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MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE
xiii. MEMORY LANE

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   IT WAS A GOOD thing they were somewhat pressed for time because Riley didn't feel like explaining how she broke into the Midtown High laboratory in a matter of minutes without using her powers or breaking anything. She was pretty sure it deeply bewildered Peter 3 though. He kept asking how she did it, and she found it amusing to leave him wondering.

   "Okay, so... Connors, Marko, Dillon..." Peter 1 emptied the sack of broken devices he and Riley had worked on all day, separating them into piles. "I think I can repair the devices for Dillon and Marko, but the others..."

   Pulling on a lab coat, Peter 3 said, "Oh, I got Connors. I've already cured him once, so no big deal." The others eyed him curiously. "What? It's no big deal."

   "Great," Peter 2 said while Peter 1 agreed, "Yeah, that's great."

   As Peter 3 wandered off, Older Peter mentioned, "I think I can make an anti-serum for Dr. Osborn. Been thinking about it a long time..." He peered up, catching the youngest Peter's barely concealed reluctance. "Gotta cure all of them. Right?"

   He sighed. "...Right."

   "That's what we do."

   "Awfully convenient that this lab has everything we need," Riley mumbled. "For plot purposes, I guess it makes sense..."

   "What?" Peter 2 called.

   "Nothing!" Riley tied her hair out of her face. The lab's fluorescents glared at the bruise blooming along her jaw as she smiled at her Peter. "Where do you want the rest of us?"

   "I dunno about you," Roman threw himself into a stool and twisted open one of the sodas he stole for himself, MJ, and Ned from the vending machine in the hallway, "but I'm gonna do what I do best—"

   "That is a very short list—"

   "—Sit back and look good while doing it. You could never understand."

   "Every day, you give me new reasons to ship you off to another planet for someone else to deal with."

   "Bring it, rich girl," Roman retorted. "You and I both know they'd just send me back."

   "Wouldn't be the first time I played football with aliens, assuming Thanos's gauntlet counts as a makeshift football."

   "Wait," Peter 3 interrupted, strapping on a pair of goggles, "aliens?"

   "Yeah, Rome's not from Earth. His spaceship crashed into New York 11 years ago," Riley recalled. "You couldn't tell? That's why his eyes keep changing colors. His last functioning brain cells are throwing an end-of-sanity party."

   Peter 2 just shrugged and left to gather ingredients. Peter 3 said, "Okay... I get the feeling you guys are all screwing with me... So I'm gonna walk away now."

   Meanwhile, the others exchanged knowing glances, chuckling at Peter 3's naivety.

   Riley decided to whip up some web fluid for the Peters. She'd seen Peter do it plenty of times before, and it would keep her busy while she debated on what to do about Solar. She sectioned off a table beside Peters 2 and 3, slapped on some latex gloves, and got to work.

   Ned soon rolled up in an office chair. "So, do you have a best friend, too?" he asked Peter 2.

   He squeezed a dropper into a heated test tube. "I did."

   "You... did?"

   "He died in my arms," Peter solemnly said, "after he tried to kill me." He squeezed the dropper again. "It was heartbreaking."

   Peter 3 winced. "Dude..."

   Something between guilt and pity rose in Riley's chest. Peter 2 had watched his uncle, his best friend, and his ex-girlfriend tragically die? What kind of karmic retribution was that?

   Ned sat with that before rejoining Peter 1. They overheard Peter ask him to run a diagnostic on his laptop, which Ned agreed to before hastily scurrying away. Peter watched him, puzzled, before focusing on the devices again.

   "Can I ask you something?" Riley said to Peter 3. He nodded. "Why haven't you told your Riley you're Spider-Man? Are you guys not close?"

   Peter choked on his spit. "How...? How did you know...?"

   "I'm a spy. I know everything."

   He chuckled. When she continued to stare at him blankly, he asked, "Wait, you're being serious?"

   "Did you think I'm an aspiring pickpocket when I broke us in here?" Riley teased. "My parents were scientists. When I was two, I accidentally set off an explosion in their lab, which killed them and gave me my powers. Well, it killed my mom. My dad— Rob faked his death and stalked me my whole life using the powers the accident gave him. But since the government took me in as a baby and trained me to become a spy, I managed to throw him behind bars before he could cause any real damage."

   Both Peters looked up from their work, startled.

