The Things That Go Unnoticed When You’re Focused Where You Shouldn’t Be
NOTES
- This one could have been a one-shot, but I decided to split it into two chapters. I don’t usually write chapters this short, usually my chapters are more like 30-40 pages, so it feels weird to have shorter chapters here. Peter is 15 here.
- Please note: This is not a Cap or Rogue bashing story. They have their reasons for what they do and say, and as our narrator for most of the story is Peter, we are seeing through his lens of understanding. Not gonna lie though, this story does not paint a pretty picture of Cap. I find beauty in stories with flawed individuals though, and Cap ended up being the catalyst for much of what happens later in the story.
- Warning: There’s some cursing scattered throughout. There are also two graphic depictions of violence against a minor, one in chapter one and one in chapter two. I don’t want anyone to get triggered.
- What to expect: This story is 95% angst, and 5% hurt/comfort. It is also 100% Tony being an awesome person and looking out for Peter.
- Also, I love May, but in this fic her priorities are all mixed up. She’s not exactly bad!May but she’s also not the awesome May we all know and love. Bad relationships twist people’s perceptions.
ONE - The Things That Go Unnoticed When You’re Focused Where You Shouldn’t Be
Peter stared at the peeling paint of his bedroom ceiling. He had come to an understanding somewhere in the last few hours that he couldn’t do this anymore. Mr. Stark had been asking him questions the last few months and had even gone as far as to corner Peter one day in the lab and tell him that he suspected that Peter was being abused. Mr. Stark was right, but Peter hadn’t confirmed that for him. He showed up at the tower bruised far too frequently for it go unnoticed he supposed.
“You know you can tell me anything, right kid? Whatever you need, I’m here.”
Peter narrowed his eyes at one particular piece of flaking paint that looked like it was ready to fall off the ceiling and hit him in the face. Peter knew Mr. Stark would be there for him. As soon as he had voiced his thoughts on what was going on at home for Peter, despite that Peter hadn’t confirmed it, Tony had cleared it with May for Peter to start spending weekends at the tower and also added Fridays to their lab day schedule. Fridays ended up being less of lab days and more of just hang out days, and Peter was grateful for that. The tower was the only place he felt like he could just be himself and not have to worry about Derek or homework or teachers getting on him for being late to school. That was all due to Tony, and Peter wondered if Tony would ever know just what it meant to him that he’d made the tower a safe place to be.
He heard a shuffle of feet in the hall beyond his closed door, and then the door to the bathroom open and close. It was only five thirty, so May wouldn’t be home from her nightshift yet, which meant it was Derek using the bathroom. Peter hoped he’d go back to sleep when he was done and leave him alone. He’d suffered enough of a beating last night and didn’t want to go to school this morning with even fresher bruises.
He listened for several minutes, heart beating hard until he heard the bathroom door open again and Derek shuffle away down the hall and back into his and May’s bedroom. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and returned to staring at the ceiling. “If something’s going on, I can help.” Tony had said that quite a few times in the last few weeks. “Whatever it is we’ll figure it out together.” He’d been prodding Peter again last night before Happy drove him home from his Monday lab day. Peter had been making it a point to stay as late as possible, and Mr. Stark and Happy had both noticed. Mr. Stark’s words had still been fresh on Peter’s mind when he’d walked in the door at 10:30 the night before to Derek’s sneer and angry words. “Think you can stay out until whenever you want you little shit? Your aunt works hard to put a roof over your head and you spend most of your time out with your friends.”
“I was at my internship.”
“Right, because your internship lasts until nine or ten at night. I don’t believe that rich asshole is working past five, which means you’re out with your friends screwing around until you decide to come home.”
Peter didn’t know why Derek cared where Peter was or what he did. He’d hated Peter from the moment he’d moved in with them and had made that pretty clear, so Peter thought the man would be happy (if anything) that Peter had made himself scarce. Peter wasn’t sure if May just hadn’t been around enough to see it, or if she didn’t understand what was going on, or if it was something else entirely. She was still sweet to him in the few minutes a day they saw of each other. She couldn’t have known what was going on. Mr. Stark’s words from last night had warred in his head with Derek’s shouts and cursing and putdowns as he punched Peter in the ribs, grabbed him by the arm and threw him into his room. Somewhere during the night the shouting match Peter had gotten into with Steve the night before also entered his mind, and mixed together with everything else. As a result he hadn’t slept at all.
