Chapter Text
It took nine hours for anyone to notice Peter Parker was missing.
It was a Saturday, and after spending some quality time with his aunt, Peter kissed her on the cheek and told her he was going out. Apparently, he had the newest LEGO set and he wanted to drop by Ned’s place to surprise him. She just hugged him goodbye and reminded her nephew that she’d be back later that evening because of her shift.
Eight hours later, May came back from her shift and called out for Peter. He wasn’t home, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. He was probably either out as Spider-Man or spending the night at Ned’s and forgot to tell her. She shot him a quick text asking where he was and made herself a late dinner.
Thirty minutes and two more texts later, she called him. And called him. And called again.
Then she called Ned. He didn’t know what she was talking about when she asked if Peter was spending the night. Peter didn’t stop by today, ma’am, Ned insisted. She was getting nervous now.
Tony Stark was next and last on her list. If he wasn’t with Peter, he at least had the resources to find him. Except Peter wasn’t with him, and Tony seemed to be having difficulty tracking his phone, or his suit, or the watch he’d secretly put a tracker into. She was becoming frantic.
Over the phone, he assured her that everything would be alright. He’d have FRIDAY run facial recognition on all the nearby security cameras. He’d send out some drones to check out alleyways and tops of buildings. He’d do everything in his power to find Peter. He promised her that the kid would be alright.
They hung up, and May waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Tony called back. She begged for good news, but he had none. All security footage within two miles of their apartment had been wiped and were impossible to recover. The drones found nothing in their scans, either. He had even gone out in one of his suits to look around personally, but there wasn’t anything encouraging.
The only thing he managed to find was an unopened LEGO set sitting in a ditch a couple blocks from the Parker household. He just had a feeling it had belonged to Peter. May cried, because he was right.
As it turns out, nine hours is plenty of time to hide evidence, and long enough to get far, far away from a crime scene.
It took nine years for Peter Parker to find himself back in New York City.
After stealing clothes from a corner shop—he vaguely remembers stopping a burglary there once—he pulled his hood up to cover his face and hunched over, trying to blend in with the crowd. They could be anywhere, he thought. They could be watching his every move and waiting to strike.
The streets and buildings were mostly the same, but his brain was foggy and memories of which directions to take were muddled, at best. He took turns, ended up somewhere unfamiliar, and doubled back to start over again. He worried momentarily that perhaps this wasn’t even Queens, or perhaps he was mistaken and lived in another borough. But then things started to click.
Peter passed the Thai restaurant he and May used to get take-out from all the time, but the name of it was different, he was sure. He stepped over a three-inch crack in a sidewalk he remembered tripping on all the time, and wasn’t really surprised they hadn’t gotten that fixed yet. He looked over a fenced-in yard and spotted an old, fat dog sleeping in the grass. The last time he had seen it, the dog had been a spry puppy.
He hurried his pace the more familiar things got, practically sprinting by the time he closed in on his destination. He took the final turn too fast, nearly tripping over his own feet in his excitement. The apartment building came into view and he nearly sobbed with how many emotions washed over him. Peter jogged up to the front door, and froze. He reached out with a shaky hand and let his fingers touch the tattered and faded renter’s notice.
Condemned.