Hey everyone! We're getting close to the big reunion... :) I know it's been a little over a week since I last posted a chapter- sorry about that- but things got hectic pretty quickly for me and I was doing some last minute edits, etc of this chapter before I posted it. The next chapter has about 5k words so far, and each chapter has averaged around 6-7k words, and I just have a few scenes left of the chapter to write, so I should be able to finish that pretty quickly, and then I had already skipped ahead and finished chapter 6 before this.

Things got hectic for me really quick though because I leave to move into college in... 4 days. That is insanely wild to me, considering I started writing in freshman year of high school and here I am now, about to be a freshman in college. It's actually quite terrifying and I have no idea what I'm doing, but I do plan to get this out and finished by the time I start. Hopefully I get around to finishing chapter 5 in the next few days, but if not, I'll just finish writing it on the car ride to my college (I'll have like 12 hours so it'll be plenty of time). Anyways that's enough about me, hopefully y'all enjoy what I have here.

~ ~ ~

The days turned to weeks, and still the thought of the man? kid? (he can't have been older than 22) named Peter by May's graveside bothered him. Happy sighed as he ran his hand wearily down his face. He knew it shouldn't, really, there were a lot of people whose lives had been touched by May's kindness. In fact, he was glad that strangers were coming to see her- the more people touched by her, the more people left to keep her memory alive. But it didn't feel right to call Peter a stranger; while his face didn't look familiar to Happy at all, something inside him tugged and curled protectively in the kid's presence, like his body was trying to tell him to remember. He wished he'd asked for Peter's last name, then- maybe it would have spurned a memory and stopped this unpleasant pervading sense of forgetfulness.

After being Tony's bodyguard for many years, Happy had gotten attuned to recognizing and storing faces in his mind, lest they become a potential threat. He'd be the first to admit his memory hadn't stayed particularly sharp as he'd aged, but it still felt like something was scratching at the corners of his mind whenever he thought of Peter's face. Like he was missing the bigger picture, one that should be easy to recognize.

Happy groaned and dropped his head into his hands. How had the kid even known May, anyways? He thought back to their introduction, Peter mentioning that he'd known May through Spider-Man. Something lit up in his mind. He knew Spider-Man, quite well in fact, the kid's name was- it was-

His train of thought screeched to a halt and he frowned in confusion. He'd felt a moment of clarity, for a second there, almost like he had known Spider-Man's true name at one point. He frowned, pushing back further into his memory, catching glimpses of brown hair and crooked smiles and a youthful laugh, but despite his best efforts, he couldn't put a name or face to Spider-Man. It was like his brain was running in circles around him, dangling a memory tantalizingly just above him- but Happy hadn't played capture the flag in years, and any effort on his part was fruitless.

He sank into the chair beneath him, brows furrowed, fingers tapping against the armrest. Maybe if he could just remember where and how he first met Spider-Man, he'd remember. And if he remembered Spider-Man, maybe he'd remember who Peter was, too. (He wasn't sure why remembering the kid felt so urgent and important to him, but every instinct in him seemed to flare up at the thought, and if May was important to Peter, at least to some degree- well, then, they'd have something in common).

Tap tap. He rhythmically continued to tap on the armrest, delving further into his thoughts. He'd been introduced to Spider-Man by Tony- wait, that couldn't have been right? But yes, it was. He was introduced to Spider-Man (in a different getup than he currently had) and told to be his... driver. Chaperone. For the Battle of Germany.

Tap tap. The memories were far from clear, though. Everything felt hazy, and Tony was the only clear face in his memories. There was another person there- presumably Spider-Man- but he didn't have his mask on. Happy squeezed his eyes tighter and tried to envision the person's face, but try as he might, he had nothing to show for his efforts. All he could recall was another person's presence, almost invisible- someone who would have been invisible were Happy not actively seeking him out. He floated around the corners of the memory, an unmistakable presence yet ghostly all the same.

Tap tap. The memories didn't get any clearer as Happy scanned them, except for the odd memory of Spider-Man, in his full costume and mask, doing something that probably wasn't very advisable and causing Happy a heart attack. Happy frowned at those memories. He could still, clear as day, feel the panic and worry tightening around his chest for the superhero vigilante in each of those memories, even as he remembered snapping at the young man. Yet those memories were sparse, and everything else was foggy. How could he remember caring so deeply about a masked vigilante he barely remembered and who he didn't know the name of?