“Isn’t it kind of late for him to be here on a school night Tony?” Steve asked. Peter and Mr. Stark had gone up to the Avenger’s kitchen and common room so they could grab a snack. It was late, but it annoyed Peter that Steve had brought it up because he really didn’t want to go home. The plan was to have a snack and then to meet Happy in the parking garage so he could take Peter back to Queens.
“Just grabbing a snack before he heads back to his aunt’s house,” Mr. Stark said, not looking up at Steve. He’d given a significant look to Peter then to grab something fast so they could go back to the lab and eat in peace.
“It’s nine,” Steve pressed, and made a show of looking at his watch. “You can’t keep him here this late. Won’t his family be worried?”
“It’s fine,” Peter ground out. He had pulled a bottle of juice out of the fridge and decided to forgo looking for an actual snack. He just wanted to go back to the lab with Tony. “I don’t have a curfew.”
Steve sighed heavily, not even looking at Peter, and instead directing his conversation to Mr. Stark again, like he’d done something wrong. “Tony, you’re the adult. You need to set some boundaries. This is irresponsible.”
Peter had already been on edge around the recently returned Rogue Avengers. They’d been back for a month and a half and Steve and Sam had been saying things like this whenever they caught sight of Peter with Mr. Stark. They acted like Mr. Stark was some sort of bad guy… like he’d brainwashed Peter into being against them and was a horrible person for bringing Spider Man to Germany in the first place. Peter hadn’t been against the Rogue Avengers at first… he’d been excited to meet them when Mr. Stark had first said they’d be coming back to live at the tower. It hadn’t taken long before Steve and Sam had started to grate on his nerves though. Peter didn’t have much of an opinion on Clint, Nat and Wanda because he had been trying to spend as little time around the other Avengers as possible, and they were usually quiet around him.
“You know what?” Peter turned, bottle of juice in hand, eyes narrowed at Steve. “I’m really not sure you’re one to talk about being responsible Captain.”
Finally Steve turned to him, like he’d just realized Peter was actually there and was capable of hearing him. “You should stay out of this son.” His voice had been terse and Peter’s heart had begun to race. He knew better than to argue with adults. Several months of living with Derek had taught him that.
“You want me to just stand here while you talk over me?”
“I want you to go home and spend time with your family and focus on what’s important.”
Already on edge about having to go home to face Derek, Peter’s irritation morphed to panic, and what came out was pure anger. “Yeah, well I want you to mind your own damn business!”
“Kid-” Tony had tried to step in, putting a hand out like he wanted to guide Peter back to the elevator and away from the situation, but Peter stepped around him and found himself standing toe to toe with Captain America. His chest was puffed out like he could actually do anything to the much taller, stronger man. Even though his face was hard set as he stared up into Steve’s steely blue eyes, his heart was beating erratically, because he had fully expected to get the shit kicked out of him.
“You don’t understand what’s going on here,” Steve said, staring down at him.
“I think the only one that doesn’t understand here is you. You’ve got your head shoved so far up your own patriotic a-” That was when Mr. Stark had grabbed Peter physically by the shoulders and moved him towards the elevator. Peter had clamped his mouth shut only because he realized that if Tony had pulled him away that he was working himself into a situation that wasn’t going to end well for him.
“I’d like to tell you to be the bigger person and ignore him,” Tony had told him after the elevator door closed and they began to rise back towards the lab.
“But?” Peter refused to look up at him, choosing to play with his fingers instead.
“But nothing. I know it’s hard to keep a lid on things sometimes. Just remember-” he paused and Peter finally looked up at him. “If something’s going on, I can help. Whatever it is we’ll figure it out together.”
Those were the words that had stuck with Peter throughout the night as he lay on top of his covers, ribs aching and bruised. “Whatever it is we’ll figure it out together.” They were the words that had made him decide he couldn’t do this alone anymore. He couldn’t keep coming back to the apartment to face Derek yelling at him and putting him down. He couldn’t keep coming back to fists and feet and bruises. He needed to tell May.
May had been so happy to have Derek living there with him. He was a paramedic and made good money. Not as much as May, but it was enough that they weren’t struggling anymore. May had been excited that they weren’t living paycheck to paycheck anymore and that she was finally able to buy Peter new clothes and say yes to things like field trips that cost money. Derek was the first guy she’d dated since Ben had died almost two years before. Peter wasn’t wholly against her dating, because he wanted her to be happy, but it was a harsh reminder having someone else around the house (specifically Derek) that Ben was gone and wasn’t coming back.
