Author's Notes: So, this is it, dear readers, the end of the tale! Many thanks many times over to all of your for the amazing feedback and discussion! It means so much to me to hear from you! I'm tentatively contemplating a sequel, but it's still very much in the planning stages, so it might be awhile before it sees the light of day.

Epilogue

The night after Roxy Washington and Sam Guthrie appeared on Oprah as survivors of the Sentinel detention centers, Peter found the building where he'd seen Ali Blaire, with Karen's help. He staked it out for two nights until he saw her again on the fire escape.

This time, she wasn't making lights. Peter swung down the buildings on neighboring streets, pretending not to notice her until he heard her squeal of "Spider-Man!" then he leaped across the rooftops.

"Hey, Ali! Long time, no see!"

Even as he landed, Ali's mom was coming out onto the landing, looking even more stressed and anxious than Peter remembered. "Mommy, look, it's Spider-Man!" Ali exclaimed.

"Y-yes, I see."

Peter hesitated. How exactly was he supposed to bring this up to a mom who was this scared? "So, uh, how's Ali's light show going? Got her signed up for America's Got Talent yet?"

"Ali doesn't do that anymore," Ali's mom said. Ali's face fell. But finally, her mom leaned forward and said, "I told her what happened to that boy who worked with you. It's too dangerous to do…abnormal-looking things."

"Yeah, uh...the thing is, she shouldn't have to hide who she is either," Peter cautiously pushed back. Ali's mom pursued her lips, then stalked back into the building. Peter followed her as Ali trotted morosely after them. At least Ali's mom didn't slam their apartment door in his face.

"It's fine for you to say stuff like that," Ali's mom snapped once they were in their apartment with the door closed. "You can hide behind a mask and Tony Stark! Those Sentinel detention centers may be gone, but there're still goons digging around medical records and putting names on the Internet! Do you know how hard it is to make an eight-year-old understand?!"

Peter sighed. Ali looked like she was going to cry. "Ali...why don't you let your mom and me talk, okay?"

Ali hesitated, but her mom reinforced it with, "Go to your room." Peter hated the way her shoulders slumped as she obeyed. Folding her arms, Ali's mom told him, "I don't need any government agents paying attention to my daughter - any more than they already are, since I'm having to homeschool her while holding down a job to make sure she doesn't just disappear!"

"I'm sorry," Peter whispered. "Look...I did come looking for her, because I remembered how scared you were. And after...what happened, I've started paying more attention to people who're - y'know, different. Especially when that 'difference' isn't gonna hurt anybody." Ali's mom watched him warily, and he pulled one of the business cards for XSGY out of his pocket. "There's a safe place for kids like her. They like it when parents come too; some kids just get kicked out onto the street."

Ali's mom looked appalled. "They take her away from me over my dead body."

Peter wasn't sure if she was talking about the government or the school, and said hastily, "I've been to this school. I went to visit it after my, uh, intern got detained. The kids there are safe. It's an actual prep school."

Ali's mom gazed at the nice business card with the pretty little image of the X-mansion and said, "I could never afford a school like this."

"You don't need to. They don't charge anything." Peter lowered his voice still further. "It's more a safe house than just a school, for mutants."

Ali's mom sighed. "Look...Spider-Man...I want to believe you, but I've learned the hard way not to trust strangers when it comes to my daughter. Too many people want to get their hands on her for their agendas."

Peter sighed. He supposed he couldn't blame her. He glanced around, noticing that all the windows were shuttered. Mr. Stark would probably kill me... When he reached for the base of his mask, Karen exclaimed, "Peter, that's not a good idea!"

Peter did it anyway. Ali's mom's eyes widened as he pulled the mask off. "I know, not everybody's got Tony Stark and the Avengers to help keep a secret identity secret after getting locked up."

"So...you are...wow," she breathed. "But...the Sentinels, what'd they do to you?"

Peter looked down. "They hurt me, I won't deny it. Well, they hurt everybody they picked up, but they singled me out with four other kids. Those kids are mutants. It was a mutant rescue team that found me and called Iron Man for help. After I healed, I went to their school. They offered to let me stay, but...I just want to be friendly neighborhood Spider-Man for as long as I can. Hence the cover story."

"You went through all that, and you'd still show me?" Ali's mom asked dubiously. "You don't even know me."

"No," Peter admitted, then shrugged. "Obviously, now you could 'out' me if you wanted to."

"I wouldn't do that," she blurted.

He smiled. "I believe you. Ali's a cute kid. And I don't care what bigoted morons say; what she does with lights is awesome. She deserves to get to be a kid, and be herself. And neither of you should have to be afraid." He nodded towards the business card in her hand and pulled the mask back on. "You should call them. Tell them I gave you the card. They know I've got them."

"Is it really safe?" Ali's mom whispered. "Nobody'll take her or try to...do anything with her?"

"No. It's up to you in the end, but give 'em a call. I trust them."

Ali's mom smiled weakly. "She adores you. She thinks you're a bigger hero than Iron Man or Captain America."

What a thought. Peter laughed. "Dunno, I don't think I've been doing this long enough. Well, I've gotta get back to work. Just think about giving them a call, okay? Even if you decide not to enroll Ali, I think they could help you feel a little safer."

Peter didn't see Ali or her mom outside again for the next month, and almost gave in to the temptation to knock on their door.