Tap tap. The memories became crystal clear after the Blip. He remembered Tony grieving, grieving like a parent who lost his child, over Spider-Man. Except no- once again, that couldn't be right. He was grieving over a kid- once again, only flashes of brown hair came to mind, no matter how hard Happy tried to pry the corners of his mind open and tear out everything inside. It remained clamped tight and only really succeeded in giving him a headache.

Tap tap. Tony, sitting alone in a room with Happy, holding a Spider-Man Stark suit in his hands and staring despondently at it. The twisting, swirling pit of grief in his gut intensified at the memory.

Tap tap. Happy sat bolt upright, a thought hitting him like a flash. Of course, how did it not occur to him before? The Stark suit. If Tony made Spider-Man a suit, presumably there was information on who was under the suit in his computer database. And if he could find out who Spider-Man was... he could try and fill in the gaps in his memories and maybe try and find out who Peter was.

"FRIDAY, open up all files you have regarding Spider-Man."

~ ~ ~

MJ sighed, draped over Ned's spinny desk chair with a blanket as her friend rummaged in his closet. "Remind me why we're here, again?" she asked, idly spinning in circles. Ned looked up at her, playfully chucking a pencil at her and rolling his eyes.

"I told you, we're cleaning out my closet. My mom wants me to start going through it and donating some things. I'm gonna have to do it for college, anyways, so I might as well get a head start."

"It's December, Ned." MJ deadpanned. "We're not going to college for like 9 months."

Ned merely shrugged. "You know how my family is, MJ. Any space I gain from clearing this stuff out will no doubt be filled by new Christmas gifts. My mom calls it pre-Christmas donation time- getting all our old stuff out to Goodwill in time for people to buy gifts."

MJ did, in fact, know how Ned's family was. They basically did spring cleaning but in winter (let it be known Ned's giant family took Christmas gift-giving very seriously. It somewhat baffled MJ, who'd only ever had very laid-back, tiny gatherings with her immediate family). She sighed. "Yeah, yeah. But why am I here?"

Ned gave her a look. "What, you don't want to be here with your only best friend? You're going to abandon me and banish me to cleaning out my closets all by myself?" he asked, giving her a mock pout. She snorted and reached over to shove his shoulder playfully, even as something in her chest tightened and twisted at the 'only best friend' part. It didn't feel right- it felt intrinsically wrong, in fact, but they hadn't discussed the weird gaps in their memories since the day in the library, and neither of them had much to add on the situation, so they simply didn't address it. It's times like these that drove MJ crazy, though. She hated feeling like she was missing out on information- especially important information, or things that feel like they should be obvious but she can't, for the life of her, figure them out.

She idly spun around on the chair, one leg kicking slowly to keep her in a semi-constant spin. Ned had returned to rummaging through his closet. The two sat in amicable silence for a long stretch of time as Ned sorted things into piles and MJ just spun in his chair, lost in thought. Suddenly, the silence was broken by Ned's snort. MJ turned to look at him as he held up a folder that was stuffed to the brim with papers and falling apart at the edges.

"Hey, Em, check this out." Ned said, eyes sparkling. "It's my school folder from two years ago. Wanna go through it?"

MJ snorted in return, stopping her idle spinning and shifting out of her chair. "Sure, why not. We can see how much of a nerd you were."

"Still are." Ned corrected her, and she rolled her eyes fondly, the two of them settling onto the carpet as Ned opened the folder and started to spread the contents on the floor. MJ remembered Ned had the habit of just taking all the papers he accumulated during a year and cramming it into one folder to shove into his closet and never look at it again. Frankly, it was a miracle the folder was still intact, from how it was straining at the spine to hold the weight of tests and quizzes and homework that Ned had collected through the year.

The two of them made their way through all the work, tossing old homework sheets and just keeping the tests and quizzes, plus the occasional essay, substantially narrowing down the pile of paper. MJ snorted as she pulled out a history essay on Captain America.

"I still can't believe you wrote your final paper on this." she surveyed it with amusement as Ned looked over at her.

"Hey, it worked out, I got an A." he defended himself. "Besides, I would argue the history behind Captain America was a better concept than the history of true crime in the United States." Ned said, quirking his eyebrow at MJ. "I think you scarred Mr. Harrington."