May was happy, or at least Peter believed she was, and so he had kept quiet. May had Derek, and Peter had Tony and Happy and the tower to escape to when things got particularly rough. Lately things had been rough for him more often than not though, and he was done.
He heard the lock in the front door sliding open, and then heard the squeak of the hinges as May came in and then shut the door behind her. She was fresh off a 12 hour night shift and would be headed to bed, but this was the only time Peter would get to talk to her.
He wasn’t quite sure what he expected… for her to throw Derek out maybe, or talk to him, or to comfort Peter about everything that had happened to him in the last few months. Having her just stare at him at his quiet proclamation of, “I can’t stay here with Derek anymore,” wasn’t it however.
May’s tired eyes searched Peter’s for a moment, and then she set her purse down on the table and sat down heavily. It was clear she was tired.
“Did- uh… did you hear what I said?” Peter asked, voice barely above a whisper.
“I heard you Peter. I’m not sure what to do though.”
Peter sat down in the chair across from her. “He’s been hurting me.”
May’s eyes roved to his face, then to his bare arms as if looking for bruises. Then they settled on his chest like she knew what was there. She didn’t even question that he was telling the truth. She knew. She’d known the whole time.
“I’m sorry,” she finally said. “He hasn’t- it’s just been bruises, right?”
Peter frowned. “He yells at me and hits me,” he said. He hated that his voice sounded every bit as betrayed as he felt at her for the way she was talking about it… like bruises were nothing.
“Peter-” she trailed away, eyes leaving his and coming to rest somewhere on the floor beside her. “We need the money honey. We were about to be evicted. I just can’t make enough to keep us in this apartment and keep us fed and the bills paid.”
“So you’re… you’re just staying with him for the money?” Peter questioned. He hadn’t ever considered that. He hadn’t considered that she might not actually be happy.
“No,” she said. “He makes me happy… I forgot what this was like… I forgot what it felt like. It feels like Ben’s still here.”
“But he’s not!” Peter said angrily, voice raising. “He’s not Ben! He’s awful! Ben was- he was-” Peter’s hero. He wasn’t perfect, but he had been kind and Peter had loved him for it. He couldn’t say he didn’t understand her though. Peter had felt a gaping Ben sized hole until he’d started spending time with Mr. Stark. Peter would never forget Ben, but Mr. Stark made him feel like Ben was still around… like Peter wasn’t completely alone. Now that he was talking to May though, he was starting to feel like May was gone… the old May anyway.
“I can’t May. I can’t do this anymore. I’m- teachers are starting to ask questions because I’m always late for school. Other people are starting to notice.” It was a weak excuse. The teachers hadn’t been asking questions, only getting upset with him for being late to his first class consistently. Mr. Stark had been asking though, and so had Happy. “He’s awful May- to me. He’s awful to me.”
“Is that right?”
Peter froze at the cold voice behind him, every hair on the back of his neck and arms standing straight up on end. He didn’t know why his spider sense hadn’t alerted him to Derek coming into the living room before now. He’d had his powers since the end of eighth grade, but he still sometimes struggled to figure out what his senses were telling him. Maybe it was because he had been on the verge of tears trying to get May to understand and was so desperately focused on that.
Peter’s senses screamed at him just before Derek strode forward and grabbed Peter by the back of his shirt, lifting him out of the chair.
“Pretty shitty thing to do if you ask me,” Derek breathed, “trying to break up a good relationship.”
Peter looked to May for help, but she only sat there, looking both exhausted and horrified.
“Derek, I’ll deal with him,” she said.
Derek let go of Peter’s shirt, but he didn’t move away. Peter’s senses screamed at him again, but he didn’t duck out of the way when Derek’s fist came up and connected with his eye. Peter’s head snapped back at the blow, and he was too dazed to realize another blow was following the first until he’d been hit again in the mouth.
“Honey! I’ve got him! I’ll take care of this!” May was shouting and had put herself between Peter and Derek, but Peter’s head was swimming and so was his vision because his eyes were full of tears.
“Fine,” Derek said. “I’ve got work in an hour.”
He moved off and May took Peter’s shoulder and pushed him gently backwards into the chair he’d been pulled out of a minute before.
“May-” Peter said, bottom lip trembling. She pushed a napkin to his face since his bottom lip was split and bleeding.
“Peter, you have to go.”
“I can’t go to school looking like this,” he said, misunderstanding.
“No. You need to go stay with Ned or MJ.”
“For how long? How long will it take him to get his stuff out?” Peter asked, reaching up to hold the napkin to his lip.
“He’s not leaving. You are.”