Finally, when he arrived at Avengers headquarters for a Saturday training session, Mr. Stark was on the phone. "Go on down to the training room and warm up, kid, I just need to finish this up. The others are down there."

By "others," Peter assumed he meant Rhodey and Vision. Suited up, he arrived in the training room and found that the number of trainers had tripled. Captain America was there, suited up, along with Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Hawkeye, Ant-Man...and Bucky Barnes. Vision and Rhodey were there too, chatting with Cap's team like they were all friends.

"Hey, there he is! Step lively, kid, we're revving team practice up from here on out," said Rhodey.

Peter was glad the mask of the suit hid the way he blushed as he said hi to them all, but it didn't hide his stammer. "S-so...it's safe? For all of you now?"

Falcon smirked. "Funny how Secretary Ross didn't think it was necessary to issue a press release that the charges against us got dropped."

Peter couldn't help the way he looked at Bucky. "All of 'em?" Bucky just nodded. "Good."

Nobody went into any details, and Peter couldn't bring himself to ask how that had come about. In the end, Cap clapped his hands and said, "So! Show us what you've been teaching the new kid."

Peter gratefully launched into warm-ups with Wanda Maximoff, Clint Barton, and Scott Lang right behind.

Tony shamelessly hid for the first hour of practice. Cap's shock had been kind of funny when Tony informed him that the JAG office and the Justice Department had examined the medical evidence obtained from Hydra as well as the more recent evidence supplied by Wakanda and found that James Buchanan Barnes couldn't be held responsible for the actions of the Winter Soldier.

Tony himself had exerted some political pressure that the public debate over a POW's treatment in a government or military tribunal wasn't a PR nightmare that anyone needed. He'd been smug about letting Cap and his team know he'd done that.

Even as Steve tried to stammer out gratitude, Barnes had been very quiet – and had seen to the heart of Tony's decision. "I didn't realize he meant that much to you," he'd remarked softly.

"Now you do," Tony had told him. It's only for him, not you, not even Cap - well, I guess kind of for Cap. Maybe a little for Wanda too. Mostly for Peter. But not you.

That was shitty, the rational part of Tony had to admit it. If Tony really thought Barnes had done what he did to Tony's family with any sort of malice, even Peter's feelings wouldn't have protected the bastard.

Still, the irrational part of him was too entrenched and impacted to remove. There was no getting the memories of that video out of Tony's mind, and it would never let Tony Stark feel friendly towards James Barnes.

Whatever; Tony'd worked with people he didn't feel friendly about before. He could do it again, especially when the stakes were high and they had priorities in common.

Barnes had been ready to die to save Peter Parker. Tony could work with that.

Still, right before their first reunited Avengers group training session, Tony's nerves failed, and he watched the team from the camera feed and pretended to be arguing with someone on his phone.

T'Challa got there late; he'd been working with the X-Men on forming some kind of "gifted" school of his own in Wakanda, and Pepper was absolutely certain that there was a thing between him and that gorgeous Munroe woman.

He was friendly with Cap and Barnes, and the three of them were soon yakking about vibranium with the fascinated, now-unmasked Peter, who then ended up fucking arm-wrestling with Barnes' metal arm. (They stalemated, to Tony's private amusement and T'Challa's dismay. Peter beat out even Cap in brute strength, along with everyone else except Vision.)

"Are you going to hide in here in front of the camera feed and mope every time Bucky Barnes is in the building?" Pepper demanded from the doorway.

Tony jumped. "Don't skulk, Pepper, or I'll mistake you for a supervillain."

Pepper waggled whatever obscenely-expensive four-inch heels she was wearing. "Yes, Mr. Stark, this is my supervillain skulking footwear. Your hearing is going in your old age." She came over and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. "You made the right choice. Stop brooding and get in there. Rip the Band-Aid off."

Tony sighed. He knew she was right. She had some...what were those, postcards? "What're those?"

"Oh, T'Challa brought them. He and I thought you should be the one to give 'em to Peter."

Tony looked at them, then smiled. Suddenly, making himself suit up and head down to the training room was a little easier. "You guys manage to get this kid warmed up, or do I have to do everything around here?" he demanded as he sauntered into the training room.

"He said, strolling in ninety minutes late and with Starbucks," said Rhodey, the traitor. Peter just grinned, bright as if adding Tony to this gathering had actually made him happy.

Tony corrected Rhodey, "With mail call, actually. Here, kid." He handed Peter the two postcards.

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters wasn't the kind of prep school that'd issue things like these, so somebody there must have cooked them up especially for Peter. Tony was glad, to think that the X-Men still had a soft spot for the kid. It was one more place, one more team that would help keep the kid safe.

Reading the cards, Peter's eyes got huge.

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters welcomes Alison "Ali" Blaire to Grade 3!
Ali is joining Grade 3 and junior theatre and chorus!

Below was a picture of a little girl sitting on the stairs of the red brick mansion where Peter had been introduced to the X-Men. The second card showed a picture of a group of men and women, with a woman who resembled Ali Blaire standing next to them.

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters welcomes new faculty, Katherine Blaire-Brown!
Mrs. Brown is joining the school administration for infant through Grade 5!

"I met little Ali and her mother on my visit today," said King T'Challa. "They asked me to tell you that they're very grateful to you. One of the teaching assistants made these and asked me to bring them to you."

Peter just stared at the pictures and said nothing. Tony put a hand on his shoulder and waited until he looked up.

"Nice work, kid."

~Fin~