MJ simply shrugged in response, placing the paper in the "save" pile. They'd gone through most of the folder by now- MJ had been working on the left side, and Ned on the right (his side had more papers in it, so MJ just had two or three sheets left). She quickly threw the last two papers into the discard pile, giving them once-overs before realizing they were old math worksheets and didn't need to be saved. She shoved her hand back into the folder pocket to check for any remaining scraps of paper when her hand hit a coarse, folded up scrap of paper that was jagged on one edge.

MJ frowned and pulled it out- it was a square of paper a few inches wide, and it looked like it had been folded several times over. She started to unfold it curiously, recognizing it as the paper from her sketchbook- though why Ned had it stuffed in the back of his folder, she didn't know. She didn't even remember what it was, it had been so much time. Ned continued on his pile of paperwork, oblivious to her finding.

"Hey MJ, do you remember this test we had to take?" he asked, holding out an old bio test. "God, I remember studying for that, it was brutal-" he cut himself off when he heard MJ gasp and scramble backwards. Okay, maybe scramble was not the right word. Either way, she pushed herself back in shock, and the paper she had been holding fell from her hand to the floor, face-up in between the duo. They both stared at the drawing that presented itself to them, at a loss for words and astounded and mildly terrified at what this meant for them.

Staring up at them from the paper was the unmistakable face of Peter Parker.

And next to him, Ned Leeds.

Drawn by Michelle Jones.

One of her trademark 'crisis drawings', at Midtown's lunch table, of Peter Parker, looking distressed, with Ned obviously comforting him.

MJ and Ned were silent for a few minutes, staring at the drawing. There was no explanation for it. No logical, normal way to explain it. No possible way for a stranger to be in one of MJ's drawings, from sophomore year, being comforted in an obviously familiar way by Ned. If MJ didn't know any better, she would have said Peter was Ned's best friend, not her. Not from the way this drawing depicted.

"What the fuck?" Ned rasped, finding his voice, eyes raising to meet hers. MJ shook her head minutely, not even knowing what to say. She was once again lost for words, and if she thought she didn't know anything before, well she sure as hell didn't know any more now.

"Do you think..." MJ started, staring at Ned. "The gaps in our memories?" she gestured at the paper. "How weird Peter was acting around us, and staring at me, in the coffee shop that day. Do you think he.... knew us? And we knew him? But can't remember?"

Ned shook his head helplessly. "I don't know. I can't remember. But how on earth would that even happen? Why would we just forget a whole person, especially if we were..." he gestured at the drawing. "...close?"

"I don't know either." MJ said, sighing, before grabbing the drawing to look at it again. Her eyes scanned every detail, and yeah, the style was unmistakably hers. She'd improved her technique since then, and her eyes couldn't help but catch onto every little mistake in the work, but it was clearly identifiable as hers. Not to mention being in Ned's folder- one that hadn't been out of his closet in two years. It certainly hadn't been taken out or meddled with by someone. So there was only one real explanation.

They used to know Peter Parker. And now they don't. And MJ needed to know why. A quick glance at Ned showed he shared her sentiments.

"We need to ask him." Ned said. "We've gotta ask him, show him the picture, anything."

MJ shook her head. "How? He hasn't stopped by Peter Pan's in ages, and it's not like we know anything about the guy. We have basically nothing to go off of. No pictures, no phone number, no address. We saw him a couple of times in a coffee shop, he acted weird, that was that."

Ned furrowed his eyebrows. "Well. We don't know what happened to make us forget him, but we can assume a few things, right? Obviously physical things stay intact, like the drawing. By that reasoning, what are other physical things we could have? Other drawings, from your sketchbook."

"Photos." MJ said, starting a mental list. "Legal records, probably, though I can't imagine it would be easy to find those given only a name and no real access."

Ned nodded. "I can try and hack into Midtown's records and see what I can find, maybe it'll have some information about him."

MJ furrowed her brows. "It's just confusing. If he went to our school, did he transfer out? I can't imagine nobody would ever mention his name again. Even if he transferred during the summer, teachers always accidentally call out students' names for months after they leave when they're doing attendance roll calls."

Ned shrugged. "We don't know what happened at all, though. Something's obviously up, but we wouldn't have known or figured it out if we weren't looking for details. Maybe they just brush over it. They do have a ton of other students, after all."

"I suppose." MJ acquiesced. "What other digital or physical records could he have left behind, then?"