Peter looked up at her. Her face was set in a grimace, but she looked like she’d made up her mind and there was no way Peter was going to change it. “Wh- what?”
“You need to go Peter. Like you said, you can’t stay here anymore with him.” She paused for a beat. “And he’s staying.”
“B- but it’s our apartment!” Peter stood up, wobbled for a moment on his feet because his head was swimming, and then found his balance. “You can just tell him to go! I can tell him to go!”
“I don’t want him to go honey.”
Peter stared at her, mouth hanging open. He let his hand fall, the napkin coming away from his lip covered in blood. “You want me to go?” he asked in a whisper.
She shot him a sorry look. “I don’t want you to go, but you need to.”
“But- for how long?” his voice cracked as he asked it. He knew Ned’s parents would have no problem putting him up for a few nights, or even a week, but beyond that? His mind flickered immediately to Mr. Stark and his promise that he’d be there to help him with whatever he needed, but having a place to go didn’t make it hurt any less that he was being thrown out of his home or that it was May who was telling him to leave.
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Peter tightly for the space of three seconds, and then stepped back. She went around him to her purse and started digging through it. She came out with all the money she had in her purse. Peter didn’t know how much it was, and just stood there feeling numb as she pressed the money into his hands.
“This is what I can give you sweetie. You’re on your own after this. I’m sorry.” She had tears in her eyes as she took her purse and went to her bedroom and shut the door heavily. She hadn’t answered his question about how long he had to leave for and he realized it was because there wasn’t an answer he would like. Forever. He couldn’t come back.
The sound of Derek in the bathroom turning on the shower spurred Peter into action. He went back into his room and began pulling clothes out of his dresser and stuffing them into the empty duffle bag he pulled out from under his bed. He shoved all of his homework and textbooks into his school bag along with his spider suit, and the few pictures of May and Ben he had along with it. There were other things he’d like to take, but for now this would have to do. His plan was simple: get to Mr. Stark. He had a room on the Avengers levels that already had some clothes and a couple books, though he rarely used that room now that the Avengers were back. More often than not he stayed in a guest room in the penthouse with Mr. Stark and Miss Potts.
When he stepped out of his room, duffle bag in hand and backpack slung over his shoulder, he almost bumped into Derek, who had come out of the bathroom still toweling off his hair. Derek grinned down at him but didn’t say anything. He looked smug, like he’d won the lottery and this was the best day of his life.
Peter moved around him, wanting to get out of arm’s reach as quickly as possible, and made for the door. He wanted to say goodbye to May, but he was focused on one goal at the moment, which was getting out of the apartment and away from Derek.
It wasn’t until he was down on the street that he let his confusion and the ache of sadness in his chest wash over him again. It had all happened so fast and he wasn’t entirely sure of what all had been said. May had wanted him to leave, but seemed sorry to see him go. She said she was sorry he’d been beaten, and had stepped in between him and Derek and got him to stop hitting Peter, but she wasn’t willing to kick Derek out and had sent Peter away instead. She’d given Peter some money, like she cared that he had funds for food or whatever, but hadn’t confirmed with him where he was going. Everything was so contradictory that he wondered if he was actually dreaming… passed out in his room on the floor maybe from the beating he’d received the night before.
He stared up at the apartment building, face etched with anger and heart aching. If he waited for just a moment longer, maybe May would come out… she’d come running down the stairs and out to the sidewalk to tell him she’d changed her mind… that she’d been confused and hadn’t understood the situation. She didn’t come though, and after several minutes, Peter walked away towards the subway station on the familiar path he took to school every day.
His feet carried him down into the subway without him having to think about where he was going, though once he was on the subway he remembered that he couldn’t go to school looking like this when he looked up and found several people looking at his face.
“You ok?” a woman asked him from across the aisle.
“Fine,” he murmured.
“Do you need me to call someone?”
He shook his head and bit his lip, trying to keep tears from welling up in his eyes again. Usually the person he would call was May.
He got off the subway a few blocks down and used his transit card to catch a bus towards the tower. His emotions were flip flopping back and forth between hurt and angry, and in a fit of anger he pulled out his phone and deleted May’s number right there. He couldn’t rely on her anymore, so it didn’t make sense to have her number. He pocketed his phone again right before he got off the bus. This phone was on May’s cell plan. He’d have to ask Mr. Stark to pay for a new plan or else ask him to give him some work so he could earn the money for a new cell plan himself.
