Chapter Text
Previously:
That’s when Peter heard her. A woman. No, a mother. Her voice was thick with emotion. “Please, have you seen my boy?”
~~~~~~~~~~
Peter swung through alleyways with one goal in mind: locating the mother. He strained his ears, following her faint voice through the main street, over night shift workers and the homeless, then took a sharp left by the residential homes. He found here.
By the streetlamp near the deli, there was a short woman with short brown hair handing a paper to this man.
“If you did, please call the number on the paper,” she said to the man, who took the paper and continued down the road.
Peter watched the mother turn and hang up another paper. A picture of a smiling boy, a few years younger than Peter if he had to guess, and the words: Missing Boy: Henry Ackles.
Peter stepped down from his hiding spot and made his way over.
“Um, hi – “
“Oh!” She jumped in surprise, “hello! Spiderman!”
Peter can hear the hopeful tone in her voice. Up close he can see the worry lines all over her face, dark bags under her eyes and eyes swollen. “I’m sorry for scaring you! Is that your son, ma’am?”
“Yes, this is my dear Henry, lovely boy. He’s been missing for 4 days and the police won’t do anything!” Her voice broke towards the end, and Peter put his arm on her shoulder.
“It’s okay ma’am, I’ll find him! Can you tell me everything you already know and more information about your son?”
“Yes, of course.” She took a second to collect her breath, and then continued, “Henry is 14 years old, he goes to the public school down the block, he’s a smart kid, excellent grades. We aren’t that well financially so Henry works by the grocery store over there,” she points to the store by Peter’s shoulder, “he works overtime a lot, so four days ago, when he didn’t return at 10 pm, I thought nothing of it. By morning, I had to rush to my day job, and it was the weekend, no school, I left him to sleep in. Except I didn’t check if he was in his room!”
“It’s okay Mrs Ackles, you thought Henry was sleeping in and left for your job, what time did you return?”
“4 PM dear, it was 4 PM, and he wasn’t there. I called Mr Archie, the grocery store manager, but he said he wasn’t working over time! In fact, he didn’t show up that day at all. He goes to school at 7 am, and the principal confirms he attended the full day.”
“Okay so, he went to school at 7 am, out by 2:30 pm, and he was supposed to start the afternoon shift at Mr Archie’s store, but he never showed up.”
“Yes! Yes, exactly. I called the police, but they…..they wouldn’t listen to my concerns.” Mrs Ackles wasn’t looking at Peter anymore, her eyes darting around them in avoidance.
“Mrs Ackles, it’s important I know everything. What did the police say?”
“They….oh, dammit, they said he ran away, but he didn’t! I know he didn’t, I know my….” She had a distant look in her eye, she’s leaving something out, Peter can tell.
“Mrs Ackles, do you know why they ruled it a runaway?”
It was a few moments before she answered. “My son, Henry, he’s trans….well, still figuring that part out but, he goes by Henry for now. I accepted him, there’s no reason he’d run away, you have to believe me!”
At that, Peter’s face hardened, suddenly realizing the police probably hadn't investigated this after hearing about Henry’s identity. The boy, whatever happened to him, has a 4 day head start.
“I believe you, Mrs Ackles, where’s your address? In case I need anything else. I promise I’ll find your son, I promise.”
At that, Mrs Ackles looked relieved, and aftering giving him her address, they bid each other goodnight and left, with more promises of finding Henry.
~~~~~~~~~~
Peter changed to his normal clothes and went by Mr Archie’s grocery store, since he’s in the area.
“How much for the apples today, sir?”
“Five sixty eight for a pound, kid, you want some?”
“Yeah, I’ll take a pound.” Peter watched Mr Archie package the goods while attempting small talk. “So uh, sad what happened to that Henry boy, right?”
At that, Mr Archie glanced at him, “you knew him?”
“Barely, we see each other at school sometimes…ugh, few years my junior…seemed like a nice kid…..thanks for these!”
“No problems, best apples on the street! And yeah, Henry was a smart one. Even had a potential job lined up.”
“A job?” Peter asked in confusion.
“Oh, you know, that OnTrack Youth non-profit a few blocks from here. He applied, did really well in the workshop. It’s such a shame, I bet he could have landed something better than my good old grocery store, eh,” Mr Archie sadly smiles at him.
