Chapter Text
“Have you heard from the kid?”
Tony frowned, seeing Pepper’s concerned gaze as he waved an apologetic hand to the party guests, walking out towards the balcony as he tried to focus on what Happy had asked him.
“What’s going on, Hap?” Tony asked, feeling a twinge of something in his chest. It’d been a few weeks since he’d taken the kid’s suit from him, the terror of what could’ve happened on that ferry overwhelming any sense of reason.
Tony had meant to reach out to him, once his anger had cooled and some of the fear had settled but time got away from him - though if Tony was honest with himself, it had less to do with time and more the nagging guilt that he’d made the wrong decision.
He couldn’t allow Peter to get hurt, the panic of what could’ve happened if he had still eating at him. But hearing the tension in Happy’s voice was enough to set him on edge, teetering close to a level of dread that threatened to overwhelm him.
“The uh, the plane.. With all the tech, Cap’s shield it--” Tony could hear Happy sigh through the other line, “I messed up, Tony. The kid--Pete, he saved it.”
“What do you mean saved it?” Tony’s breath hitches, eyes scanning the skyline as if it would somehow grant him answers that he didn’t have. He and Pepper were at a gala - some event that he hadn’t even wanted to go to but did for her.
And yet now all Tony could think was that something had happened - something had happened to Peter - and he hadn’t been around to stop it.
“It was the Vulture guy, he tried to steal the plane but the kid brought it down. Webbed him up and disappeared.”
Tony hears the words but can’t comprehend them - his brain not matching up the image of the fifteen-year-old kid he’d sent home in Hello Kitty pajamas with taking down an entire plane.
He knew the kid was strong, his memory of Peter single-handedly trying to keep that ferry together moments before he’d arrived coming back to him.
A thought occurs to him that if he hadn’t shown up - that if what Happy was saying was true - maybe Peter would’ve been able to bring the two sections together, even as Tony dismisses that as being crazy.
He’s a kid. He’s just a kid.
“Where is he now?” Tony asks, already signaling for a suit to come to him. He’d have to apologize to Pepper later for leaving but a part of Tony knew she would understand, recognizing it was for Peter - considering how much he’d talked to her about everything that had happened.
“That’s what I’m saying, boss. I don’t know.” Happy’s words just stir Tony on more, seeing the suit in the distance. “I was hoping-- I was hoping he’d reached out to you.”
He wouldn’t. Not after our last conversation. Tony thinks, letting the suit envelop him as he transfers the call to the HUD monitor, flying upwards.
“I’ll find him, Hap. If you hear from him, let me know.”
With that Tony ends the call and takes to the sky, hoping that he hadn’t made a mistake that had cost the kid his life.
“FRI, keep scanning.” Tony’s eyes were everywhere, cursing himself for not attaching some kind of tracker on the kid.
Of course, he knows that if Peter had the suit he’d created, that he wouldn’t be in this predicament - frantically searching for a teenager on random rooftops in Queens.
At least that’s where Tony assumed he was, wondering if he could figure out where Fred, Ted, whatever the kid’s best friend’s name was - Ned, it’s Ned - and if he would know where Peter would--
“Found him, boss.”
Tony’s eyes immediately went to the alert on the screen in front of him, changing his flight plan to the direction that FRIDAY had indicated.
Happy had sent along some pictures of the plane, the images only spurning on the panic that he could feel building in his gut. More images immediately rush to the forefront of his mind, imagining what he was about to encounter.
Images of Peter bloody, bruised, bleeding out somewhere, the horror of realizing he was just a few seconds too late, of having to make a call to his aunt, telling her that---
But before his waking nightmares can get away from him, Tony sees him - not just on the screen but in front of him - crouched down behind the stairs of a rooftop, knees up with his head down, braced by his crossed hands.
Tony’s heart-rate spikes as he lands, dreading the possibility that Peter was so hurt or disoriented that he wasn’t even aware that Tony was there, only for Peter’s head to lift - seeing the kid’s focused gaze staring back at him.
“Hey Mister Stark.”
Peter’s voice is sullen, almost detached in a way that does nothing to calm Tony’s nerves - wondering if he has some kind of concussion or internal bleeding somewhere.
“FRIDAY, scan him,” he whispers, though from the upturn of Peter’s lip, he can tell that the kid heard him. Tony pushes forward as he lets himself out of the suit.
