Angst, past event are in italics

"You can't possibly save them both, so stop wasting your time and decide who lives and who dies. The choice is yours to make, Mr. Parker."

~~~

"This is my dad, Steve Rogers," you told Peter cautiously, seeing that his eyes were about to burst out of his head at his sudden proximity to Captain America. "Dad, this is Peter Parker."

"Mr. Parker," Steve greeted in his most authoritative tone, his hand thrust forward eagerly to show the young man just how strong his grip really was; he wanted there to be no confusion about his role in keeping his only daughter safe. The boy in front of him seemed unassuming enough at first glance, but Steve had learned long ago to not make a first impression on appearances; it was something that he had used against his opponents back when he looked about as scrawny as this kid.

"Hey, I'm...I'm...I'm Peter..." he struggled to speak, readily taking Steve's hand. When the Captain gave his best fatherly shake and put a little more power behind the hold, Peter didn't even flinch, much to his surprise. "I'm a big fan."

"Hmm, so how long have you and (Y/N) been seeing each other?"

"Dad..."

"Um," Peter laughed uncomfortably, pulling at his collar as if it were suddenly strangling him, "about...um, like six months...Captain...sir." He took a shuffled step towards you and bent slightly enough so that he could whisper, completely forgetting that Steve could hear everything clear as day, "he's so tall. He's got the ratio of a Dorito."

"Is that supposed to be a joke, Mr. Parker?"

"Shit...I mean, no! No, sir...I'm sorry...no."

The agonizing introduction of your boyfriend to your overprotective and overbearing father went on this way for the next fifteen minutes without reprieve; Steve would ask a question that would be harmless if asked by any other man, and Peter would stumble his way through the answer with barely a competent response. You may have been more entertained if you weren't the common denominator here, and if you weren't the one who wouldn't hear the end of this from either of them any time soon.

~~~

"(Y/N), hold on!" Peter called out to you as calmly as he could muster, but his tone was filled with panic. You were hanging precariously over the side of one of the city's highest buildings, supported by a few straps that were woven into a mechanism that could drop you at any second. Harsh and cold winds were blowing between the skyscrapers, making you sway along with them, only adding to your already paralyzing fear. On the other side of the building was another woman in the same situation; Peter's Aunt May. Standing directly in between was the man who had challenged Peter to make the decision as to which of you he would save, but insisting that it couldn't be both; you were too far apart for him to run that fast, and even a precisely slung web wouldn't be any guarantee against the winds and the force of gravity in the fall.

"Don't look down," you whispered to yourself, keeping your eyes tightly closed. If you were to fall, you didn't want to see the ground as it came closer; it would be better to be a surprise and immediate nothingness than to watch it coming.

"Pete, save (Y/N)," May insisted, "it's okay, honey! Don't let her fall!"

"Tick, tick, tick, Mr. Parker, time's a-wasting," the man sneered. "Choose, or lose both."

~~~

Steve had been watching you and Peter intently since the messy introduction that day, keeping a sharp eye on the boy that had set off alarms in his head; there was something about Parker that seemed strangely familiar to him, but he was certain that he hadn't met him before. Each time that he came to the compound to pick you up for a date, it was the same, with Steve running through his mind as to how he knew Peter, but he always came up empty.

"Sam," he nodded to his friend, drawing him over next to one of the windows overlooking the grounds where you were talking to Pete, "do you know this kid?"

"(Y/N)'s boyfriend?"

"Yeah. Something about him is really familiar to me, but I can't place why."

Sam stood silent for a moment and watched your interaction, searching his mind for any familiarity, much as Steve had been doing, only to come up with the same exact conclusion. "Nope, not a clue. Seems a little jittery though. I think this whole Superhero Dad thing might be a bit much for the kid."

"Why? I've been very welcoming," Steve argued, his stare still intently focused on Peter.

"Yeah, you're just the epitome of hospitality, Cap," Sam scoffed. "Can't see why he's intimidated at all. You know, you don't have to wear the uniform on our days off, right?"

Steve looked down at himself with a contented smile and turned to his friend with a shrug, grabbing the shield from the floor in front of him to sling onto his back. "It's laundry day," he explained almost too happily, "I was out of clean shirts."

"On the same day that Parker just happened to pay (Y/N) a visit? I think you've done plenty to remind him of who you are, Steve."

"Hey, laundry day is laundry day. It's out of my hands, Sam."

~~~

Peter was sweating so much now that the suit was sticking to his skin, suffocating him over almost every inch of his body. His panic was nearly insurmountable and his mind was racing with any option that he could imagine to try to save both you and May, but the equations just didn't work out in a way that could do it. This wasn't the way that he wanted to tell you about his alter ego, to have you find out that he was Spiderman because he had been careless and hadn't protected you from this. Oh, how he wanted to call your dad, to tell him who he really was just so that he would save you, so that he could help May. It would be worth the threat of never being able to see you again just to make sure that you were okay. But that wasn't an option now, and he was completely on his own.

"Five...four...three..."

"Okay! Just stop!" Peter begged, raising his hands to the man holding the release. "Just...give me another minute!"

"Two...One..."

