To Us, You're Worth Everything

Tony huffed as he looked at the screens in front of him. He had been studying Spider-Man’s movements to try and create a smaller area of where he might live. While he frequented Queens, he was also seen other places. Implying that while Queens had some kind of value to him, it wasn’t where he was staying.

“Come on kid, give me something.”

Running his hands down his face, he pulled up the schematics for Spider-Man's suit. He had debated on putting a tracker in the kid's suit when he made it, but he had made a promise not to look into who the kid was outside the mask. However, that had been before learning about the kid's life away from the team. 

There was no way he could continue to keep that promise. 

Spider-Man was a good kid, and didn't deserve whatever was going on at home. He'd find a way to track the kid, then take him out of wherever he was. It wouldn't be easy to prove abuse, not given when he had watched the wounds on Wanda's back fade completely. No doubt there wasn't an actual mark on him. 

No, he'd have to find some other way to get the boy out. 

First though, he'd have to find the kid.

It wasn't a good sign that his phone call had been ignored and the phone shut off.

Spreading his hands apart, the Spider-Man suit split into various aspects and parts. He studied the suit, then got to work on the upgrade that would include the new tracker.

"FRI?"

"Yes Boss?"

"Play my 'Long Night' playlist and let's get busy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter cracked his eyes open as the sun filtered in through the blindless and curtainless window. There was never any option to sleep in when your room faced the rising sun.

Yawning, he threw the thin blanket off his body, ignoring his dirty feet and sheets. He had become accustomed to finding them that way in the past two months. As quietly as he could, he tiptoed to the door while pulling on a pair of jeans, vaguely registering the fact he had went to bed with pants on and woken without them. He pulled at his shirt, unsure how it had managed to turn itself around backwards. He had also become accustomed to this occurrence as well, though it was never as often as his dirty feet.

He didn't bother trying to explain it anymore. It didn't really matter. 

His body ached, the way it always did after receiving a beating. It hadn't always, but he had noticed it recently. He had decided his body had chosen to protect the only side of him that was worth anything, Spider-Man. 

Still, before being tossed into foster care, because he refused to think of it as before May's passing, Peter hadn't been a morning kid. He would stumble into things and couldn't form complete sentences for a solid ten minutes. 

It had never been a problem, until it was.

Being with the Matthews meant he had to be on top of his game at all times. Even sleeping, he had trained himself to be alert to any strange sounds that might suggest they were about to come get him.

Pressing his ear to the door, he focused his heighten sense of hearing to listen throughout the house. He could hear the steady heartbeats of Kent and Kathy, indicating they were still asleep.

Sighing in relief, Peter slipped out of his sleep shirt and into a new one. The jeans nor the shirt were clean exactly. He had worn them two days in a row at this point, but he hadn't been home alone where he could wash them. Kathy didn't like him using any of their appliances, and she sure wasn't going to wash his clothes. He had once used the laundry mat down the street, but when a friend of Kathy's had entered to wash a large comforter, he had decided not to risk it again. He was lucky she hadn't seen him. No doubt Kathy would have made him regret it.

Sniffing under the arms, he sighed in relief. They were fine for another day, but he needed to figure out something soon. He was already disliked at his school, he didn't need to add smell to that as well.

Sometimes he wondered how no one had caught on to his clothing and hygiene situation yet. Then again, what did it matter? It wasn't like anyone cared enough. Given his hop from home to home, most people thought Peter was just a problem child who refused to take care of himself.

Kathy and Kent had no problem letting or encouraging people to think it was true.

Then again, he should take care of himself. Maybe if he had done more to be independent, someone would have wanted him.

Maybe he should try to figure out a way to get a job. He'd have to lie about his age, and figure out a way to not get caught. He wasn't quite sure how things would go over if he was found out.

Grabbing his bookbag, he carefully made his way down the hall and towards the front door. His stomach rumbled, begging for breakfast, but Peter didn't stop. Kathy had told him he could stand to lose some weight. Peter knew he didn't need to be skipping meals. Skipping meals made Spider-Man slow, and New York needed him. It was the only think Peter never felt guilty for. Thankfully, for some reason he always seemed to find a little more food on his plate than what he noticed on the other kids. 

Shutting the front door as quietly as he could, he locked it and began the long walk to school.

He hated his school. 

Despite it being public, the student body was full of kids whose parents had money to waste. They hated Peter with his dirty backpack and worn-out clothes. Still, Peter had always been on the poor side, so he was used to it. Even when he was accepted to Midtown, there was still a class difference between him and most of his peers. No, worse than the hate over his appearance, was the hate over his intellect.