Peter had to walk the last three blocks from the bus stop to the tower. While he walked, he reached into his pocket to look at the wad of bills May had thrust into his hand an hour earlier. There were a few twenties, a fifty, some tens, a couple fives and seven ones. Altogether he had $197. He wondered what May had planned to spend this on. She never carried cash with her in case they got robbed. Or at least, that’s what he’d thought after Ben had been mugged and gunned down in the street for the thirty six dollars and seventeen cents he had on him. Now that he thought about it, Peter thought May might not have ever carried cash because she didn’t have money to spare. That had changed since Derek had entered the picture.
Peter went around to the back of the tower and entered through the parking garage. He had clearance to pass security if he went in through the front, but he’d rather not with his black eye and busted lip. He hadn’t even brushed his hair that morning and was still wearing his clothes from the day before. Going in through the private parking garage under the tower and up through the private elevator he usually took seemed like the best option.
All the way up through the tower, Peter tapped his foot on the floor, stomach filling with anxiety and nerves. “FRIDAY, where’s Mr. Stark?”
“Boss is at a meeting across town.”
Peter deflated and stopped tapping his foot. He’d have to wait for him to return. He didn’t want to text him or call him when this wasn’t exactly an emergency and interrupt his meeting. His best option was to head to the Avengers levels and go to his room. He could take a shower and then collapse on his bed and get some sleep since he hadn’t slept at all the night before. Then Mr. Stark would come back from his meeting and help Peter figure out what to do next. It was a good plan.
The elevator door opened to the Avenger’s common room and kitchen, and Peter was aware immediately that all eyes were on him. Not everyone was present, but the few that were didn’t look happy to see him. Oh. Right. Because I opened my big mouth the night before and yelled at Captain freaking America. His face heated up a little and he kept his head down as he stepped out and turned left, planning on going straight down the hall and to his room.
Before he made it to the entrance to the hall that led to several bedrooms and a smaller living room and gear room, Steve said tersely from the kitchen, “It’s a school day, you need to go to school.”
“I need to see Mr. Stark,” Peter said, pausing.
“Not on a school day,” Steve said. “You’re not supposed to be here unless it’s Monday or Wednesday.” Peter wondered at that for a moment. Mr. Stark must not have told them that Peter came on FRIDAY nights and stayed the weekend most weeks. Then again, those days were usually spent up in the penthouse with Tony and Pepper, and not in the Avengers levels or Tony’s lab. A couple of weekends ago Mr. Stark had even taken Peter on a little road trip up to the Avenger’s Compound to do some training.
Peter decided to just ignore him and continue to the hallway. He’d be hungry all day if he couldn’t come out to grab a bite to eat because Steve and other Avengers were out here, but he’d manage. He’d just go to his room and lock his door and sleep.
“Whoa,” Sam said, stepping out in front of him to block his path with his hands up. “Cap just told you to go to school. You need to go. You’re not allowed to be here if it’s not a lab day.”
“I have a room and I’m going to it,” Peter said, trying to move around him.
“You have a room but you don’t live here,” came Cap’s irritated voice behind him. Peter turned to look at his angry face, and then he let his eyes scan the rest of the room. It was clear the rest of the Avengers had just woken up recently since it was still early. Nat and Clint just stared at him from the couch where they’d been drinking coffee when Peter came in, and Wanda was doing the same from one of the arm chairs. They didn’t glare or look mad like Steve did, but their looks all told him the same thing: you don’t belong.
He felt numb for long moments, until Steve spoke again. “Go to school Peter. You spend too much time here as it is. You don’t need to miss school too.”
Anger flared in him like it had the night before and his eyes flashed up to meet Steve’s. “Fuck you Spangles.” Tony wasn’t there, but for just a moment it felt like he was. Then the feeling was gone, and Peter put his head down and hurried to the elevator, breathing hard.
He ignored the looks he was being given as the elevator door closed, and he slumped back against the elevator wall. He should have kept his mouth shut. It was hard when Steve was always pissed at him though… or at Mr. Stark. Most of the time Steve looked irritated to see Peter there but didn’t say anything to him. If Peter had kept his mouth shut the night before, he might have been able to get into his room now.
“Peter, would you like me to take you to another floor?” FRIDAY asked.
Peter ignored the AI for a moment, trying to control his breathing. After long moments he mumbled with a shaky voice, “No… the parking garage I guess.”
The elevator started its slow descent down through the tower and Peter let himself slide down the elevator wall to sit on his rear end, his knees up in front of him. Dang it. This wasn’t going to work! Tears welled up in his eyes again. There was nothing for him here, and as much as he wanted it to be, the tower would never be home… not with the Rogues living there. Mr. Stark had said he would help him, but Mr. Stark wasn’t here, and now that aunt May had just thrown him out like he didn’t mean a thing to her, he was afraid that Mr. Stark would do the same.