   "That..." Peter 3 trailed off. "...is so crazy, I almost wouldn't believe it if I wasn't making anti-Lizard juice right now. Again. Are you okay?"

   Riley smiled. "No. Are you?"

   "Come to think of it, not really."

   They shared a quiet laugh before Riley asked again, "So, why haven't you told her?"

   "What makes you think I haven't told her?"

   "She would be here if she knew, right? Like Max and Dr. Connors."

   Peter 3 sat straighter. "Yeah, you're right. It's... complicated. It's for her safety." He tinkered with the cure before him, but it didn't seem like he was actually adjusting it. "After I lost Gwen... I promised myself I wouldn't drag anyone else I cared about into my Spider-Man stuff. I... I'd never forgive myself for making the same mistake twice."

   Riley knew she shouldn't pry, but she wanted to know more. She wanted confirmation that other Rileys were out there, Rileys that were good and benevolent like her.

   "I was adopted by Tony Stark and Pepper Potts when I was 15," Riley said. Neither Peters recognized those names. "I'm guessing your Riley was adopted, too? You said her name was Riley... R...?"

   "Romanova," Peter 3 finished. "We met in high school. Her mom's this extremely intimidating Russian lady who teaches high school science, Natalia Romanova. She's got the craziest life story. You wouldn't believe it even if I told you."

   Natalia Romanova. The name was buried deep beneath the soot and rubble of Riley's memories. That was Natasha's name long before she started going by Natasha Romanoff for spy purposes.

   "And her dad's an equally as intimidating veteran, Sergeant James Barnes. We call him Bucky though. Well, I do, and he tells me to call him sir. Then, he gets mad at me for calling him Sir Bucky in a stupid accent. He's scary, but I swear I've grown on him." Peter stifled a laugh. "Anyway, Gwen and Riley were childhood friends through their dads, so she was practically a member of the family, too. The three of us were always over, studying and trying to convince Nat to give us the answers to our next test, which usually ended with us getting scolded in Russian. Ah, what a time..."

   The silver web fluid in Riley's grasp loudly snapped into its cartridge. Natasha... and BUCKY?

   Peter mindlessly continued, "Yeah, Nat adopted Riley when she was two, right after her parents died in a car accident. Bucky didn't come into the picture until a few years later. They're an... interesting family. Her Uncle Steve's always around. Her grandparents are back in Russia, but her Aunt Yelena's always traveling the world with her dog, always bringing back weird souvenirs for us."

   Riley could hardly keep up. She was still stuck on the idea of Natasha and Bucky having a life together in another universe.

   But what jarred Riley most was that in every universe, it seemed, Athena and Rob O'Dair were never meant to be her parents. Even in Solar's universe, her parents suffered from almost the same fate as Riley's.

   "They sound... normal," Riley said.

   "They are," Peter admitted. "If the rules of the theoretical multiverse are at play, I'm sure you're a lot like my Riley. She always knows exactly what you need before you realize it, always thinking ahead. Always down to hang out, even if it's 3 AM. Consistently has the best taste in movies. She always has something smart to say, too, but you can never argue because, deep down, technically, she always has a point. Always." His face fell. "I guess I haven't told her because..."

   "Because of Gwen?" Riley asked.

   He flinched. "Yeah. When I lost her... I just wanted to be left alone. Of course, Riley wouldn't let me. She refused, no matter what I said, no matter how hard I pushed her away. I think I'd still be in that dark place if Riley never pulled me out. I don't know how she did it. I always thought maybe... in another life... we..." He shook his head. "She's got a busy life these days anyway. She's like me, always busy with work."

   "I get the feeling," Riley admitted. "But if you both have powers, why can't you—?"

   "What? She doesn't have powers."

   "W-What?" Riley blinked. "What do you mean she doesn't have powers?"

   "She's a normal person!"

   "Like... Like a spy...?"

   "No! She's an actress!"

   "An actress?"

   "Yeah, she's huge! Hollywood's sunshine. That's how we've gotten away without having any serious conversations. About me. Her. Us. She's always traveling or working on her charity, the Valor Foundation," Peter clarified. "She's not like you. She's not a superhero in that sense. She's... just an orphan, like me. Or, well, I have my Aunt May, and she's adopted, so we call ourselves wannabe orphans."

   Riley caught her Peter's eyes from across the room. That memory seemed like a lifetime ago. In some ways, it was.