Ned's eyes lit up. "Do you think I'd have his phone number saved?" he asked, grabbing for his phone on the desk behind him. "I mean, in the drawing we look pretty close, I normally get people's numbers the second I meet them, I can't imagine he'd be any different." He opened his phone and scrolled to the contacts app. They held their breath as Ned typed in "Peter."

He didn't even have to get three letters in before "Peter Parker" popped up as the first option. The two exchanged glances before Ned tapped on the profile, tilting his screen so MJ could see.

The profile loaded and MJ inhaled sharply while Ned made a surprised noise in the back of his throat.

If there was any doubt before that they used to know Peter Parker, there was no doubt now. The profile picture for Peter was obviously personal, with the now-familiar face pulled in a goofy expression. Underneath Peter's name in the contact section was a spider-web emoji, but MJ didn't dwell on that for long, instead staring at the profile picture.

Once again, the two of them were shocked into abject silence. "Well." MJ started. "We're kind of stuck on this mystery now."

Ned merely nodded, unable to speak. Before MJ could stop herself, she tapped the phone number on the profile, and it started to ring on speaker. Ned was petrified in place, phone clenched tightly in his hand, and all MJ could do was stare while the ringing filled the room.

Ring ring.

MJ truthfully had no idea what would happen if Peter picked up. What would they even say? "Hey, Ned and I found a drawing of you and you were a contact in Ned's phone, why the hell can't either of us remember you even existing?"

Ring ring.

Frankly, she was terrified, and so was Ned. None of this made sense, none of it at all. But for the first time in ages, MJ felt clarity. This had to be connected to the gaps in hers' and Ned's memories. Peter Parker was a mystery she was determined to figure out (she'd always loved a good mystery, after all).

Ring ring.

Come on, come on, Parker, pick up. Frankly, she didn't know whether the prospect of him picking up or not picking up was more terrifying. On one hand, if he picked up, they'd be able to ask him directly about all of this, instead of just... wondering. On the other hand, if he didn't pick up, they would have no way to get in contact with him. In a city filled with 9 million people.

Ring ring. Click.

An automated female voice filled the room.

"We're sorry, the number you're trying to call is no longer in service."

MJ blew out a breath of disappointment as the call abruptly ended. "Well, it was worth a shot. Maybe he just couldn't pay for it anymore or something. Or he just switched numbers. If he was trying to cover his tracks."

Ned rubbed his temples, eyes squeezed shut, blowing out a similar breath. "Okay, so. Phone number didn't work. What about texts? Social media? Those should all still work." he opened his eyes to see MJ nodding.

"Yeah, I'll make a list." she said, standing to grab a notepad. She drew a T-chart, labeling one side 'worked' and another side 'didn't work.' Under 'didn't work' she wrote 'phone number.' She looked back up at Ned. "We'll find him."

She didn't know whether it was herself or Ned she was trying to reassure, but Ned nodded back.

"Operation: Find Peter Parker is now in play."

~ ~ ~

Happy groaned, slamming his laptop shut as he reached yet another dead end. "Goddamnit, Tony." he growled at his late best friend, scowling at yet another [access denied] signal he was receiving from the stupid security systems.

For being someone he couldn't even clearly remember, obtaining information about Spider-Man was proving to be very difficult. Tony had clearly cared about the guy enough to put an obnoxious number of security walls in place so that- even with Happy's clearance- it was proving very hard to even get the guy's name. Unfortunately, that only made Happy even more determined to find out more because he had to be onto something if there was this much security guarding it.

He sighed- for the umpteenth time, it seemed- and decided to take a different route, picking up his phone and dialing a familiar number. It picked up after only a few rings.

"Pepper, hi." Happy started, hearing Pepper greet him back warmly. "Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but I have a small request- I'm trying to get into some files about Spider-Man and I can't get into them from here, even with my clearance, so if you could get FRIDAY to help me out here, that would be greatly appreciated. I know you have the override codes from Tony and all that."

"Oh, please, Happy, no apologies needed, I have plenty of time. And I'll have FRIDAY grant you access. Though may I ask what the particular interest in Spider-Man is, all of a sudden?"

At that, Happy wasn't exactly sure what to say. He felt bad lying to Pepper, but he didn't exactly want to tell her the truth before he even knew what the truth was. "Not really, I just remember Tony used to help the guy out a little bit and I wanted to see if there was anything I could do now for him, given that I don't really have any way to get in contact with him other than from what Tony has stored. He's a good kid, from what I remember." The nickname 'kid' slipped out before he could help it, and Happy frowned to himself. Sure, Spider-Man was young, but he wasn't that young, was he? He shook himself out of his thoughts as Pepper responded.

