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It’s funny how a few small mistakes can cause things to spiral out of control. At least, Peter thinks it’s funny but Tony Stark would say that it’s rather horrifying. The first thing that went wrong that morning was that Peter forgot to charge his phone. Mild inconvenience really. This was far from the first time Peter had forgotten and he doubted it would be the last. Thinking nothing of it, Peter pocketed his half charged phone and left for school.
His second mistake was forgetting his Stark watch at home. After the incident with the Vulture, Peter and Tony had gotten a lot closer with Peter spending at least half the week with his mentor. Them getting closer also meant that Tony became more protective of Peter. That's where the Stark watch came in. It was a nondescript watch that Tony had given Peter to wear whenever he was out of his spiderman suit. This way, Tony could still monitor his vitals and location when he wasn’t on patrol. Despite Tony’s constant nagging to stop forgetting the watch, Peter still often left it at his bedside by accident when he left the apartment.
Class was more boring than usual. Peter couldn’t help but spend most of the day with his phone in his lap doomscrolling videos on mute as his professor lectured his classmates to death. He got straight A’s even without paying attention so it didn’t matter. The only issue was by Peter’s last school period his phone was barely hanging on with a battery of five percent.
“Ned, do you have a charger?” Peter asked as he and his best friend, Ned, walked the halls between classes.
Ned shook his head. “No sorry. Why? Is your phone dead?”
“Nearly.” Peter huffed. “It’s ok though because I don’t have to go to Mr. Stark’s tonight after school.”
“Really? I thought you went to see Tony, like, every day now.”
Peter’s cheeks heated up and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Not every day. We just have lab three times a week and I sometimes stay over on the weekends…He’s a good mentor.”
Ned shrugged with a shit eating grin across his face. “It sounds more like he's your dad that May co-parents with.”
Peter elbowed Ned lightly but he couldn’t help but blush even more. “He’s not my dad…” The words sounded weak even to Peter's own ears. In his head, Peter had considered Tony his father figure for at least a few months now but he didn’t want to ruin things so he never dared to assume how the billionaire felt about him.
“Whatever you say man.” Ned replied, letting the conversation drop to Peter's relief.
The remainder of the school day breezed by with Peter's phone dying just as his last class ended. After waving goodbye to Ned and MJ, Peter left Midtown High and made his way to the subway. On days when Peter hung out with Tony, Happy would pick him up from school but since today was one of his days off he took the subway back to his apartment.
The subway trip home was relatively uneventful but Peter was always overwhelmed when he had to be crammed in a small space with that many people. His super senses made him dread crowded areas more than he had before his fateful spider bite.
Once Peter got home he let out a long sigh and kicked off his shoes. May was working the night shift so she wouldn’t be home until morning. That meant he would be alone. Since Peter was particularly drained, he decided to take a quick nap. Completely forgetting to plug up his phone, Peter shrugged off his backpack and passed out on his bed.
Little did he know that halfway across New York was a very worried Iron Man wondering where he was.
—
Tony Stark liked to think he was a generally calm guy. However, when it came to Peter, it seemed that Tony couldn't catch a break from the stress. It seemed his spider kid was always in danger, on the break of death, or missing. It was for that reason that Tony was like a helicopter parent when it came to Peter. He made the teen wear a Stark watch that would alert Tony if anything happened in Peter's day to day life. For when the kid was on patrol, Tony had slaved over many upgrades to the already multi million dollar Spider-Man suit custom made to protect Peter.
He even appointed his head of security, Happy Hogan, to pick Peter up from school on the days that Peter came to the Avengers Compound to spend time with Tony.
Tony Stark put a great deal of effort into protecting the danger magnet that was Peter Parker so you can imagine his annoyment when he got a call from Happy telling him that Peter wasn’t at school for Happy to pick up.
“Sorry, repeat what you just said. I must have misheard you.” Tony’s voice was tense. The billionaire was currently in his lab waiting for Happy to bring Peter over from school like he did every Friday evening.
Tony could hear Happy swallow over the phone. “Peter isn’t at school. I waited for him for a while before heading inside Midtown. The teachers searched for him but he’s not there.”
“My kid is missing?” Tony felt an ice settling over his chest. “F.R.I. track the kid’s watch.” Tony addressed his AI, ignoring Happy who he was still on call with.
“Peter's watch is offline. It seems he forgot to put it on this morning.” The AI replied, earning a curse from Tony.
“Ok what about his phone?” Peter didn’t know this but Tony also had a tracker in the teens phone as an extra precaution.
This time the AI paused for a beat before replying. “His phone is offline as well. The last known location of it was at Midtown High.”
Tony ran a hand down his face. If he wasn’t sitting down he would have felt weak in the knees. “Well that's not helpful now is it?”
Happy finally spoke, sensing his boss's distress. “We’ll find him. He probably just let his phone die or something.”
“Ya that or he got kidnapped.” Tony felt ill as the words left his mouth. Before Happy could reply, the billionaire continued speaking. “I’m going to Peter's apartment to see if he ended up there. You focus on getting and watching the security tapes from the school. Call me with what you find. We’ll go from there.” Before Tony even finished speaking, his iron man suit had already assembled around him. There was no way he was taking a car right now when Peter could be in danger.
“You got it.” Happy responded firmly. Tony ended the call and flew out of the lab, hoping to god that he would find Peter safe and sound.
—
Peter was woken up from his nap by a familiar voice. The voice wasn’t speaking to him and instead was addressing someone on the phone.
“Yes, he’s here. Safe and sound. The kid fell asleep. He must be trying to kill me.” The voice was filled with relief and a little bit of exhaustion. “Give Midtown a donation or something for the inconvenience. Ya, ya, bye.”
Peter groaned softly and blinked himself awake.
“Ah sleeping beauty arises. I hope your nap was worth the years of my life.” Despite Tony's words, his tone carried no bite.
“M’ Sta’k?” Peter slurred, rubbing his eyes as he sat up in bed. “What are you doing here?”
Tony sighed, crossing the small room to join Peter on the mattress. “Looking for you. Wondering if my kid was kidnapped or just ignoring me.” Tony chuckled dryly. “Let me tell you, I’ve never hoped I was being ignored until now.”
Peter frowned softly. “I was not ignoring you…I just…” Peter paused before his eyes widened. “Is it Friday?” Tony tilted his head with an exasperated smile. That was all the answer Peter needed. “Oh my god, I didn’t mean to blow you off! I totally got the dates mixed up. I thought it was a Thursday meaning no lab! Also my phone totally died at school so if you called I didn't see it at all and–”
Tony cut in, effectively stopping Peter from spiralling. “Ya kid I know. As soon as I broke into your apartment to see you curled up in bed without a care in the world, I knew.” Tony sighed, resting his hand on Peter's knee. “How about next time your phone is about to die you just text me and let me know your plans for the day. I almost had a man hunt sent out for you.”
Peter nodded softly. “Sorry Mr. Stark...”
Tony smiled and couldn't help but think that all the stress Peter brought into his life was definitely worth it. “It’s ok bambino.” He replied.