   She excused herself to join him. Pulling up a stool, she said, "Please tell me you heard all of that. In another life, I'm an actress? And Nat and Bucky are my parents? I always told Nat my spy work was Oscar-worthy, you know."

   Peter offered a small smile. He usually perked up, just a little bit, when she was around. He felt like the luckiest guy alive to have his own personal sunshine at his disposal and the greediest for never wanting to share her with the world. Earth could fall to eternal darkness, and he still wouldn't give her up.

   "I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when you tell 'em," he said.

   "But..." She deflated. "I'm powerless. I mean, she is."

   "Infinite universes, infinite possibilities, right?"

   She knew that, but she couldn't exactly picture a life like that. What did Riley Romanova do all day? How did she grow up? What if she needed to hide in the spur of the moment? What if someone attacked her? Did she even know how to throw a punch or shoot a gun?

   Did that other Riley like being powerless?

   Did she care?

   Riley's own words echoed back at her. She might be powerless, but she is not fucking weak. They comforted her somehow. Maybe that other Riley enjoyed being powerless. Maybe she found power in being a fragile human. Maybe it was another life Riley would dream of someday.

   "So," Riley nudged Peter with her shoulder, "how are you feeling, mi amor?"

   "Uh, fine." Something in Peter activated. Concern sparkled in his weary eyes as he took both of her hands. "Why? Are you okay? Does anything still hurt? I can run to the Nurse's Office if you want—"

   "Hey." Riley squeezed his hands. "Don't deflect. If I wasn't okay, I'd tell you. And if you weren't okay, you'd tell me, right?"

   Peter nodded, letting his head hang low. "I just... No, you're right. You're right. It's— I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he mumbled. "None of you deserve this. You're always getting caught up in my problems and having to fix them for me. It's not fair to you. You're just so good. You deserve someone who can keep up... who can handle their problems alone. You deserve so much better—"

   "Woah, hey, hey, stop. Stop. Please." Riley brought her hand to his cheek, forcing him to look at her. She gently thumbed some of the grime away. "I deserve everything that I have. That includes you. Especially you."

   "But—"

   "When I said I love you, I love all of you. You and... your inability to stop talking during fights, your science jokes, your problems, your struggles. Even the multiversal equivalents of you. There's nothing else I would want to do more than be here, or anywhere, with you. You, you, you. Please don't apologize for who you are because it's the reason I love you."

   Peter leaned into her touch, pressing his lips against the heel of her hand. "Thank you," he whispered so softly that it was practically inaudible.

   "You don't have to thank me for loving you," she teased, pressing her forehead against his. "It's the easiest thing I've ever done."

   "No, but really. Thank you." He weakly smiled, but he didn't have the energy to keep it up. For a moment, he let himself shut down. Because Riley was there, protecting and comforting him. She always would be right there by his side. "I love you, too, Riles. Always."

   "Good. I deserve it."

   She'd only said that to make him laugh, but they both agreed. She did deserve it.

   If only they could stay like that forever.

   Forever would have to come later. There was still plenty of work to do. But once this was over, Riley looked forward to sitting with Peter in a quiet room and pretending they were the only people in the world again.

   Riley didn't mean to eavesdrop when the other Peters started whispering to one another.

   "You have someone?" Older Peter asked when he caught Peter 3 staring at the couple. "You ever try it again after Gwen?"

   He scoffed. "No. Ah, I got no time for Peter Parker stuff, you know? Do you?"

   "It's... a little complicated."

   "Oh, I understand. I guess it's just not in the cards for guys like us," Peter 3 bitterly said.

   "Well, I wouldn't give up. I was like you after I lost Riley. Scared to let anyone in again. It took a while, but we made it work. Me and... MJ." Peter 2 quickly added, "My MJ. Uh... It gets confusing here."

   The two Peters laughed, and it dawned on Riley. What a strange world she was living in, to have the chance to be surrounded by three versions of her favorite person.

   Or, in Roman's case, what a nightmare. MJ eventually told Riley that when the Peters first showed up, Roman had been in the bathroom at the time. When he came back into the room, he didn't ask any questions, like he automatically knew what was happening. She said he had to fight the urge to fall onto his knees and scream, "NOOOOOOO!"

   Riley eventually returned to work. She still couldn't decide what to do with Solar. When she started hitting deadends again, she went back to making web fluid. The next thing she knew, she had enough web fluid to last the Peters a year, and still, no solid plan.