"Alright, Happy." she sounded a bit skeptical (Happy was never any good at lying to her, she was too perceptive), but she didn't push it. "FRIDAY doesn't seem to be particularly happy with sharing the files, for some reason. She's been acting a little strange recently- maybe that's why you're having trouble getting in on your end." she didn't sound particularly concerned, but Happy frowned anyways.

"Weird how?" he asked.

"Nothing big, she seems fine some days when all you ask her is data-related questions or simple tasks, but you know how Tony tried to make all his AI's as human-like as possible. When she acts more human-like, joking around and such, sometimes she'll glitch out for a bit and then come back and say she's been having issues with her past storage bank and has been trying to self-fix but can't pinpoint the issue. But then you ask her for any specificities from those time frames and she provides them perfectly. It's probably just a small glitch that she hasn't been able to find yet. I'm sure she'll work it out." Happy frowned again. It didn't sound like a big issue, but something niggled in his brain that told him this was more important and part of the bigger picture. He shook his head.

"Alright, if you insist, Pepper. Thank you for the access to the files. Say hi to Morgan for me." Happy said, and he could feel Pepper smiling over the phone.

"Of course, Happy. I hope you find what you're looking for in those files."

Truth be told, he had no idea what he was looking for in those files, but it was a nice sentiment regardless. "Thank you, Pepper. Me too."

With that, the call was over, and Happy finally opened his laptop again, seeing [access granted] and breathing a sigh of relief.

"Alright, Tony, let's see what you've got on this guy." he said, clicking on the main file and waiting for it to load. When it did, a name popped up, as well as a picture, short description of powers and general information, and... all known relatives.

"Well, shit."

~ ~ ~

Ned groaned as they came across another dead end. Social media was a no. So were Midtown's records. Even a google search turned up fruitless- though by that point the duo were getting desperate and didn't really expect it to work. Ned sighed and watched MJ flop backwards on the bottom bunk of the twin bed in his room.

"He probably deleted or blocked everything he could to keep his trail clear." MJ sighed, frustrated.

"I still don't understand." Ned said. "Why would he just disappear from our memories in the first place? And why wouldn't he tell us, if we were so close?"

MJ turned her head to look at him. "Well, we don't know if he was the one wiping our memories in the first place, or whether it was someone else. Obviously, if it were him, he wouldn't want to tell us because that kind of defeats the whole purpose. But given that he came to Peter Pan's and told us his full name and looked like he really wanted to say something, my guess is that it wasn't really his choice. And he was probably trying to tell us, but I mean, come on, if someone had told us all of this a few weeks ago, we probably would have thought he was crazy. Before, y'know." she gestured at the drawing. Ned looked at her.

"Do you think it- whatever it is- erased everyone's memories of him? Or just us?" he asked, hesitating over the question that had been on his mind for ages. "I mean, not that we'd know any of his family members or anything- I mean we probably used to, but- nobody at school has mentioned him, so they probably don't remember either, I mean unless they're all just hiding it because nobody else is mentioning it or anything like that, y'know, a self perpetuating cycle-" he rambled, not noticing MJ's eyes widening.

"Ned." MJ cut him off. "You're a genius."

Ned's brows furrowed. "I am? I mean, I guess I am, thanks-" he was cut off once again by MJ jumping off the bed and rushing to the computer the two of them had left open on the floor, browser still open on the unsuccessful google search for 'Peter Parker.' She hesitated for a brief second, eyes flashing with uncertainty, before deleting the word 'Peter' and typing in 'May.'

Ned stared at her in confusion as the webpage began to load. "May Parker? Who-" he clutched his head as a flood of memories rushed in, and he gaped at MJ. "Oh my god. May."

MJ stared at him grimly, nodding. "You mentioned not knowing his family members. Relatives. But we do. Did."

Ned's mind whirled as he tried to process the new (old?) rush of memories. He still didn't remember Peter, not really. But he remembered May. He remembered knowing her since he was a kid, her wide, radiant smile, her soft brown eyes- eyes that were mirrored in Peter's, from what little Ned could remember from the coffee shop. He wished he'd paid more attention in the shop, actually looked at Peter instead of ignoring him, figuring he was another usual customer. Still, none of his actual memories of Peter had returned. It was unmistakable that he was the missing piece, that much was clear- his memories of May Parker filled with childhood warmth, a presence that had always been by his side- faceless in his memories, but now he knew that it was Peter.