The Avengers were important. Peter wasn’t… not in the long run. He was Spider Man, but he wasn’t part of the team, so when it came to big things like Hydra, or aliens or other world-ending threats, Peter wasn’t important. The world needed the Avengers, they didn’t need Peter, and Mr. Stark would know that. It had taken a full year after the fight in Germany to get the team back together, and he didn’t think Mr. Stark would risk the team splitting up again over letting Peter stay at the tower.
He felt the elevator slow and then come to a stop, though the doors didn’t open up to the parking garage since Peter was sitting against the wall away from the door. “FRIDAY?”
“Yes Peter.”
“Tell Mr. Stark I’m sorry.”
“What should I tell him you’re sorry for?”
“Just… sorry.”
He swiped his arm across his eyes and pushed himself up and then dragged himself out of the elevator and into the parking garage. Once he was out of the elevator he just stood there though, not certain where to go.
Going to ask Mr. Stark for help had been his one and only plan, because for these last few months Mr. Stark had been his lifeline… a life preserver thrown out to keep him afloat in stormy waters. He didn’t have that now, and he couldn’t think of anyone else to keep him afloat either. Ned was great… Ned was amazing, but Ned was only 15 like he was. There was no way Ned could hide him in his room and no way his parents would take him for more than a week. Peter would end up living on the streets or going to CPS. Both of those options felt like they would mean the end to going to Midtown for him. Going to Midtown hadn’t been awesome for the last few months because he’d been struggling to keep his grades up and because Flash had been worse than ever, but it had still been important to Peter to go. He wanted to graduate and go to MIT like Mr. Stark had.
If he was going to lose Midtown too, then there really was nothing left for him here in the city.
Peter looked down at his green duffle bag. He didn’t know where he was going, but there was no way he could travel with two bags like this. He knelt down and took his backpack off and started to empty it out. He took out his books, school supplies and photos and set them on the ground and then opened the duffle bag and started stuffing clothes into the backpack. Two pairs of pants, socks and underwear, and five t-shirts. That’s all that fit. He pulled on his hoodie so he could keep that with him, hood up over his head, and then stuffed everything else that was sitting on the ground into the duffle bag, including his spider suit. He stared at the three pictures he had of his family. All three were of him and May and Ben out doing things together as a family… as a family that didn’t exist for him anymore. He put those in the duffle bag too and stood up. He shouldered his backpack again, picked up the duffle bag, and then walked to the wall with Mr. Stark’s most expensive sports cars all lined up. He stuffed the duffle bag between the hood of one of the cars and the concrete wall and then turned for the entrance to the parking garage.
Mr. Stark had promised he’d help him, but he wasn’t here to do it. It didn’t matter anyway, because even if he was, it was a promise he’d never be able to keep because of the Avengers.
As Peter headed for the entrance that would dump him out into the busy city, he swiped his arm across his eyes again. He would have to be his own life preserver now.
* * *
Tony stared down at the screen of his Stark Tablet as Happy drove them back to the tower. It had been a long and unpleasant day. He and Happy had attended a meeting that morning with several overworked and underpaid individuals that seemed more interested in asking him questions about Stark Industries and the Avengers than what he’d actually gone to talk to them about. They’d promised him by the end of the two hour meeting that they were on the case, but he wasn’t optimistic that they would do anything to rectify the situation.
After that he’d had three other business meetings to attend, and a business lunch with the head of a company Pepper was trying to set up a merger with. He couldn’t keep his mind on actual work though when his mind kept flickering back to the stack of papers he’d handed over that morning in a manilla envelope to CPS.
It was clear to him and Happy (and to Rhodey and Pepper as well) that something was going on with the kid. Tony had suspected abuse at home for a long time, though Peter had assured him time and again that May would never hurt him. Tony didn’t know what to think because several months prior he’d started to see a change in Peter. The usually rambunctious teenager who rambled on about topics like Star Wars, Legos, and any variety of science and engineering topics that interested him, had grown quieter and quieter as the weeks wore on. He’d started to flinch when someone moved too quickly near him, and Tony and Happy had started noticing bruises.
Tony could never collect anything concrete to verify that Peter was getting hurt at home and Peter had refused to corroborate that that was what was actually happening. He had never outright denied it either except to say that May would never hurt him. Tony knew from his own investigation that May’s boyfriend was living with them though, and Peter had never said a word about him other than that Derek was a paramedic.
