso and water. Now, just because there's an espresso machine here doesn't mean you can have however many shots you want. That can lead to a heart attack. I would know— I've come close before."

Pepper shakes her head with a sigh. "He did. He came really close to one."

Unfortunately, that doesn't really come as a surprise.

"Hey FRIDAY," Lena says, "what would Tony say if my trial didn't work?"

Nothing appears this time, but his voice emits from the overhead speakers. "Aw man, you'll get it next time."

When she asks what he'd say if her experiment worked, there's an exclamation of "Boo-yah! I knew you could do it, kid."

Lena laughs, finding her cheeks wet with tears that had finally spilled over. Even though Tony is physically gone, he truly had gone above and beyond to make his presence fill the lab. She isn't sure she'll ever feel truly alone here.

"Play Tony's favorite songs," she requests of FRIDAY. After a moment, classic rock plays from the stereo— a song she recognizes as "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. How fitting. It makes her grin, turning toward Pepper and Morgan and waving them along. Come on, I'll show you around."

-♕-

A carjack turns out to be the last crime for Havoc to prevent prior to her hiatus from saving the city. A nameless man had threatened a woman at knifepoint and forced her to hand over her keys. Tracking him down is easy. Lena soars above the streets of New York City so she can keep an eye on the stolen vehicle. The man weaves chaotically in and out of several lanes, causing horns to blare at him, mixing in with the tumultuous sounds of everyday New York traffic.

She doesn't want to cause damage to the woman's car, or she'd blast the vehicle and cause it to stop working. Instead, she comes up with another idea: stealing it back. Kind of.

Her gauntlets charge up with the extra energy she'll need for the task. She forms a sheet of power and sends it sliding under the car when it's trapped at a red light. Then, with an upward jerk of her arm, it rises into the air above the other automobiles. The criminal inside rolls down the window and glances down in horror as he climbs higher upward. He looks around until he finds her and shouts an obscene curse.

Lena gives him a nonchalant wave. "Hello, Mr. Carjacker. Please keep your arms and legs inside of the flying vehicle at all times."

She manages to bring the car across several blocks until she reaches a sparser area of the city. The man struggles, even attempting to jump out of the car at one point to avoid arrest, but she keeps him firmly contained inside with her other hand.

Before following the criminal, Lena had told the woman her plan and asked her to call the police. That means she hardly has to wait for them to show up once she places the stolen vehicle back safely on the ground. After they have him surrounded, she removes all of her power and allows them to arrest the carjacker, but not until he gives her a violent gesture that relies heavily on his middle finger.

Whatever. All in a day's work.

Lena presses a hand to her comm to activate it. "I'm done. You guys still there?"

"Yeah," Graham's voice replies. "We got the drug dealer arrested and we've been playing Rock, Paper, Scissors on a rooftop. What took you so long?"

"It was six minutes!"

"Slacker," Peter teases. "Graham just shadow-traveled him to the police station and we were good to go. Ha! Paper beats rock."

"Screw you," Graham groans in response.

Lena rolls her eyes. "Send me your location. I'll be there as quickly as I can."

She's back to flying in a matter of seconds. Even though she'd dearly loved the suit Tony had made her, she'd decided to keep the modifications she'd added on the jet to London. The braided wig is also much more favorable in the summer weather than her other option, which had just been down and unstyled. Maybe she'll go back to that one if she feels like it, but for now, she loves the braid.

The blue reflective designs on her matte silver suit make her much more noticeable. Graham and Peter see her coming before she can sneak up on them, much to her dismay. She lands on the rooftop and stretches her arms over her head.

"Loser," Graham says to her in lieu of a greeting. Lena playfully punches him on the arm with a glare, but he doesn't even flinch or rub the spot to ease the pain.

"So, break time?" Peter asks.

Lena nods in affirmation. "Yep. That was my last one for a while. Not sure when I'll be back, but I need to focus on me for a bit instead of panicking every time I hear about a crime." She recalls something Graham had said over the phone earlier and turns to him. "Hey, didn't you have some news for us?"

"Oh. Yeah. Hang on." Graham walks toward the center of the roof where a large vent sticks out of the concrete. The sun casts a looming shadow on its opposite side, allowing him to melt into it as soon as he reaches its vicinity. A moment later, he emerges once more with what appears to be an old notebook in his hands. "My dad found this. My grandpa wrote it."