He traced his memories of May Parker from his childhood up until the very end of the line, where another revelation hit him like a sack of bricks.

"Spider-Man." he ground out, basically shouted, as he clutched his head again. Goddamnit, there was too much for his brain to process at once. But remembering May (though he still didn't remember Peter, why can't he remember Peter) made him remember sitting in a dark room, watching the TV with MJ, and seeing the news cover the death of May Parker. The following memories were jumbled, messy, the ghost of the faceless Peter Parker running laps around the corner of his mind, despite how hard he tried to pin them down and remember clearly. He did remember the grief. Being on the roof, the sharp wind biting at his and MJ's and Peter's faces. He remembered holding his friends close, feeling the torn and bloodied Spider-Man suit under his fingertips, and feeling the body in his arms wrack with sobs as the last family member he had was torn away from him, in his short and hard 17 years of life.

Yet despite all those memories, all those emotions, he could not remember Peter's face. MJ's face was clear as day, painted with sorrow and concern, but not a single memory showed Peter's face to him. Ned wanted to growl in frustration, because the memories were there. They were all there, and he was remembering them, but they were warped- he could still picture everyone else in the memory, but as much as he tried, he could never remember Peter, just his faceless presence. It scared him that if he weren't actively seeking out that presence, he may not have noticed him in those memories. Or those memories may not have been triggered at all. It angered him that they were taken from him, because he could remember the love, the love and the grief and the hurt and the worry, all tied up in his chest for the person he had called his best friend- but if he hadn't seen him in the coffee shop (however brief)- he wouldn't have even been able to recall his best friend's face. And it terrified him that all that love could mean nothing. They would have been none the wiser if Peter hadn't showed up in the coffee shop, if MJ hadn't drawn them, if they didn't push to try and remember. Years of friendship, almost gone in a heartbeat.

A quick glance at MJ showed she was feeling the same range of emotions, made all the more complicated by being his girlfriend. Ned remembered that now. If he reached for it, he could remember moments with the three of them- he still couldn't see Peter's face, in these memories- no matter how hard he tried- but he could feel his emotions. Radiating with happiness. And he could see MJ's face, clear as day, pretending to be nonchalant and grumpy but just as dorky and happy as Peter must have been.

"Right. Spider-Man." MJ breathed out. "Well, I don't know whether that makes this more or less complicated." Both of them turned to the computer that had been left open, and sure enough, the results for 'May Parker' only confirmed what they had just remembered. Article after article described the fight that had taken place, how May was the only casualty of the fight between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, and how Happy Hogan had shown up at the scene.

"Happy." Ned breathed out, yet another familiar face triggering a slew of memories. "Do you think he remembers Peter?" A tinge of hopefulness creeped into his tone, even as he recognized how unrealistic it probably was. Neither of them wanted to think about Peter being alone for months, with no support system, mourning May.

MJ frowned. "I'm trying to remember-" she cut herself off, massaging her temples to stave off a headache. Ned sympathized with her; forcing yourself to remember things that something else is actively trying to block is not a pleasant experience, to say the least. In other words, it creates quite a bit of a headache (and even then, isn't fully successful, no matter how hard they try).

"Strange." MJ said suddenly. "Dr. Strange. That's who we were remembering in the library."

Ned gaped at her, finally remembering the last pieces to the puzzle they had been trying to put together for weeks, now. The Statue of Liberty. Dr. Strange. The other Spider-Men. Doc Ock. The Green Goblin. The multiverse threatening to break through. The forgetting spell. A whispered promise, to find them.

The images all came together, swirling and slotting into place in the memory gaps, filling his brain with a clarity that hadn't been there for months.

Yet he still couldn't remember Peter.

He could feel that it was Peter. And he knew what Peter looked like, from the coffee shop. But he couldn't remember him. And that was terrifying. But first things first- they had a lead now. They knew what happened. Ned met MJ's eyes, glimmering and resolute, and he nodded.

"We have to find Dr. Strange."

~ ~ ~

"Well, shit."