Peter Parker was smart.

He had always been at the top of his classes, not that it did him any good here. Never before had he hated the fact that he was smart. It didn't make him feel good to gets A's on tests. All his good grades did was make him a bigger target for bullying. He had often thought he should just quit trying, but he couldn't do it. Without even thinking about it, he always answered correctly. He couldn't even fail right. No wonder no one liked him.

Sometimes, he even wondered how Ned or MJ had stood him.

Maybe they really didn't. Maybe they were just kind enough to show him pity.

Dropping his head, Peter entered his school. He tried so hard to remain unnoticed, but it never seemed to work.

"Hey asshole!"

Peter looked up just in time to catch a fist to the eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pietro stared longingly at his wrist. Not having touched Spider-Man, his mark was still the same as it always had been. it was strange for Wanda's mark to be different from his after all this time.

"Don't worry." Wanda smiled, sitting next to her brother. "Soon, he'll be safe with us and all our marks will match."

"Not soon enough." he frowned, noting the bruise beginning to surround Wanda's left eye.

She sighed as she ran her fingers over the matching bruise on her brother's eye.

"Hey kids what-what happened to your eyes?" Clint shouted as he rushed over to inspect the twin's faces.

"Nothing. We're fine." Wanda tried to sooth the worried archer.

"I take it the kid's not doing to well." Tony frowned, joining Clint in looking the twins over.

“No.” Wanda said, looking down to hide the wetness of her eyes.

“Do you have any leads?” Pietro asked, looking up at Tony.

“Not yet kid, but I've got a plan. Hopefully it works."

"What's going on here?" Clint demanded, looking between the twins and Tony. 

He had become quite protective of the siblings since bringing them back with them from Sokovia. He felt responsible for them, despite the protective nature the rest of the team had shown them. To not know what was going on bothered him greatly.

"I'll let you two handle this. I've got a spider-kid to find." Tony grinned at the twin's hopeful faces before turning and leaving the common room, hoping he looked more confident than he actually was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iron Man looked out over New York as he flew overhead. FRIDAY was scanning the area in hopes of finding the familiar arachnid hero. He had waited anxiously all day for the time he knew the kid normally patrolled. 

"Any luck baby girl?"

"No Boss. Spider-Man has not been detected."

"Come on kid. I know you haven't skipped patrol....." At least Tony hoped he hadn't. He didn't want to think about what could keep the kid away.

"Boss. I am in contacting range of KAREN's operating system. Shall I proceed to his location?"

"Take the wheel, my dear."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter sighed as he ended his swing and sat down on the rooftop. The night was pretty much a waste. He had been unable to leave Kathy and Kent's watchful eye until well after his usual time to leave. By now he would have covered a lot more ground, but he was just going to have to settle to what was going on close by. It limited his chances of catching the mysterious individual who had been enacting an extremely violent, bloody, deadly brand of vigilante justice. 

At first, he had wondered if Frank Castle had returned to town. Low-key research hadn't turned up anything though. Deadpool hadn't been seen in months either, but he wasn't usually discreet when dealing with street thugs.

Maybe it would be better if someone reached out to the Avengers for help. They would have a better chance, but the police force was adamant they could handle it. Peter was positive the Avengers were aware of the situation, no doubt prepared to take action if the attacks continued.

They are becoming harder and harder to write off as just a normal serial killer.

"Peter."

"Yeah KAREN?" Peter asked, looking down into the alley below him.

"Tony Stark is inbound."

"What?" Peter shouted, jumping up and looking around for the red and gold suit. "KAREN! I need the fastest route away!"

"Not recommended, Peter. FRIDAY has detected you and is quickly approaching your location. Unless you can outrun the Iron Man suit, it would be a waste to try to leave. You have been spotted."

Peter panicked as he could see Tony getting closer. This wasn't good at all! He had decided he would no longer have contact with any of the Avengers anymore. He should never have let his guard down. He had already told himself he'd find a way to secretly return the suit Tony made him and go back to using his sweatsuit. Sure, Tony's suit was amazing and leagues above what he had, but it would be one more way to distance himself. He had never really deserved it anyway.

"Hey kid." Tony greeted, landing in front of him and raising his faceplate. "Here we are, a year later and I still have trouble finding you when you're out. You'd think a kid swinging around in a bright red and blue suit would be easy to track down."

Peter doesn't respond, they both knew the real reason Tony couldn't find him.

He wasn't supposed to unless it was Avengers' business..

"Got a gift for you." Tony grinned, holding out a silver suitcase Peter hadn't noticed he was carrying.