"What is it? Like, a journal?" Lena asks.

Graham's only grandfather he'd had contact with had passed away when they were ten. Since his mother is estranged from most of her family, he'd deeply mourned the loss of one of the two grandparents he knows. His grandmother had also passed during the five years they'd been gone.

Graham turns the notebook around so Lena and Peter can read the cover. It's made of black leather, its edges slightly curled from wear and the passage of time. Glued to the front is a note written on yellowing paper and protected from water damage with clear tape— Property of William Seager. To his oldest grandchild. 1975.

"It has everything," he explains. When Lena peers back up at his face, his eyes are gleaming with excitement through the holes in his mask. A smile lights up his face. "All the answers I'd been searching for when I first started to get my powers. They're genetic, guys; he had them, too. Every other generation, they appear like clockwork. Of course, since DNA testing was hardly a thing back then, he didn't know why. He even left a recipe for a kind of tea that's supposed to help me sleep without nightmares."

Graham opens the journal and flips through it as gently as possible, treating every page with immense care as if the book will turn to dust in his fingers with too much use. He shows them once again when he finds what he's searching for.

Dear Grandchild,

These powers may be frightening for you. They sure were for me. Though they usually present themselves in our late teens, I found myself wanting to hide under my bed from the nightmares. I shared a room with my brother, Edward, and he would laugh at me when I'd wake yelling.

My heart aches at the knowledge that this same thing will happen to you. I hope that your siblings, if you have any, treat you better than mine did. It breaks my heart every day knowing that you will suffer from these awful dreams. I can only try to help you to the best of my ability. Hopefully, I will even be there to show you.

Whatever happens, know that you are not the only one who has felt this way. I understand. My grandmother understood. And so did so many generations before us. You are not alone.

With love and power,

Grandpa William

"That's incredible," Lena says, admiring the slanted penmanship written in smooth black ink. "Where was this?"

"My dad found a box of his stuff in our storage closet," Graham answers, allowing Peter to finish reading until he closes the journal once again. "It was unopened— I knew because it was wrapped in old newspapers with yet another note that it was for the oldest grandchild. Guess he really didn't want anyone else reading it."

Peter's brow furrows into a troubled line. "So your dad never knew about your grandpa's powers?"

Graham shakes his head. "I guess not. But I'm kind of glad I got it now; Max and Owen totally snooped through my room during the snap, and those shitheads would have stolen it and read the whole thing. At least now it's just mine. And I can learn some of the hidden family history."

Once he returns to the shadows to put the notebook back in his room and then appears on the rooftop once more, the three of them decide to take one last trip around the city together before Lena goes home and officially takes her break. They end up traveling the few blocks from Times Square to the intersection near Madison Square Garden.

Midtown Manhattan never fails to astound her. It's more incredible at nighttime, but even in the bright sunlight provided by the nearly cloudless afternoon sky, the area is bustling with tourists and regular New York residents. They're distinguishable from each other by how they react to seeing the super-powered trio. The native New Yorkers barely give them a second glance, so used to seeing them after all this time, but newcomers gawk and snap pictures. Lena puts up a peace sign for a teenage girl holding her phone out for a photo.

The dozens of skyscrapers framing the square are each covered in brilliant screens presenting advertisements and newscasts. One display for Dr. Pepper covers the entire length of a building. The bright, flashing lights and sheer amount of electronic presentations is mind-boggling, resulting in a sensory overload because she doesn't know where to look first.

"BREAKING NEWS: We come to you live with revelations of last week's attack in London," a news anchor announces on one of the jumbo screens above Pennsylvania Station, catching the trio's attention immediately. "An anonymous source provided this video. It shows Quentin Beck, AKA Mysterio, moments before his death. A warning: You may find this video disturbing."

Lena's forehead wrinkles as her face scrunches in perplexity. A video? She can't recall any cameras being at the Tower Bridge...

The news feed switches to a partially-pixelated video of a frenzied Quentin Beck with small cuts littering his face. From what she remembers, that means it had been after Peter had punched the glass dome around his head. But this version of Beck is dressed in his Mysterio costume, when all he'd truly been wearing was a stupid-looking CGI bodysuit.

