Chapter Text
Tony Stark liked to believe that he was done with the whole 'attachments’ scam. Attachments were messy. Attachments were inconvenient. Attachments had a nasty habit of turning into weakness, and Tony Stark had dedicated too much time to ensuring he had as few weaknesses as possible to bother with the gamble.
Instead, Tony had employees. Employees had contracts, job descriptions, NDAs, and legal obligations to be loyal. Interns were even better, because they had termination dates.
So he did not have any attachments, but he did have an intern.
Peter Parker was undeniably the brightest intern Tony had ever recruited: the kid was brilliant - annoyingly brilliant. He understood Tony's work in a way people twice his age couldn't even begin to, and he quickly became one of the few people who could surprise Tony with ideas he hadn't already considered. On top of that, he was both cheeky and witty - a quick thinker who had stolen one too many chuckles from the man.
When Peter didn't show up on Monday, Tony didn't think much of it.
Hope he gets better soon.
Thursday came. Still no Peter.
Maybe school’s been rough?
But by the following Monday, Tony had emailed Peter, checked his own phone 12 times, interrogated FRIDAY, and grown... confused.
Yes. Confused. Definitely not worried, and definitely not lonely. Because the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark did not get worried, and he absolutely does not get lonely.
So, with that distinction out of the way, he was very - very confused. So very confused, in fact, that he felt his stomach turn with it the second he stepped into his personal lab. When he had invited Peter to work with him here for the first time, the boy had essentially exploded.
"Wait, is that your lab? Like- like your - Tony Stark - your personal lab, you want me to see it? " He fangirled so heavily that he could have powered the entire building with this energy.
Tony had to hide a smile. "No, I'm taking you to the janitor's cupboard."
Peter looked at the door labelled MR. STARK ONLY in complete awe, and when Tony finally pushed it open and Peter beamed, he just couldn't hide that smile anymore.
Peter spilled into the room like an excited puppy, and stopped in the center. Tony watched as Peter’s eyes darted around the lab, filled with unadulterated glee.
"You're allowed to breathe in here, kid."
"Is that-"
"No, it's not."
"That's an Iron Man suit!"
"It’s a prototype."
"Can I... Am I allowed to look at it?"
"If I didn't want you looking at it, I wouldn't have invited you in here.”
Tony had expected one of two reactions. One, Peter would start poking every nook and cranny of his lab in excitement, and probably blow something up. (Tony had tucked away everything too dangerous, but he was still nervous. He doesn't need a medical emergency to handle.) Two, Peter would be so stunned in admiration that he was too scared to move, touch, or do anything. (or two point five, Peter would pass out where he stood.)
Peter had done neither of those things.
Instead, after the initial fangirling, Peter had opened up the Iron Man suit prototype and immediately pointed out two different ways he would optimize the organization.
Tony had never even considered those points.
“Good observation.” It was an amazing one, actually.
Peter was really a prodigy. And useful. That's the only reason Tony felt his absence so strongly.
.
“Peter, where have you put the-” Tony turned towards the empty stool, and paused. He then turned towards the disinfectant’s usual home, and realized it was in the right place, and that Peter hadn’t been around to misplace it.
With a sigh, Tony grabbed the isopropyl alcohol, dabbed some onto a cotton swab, and then wiped down a piece of metal. It was uncomfortably silent.
He reached for his coffee cup and stopped at the weight of it. Usually, it would be half empty by now, because Peter always stole some when Tony wasn’t looking.
The lab was clean again. Tony liked clean. Tony complained every single time Peter left his school bag crumpled in the corner, said the mess impacted his focus. Ironically, his focus today was the worst it had been in a while.
Tony went to grab safety goggles, accidentally reaching for two before slipping one back into the bucket.
He turned towards the suit he was working on, half expecting to see a bush of messy brown hair hovering over it, half expecting to get an impatient ‘but it’s harder to see!’ in response to his usual ‘Kid, no peeking without goggles on.’
But Peter had not shown up in 2 weeks.
Maybe Peter was perfectly safe. Probably just sick of hanging out with Tony Stark on a Friday night. He is a teenager, after all. Teenagers have better things to do, like hanging out with friends and going to parties. He was like that at his age.
He hated the silence.
He hated it more than he’d like to admit.
“FRIDAY?”
“What's wrong, Boss?”
“... Any news on Peter?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“This is the 3rd time you’ve asked today. You have been 8% less efficient in the lab. I believe there is something on your mind. Would you be interested in discussing it?”
“No, no. It’s just less efficient without my assistant around. Wondering when he’ll be back.”
“Understood.”
“Actually.. “
“Yes?”
“What school does Peter go to again?”