Without concrete evidence, Tony and Happy had set out to gather as much information and evidence as they could. They’d started keeping track of the bruises they saw on Peter. Some of the bruises were from Peter going out as Spider Man, but others he couldn’t give Tony an answer for, and those Tony wrote down. He had pages of notes on injuries alone. He finally felt like he had enough to take to the authorities who could do an actual investigation and question Peter while he was at school. He only hoped they did their job. Peter wouldn’t tell Tony the truth, but he was hopeful Peter would tell the police and CPS if they asked him about it.
“You hear from him yet today?” Happy asked from the front of the car.
“No. I texted him a few minutes ago.”
On the days when Peter wasn’t at the tower, Tony texted him after school to check in with him and again before bed. School had let out an hour ago and Peter had yet to text him back.
“He’s probably patrolling.”
“He hasn’t been out that much recently,” Tony said. That was another concerning thing, one of many. Peter had also become more easily riled. It was pretty much agreed on by almost everyone that met him that he was the sweetest, most polite kid on the planet, but recently he’d been easy to rile up. Tony had been just as shocked as the rest of the team the night before when Peter had cursed at Cap. Not that Steve hadn’t deserved it, but hearing Peter lash out like that had been a shock. Happy hadn’t even believed Tony when he’d told him about it that morning on their way to the meeting with CPS.
Tony sighed as they pulled into the parking garage under the tower. He needed to check in with Clint and Nat who had both sent him several texts that morning that he hadn’t even been able to look at because he was busy, get something to eat, and then go to his lab and have FRIDAY track Peter down. If he was wearing his suit, she would be able to connect with Karen and tell him where he was.
As soon as Tony stepped into the elevator, FRIDAY said, “There are several messages waiting for you boss. Would you like me to play them?”
“In a few minutes FRIDAY.”
She chirped to let him know she’d understood the command. There were always messages waiting for him when he got back to the tower after being out for an extended period of time. Everything from Pepper telling him about forms he needed to sign, to Avengers wanting his attention. He bet half the messages were probably from Nat and Clint.
The elevator opened to the Avenger’s common room a few minutes later, and Tony stepped out. Wanda was the only one in the room.
“Do you know where Clint and Nat are?” he asked.
“The training room,” she said. “Did you get their messages?”
He shook his head. “No, I haven’t read them yet. That’s why I came up.”
“Peter was here this morning.”
He frowned and looked up at that. “He was? Why?”
Steve came out of the hallway and said, “He was trying to skip school.”
Tony turned to him with a frown. “That doesn’t sound like Peter.” Then again, the kid had been doing a lot of things recently that was out of character for him. “The kid has straight A’s. I doubt he’d skip school unless there was a good reason.”
Steve scoffed and turned away from him.
“Something was wrong,” Wanda said. Tony turned back to her to ask what she meant, but didn’t get a chance because the elevator doors slid open again and Clint and Nat stepped out.
“Tony,” Nat said, and the edge to her voice drew his eyes away from Wanda. “You didn’t answer your phone or respond to our messages.”
“I’ve been in meetings all day. I haven’t seen them yet.”
“Something was wrong with Peter,” Nat said.
Tony’s heart started beating erratically as anxiety crept up his chest and into his throat. That was the second person in under a minute to say that to him. “What’s wrong with him? What do you mean?”
“He showed up this morning with a split lip and black eye. He asked about you and then tried to get to his room, but-” Clint trailed away.
“But what?” Tony asked, voice urgent. “Where is he?”
“We don’t know. Cap made him leave.”
Tony wondered if his face had gone pale then because he felt lightheaded. He spun to look at Steve. “You did what now?”
“I told him to go to school, where he should be.”
“He asked for me and you sent him away?”
“To school,” Steve reiterated. “He doesn’t need to be here on a school day.”
“Excuse me, please remind me again whose tower this is? Because it’s not yours, and you have no right to send people away.”
Steve frowned at him and heaved a loud sigh. “Tony-”
“No, wait a minute here,” Tony held up a hand towards him, not caring that he interrupted. “My kid shows up injured and asking for me, and you just turn him away?”
“That’s what happened,” Clint said.
“He’s not your kid,” Steve huffed.
“FRIDAY, call Peter,” Tony said, tone angry and biting.
“Peter’s phone appears to be off.”
“Swear to God Cap, if he’s lying dead out there somewhere because you sent him away-”
“His face was bruised. He didn’t look like he had any major injuries.”