"I managed to send the Elemental back to the dimensional rift, but I don't think I'm gonna make it off this bridge alive," Beck rambles, his blue eyes filled with panic and rimmed with red. "Spider-Man, Havoc, and Specter attacked me for some reason. They have an army of weaponized drones— Stark technology. Spider-Man's saying he's gonna be the new Iron Man, no one else."

The video feed switches to a side view of Beck lying on the ground from the bridge. Peter, Lena, and Graham are barely visible in the frame because only their bottom halves are shown, but their superhero identities are still obvious from their trademark costumes.

"Are you sure you want to commence the drone attack?" EDITH's voice questions. "There will be significant casualties."

"Do it," Peter commands from the video feed. "Execute them all."

The sounds of bullets firing from the fleet of drones echo off-screen. Lena can't believe what she's seeing. EDITH... she hadn't said that at all. She'd asked if Peter had wanted to execute all cancelation protocols.

"The shocking video was released earlier today by the controversial news website, TheDailyBugle.net," the news anchor continues.

The publisher of The Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson, a balding man with a thick mustache and anger lines wrinkling his forehead, appears on the screen. "There you have it, folks! Conclusive proof that Spider-Man, Havoc, and Specter were responsible for the brutal murder of Mysterio, the inter-dimensional warrior who gave his life to protect our planet, and who will, no doubt, go down in history as the greatest superhero of all time."

The greatest... what? No. No. This is all wrong — so unbelievably wrong. As Lena attempts to process what the hell is being said, she recalls Beck's haunting final words: "People— they want to believe. And nowadays, they'll believe anything."

She has a sinking feeling that it had been a warning that they'd been foolish enough not to consider.

"But that's not all, folks," Jameson says, making Lena want to groan. How could he possibly have more to say? "Here's the real blockbuster. Brace yourselves, you might wanna sit down."

The feed cuts to Beck once again. "Spider-Man, Havoc, and Specter's r— their real names are P—"

Lena's face loses all of its blood in an instant, forcing her to put a hand on Graham's shoulder or else she'll pass out on the pavement. The video feed turns to a black screen for a few moments. She spends those agonizing couple of seconds with her heart thumping furiously against her ribcage, her blood roaring in her ears, begging any force above that he won't finish his sentence. But it seems like nothing is listening.

"Their names are Peter Parker, Lena Santos, and Graham Seager."

All three of their school yearbook pictures pop up on the massive television screen. Graham puts a hand to his mouth as if he's going to be sick. Meanwhile, Peter grasps his head and exclaims, "What the fu—"

And just as her parents intended for her to be, like it has always been her destiny, Lena is now a villain to the world.

END OF ACT THREE.

ACT FOUR COMING SOON!

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a/n:

jameson: mysterio is the greatest hero of all time
peter, lena, and graham:

tony watching from heaven after he literally sacrificed himself to defeat thanos:

the rest of the avengers who've spent decades saving the world:

the rat that brought scott back from the quantum realm:

anyways WOW!!!! here we are!!! the end of act three!! i'm really happy with how i managed to expand this beyond what was shown in the movie. originally, it had about 17-18 chapters, so you can see how much i managed to add. what was your favorite part of this act?

just saying, i think the part with tony's hologram and lena would have made an AMAZING movie scene. also i know you probably don't care but i think it's cool how the last sentences of both acts 1 & 2 describe lena as being a hero and the last sentence of act 3 paints her as a villain :) just me being nerdy and enjoying small details in my writing

again, this book will be marked as completed for now, but act four will be published once the third spider-man movie is out! i'm also going to attempt a social media au so you can potentially stay tuned for that as well.

a friendly reminder that both books have a pinterest board that you can check out! my username is stilestastic and i have sections for each OC, parkos, important dynamics, and more! you can also look at my meet my oc's book for some more info about lena and graham.

also, sorry i have so much to say, but this is the last a/n i'll have for a while, so i need to get everything out now. remember how i cast darren criss as fake alternate universe keanu?? little did i know that hailee and darren actually know each other. here's a photo to fulfill our endless voids from missing the sibling bond that never was😔

goodbye for now!! thank you for all of the love and support on this book, and thank you so much for 100k reads!!! :D💗💗

—kristyn