What do you think?
Rate this book
The Third Option
Homecoming A/U.
Ben and May divorced before Peter’s parents died, so when Ben is murdered Peter goes into foster care. It takes just a tiny taste of superpowers for Peter to decide he doesn’t want to put up with his horrible foster father anymore—the streets are infinitely more appealing. All he wants is to be Spider-Man anyway.
So he leaves.
Simple.
Simple, that is, until Iron Man needs Spider-Man’s help. Peter isn’t about to turn down an opportunity to fight alongside Tony Freaking Stark, but he also isn’t going to let his hero know that his recruit is a fifteen-year-old homeless dropout. So they strike a deal. Peter will help Tony. In return, the mask stays on.
And that’s when things get complicated.
Words: 220 961
Ben and May divorced before Peter’s parents died, so when Ben is murdered Peter goes into foster care. It takes just a tiny taste of superpowers for Peter to decide he doesn’t want to put up with his horrible foster father anymore—the streets are infinitely more appealing. All he wants is to be Spider-Man anyway.
So he leaves.
Simple.
Simple, that is, until Iron Man needs Spider-Man’s help. Peter isn’t about to turn down an opportunity to fight alongside Tony Freaking Stark, but he also isn’t going to let his hero know that his recruit is a fifteen-year-old homeless dropout. So they strike a deal. Peter will help Tony. In return, the mask stays on.
And that’s when things get complicated.
Words: 220 961
- GenresFan FictionMarvel
883 pages, ebook
Published January 17, 2020
6 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 8, 2023
This had no business being so good, I'm now ugly crying over a fanfiction from a fandom that I didn't care about until a day ago. 220,000 words and I COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN. Took me a couple hours but I just went through a train-wreck of emotions because holy shit Peter's life is just so SAD (i mean this sadist author really put him through dealing with family deaths, neglect, abuse, sexual abuse, homelessness, etc.) but then the father-son relationship that developed between Tony and Peter seriously had me in a chokehold QAQQ.
Also I'm a huge sucker for identity reveal so Tony finding out Peter was Spiderman and Spiderman was Peter had me running around FOR REAL.
When I say "sad" I mean SAD though. Like Peter was so homeless I started to feel homeless. And his terrible situation of being either a homeless vigilante or living with a sexual abuser cuz CPS wouldn't save him made me go insane. I was screaming at Tony to adopt him fr
And despite the differences from this AU and canon, the author managed to capture the voices of Tony and Peter so well??? (I say this as someone who hasn't watched the Spiderman or Ironman movies in years but my point still stands.) Super beautiful style of writing too.
Also the POV switches from Peter to Tony in the middle and let me tell you I was HIT. Brutally. I mean you can see how much Tony cares for Peter but he also doesn't know what he's going through and it's just auiosfasdfiuowe a masterfully written POV.
Anyway, fuck this for making me cry but now I'm obsessed.
Also I'm a huge sucker for identity reveal so Tony finding out Peter was Spiderman and Spiderman was Peter had me running around FOR REAL.
When I say "sad" I mean SAD though. Like Peter was so homeless I started to feel homeless. And his terrible situation of being either a homeless vigilante or living with a sexual abuser cuz CPS wouldn't save him made me go insane. I was screaming at Tony to adopt him fr
And despite the differences from this AU and canon, the author managed to capture the voices of Tony and Peter so well??? (I say this as someone who hasn't watched the Spiderman or Ironman movies in years but my point still stands.) Super beautiful style of writing too.
Also the POV switches from Peter to Tony in the middle and let me tell you I was HIT. Brutally. I mean you can see how much Tony cares for Peter but he also doesn't know what he's going through and it's just auiosfasdfiuowe a masterfully written POV.
Anyway, fuck this for making me cry but now I'm obsessed.