   A scientific cure was out of the question. She either needed to kill Solar or take her powers. Both were death sentences Riley was dubious to serve.

   "I didn't leave her to die, you know."

   Riley glanced up. Peter 2 was watching her.

   "I don't know how much she told you," he continued. "Know that her truth is as real as mine. That's my truth. I didn't leave her to die."

   Riley was so scared to hear his side of the story. Terrified Solar was pure, irredeemable evil. Petrified that Peter abandoned her because he never wanted her or loved her the way Solar did. Horrified by the thought of a nightmare worsening.

   "She told me everything," Riley said. "I think she really loves you, despite what she says."

   "After everything she did, it's hard to admit, but I think I do, too."

   "Even now?"

   "Even now."

   "But... she said you left her. She wasn't sure if you really cared about her."

   Peter looked down. "Love like that doesn't just go away. I thought she was the one. But sometimes, it's not enough to meet the right person. It has to be the right time, too. I was too late. With her, I was always too slow. Too late."

   The blues of his eyes darkened. He held back his tears like sinking ships, struggling to stay afloat.

   "The first time I lost her, when she and Dr. Octavius drowned in the river, I didn't realize she never escaped. I had no idea..." Peter said. "When she showed up at my doorstep, even when she claimed she forgave me for leaving her behind, I couldn't forgive myself."

   "What was she like?" Riley squeaked. "Before, I mean."

   Peter considered the question for a moment. "I noticed her before she noticed me. She... was like everything you forget to appreciate in life, like mornings and rain and that funny feeling you get when you know it's going to be a good day. She could fit into every room and crowd like she belonged there. She was popular, but she was always the kind of person who chose the quiet kid to talk to because she hated the idea of them feeling invisible. And she had this laugh..." He sighed like he could still hear it. "She was like a shot of sunshine. You just wanted to take her everywhere you went and get drunk off her for the rest of your life."

   Riley couldn't respond. Everything suddenly began to ache.

   "But when she came back, she was different. Still, we spent what little time we had together pretending nothing had changed," Peter said. "I spent months of my life trying to cure her. It was the least I could do. She'd done so much for me in the past. I just wanted to change her life the way she changed mine. Instead, I... made her worse. I lose sleep over it to this day. I never figured it out."

   "I can't figure it out either," Riley confessed. "This power... It's so ingrained in who I am... I don't think I want to create a cure. It's who I am, who I've always been. But Solar isn't the same. She didn't have her powers long before she died, right?"

   He nodded. "Maybe the first time, I did leave her to die. But the second time, when we fought for the last time, I stayed. I stayed long enough to hear her last breath. I stayed when the cops threatened to shoot me over her dead body. I stayed when the fire came close enough to take me with her. I stayed until I was certain she was gone, and even then, I stayed." His voice cracked as he added, "I didn't leave her to die. I stayed right there."

   "But—" Riley's voice surprised her. It wavered, choking on heartbreak. "But you did. You found a way. You and MJ. You learned to move forward."

   "I let her go because it was the best thing I could do for her. Her memory. Her life before I ruined it. If I never introduced her to Spider-Man—"

   "You don't know that. It's not your fault. None of it is. You can't blame yourself for not knowing all the answers. You... You didn't know..."

   Peter was about to reply, but his gaze softened. "Hey, don't cry. It's been a long time."

   She froze. She reached up, wiping away the stray tear. "I'm sorry."

   "You have nothing to apologize for—"

   Before she knew it, she was hugging him as tightly as she could. Reluctantly, he pulled his arms around her. Both of them needed it. She needed his comfort. He needed to hear those words of reassurance and forgiveness come from the girl who resembled the ghost of his past most.

   At the end of the day, Solar was just a girl who loved a boy, her family, and her life. She wasn't pure evil. She was just a girl, rotten with a terminal illness meant for another. She was kind and gave herself less credit than she boasted.

   Solar didn't deserve this cruel fate, and Peter didn't deserve the guilt of believing he ruined her. He seemed so much older than Solar was. Did those years pass by in a flush of seasons, or did they stretch with the regret he felt to this day?

   Solar was another scar that never healed right. Like Gwen. Like Uncle Ben. Like Aunt May. Like his parents. They were all scars that branded the Peters, never to be forgotten.

   A while later, Ned called, "Peter!"

   The three Peters perked up from their workstations. "Yeah?" they chimed. "Oh, sorry, did you mean...?"