"What....." Peter started, unsure of how to finish. He didn't want to seem ungrateful, but he also didn't want any gifts from the man. 

He needed to get away.

"I can't stand getting an idea and not seeing it through." Tony shrugged. "Got a new idea for a suit for you and want you to give it a run for a few nights. Give me some feedback."

Peter swallowed hard, his pulse quickening.

"Peter," KAREN's voice filled his ear. "Your vitals are rising at a concerning rate. Shall I alert FRIDAY to let Mr. Stark know?"

"No!" Peter shouted.

Tony blinked in surprise at his outburst.

"Kid I-"

"Not you Mr. Stark!" Peter stumbled over himself. "I was talking to KAREN."

Tony raised as eyebrow, studying the kid's posture.

"You ok, kid?"

"I-I'm fine. Umm....not to sound rude Mr. Stark, but you didn't need to make me a new suit. This one is great." Peter said, grimacing internally as he spoke.

He couldn't believe he was talking back to Tony Stark.

"I know it's great, I made it." Tony smirked, hoping to relax the boy before him. It was easy to tell the vigilante was warring between fight or flight.

It concerned Tony greatly.

Spider-Man had never acted like he was afraid to be around the team, even less so to be around him. This Spider-Man though, this Spider-Man was starting to panic.

"But, I also like to improve. This isn't my first Iron Man suit, Spidey. I improve my own all the time. Making a better one for you was second nature. So, how about you take this case so I can stop standing here holding it."

Peter looked between Tony and the case. He wanted so bad to open it and see what new idea Tony had come up with, but he also knew he couldn't. Taking the suit would only make things worse. He already had to return the one he had.

"You're making me self-conscious here kid." Tony said, raising an eyebrow.

Swallowing hard, Peter reached out and took the case. He would just have to return both suits at once.

However he managed to do that.

"Th-Thank you Mr. Stark."

"Don't thank me yet kid, I want you to try it out first."

"Ri-right now?"

Tony chuckled at his surprised tone.

"No. Put it on next time you go out as Spider-Man. Once the suit is on, KAREN will connect automatically I'll want a full report on how it goes."

"Y-yes sir." Peter stumbled, pulling the case closer to him. "I-I really should be getting back........home." Peter said, wincing at the word.

He hadn't had a home since May died.

"Alright kid. Take care getting home and all that other responsible adult jargon."

"Ok, Mr. Stark." Peter nodded. "I-I will."

Giving a nod, Tony went to lower the suits faceplate before stopping.

"Seriously kid, be careful. Somethings going on out here and I know you're on the streets more than us. Call if you need backup."

With that, the faceplate closed and Iron Man flew off towards the tower.

Peter watched until the suit was out of sight before dropping to his knees. He lifted his mask up over his nose as he sucked in large gulps of air, desperate to stave off the oncoming panic. Tears rolled down his face, soaking his mask and leaving itching trails down his cheeks as they dried.

"Peter?" KAREN's voice filtered through his ears. "Your vitals are rising, should I connect with FRIDAY?"

"No! No, please don't!" Peter whimpered. "I-I just need a minute."

"Very well, Peter."

The tears continued to flow as he clung to the silver case.

A new suit. 

Mr. Stark had spent time to make a brand-new Spider-Man suit for him. He didn't do anything to deserve it. He hadn't done anything to deserve the first one either, but Mr. Stark had been adamant that he had to take the suit in order to work alongside him. He had also threatened to try to find out who he was if he didn't agree. He had continued by explaining how much safer he would be if he took the suit, and that that was the real reason behind giving it to him. While the threat to find him hadn't been serious in the slightest, Peter had panicked and agreed to the suit.

Despite his better judgement, he couldn't stop the small flicker of joy at the thought of someone caring about his well-being. Though he quickly stomped the thought down by reminding himself that Tony just couldn't afford for him to get seriously hurt and have to deal with the bad publicity.

Still, he felt guilty every time he put it on. He didn't deserve it. It was way to nice for his dirty body to wear.

He wished he had a way to wash it right before he gave it back. He hated how it was going to stink with sweat and grime.

"Peter," KAREN spoke. "I would recommend you return to the Matthews to avoid detection."

"Th-Thanks KAREN." Peter sniffed. "Give...give me the fastest route back."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter let out a breath as he slipped into his room, the steady sounds of Kathy and Kent's breathing letting him know they were still asleep.

Looking at the silver case still in his hand, Peter bit his lip and removed his mask. He wanted so bad to try it on now, but it was late, and he needed to get some sleep.

