━━━━ · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

( def stole ao3's layout bc i love it sm )

rating: general audiences
fandom: marvel cinematic universe
relationship: theo standen/peter parker
warnings: major character death
additional tags: character death, several toy story references bc at this point in time theo was obsessed with it, you've got a friend in me, what we do for the ones we love and how to deal with the aftermath
stats ━━ published: 11/29/23 — word count: 1533 — parts: 1/1

━━━━ · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

summary:
the one where theo and peter are on vormir and have to decide who has to go in order to retrieve the soul stone

notes:
had this in the arsenal forever bc i wrote it on a whim and was inspired by scar's vormir oneshot she wrote and shared in the m&j&d groupchat so partial blame to her /j

and since it's not part of the canon, congrats ! theo's not dying, this is just a one-off scenario <3

song to set the mood
wait - m83

"You remember what I asked you to bring?"

The sound of Theo's voice made Peter's head snap up, considering that Theo was silent the entire trip to Vormir. The two of them knew what was bound to happen, but neither made—didn't want to make—the finite decision to move. So they sat there, a backpack between them that Peter had tossed to the ground before sitting, defeated with his weight shifting all the way down to his feet.

"You didn't ask, you told me," Peter countered, "you ended your text earlier with a period, not a question mark."

"But you did bring them, though, right?" Theo raised a brow and Peter sighed. He grabbed the backpack and unzipped it open and pulled out a pair of bright red high-top Converse. Peter didn't know where Theo was going with this but that was how he always was, keeping the bigger picture to himself while Peter had the little one to leave in his pocket.

Theo grabbed one of them and took a permanent marker from one of his many vest pockets and turned the shoe upside down before scribbling something onto it. Peter leaned in to look but Theo only pulled away, smiling. When he was done, he put the marker back in his pocket and turned the shoe over, white laces bright-side up. "Promise me you won't look until after."

Peter's heart cinched then, and the wind got caught in his throat. "Until after what, Theo?"

Theo was firm in his answer. "After."

That was when the realization hit Peter like a ton of fucking bricks and ruined his insides. "No," he started, "no." He thought repeating the word and adding a hardened edge to it would change Theo's mind but that wasn't Theo. When he made a decision, he stuck to it. "No fucking way."

"Peter," Theo started but was instantly cut off by a tangle of limbs coming up and around to trap him, to keep him on the ground. To keep him.

"No," Peter tried again, his voice going up a pitch, his grip tightening. He could feel himself starting to cry, which was a fairly appropriate reaction because he just now found out that his boyfriend was more than prepared to throw himself off of a cliff like his life didn't matter, like he didn't matter. Peter felt a pair of arms around him, pulling him in.

"Peter, I gotta— "

"But I just got you back. I don't care that you tried to kill me again. I just got you back."

Theo went silent and let the wind rush through their ears as the sun began to set beyond the skies of Vormir. It felt like the two of them were back in New York, standing on some random rooftop that one of them had picked as their meeting spot for the night.

"It'd be easier for the both of us if I did it." Theo pulled back so he could look Peter in the eye, who was absolutely fuming. "I don't know if you know this, but the world needs Spider-Man. The world can go on another day without Red Dawn, the formerly brainwashed Robin."

"What about what I want, huh?" Peter seethed, "I want you, Theodore Jameson Standen. Give me your absolute worst and let me love you, anyway."

"How did you get a hold of my full government name?"

"SHIELD files," Peter sniffled, "don't change the fucking subject. I'm not letting you go."

"One of us has to— "

"Yeah, and it's not gonna be you. Theo, you have fought way too long and way too hard for you to just end it all here. Don't you get that? I don't know what fucked-up thoughts they put into your head but you belong here."

Theo hung his head. Tears were stinging his eyes. He was shaking.

"Theo," Peter murmured, "Theo, honey, look at me."

Theo shook his head, leaning in to press his forehead to Peter's, instead. With both of their eyes closed, they wished for something. They both wished to be back in New York, on a random rooftop somewhere or even on the little playground where they had kissed for the first time, their real identities still unknown to the other. It had been in that moment, and many moments before that, that Theo wanted to make something of himself instead of being the little toy soldier he had been programmed to be.

"The world needs you, Peter. It can't afford to lose an Avenger."

"You're an Avenger, too. And I say so."

There was a moment of silence before Peter spoke up again. "With the power bestowed upon me on behalf of Tony Stark, I pronounce you, Theo Standen, an Avenger. A real one."

Theo huffed a laugh, pulling Peter into a kiss. "You know we could just stay here, let them find the Soul stone another way."

"Yeah, let's just stay here, then. Be a little selfish for once. Not let the weight of the world be balanced out by one of us dying."

"'Neither can live while the other survives'," Theo muttered and it was Peter's turn to laugh, completely caught off guard by the reference. Theo was going to miss that sound. He was going to miss it so, so much. He wished that he could bottle it.

"Alana would miss you, you know," Peter murmured, rubbing his nose against Theo's, "the other half of the Spy Kids. The Carmen to your Junie.

"Nate would miss his drinking buddy, even though none of us can technically get drunk.

"I would miss the way your laugh would bounce off of the walls because it was that infectious. I would miss you falling asleep in the sun because you didn't want your cat to be lonely. I—I would miss the way you made pancakes because you always did something to them that I could never quite figure out. Like hell you would die without leaving me the recipe. And I would miss seeing your stupid face every day, that smug attitude you'd get when you would beat me to answer a question. I'd miss you. And if it's not enough reason for you to stay then I don't know what I would do."

"What do you usually do when I'm gone?" Theo asked, lining up another reference.

"Wait for you to get back." Peter broke then, pulling himself back into Theo's embrace. With the strength he had, Theo pulled the two of them up, Peter still clinging to him like the baby he was (he eventually planted his feet to the ground afterward). Theo heaved a sigh and held him just a little longer, long enough so he could remember. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.

Peter eventually let go, but was still within arms' reach. He knew it, he could feel it. He wanted to beat it down and bat it away, to strip the spidey senses out of his nervous system and toss it out, but it was too late. Theo hadn't changed his mind. Peter should've known. A humming was what got him out of his prison of thoughts.

"Some other folks might be a little bit smarter than I am. Bigger and stronger too, maybe. But none of them will ever love you the way I do, it's me and you, boy.

"And as the years go by, our friendship will never die. You're gonna see, it's our destiny. You've got a friend in me."

Peter sniffled again. "I love you. So much."

"I love you, too, darling." Theo pulled Peter into a searing kiss, giving him every ounce of him he had left. "I'm gonna be thinking of you every step of the way."

"I don't want you to go."

"But I can't stay." Theo slowly pulled himself from Peter's grasp and Peter could feel himself already gasping for air. Theo was slowly walking backwards, his back to the sunset. This was how Peter was going to remember Theo—basking in the warm glow of the sun, just like how he had fallen asleep on the floor. All that was left between them was the wisp of their fingers before that had eventually gone, too. "Hey. I love you. . .to infinity. . ."

"And beyond." Peter's voice cracked on the word beyond because he watched the love of his life take one final step before falling over the edge. Peter sank to his knees, his heart plummeting to the core of the earth.

Peter could feel two things being clutched within his fists. His backpack was strewn across the ground somewhere, but what mattered were the things he held in his hands. He knew what was in his right one and he didn't bother to look; he just shoved it into his pocket before looking over at the high top in his left hand. Don't look until after, Theo's voice rang in his head. Wracking up a sob, he turned the shoe over.

THEO was scrawled on the bottom, the same way ANDY had been written on the bottom of Woody's boot in Toy Story.