Peter doesn’t even look surprised that he’s there, causing Tony to be more concerned as he asks, “You okay, kid?”
Peter’s eyes shift to Tony, seeing the way his expression changes from one of almost boredom to curiosity.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Are you— what are you doing here?”
Tony could almost laugh at the absurdity of their conversation, as if Peter bringing down a fucking jet was a normal Friday occurrence. His eyes dance around to see if there’s any more noticeable injuries aside from the superficial bruises and cuts on Peter’s face.
FRIDAY’s voice rings out then, calming his nerves slightly as she says, “Peter appears to have a slight concussion and two bruised ribs.”
“Internal bleeding?” he asks, Peter just staring at him with a small smile on his face.
“I’m okay, Mr. Stark.”
“Yeah well, let’s let the million-dollar tech decide that alright?” Tony answers back, Peter’s smile growing wider as he stands - Tony’s hands involuntarily reaching for him to help him up.
“There are no other injuries, boss.”
Peter looks at Tony expectantly, realizing his hands are still holding Peter’s arms as he steps back - patting his arm awkwardly as Tony grimaces.
It was one thing to know it from FRIDAY, trusting that his tech wasn’t lying to him. But from the looks of it, Peter seemed to be okay - something Tony couldn’t really wrap his head around considering the footage he saw of the plane.
“What the hell were you thinking, kid?”
His words are harsh, but his voice is soft - seeing the way Peter holds his gaze, searching his face for something before Peter sighs, shrugging again.
“Can’t let the bad things happen, Mr. Stark.”
Something twinges in Tony’s chest again as he nods, fully realizing how foolish he’d been to think that just because he’d taken the suit away from the kid that Peter would stop trying to help where he believed he was needed.
Peter had been swinging around the city for months before Tony had ever walked into his life, wearing the same faded onesie he had on now. Tony should’ve known that with or without his tech - Peter would never stop being Spider-Man.
He makes an instantaneous decision, clapping his hands on Peter’s shoulders again - already thinking of how deeply he’d underestimated the kid, not only for his drive but also for his powers - making a mental note to question how strong Peter actually was if he could’ve handled a several thousand pound jet with barely a scratch.
“Alright well, I can’t keep you out here looking like this. Let’s get you home. FRI, can you send a car out?”
Peter’s eyes widen, the first time he’s shown any fear in his eyes all night as he says, “I--I can’t go home like this, Mr. Stark. May, she’ll--”
“Oh whoa kid,” Tony tries to calm him, moving one hand to Peter’s chest to brace him. “I said I can’t keep you out looking like this . I’ll also feel a lot better when I have an actual medical professional check you out.”
“I resent that, boss,” FRIDAY’s voice rings out, making both Peter and Tony laugh - easing the nascent tension between them.
Tony knows that he messed up - letting the kid go off like he did, not checking up on him, doing such a shit job in looking out for Peter that he hadn’t even recognized that the kid would go out and do what he did anyway.
But it wasn’t the time for that, thinking that he wouldn’t be able to find the right words to express what he was feeling for Peter now. A mixture of worry, concern, and guilt - knowing that this night could’ve gone far worse for the both of them.
But Peter seems to understand him anyway, locking eyes with Tony as he smiles again and says, “Thanks for finding me, Mr. Stark.”
Tony understands the double meaning in his words, tightening the grip on his shoulder before letting go, nodding as he says, “‘Course kid, I’m here for you.”
It’s not what he wants to say - the words dying in his throat as he tries to make sense of the new feeling in his gut - but it’s enough, smiling back at Peter as FRIDAY alerts them that the car had arrived.
Tony knows he’ll have to do a better job of this - whatever this is, thinking first of the Iron Spider suit he’d been tinkering with, already wondering how he could invite the kid up to the compound and invite him to be a part of the team.
For all his fear and worry of letting Peter down or of putting him at risk, Peter had more than proven himself tonight to be every bit the hero that Tony knew he had been when he walked into his small bedroom almost seven months ago.
Tony had been afraid, a worry that he would make a mistake that would cause Peter to die and that his blood would be on his hands.
But as they make their way off the roof - the suit encasing him as Peter grins, pulling the hood back on and straight up walking down the side of the building - Tony realizes that he’d made a bigger mistake in taking the suit than he’d realized.
Tony had underestimated Peter.
He wouldn’t make that same mistake again.