   "Peter Peter," Ned tried again.

   "We're all called Peter."

   "Yeah, we're all Peter."

   "Peter... Parker?" Ned floundered.

   "Same thing again."

   "We're all... We're all Peter."

   "If only I had a bucket of popcorn right now," MJ said to Roman. "It doesn't get more entertaining than this."

   "Yeah," Roman replied. "This is the horror movie of my dreams."

   "Don't lie. You love it."

   He turned to her, his smile growing before he cleared his throat. "Like a masochist, yeah, for sure."

   Ned sighed in defeat. "The computer!"

   "Oh!" Peter 1 jumped out of his seat and glimpsed over the screen. The anti-collider was complete. "Oh, I'm ready!"

   "Yeah, me too," Peter 3 said. He gathered his cure for Dr. Connors and regrouped with the others by the laptop. "Okay, so, now, all we gotta do is lure these guys someplace, right? Try to cure them while they try to... kill us, and then, send them home."

   "Using a magic box," Peter 2 deadpanned.

   "Well, that's the plan." Peter 1 turned to his girlfriend. "What's your plan for Solar?"

   "I was wondering the same thing," Peter 2 said. "The last time we fought, I set up a system with mirrors and solar panels. It was essentially a waiting game until her powers killed her for me, which I'm guessing we don't have time for."

   "Um... I... have an idea," Riley said, "but... I don't... I don't know..."

   Having already read her soul, Roman noted, "It's risky, but it might work."

   Peter 3 raised his cure as if to raise his hand. "How do you know what her plan is? Do you read minds? Wait, is that your superpower? You can read minds—?"

   "It's called Soul Searching, among other astral gifts," Roman said. He began to sift through Peter 3's soul, causing him to twitch. "Feel that?"

   "That's you!?" he gasped. "Gross, it-it almost tickles, but on the inside—!"

   "Peter Tingle," Ned noted. "Nice."

   "Guys," MJ said. "Focus, please. Riley, what's your idea?"

   Riley's head was going to explode if she thought about this any longer. But there was still one more thing she needed to know.

   She turned to Peter 3 and asked, "Can I ask you one more question about your Riley?" Like before, he nodded. "Is she... satisfied? With her life, I mean. Is she happy? I know it's a weird question, but I can't stop thinking about it, a life where I don't have powers."

   Peter 3 didn't have to think about it. "Yeah. She is. If I'm being honest, I don't think she's ever cared about having powers of any kind."

   "Really?"

   He nodded. "One time, I met her as Spidey, completely accidentally, and she apologized to me. When I asked her why she was sorry, she said, It seems unfair that the weight of saving the world is forever on your shoulders. Sometimes, I see you swinging around New York, and I wonder if part of you thinks about what your life would've been like without the powers. Then I think, there's no point in wondering about what isn't meant to be. The universe wouldn't give you that kind of responsibility if you couldn't handle it. I like to think the universe thought the same when it made me, too."

   Peter 3 paused, then added, "To be fair, I think she was a little high at the time. But, yeah, that's still something she'd say sober. Probably."

   Riley took that in for a moment.

   A powerless Riley wasn't a weak Riley.

   A powerless Riley could be just as happy as a powerful Riley.

   She'd made up her mind. She was going to take Solar's powers.

   "Are you 100% sure that's possible?" Peter 1 asked.

   "I can feel it. Our powers are calling to each other," Riley affirmed. "I've seen what these powers are doing to her. If I can extract them, maybe she can have a second chance at living the life she deserves."

   "She'll try to stop you," Peter 2 warned. "She genuinely believes she's better off alone."

   "I know. But these powers aren't brainwashing her, like Octavius or Osborn. They're draining her," Riley replied. "She's desperate. She'll do whatever she can to keep herself alive until she can't go on any longer. But even if she manages it, I don't think it'll be a permanent solution."

   "It'd be like prolonging the end," Peter 2 agreed.

   "But if you can take her powers, what's stopping her from taking yours?" Peter 3 asked. "What if she beats you?"

   "That's just a risk I have to take," Riley said. "I'm all she has left. I'm her last lifeline. I have to try. Whatever it takes."

   "God, I hate when you say that," Roman muttered.

   "You'll win," MJ encouraged. "You always do when it matters most."

   Riley didn't say it, but winning a battle meant someone had to lose something, too. Most of the time, when she won, she lost, too.