Before May had passed, weekends had always been a blessing. He was allowed to lay around and enjoy doing nothing.

Those days were long gone though.

The weekends meant work in the Matthews' house. Well, it meant work for Peter.

With any luck, Kathy and Kent would have plans and be gone all day, allowing Peter time to catch up on some personal business.

Sighing, he slid the case under his bed and removed his suit. He tucked it under the mattress with the phone Mr. Stark had given him, then climbed into bed.

There was no reason to try on the suit anyway. Peter wouldn't be teaming up with the Avengers ever again. Teaming up brought him to close to Wanda....and most likely Pietro Maximoff. While he hadn't made contact with the male twin, the chance was very high that he was his soulmate as well.

Soulmates. His soulmates were two Avengers. Two Avengers got stuck being connected to him.

He was going to disappoint two soulmates, but it was better for them and himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony took a breath as he brought Wanda and Pietro into the lab.

"FRI, bring me up a map of the city."

"Yes, Boss."

The three watched as a hologram of the city appeared before them.

"Alright kiddies." Tony smiled. "As soon as our little spider tries on the suit, we'll have his location."

"Thank you for doing this. We know he didn't want you to." Wanda looked at him guiltily.

"I think this case deserves breaking a promise. FRIDAY is on alert for KAREN to activate. As soon as she's online, we'll get him out of there."

"Hopefully he won't wait long." Pietro said, pulling Wanda to him. "It's like things are getting worse."

"I gotta say, this is the strangest thing I've ever seen. I've never heard of soulmates sharing physical marks before. It's always the emotional sharing."

"He's been unhappy and hurt for a long time now." Pietro replied as Wanda's eye teared up.

"I promise you that when we find him, we're going to make sure whoever hurt him pays dearly for it. Don't tell anyone, but I've kind of grown attached to the kid. I want to see him safe and happy. I should warn you though, since I am breaking the promise I made, he might not take things well."

The twin's smiles faltered a bit. They hadn't considered how Peter might take their good intentions. Still, if it led him to safety, they could work on everything else.  

Looking back at the hologram, the two prayed for the little red dot that would signify the end of their soulmate's suffering.

Tony looked as well. He couldn't believe that all this time his kid was in trouble that had nothing to do with Spider-Man. With Spider-Man's upbeat attitude and constant quips, he never would have guessed the person behind of mask was in need of rescuing himself.

"Come on," Tony said, turning off the hologram and motioning the twins out. "I'll have FRIDAY display the hologram in your bedroom."

The siblings followed him out and into the elevator, both quiet as they worried over how long Spider-Man would take to try on the suit.

When the elevator stopped, Tony let the two off on their floor. He wished them goodnight and told FRIDAY to bring up the display for them. Once the doors closed, he crossed his arms in thought as he rode up to the penthouse.

"What are you thinking about?" Pepper asked as soon as he stepped out.

"Spider-Man." he answered quickly.

"Did you manage to get the suit to him?"

"Yeah, he seemed hesitant to take it though. I didn't say anything to Wanda and Pietro, but I'm worried about whether or not the kid will even try it on."

Pepper frowned as they moved to the couch, both looking out over the city.

"I'll get a room set up for him." Pepper said.

Tony looked at her, his eyebrows raised.

"I've seen the twins, Tony. Natasha came to me." Pepper frowned. "Spider-Man needs us. He needs Wanda and Pietro even more. There are just some things that soulmates are the best at fixing."

Tony sighed as Pepper pulled out her phone and started looking up furniture.

"He might not even want to come here, Pep. You didn't see how fast he bailed when he found out Wanda was his soulmate."

"That's why I'm prepping him his own room on our floor."

"What?" Tony asked, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Well, if it's a situation where he needs to be removed from his home, we're obviously going to take him in. Even if he didn't have soulmates here, he's still an enhanced kid. I don't think it would be a good idea to just throw him into another home when he could come here with us."

"Why our floor?"

"So he can ease into things. If he fled, maybe he was just nervous. Having a room on a completely different floor might give him some security to approach them on his own. If it gets to overwhelming, he'll know he has a safe place to go. You're crossing a line here Tony, and his reluctance to be around Wanda and Pietro may be a bigger issue than we think."

Tony watched as Pepper continued to scroll through various furniture sites. His stomach churned in anxiety. How could Pepper treat taking in a strange child so effortlessly?

It was no surprise that Tony Stark never considered himself a family man. Infact, the older he got the more people began to believe he'd never even find his soulmate.

Then, Pepper Potts showed up.