“You wouldn’t know if he did! You didn’t even ask!”
“He was probably out doing something as Spider Man.”
“You’re an idiot!”
Wanda, Nat, and Clint were watching the two of them go back and forth, but were staying quiet. Tony was surprised they hadn’t jumped in on Steve’s side already. He looked up and found Steve staring at him, a little stunned that Tony had shouted. Tony usually used sarcasm and witty remarks with a biting tone if he wanted to argue with someone. He rarely ever raised his voice or shouted. “He didn’t get hurt as Spider Man, he got the shit beat out of him at home!”
He raised both hands up to his neck, then pushed them up through the back of his hair and dropped them again.
“He’s being hurt at home?” Clint’s voice was quiet… pained. Tony turned to him and nodded.
“How do you know the injuries weren’t from patrolling?”
“Because I know. Happy and I have been working on the kid for three months trying to get him to admit it.”
“So you have no proof. And if you suspected, why didn’t you let the authorities deal with it?” Cap asked.
Tony was so angry he was shaking. “We’ve been collecting proof, proof which we took to CPS this morning! I can’t believe that you saw him last night without bruises, and then he came in this morning with bruises on his face and you didn’t ask him about it!”
He turned back to Nat and Clint. “Do you know where he went?”
They shook their heads.
“Boss.”
“Not now FRIDAY,” he snapped.
“Boss.”
“What?!” The room was dead silent in the wake of him shouting again. He never shouted at his AI.
“Peter left a message for you this morning before leaving the tower.”
Tony’s mind stopped racing so suddenly he couldn’t recall what FRIDAY had just said to him for a moment. “Play it.”
Peter’s shaking voice began playing over the speakers in the ceiling. It sounded like he might have been crying. “Tell Mr. Stark I’m sorry.”
“What should I tell him you’re sorry for?” FRIDAY’s voice from that morning played as well.
“Just… sorry.”
The recording ended, and Tony’s heart started to beat irregularly again like it did when he was really stressed out. “FRIDAY, where’s the rest of it?”
“That is the entirety of the message boss.”
“Any idea where he went when he left the tower?”
“Peter left some of his belongings in the parking garage. He appeared to be distressed when he left. Outside cameras show him boarding city bus M98 five minutes after he departed.”
“He probably went to school and then home,” Steve said, though his voice was now tinged with worry that hadn’t been there before. Tony wondered if he actually cared about Peter or if he was worried only because everyone else in the room seemed to be.
Tony ignored him and said, “FRIDAY, show me. Show me everything from this morning.”
The huge flat screen TV in the living room turned on and everyone turned to look at it. Peter was in the elevator moving up through the tower. He looked exhausted. The doors opened a moment later and they watched Peter trying to cross through the common area to his room, only for Steve and Sam to stop him.
“Go to school Peter. You spend too much time here as it is. You don’t need to miss school too.”
“Fuck you Spangles.”
It was something Tony would have said… something he’d thought in his head a dozen times in the last couple of months as Steve and the others tried to reintegrate into life at the tower. It wasn’t something he expected from Peter though. The little flare of anger the kid had was gone as quickly as it had come. He hurried back into the elevator, and Tony’s heart ached as he watched Peter sink to the elevator floor in despair. He didn’t even get up to leave the elevator when it stopped at the parking garage.
“FRIDAY?”
“Yes Peter.”
“Tell Mr. Stark I’m sorry.”
“What should I tell him you’re sorry for?”
“Just… sorry.”
He swiped his arm across his eyes and Tony was washed with anger, worry and anxiety, all mingling inside him and fighting for space.
The video feed showed Peter separating out his things and leaving them in the parking garage behind one of Tony’s cars, and then wiping his eyes again and walking out.
“He left his suit. Tony, he left his suit.” Clint sounded worried.
Tony didn’t answer. He’d seen, and was just as worried as Clint at the implications. Peter loved being Spider Man, and never went anywhere without his suit. He always kept it on underneath his clothes or kept it in his bag, or even in his locker at school.
“He didn’t give it away,” Nat said. “That’s a good thing. It looked more like he was tucking it away for safekeeping.”
Tony ignored her and strode to the elevator, though he was cataloging what she’d said and his heart wasn’t beating as hard as it had been a few moments before.
“Where are you going?” Clint asked.
“To see May Parker.”
Then he was gone, leaving the team staring after him.
NOTES: Where do you think Peter went? Let me know what you think so far. I love hearing from readers.