   Peter 3 glanced toward the oldest Peter and asked, "So, are you gonna go into battle dressed as a cool youth pastor, or do you got your suit?" Peter 2 pulled down the collar of his shirt, revealing the Spider-Man suit underneath it. "Good."

   "Before I forget—" Riley waved a hand, collecting the web fluid she made in forcefields and bringing them forward. "I made extra web cartridges for you guys. I might've gone overboard. I was procrastinating."

   Peter 1 smiled at her. "Thanks, Riley."

   Peter 2 was puzzled. "What's that for?"

   "Uh, it's my web fluid." Peter 1 clicked the new cartridges into place. "It's for my web shooters. Why?"

   Without warning, Peter 2 fired a web out of his wrist across the room.

   "WOAH!" the group clamored.

   "That came out of you!" Ned gasped.

   "Yeah," Peter 2 said. "You guys can't do that, huh?"

   "N-No!" Peter 1 stammered, somewhat amazed, somewhat disturbed.

   "That is so weird," Roman grimaced. "Do it again."

   Peter 3 leaned closer, mystified. "How on Earth does that even—?"

   "That is so cool," Riley said. "Can I touch it?"

   "Riley!" Roman scolded. "You can't just ask to touch someone's hole!"

   "Why do you always make everything sound weird—?"

   "Anyway, we're getting sidetracked!" Peter 1 declared. He tapped a few keys on the laptop and turned it. "Look, this is where we'll do this, okay?"

   Riley snorted. He wanted to bring the final battle to the Statue of Liberty, which was currently being renovated to add Captain America's shield to the monument (for some reason).

   "It's isolated, so no one should get hurt," Peter 1 continued. "We'll draw them there with the box. It's the one thing they all want. All we have to do is figure out how we're gonna get there."

   "I could fly us—" Riley started.

   "No, you and Roman need to save your energy. If things go south with Solar, Rome's our best bet at stopping her."

   "We could portal there," Ned offered.

   "What?" Peter 1 asked.

   "I'm magic now!"

   "Yeah, no, no, he's right!" MJ exclaimed. "He can! He can!"

   "Yeah, we saw him," Peter 2 said while Peter 3 added, "Yeah, he is."

   "Wait, so all that shit with your grandma and your twitchy hands was real?" Riley asked. "I honestly thought you just had a vitamin deficiency or something."

   "Yep. I still can't believe it," Roman said. "That's how we found the other Peters."

   Peter 1 turned to Ned. That boyish, nerdy excitement flickered through him. "Wait, really?" he asked.

   "Dude, I got Dr. Strange magic," Ned beamed. "And I promise you, I won't turn into a supervillain and try to kill you."

   Peter 3 clapped a hand onto Ned's shoulder, nodding approvingly.

   "O-Okay... Thank you...?" Peter said. "Um, okay. Here goes nothing." He turned to MJ. "What's that thing you always say? Expect disappointment and—"

   "No, no, no," MJ said. She stood straighter. "We're gonna kick some ass."

   "Cure," Peter 2 said. "Cure some ass."

   Ned grinned. "Cure that ass."

   Riley smiled, but it fell almost immediately.

   This was it. This was her last chance at helping Solar.

   Tonight, two suns would collide for the last time.

○ ○ ○

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

In summary, Gwen Stacy to Andrew!Peter = Riley O'Dair to Tobey!Peter

(Like, yeah Tobey had a Gwen in this universe, but she lived/was boring. Sorry girl!)

I know a lot of people prefer Andrew to Tobey, but I have such a soft spot for Tobey's Spidey. It's definitely nostalgia-based, but I couldn't fight the urge to give him a truly significant backstory regarding his Riley. As for Andrew, I was truly pulling ideas out of my ass for this. I love the idea of WinterWidow within the MCU, but I don't think they'd work within this series. (This series kinda pushes the SteveNat agenda, which I didn't intend for, but alas). I figured I'd just throw something stupid/fun/fan service-y together because WHY NOT?

Also, SO MANY OF YOU THOUGHT I WAS GONNA KILL OFF ANDREW'S RILEY?? GUYS COME ON I LOVE KEEPING CHARACTERS ALIVE. Not exactly happy, but alive! Andrew just has trauma and commitment/attachment issues, guys, he's fine! Don't worry!

I hope all of the backstories between the Rileys and the Peters lived up to y'all's expectations. I had a lot of fun thinking of them. :)