Even with his soulmate found, Tony still avoided the topic of kids like the plague. Sure, he may be able to handle a relationship with Pepper, but a relationship with a small human was something he was sure he couldn't handle. Yet here he was watching Pepper getting ready to set up a room on their personal floor to house an enhanced spider-kid.

"Pep-"

"We're taking him in if we need to. Stop arguing with me."

"I honestly don't know why I bother." Tony huffed, his anxiety still festering. "I'm just worried he may not want to be around me either."

"Honestly, I don't know why you do either. As far as whether or not he wants to be around you, I wouldn't worry to much about it. I have a feeling he'd be more comfortable with you than you think."

Tony frowned, not sharing in Pepper's confidence.

If anything, he was probably about to become Spider-Man's enemy. It didn't matter he only wanted to keep the kid safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter's eyes snapped opened minutes before his door flew open and Kent stormed into the room.

"Kathy and I are going out. Make sure this place is spotless. Be useful for once in your pathetic life. No wonder your aunt died. If I had a nephew like you, I'd have died too." the man sneered before storming out the room and Kathy walked in.

Sitting up in bed, Peter had to fight his reflexes to not avoid the slap she delivered to his face.

"There's more where that came from if we come home and anything is left undone. Skip breakfast and lunch and work. You don't need anything else in that stomach anyway. Now get up and get started. We're going to have some friends over tonight and I don't want to be embarrassed. Also, have somewhere to go for the night. We don't want anyone to have to deal with the sight of you. You're disgusting to look at."

Peter felt the familiar sting of his eyes as Kathy left the room.

No one wanted to be around Peter Parker.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as Kathy and Kent had left, Peter gathered up his dirty clothes, not that there was much of them, and threw them in the wash. Completely naked since he needed everything washed, he tied a towel around his waist and got to work. He ignored how he could count every rib and the slight concave of his stomach.

He scrubbed the kitchen counters and appliances, then wiped down the table. As he moved to sweep the kitchen, the silver case with the new suit came to mind.

He wanted to try it on so bad.

He wanted to try it on and give Spider-Man time to swing around in it before he returned it.

Biting his lip, he looked towards the stairs. It would be so easy to walk up to his room, open the case, and put on the suit.

Shaking his head, he swept and mopped up the kitchen. When he finished, everything was pristine with a fresh, lemon scent in the air.

As he went to start on the living room, the washer stopped. Taking a moment, he rushed to throw his clothes in the dryer and place Kathy and Kent's in the wash. If he picked up the pace, he would have time to shower before they got home.

Rushing to the living room, he quickly got to work picking up, dusting and vacuuming. He was making good time. It helped he wasn't allowed in Kent and Kathy's room unless he was being punished.

He quickly scrubbed down the downstairs bathroom, grimacing at the fact Kent didn't bother aiming.

Glad to be finished in there, Peter rushed up the stairs and started vacuuming the hallway. He smiled when he finished and moved to the upstairs bathroom. He let out a breath as he turned on the shower and stepped in. He sighed as the warm water ran over him. Grabbing the bottle of shampoo, he got out the smallest amount he could and washed his hair. It felt good to be able to spend a little extra time washing. Still, he knew he was on a time limit, so he hurried his wash and got out. He dried of and tied the towel back around his waist before starting on cleaning away the evidence of his use.

By the time he was finished, he walked downstairs and to the laundry room. His clothes were dry. Smiling, he pulled them out and put them in the basket before transferring Kathy and Kent's.

As he entered his room, he dumped the basket out on his bed and quickly got to work folding and hanging things up. He kept out an outfit and sighed in relief when everything was put away.

Looking at the clock, he was surprised to find he probably had an hour before the couple returned, inspected his work, then kicked him out for the night.

Suddenly, the case under his bed became more appealing. Maybe he could wear it just this once. He was being forced out onto the streets anyway. He could at least spend the time being worth something.

Spider-Man was worth something.

Taking another look at the clock, he made the decision.

Pulling out the case, he snapped open the latches and lifted the lid. His eyes widened as he took in the updated version of his old suit. The blue was a little darker and the red a little brighter as he pulled it out. Tears sprung to his eyes as he laid it on the bed to get a good look at it.

Spider-Man was definitely going to be out tonight. He had managed to shower so at least it wouldn't be soiled by his grossness. Slipping on his underwear, Peter threw his towel under the bed to avoid being caught with it. His breath hitched as he pulled the suit on, then slipped the mask over his head.

"Hello, Peter." KAREN's sweet voice spoke.

"Hey KAREN."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Avenger's compound burst into activity as the hologram of New York displayed a small, bright red dot.