Peter didn't know what mechanism inside of him made the decision as to which way to run. He had no idea what variables came into play in his mind to direct his feet to turn left, but all he knew was that the decision had been made and there was no turning back now. The button had been pushed and the restraints had been cut free to drop you both to the unforgiving ground below, and he could only save one. He had barely enough time to get his hands on one of you, and the other would live on only in the guilt that he would carry for the rest of his life.

"Hang on, May," he panted, tears running down his cheeks and saturating the mask of his suit, "I've got you."

~~~

"Open your eyes," Peter chuckled coyly, bouncing on his heels in maddening anticipation of you seeing the sign that he was holding out in front of him; he was filled with both terror and excitement, not sure if he should prepare for a yes or utter, debilitating rejection.

When you followed his directions and opened your eyes to see what he had been fussing over, your first reaction was a loud gasp in disbelief, but it was quickly followed by a skeptical look as your rational mind began to return. "Prom? But Pete, you said that you didn't want to go."

"I didn't, but you do. If it's going to make you happy to go, then I'll go to make you happy. That's my job, right?"

"Sure," you smiled, still unsure of his motive as you saw a hesitation in his posture, "but is that all? Just fulfilling the boyfriend duties?"

"Well...no...I mean, I can't not take you and have someone else get a chance, now can I?"

"Pete, don't be silly, no one else would have a chance at all. Not in a million years."

"Mmm hmm," he murmured, "if I weren't here, there'd be a line ready at that door just waiting to get their shot."

You paused and brought your hand up to your chin, glancing up wistfully to make him just a little uneasy with his own idea, running a few ideas through your mind about who you would even consider if you weren't so fully committed to Peter. "On the other hand..."

"What? Who? (Y/N), please don't tell me it's that hot guy in your trig class."

"No, not him, yuck," you scoffed, "he's a complete jerk. Drops his hot value way down. Actually, I wonder who it is behind that Spiderman mask? It's hard to tell if he's good looking when the suit covers literally every inch, but I just get the feeling that he's probably pretty ripped. I hear he's got an 8-pack."

"O-okay...sure..." Peter stammered, trying now to veer the conversation away, "but who's to say that he's a he? It could be a she just as easily."

"True, good point, Mr. Parker," you nodded, now even more introspective. "Hmm, that really does open up a whole world of ideas, doesn't it?" You turned to walk away and back into the compound when he hurried to rush to your side, the sign still held firmly in his hands as he waved it in front of you.

"(Y/N), I still need an answer. Prom?"

"Sorry, sweetie, that's not up to me."

"W-what do you mean..." he answered nervously, feeling his throat begin to tighten as his voice lost its tone and volume almost immediately. He knew exactly what you had meant, but there was a tiny shred of hope inside of him that you weren't about to say what he so readily feared.

"You're gonna have to ask my dad for permission first."

~~~

"Captain?"

"Mr. Parker," Steve answered flatly, his hands thrust deep into his pants pockets and refusing to take the one extended to him now. He had barely afforded Peter a glance, and at this point, the young man was thankful that he had only offered that and not much, much worse. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I know. I wasn't expecting it either."

"So leave."

Peter took a shaky breath and glanced behind him to where May was standing, back and apart from the team who had gathered together quietly and who were watching his interaction with Steve. There was nothing that he could say that would make this better, in fact, it was likely that just the sounds of his own breathing was making this exponentially worse because he was alive and you weren't; it was because of him, and now he was standing in front of your grieving father with nothing but useless apologies. "Sir, I don't know what happened," he began meekly, "he was counting down...and he got to one and I just...I panicked and ran to May."

"You chose the wrong side."

"Yes, sir."

"I knew that there was something about you," Steve continued, his jaw set tight, "and I just couldn't place it. No one could. But now that I know who you really are, it all makes sense. If I would have known who you were then, there would have been no way in hell that you would have been anywhere near my daughter."

"I never wanted this to happen. I didn't even want her to know."

"You let her fall, Parker. It was your choice to make, and you killed her. You're the only reason that she's not here now. You."

May took a few steps forward at the change in Steve's tone, his echo carrying across the cemetery with the cold breeze that sent a chill through her. She wanted to defend Peter and to tell Steve how everything had happened that night, but then she stopped and put herself into his situation; she imagined what it would be like if things were reversed and she was the one being offered condolences and obligatory respects if Peter had been lost. When she allowed that pain in, she understood that no matter what Peter could say, it would fall on deaf ears, but she still had to let him do this on his own and in his own way.

"I'm sorry, sir. That's all I can say to you, and I've never meant anything more."

"You'll have to understand when I say that I can't accept your apology," Steve countered, "and that I don't believe anything that you have to say to me. You also told her that you loved her, and look at how much you meant that."

"I did," Peter hissed, now growing angry at the continued onslaught, "I do. This is killing me too, Captain. I'm going to live with this every day for the rest of my life. It will never go away."

Steve took a step back to calm his anger, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes to find his center to maintain his composure. This wasn't the place for him to lose control and cause a scene, but there would be no promise of that if he crossed paths with Peter again in the future. When the young man stared back at him, waiting for a reply to his retort, Steve had reached his limit and began to retreat into himself. He couldn't think of anything else to say that hadn't already been said, so he simply took this last moment to make it perfectly clear how he felt about the pain that Peter swore he was suffering too.

"Good."