August 13, 2023
i don’t think i’ll be able to fully recover from this cuz i genuinely feel like i’m a 350 year old tortoise with asthma who got run over by an 18 wheeler but somehow still survived
wasn’t really a big fan of fics but holy buckets of goo, this whole fic was heartbreaking. a little more heartbreaking than my first breakup actually. especially tony’s pov, like omg that was S class tier. definitely loved how the author was able to portray each character’s own personalities and flaws. something that i haven’t been able to see in anything i’ve read lately so very good. skip was for sure a character that i wasn’t expecting to turn out the way he was supposed to be, but because of his disturbing actions towards peter, it moved the plot beautifully. tony as always will be my fav character in the mcu and the author did a good job of capturing his tone. i gotta say that i like this version of tony a bit better since he has always been such a father figure to peter but here, he showed more genuine love towards our boy. i had to hold back tears since i didn’t want my iPad to be salty during the part when peter, tony, and pepper acted like a family towards the ending but hello??? we cannot forget mommy aunty may. she’s the real one 😭😭
deducted a star off because for me, there was a lot of filler chapters which made me skim thru a huge chunk of it but def worth the read.
wasn’t really a big fan of fics but holy buckets of goo, this whole fic was heartbreaking. a little more heartbreaking than my first breakup actually. especially tony’s pov, like omg that was S class tier. definitely loved how the author was able to portray each character’s own personalities and flaws. something that i haven’t been able to see in anything i’ve read lately so very good. skip was for sure a character that i wasn’t expecting to turn out the way he was supposed to be, but because of his disturbing actions towards peter, it moved the plot beautifully. tony as always will be my fav character in the mcu and the author did a good job of capturing his tone. i gotta say that i like this version of tony a bit better since he has always been such a father figure to peter but here, he showed more genuine love towards our boy. i had to hold back tears since i didn’t want my iPad to be salty during the part when peter, tony, and pepper acted like a family towards the ending but hello??? we cannot forget mommy aunty may. she’s the real one 😭😭
deducted a star off because for me, there was a lot of filler chapters which made me skim thru a huge chunk of it but def worth the read.
January 5, 2023
I don't think I will ever recover from this.
...
10/10 would read again
...
10/10 would read again
November 16, 2022
gonna start shelving fics bc I’ve read a ton this year, just on ao3 😓 anyways I’ve read this 3x bc i have intense daddy issues. i love everything abt this fic it’s so heartbreaking i mean i love it so much i casted all the supporting characters and created 4+ playlists for it. I miss irondad and spiderson ☹️
November 28, 2022
i’m gonna be honest with you folks my daddy issues made me read this a few months back and then it hit me like a trainwreck and then i wasn’t laughing anymore. like, uh, hundred forehead kisses for this fic. peter sunshine parker my beloved 💗 you will always be loved, darling.
April 5, 2025
Considering its over 220,000 words hell yeah im adding it to goodreads (my marvel phase is coming back guys - it never left but still - The third Option (Uncertainty_Principle)
October 22, 2022
ok i dont typically count fanfic in goodreads, but considering this one was 220,000 words I think it counts. not to mention the fact that this fic was excellent and written beautifully.
February 26, 2023
my god.
(!SPOILERS!)
Ok this whole fic was heartbreaking. Ugh.
The Tony POVs were top tier god level shit. I loved how the author portrayed the inner workings of his minds and his responses.
All the original characters were actually incredible. They each had their own personalities, goals, and flaws, and I felt like they were valuable facets of this fic, other than simply helping to characterize Peter.
And Ben- I really appreciated him. How he and Peter were both struggling so much, but the love between them was undeniable.
Ok- Skip. Godammit, this part ruined me. I completely forgot about Skip, and his "tendencies" in most fics, and honestly I think that made this one better. When he got to his house, I was crying happy tears for Peter. Finally Peter would get the care he deserved. Alas...
I was destroyed by the revelation when Skip first touched his hands, and I was insurmountably angry. How dare he.
But the twins!? I think it really shows Peter's compassio in how he went back to them even after what Skip did. Peter had no obligation, but he did.