Happy stared, dumbfounded, at the screen. The words glared at him from the screen, bright and painful and mocking. Peter Parker. They said. Spider-Man. Happy's eyes trailed downwards, resting on one particular part of the screen. Living relatives: May Parker.

Happy squeezed his eyes shut painfully. There's no way this was real. It felt like a cruel, twisted joke, one meant to mess with his already foggy and muddled mind. But he knew it wasn't. The file obviously hadn't been updated in a while (probably not since Tony's...), yet Happy knew it was accurate regardless. It was no coincidence his mind reared at the sight of Peter in the graveyard, or how he remembered Spider-Man to be on the younger side, or why Peter was visiting May's gravestone and said he met her through Spider-Man. Happy realized, now, why the kid's voice had sounded weird when he said that- it wasn't a lie, not totally, but it wasn't the truth either. He blew out a breath. He still couldn't remember the kid, but he must have been the faint presence he felt in his foggy memories. There was no other explanation for it.

His eyes scanned the file again, catching on May's name again. It sent a fresh wave of grief through him, present ever since he... ever since he saw Spider-Man next to May's body (before Happy was cuffed on the roof of his car).

He reared back, the memory only just now hitting him. The kid... the kid had seen her die in front of him. Happy shook his head. He'd watched his only living family member die in front of him, and he hadn't even been able to bury her body before he had to run (Happy felt a wave of sorrow wash through him at the thought that the kid hadn't been invited to the funeral- mostly because he hadn't known there was a kid).

His brow furrowed. Yet, at the funeral, there were two other teenagers, ones that Happy hadn't questioned being there, too busy with his own grief as he watched May's casket be lowered into the ground. He hadn't immediately recognized them at the time, but he hadn't questioned it, either, feeling like they deserved to be there- for whatever reason. Now, faced with the image of Peter Parker's face, the memories of his friends slammed back into Happy full force. Michelle Jones and Ned Leeds.

Happy frowned at the onslaught of information, almost too much for his brain to handle all at once. He couldn't pinpoint the moment where he forgot Peter- the memories cleared shortly after May's death. Everything before that involving Spider-Man (all the way back to the airport battle at Leipzig) was foggy. He couldn't recall the kid's face- only knowing it from the picture still projected in front of him from the Spider-Man file. But he could remember his friends. That was a start. He opened his mouth to ask FRIDAY to pull up their files, too, before he hesitated.

"FRIDAY, do you remember Peter Parker?" he asked. The room was silent for a few moments before the AI responded.

"I do not remember him, no." she said, robotic voice tinged with confusion. "But if I search my data banks, I have information on him."

Happy let out a breath. "So we're dealing with some sort of... forgetting issue, then." he didn't get a response from the AI as he tried to think the situation through. What on earth could have caused him to forget all memories of a single person? General memory loss wouldn't have surprised him, given the amount of hits to the head he's received over his lifetime, but no normal memory loss would be so targeted and specific, especially when the rest of his memories were so clear. No, someone had messed with his head. He didn't know who or what or how, but the closest bet he had was the kid. He needed to find Peter Parker and figure out why the hell he didn't remember him.

His eyes traced the kid's file once again, settling on May's name for a final time. His heart clenched as he realized that, with May gone, the kid had nowhere to go. There was no address to follow him to, no knowledge of where he was staying. So the best bet he had was to find the kid's friends and ask them. Happy shook off the nagging voice in his head that told him that if he didn't remember, it was likely the kid's friends or anyone close to him didn't remember him either. Yet if someone else had erased their memories of Peter, why wouldn't the kid just come tell them? It's not like Happy hadn't dealt with weirder shit, knowing the Avengers for so long.

A quiet, dark voice in the back of his head told him that maybe it was Peter's doing. That maybe, the kid had done something and didn't want anyone knowing, so he wiped their memories and ran. That maybe, that's why May was-

No. He cut off that train of thought, refusing to entertain it. The picture in Spider-Man's file showed a young teenager smiling goofily at the camera. Something sick and twisted and protective settled in Happy's gut at the mere thought he could be responsible for a wrongdoing of that magnitude. He didn't remember, didn't have any memory to base these feelings off of, but he had to trust that this wasn't the kid's fault. He pushed away the thought that he didn't know what he would do if it was. Instead, he called out to FRIDAY again.

"FRI, find info on Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones. I need to find them. I need to find Peter Parker."

~ ~ ~

Hopefully you guys enjoyed this!! We're coming to the end soon enough :)