“I really hope they find him, sir, but I don’t think they’re doing a good job as is,” Peter remarks.
“Damn right, son, damn right. The police are useless these days, unless it benefits the city directly. Well, have a good night kid.”
Peter bids his farewells and starts heading out, already having a few ideas as to what’s next in his plan, before stopping and throwing one last question at the store owner. “Just out of curiosity, sir, was anything unusual with him, the day before his disappearance?”
Mr Archie shook his head for a no. “Nah, not really. He was pretty happy and cheery, same as well. In fact, he got a phone call towards the end and was really hyped about something, told me he’d tell me the next day,” the man sighs and shakes his head sadly once again, “nobody thought he wouldn’t be here the next day, not even him.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Peter’s made his way back to MJ’s place, knowing full well she won’t be sleeping just yet. He climbed up the building to her window, knocking quietly.
Shuffle of paper, chair scrapes, movement behind the curtain, then she throws open the window and goes back to her desk. Peter lets himself in, closing the window behind him.
“MJ.” He tries.
“MJ, come on, I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry,” Peter sits down on the bed, “I shouldn’t have yelled, or been rude. I know you’re trying to help me, and i really appreciate that. And….you’re right,” he looks down at his hands, “you’re right, I absolutely should do better but I am trying, MJ, I promise I am. It’s just been a difficult week. And thank you for caring and being such a great friend.”
When Peter looks up, MJ has turned and is looking at him with concern written all over her face. Something must have shown on Peter’s face, because next thing he knows, MJ is bear hugging him.
Not one of those few seconds hugs, but a long one. Peter let himself relax, and he basically melted into that embrace. Surprisingly, he found himself holding back tears.
A few moments later, MJ pulled back, “I’m sorry too, for my part. I shouldn’t push you and, Peter, I believe that you’re trying. I just…I wish life wasn’t that hard for you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a superhero, life’s never easy for us.” That earns him a jab in his shoulder, and they laugh.
“I came here for a reason though. I….may or may not have went out again,” at that, MJ gave him a look, but kept quiet, “and I met this mother, her son, Henry, he’s also trans….well, she said he was figuring out his identity and goes by Henry for now, but the point is, he went missing. And the police ruled it as a runaway, and I need your help.”
MJ smiled and it tugged at Peter’s heart. “Okay Spiderman, tell me everything.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Half an hour later, Peter was going through the non-profit organization’s socials. They go by OnTY for short, and they’re a branch from the main organization, The Door Co. They offer workshops and lessons and all sorts of things for teenagers in need, and eventually, if they do well, they pass them to The Door, which connects them with real companies that offer internships and training, leading to possible employment.
Meanwhile, MJ found the boy’s social media accounts. The account is filled with family photos, friends, school stuff, and Henry’s tech projects. One post was taken at OnTY, with a caption that said Henry passed his first workshop certification in cybersecurity. It was dated to 5 weeks ago.
“A week later, he passed this workshops which is…..level 2 of the cybersec thing, Peter, and then…oh wow, every week, he seems to progress fast enough,” MJ says, scrolling through the accounts.
“Henry must be really smart, the workshops you’re referring to take at least 3 weeks to complete, or so it says on their website,” Peter replies.
“Also, Peter, you still have that facial recognition thing in your suit? This guy appears in all the photos from the post with the certs.”
Peter donned his nanotech helmet and ran the scan. “A match wasn’t found in the criminal database, MJ, but let me…..”
Peter tinkered around with his laptop for a few minutes. “It’s a non-profit so their systems can’t be that sophisticated and….Yes! I’m in their employee database, fairly simple and…..huh,” Peter said.
“What? What is it, Peter?”
“He’s not an employee.”
“How? He’s in every picture, holding the certificate! Or, well, I guess it could be family or someone like that”
Peter stood up and started pacing. “No, no, he’s wearing the uniform, the staff one, why would he if he’s not in the employee directory?”
He paused. And turned around.
“Henry’s smart, MJ,”
“He finished 5 modules in 5 weeks,”
“And OnTY’s end goal is the pass them onto The Door for internships….”
“Then maybe that guy is…. A recruiter?”
“A recruiter.”
“We need more information,”
“MJ, tomorrow we’ll be doing a lot of talking.”