(Vibe change)
Ok so the first 3/4 of this were amazing. But I think nearing the end we all kinda nodded off. Those little self-indulgent parts of my heart (and maybe yours) were longing for Peter to choose Tony and become the BAMF wholly father-son relationship we all know and love. As much as I love May, I was disappointed by the ending, and I have to admit- I skimmed sentences in her POV. But I do think, with all her hard work, getting into CPS, etc., I was not truly upset Peter chose her.
It was an incredible read, truly, I sobbed an ungodly amount of times.
(!SPOILERS!)
Ok this whole fic was heartbreaking. Ugh.
The Tony POVs were top tier god level shit. I loved how the author portrayed the inner workings of his minds and his responses.
All the original characters were actually incredible. They each had their own personalities, goals, and flaws, and I felt like they were valuable facets of this fic, other than simply helping to characterize Peter.
And Ben- I really appreciated him. How he and Peter were both struggling so much, but the love between them was undeniable.
Ok- Skip. Godammit, this part ruined me. I completely forgot about Skip, and his "tendencies" in most fics, and honestly I think that made this one better. When he got to his house, I was crying happy tears for Peter. Finally Peter would get the care he deserved. Alas...
I was destroyed by the revelation when Skip first touched his hands, and I was insurmountably angry. How dare he.
But the twins!? I think it really shows Peter's compassio in how he went back to them even after what Skip did. Peter had no obligation, but he did.
(Vibe change)
Ok so the first 3/4 of this were amazing. But I think nearing the end we all kinda nodded off. Those little self-indulgent parts of my heart (and maybe yours) were longing for Peter to choose Tony and become the BAMF wholly father-son relationship we all know and love. As much as I love May, I was disappointed by the ending, and I have to admit- I skimmed sentences in her POV. But I do think, with all her hard work, getting into CPS, etc., I was not truly upset Peter chose her.
It was an incredible read, truly, I sobbed an ungodly amount of times.
March 20, 2024
I don't know how I got here, I don't really stray from HP fanfic, but I'm so glad to have lost my way. I'm a happy crier so the build-up to where Tony finally figures everything out had me crying tears of relief. Everyones POV fits so perfectly in the overall puzzle. Excellent fic, I could not put it down, it was worth the loss of sleep.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2024
this was super cute, but fuck was it emitonal. liek i felt sick. this poor guy suffered so much. abuse, assault, homelessness, near death, issues with a trial, all of it.
very sad, but very good. before recommending it, i would def say to check out the triggers and make sure its not gonna drive you into a spiral!!
very sad, but very good. before recommending it, i would def say to check out the triggers and make sure its not gonna drive you into a spiral!!
February 24, 2022
I stayed up from 9 pm to 6:20ish am to read this. I wake up for school at 7 am. It was worth the lack of sleep.
January 2, 2023
so i read it a few weeks ago and… it still hurts but it was worth it🛐
November 25, 2023
best i’ve read in a while
May 25, 2024
Did i stay up all night AND DAY reading this? Yes! Did I make my eyes watery and sore reading it? Yes! Am I really logging fan fiction on Goodreads? Yes! Do I regret it? No!!!
January 5, 2025
4.75 😭 I can’t how did this break my heart so bad
July 10, 2021
one of my favourite marvel fanfics. great story, character development is top tier. but be prepared for heavy and serious themes.
June 22, 2025
This was DEVASTATING oh my gods. Emotional torture. Constant tears. I’m deceased. Why would you read this willingly? Why did I??
January 8, 2025
Mejor pieza de fanfiction que he leído en un bueeen rato
February 12, 2025
ive reread this a ridiculous amount of times over the past few years, atp ive lost count. and each time i either cried or was brought to the verge of tears, breathless and reeling by the end. brilliant writing, pacing, and characterization — the author did a splendid job with everything and words can’t express how grateful i am that this exists.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews