Spider Son

When Tony opened his eyes, jumping at the sound of the Hulk's roar, his first thought was of his nine year old son. Had Peter seen him go into that wormhole? It had to have been on TV.  Did Peter know what was happening? Did his son think he was dead?

He had sent Pepper a message to get Peter out of there at the very first sign of a fight...as soon as that wormhole had opened, releasing those aliens into the city, he'd given her directions to the nearest safe house, knowing he would pick the boy up as soon as he could. And, with Pepper and Peter safely out of harm's way, he'd been able to focus. Had been able to do what need to be done.

And he was alive. He was alive and his girlfriend and son might have seen him fly into a wormhole.  It was a thought that made his chest ache a little.  What if Peter thought he was dead?  He had to get back to him as soon as possible.  Sitting up straight, he dismissed Steve's offer to help him up and suggest shawarma, knowing that he could get some extra for Peter. His son was bound to be hungry...the little spider was always hungry.  The others agreed, and he did his best to appear invested in whatever conversation was happening, but he knew that Natasha was onto him. As they sat in the shawarma restaurant that had been mostly destroyed, she tapped her foot against his leg. No one seemed to notice as he looked up at her, and she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Where is he?" she mouthed.

"Pepper," he answered silently.

Natasha gave a nod, expression telling him that of course Peter was fine if he was with Pepper. He'd had his son for almost three years now. The boy had just turned nine, and was Tony's favorite person in the world. He loved him so much...everyone that knew him knew it. And Peter trusted him. Really trusted him. Pepper had learned about his powers not too long after their disastrous Christmas shopping adventure, and since Tony had assured the boy that he could trust her, and that she was safe, Peter had relaxed a little. He'd even caught the kid climbing on his bedroom walls, curling up in the corners and reading.

The first time, the boy had scrambled down, eyes downcast like he'd done something wrong, but Tony had pulled Peter into his arms, kissing his hair and holding the boy close. "Pete, you can climb the walls if you want," he'd murmured, wondering if that was the oddest sentence he'd ever said to a child. "Your powers are part of you, buddy. I love you, all of you. Including your powers."

He'd found out, through several accidental slips on Peter's part after Tony had gotten a cold, that Mary had hated it when Peter used his powers. That she got angry when he accidentally stuck himself to her, and that she never wanted him to climb walls or use his strength or show anyone that he was anything but a normal kid.

When Tony had told the boy that he thought his powers were cool, Peter had cried, and Tony still wondered about Mary Fitzpatrick. He wondered about her mission and he wondered if she was alive and he wondered if she had meant to hurt Peter so much.  Had she just been scared?  Tony wouldn't have blamed her.  But still.  She'd called him a freak. Not to his face, but even Tony knew that Peter had crazy-good hearing.

Once they'd eaten and he'd grabbed two to-go orders, ignoring the questioning looks of most of his new teammates, they headed back to his tower. Loki had been apprehended and his scepter put in a safe place, and the ride up to the elevator was quiet. Bruce had disappeared to change back and get some clothes on, and he could leave them at the tower and go get his kid.

Maybe he'd introduce Peter to the Avengers.  Maybe.  The kid was kind of nervous around new people, but maybe this would be okay.  Or maybe he'd introduce them one at a time, probably starting with Thor who was Peter's favorite apparently.

The elevator dinged softly, the doors opening to his private floor, and he and the team stepped into the penthouse.  But Tony only made it a few feet before coming to an abrupt halt. The room seemed intact.  The windows were all intact, and he could see the wreckage of the city from where he stood.  But that wasn't what froze him in place, causing Clint to bump into him.  Pepper was on the sofa, her head in her hands.

"Pep? He asked, dropping the bag on the nearest table and hurrying over to her. "Pepper, what are you doing here?" She was supposed to be at the safe house. With Peter.

She was crying. Why was she crying?

"Tony…" She started, looking up at him with naked terror in her eyes. "I didn't...I didn't get your message until too late and...and Peter…"

Tony could feel the eyes of the team on him but he didn't care. Couldn't have cared less. "Where is he?" He asked in a voice he barely recognized. "Where's Peter?"

"I thought he was in his room... but...one of them must have gotten in...one of the windows shattered…". She fought to get her words out through her sobs but Tony was shaking his head, a strange roaring in his ears.

"Tony?" Steve asked, stepping forward, but he ignored him. Natasha, on the other hand, knew Peter, and she wouldn't be ignored.

"JARVIS? Where's Peter?" She demanded of the ceiling.

"I apologize, Miss Romanoff. With so many of the cameras down in the city I am unable to locate him."

"But he's not in the tower?" She confirmed as Pepper cried and Tony clutched his chest, still shaking his head.

"No, Miss Romanoff."

Peter wasn't in the tower. There had just been aliens in the city, attacking everyone in sight, and his nine-year-old son wasn't in the tower. No. No, this…this couldn't be real.

To her credit, the spy beside him wasted no time in turning to the others, voice serious and urgent. "New mission. Search and rescue. Here." She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and to Tony's surprise, showed everyone a very current picture of his son smiling shyly at the camera. "Peter. Nine years old."

Steve blinked at the photo, then up at Tony. "Tony is he…"

"He's Tony's son, now let's go find him!" She barked, and the Avengers all followed her lead as they climbed back into the elevator. "Tony, get your suit on and start searching from the sky. We'll cover the ground."

And with that, they were gone, and Tony was alone with Pepper in his living nightmare. She was still crying, still clutching her hair in her hands, but he didn't have a spare moment to comfort her or sit with her...he had to find his boy first.

Without a word, he called the suit, then jumped out the window that opened for him, and took to the sky. "JARVIS, start searching everything you can."

"How far could he have gone?" Steve asked in the comms.  No one had an answer for him.  Instead, they spread out, and Tony supervised from the sky, keeping an eye on the surveillance footage JARVIS managed to find. But the city was full of cleanup crews and rescue workers...police and fire and rescue and EMS. Would they have found him?

He would find his son. Peter was okay. He had to be.

Tony looked on buildings and in the streets, scanning them for any sign of the boy. Would he have climbed up high to hide? Or under something? Or maybe...maybe he was…

Tony shook his head, refusing to entertain the thought. His son could not be gone. No way.

Below, the Avengers all called Peter's name over and over, occasionally stopping to help other civilians and always asking if they'd seen the nine year old boy. But everyone in New York was shell shocked and terrified, either frantically cleaning or hiding or mourning their own dead. And people were injured. Dead.

Peter could be…

It was Clint who found him, calling to Tony on the comms, and before Tony knew what had happened, he was landing on the ground, sprinting over to join the other Avengers that had all joined Clint in kneeling beside an overturned car, faceplate flipping up.

"Hey, buddy. It's Peter, right?"

And Tony practically shoved Steve and Natasha out of the way to get to his boy. "Peter?" He called.

And it was. It was Peter. The boy lay on his stomach, blood running down his face from an injury Tony couldn't see. His eyes were shut tight, and he took shallow, frantic breaths. At his father's voice, however, Peter opened his eyes and stared at him from behind the shattered glass of the driver's side window with pupils blown wide.

"Hey, Peter. I'm Clint. I work with your dad. Think you can crawl out of there so we can get you home?"

The boy blinked slowly, eyes moving over to Tony. "Dad?" He asked, and Tony scooted forward, reaching out and ignoring the glass as he rested a hand on the boy's cheek.

"Yeah, baby. I'm right here. Are you okay?"

"I fell...they broke the window and I tried to climb down to find you but I fell…". His words were slurred and unsteady, and Tony rubbed his thumb over Peter's cheek.

"I'm sorry, buddy. It looks like you hurt your head. Can you crawl out from under there so I can get you to Helen? She'll make you feel better."

Peter shook his head, blinking a few times before answering. "My arm hurts." Was all he managed to get out before his chin dropped to the ground and his eyes started to close.

"No, no, no...Peter!" Tony cried right before Steve pulled him back and Thor reached down, carefully grabbing the side door and pulling. The metal gave way easily under his strength, and the god of thunder crawled forward into the space as Tony fought for air.

"We're getting him out. He's okay. We're going to get him out of there." Steve murmured, gripping Tony's shoulder.

"Hello, Peter," Thor murmured, and Tony watched as the man reached out an arm to the boy. "I am going to get you out, okay?" Peter didn't flinch as the man carefully slipped an arm under his body and lifted him, turning him so that his head was cradled against his arm. Once Thor had backed up far enough so that they were both clear of the car, Tony lunged forward, reaching for his son that the other man placed carefully in his metal-covered arms.

"Pete?" Tony asked, jostling him just a little, desperate to get any kind of reaction, but the boy was silent. Still. His half-open eyes stared straight ahead without seeing, and his hands, which would usually stick fast to Tony when he was scared, were limp.

"Tony, let's get him to Helen,". Natasha urged, tugging Tony forward, and his brain snapped back into action. Peter was hurt. He had to get the boy to Helen.  Helen could help him.

Without speaking to the others, Tony engaged the thrusters in the feet of his suit, shooting up into the air and keeping an extra-tight grip on his son. Peter wasn't holding on. Peter was hurt. Peter was hurt and Tony had to help him. His son had never been seriously hurt before. Never. He'd gotten almost kidnapped, and once or twice he'd gotten a cold, but he'd never gotten hurt.

"It's okay, baby. I've got you. I'm getting you some help. I'm right here, Spiderling. Right here. I've got you, baby." He whispered the words over and over, eyes clenching shut as he held Peter as tightly as he dared. Soon, the tower was in sight and he landed on the landing pad, not even letting Peter go for long enough to get out of the suit. Instead, he hurried into the tower, his suit clanking with each step, until he found himself face to face with Helen who was pushing a gurney. She barely paused, just gestured for Tony to put him down.

He did. Helen could help him. He had to let Helen help him.

They wheeled Peter away and then he was walking back to the sofa, movements wooden and exhausted. The adrenaline that had hit him so hard was gone, and he was sitting in his living room. Alone. Were the others on their way? Where was Pepper? That second question seemed more important, so he asked JARVIS who directed him to Peter's room.

Tony let the suit fall apart around him as he walked to his son's room, leaving parts of it scattered in his wake. He didn't care. He just needed Pepper and then he needed to get the both of them downstairs where they could wait for Peter in the medbay.

Pepper was in Peter's room, standing by the gaping hole in the wall in the middle of Peter's room which had been almost completely destroyed.  Books and papers lay scattered on the floor, and a picture had fallen off the wall and shattered.  They would have to clean that up before Peter came back...he might step on the glass and hurt himself.  And the TV hanging on his wall had a crack in it.  The floor-to-ceiling window was the worst part.  It had sprayed glass all over the room that crunched under Tony's shoes, and the room ended abruptly at a ninety story drop.  

How far had Peter fallen?

"Did you find him?" Pepper asked, voice breaking.

He nodded, even though she wasn't looking at him, and reached out to take her hand. "Helen is looking at him. I think he tried to crawl out of the window when something broke it...I couldn't get the whole story."

"It's my fault." He was shaking his head before she could even finish the sentence but she went on, pulling her hand away. "No, it is! I didn't get the message in time! I was working on something for the company and I was distracted and then I heard something break the window! And he was gone!"

Tony reached out, gripping her shoulder this time and pulling her close, letting her rest her forehead against his. "This wasn't your fault. There was a literal alien invasion, Pep. And he's going to be okay."

He had to be. That had to be true.

Later in the medbay, he was allowed to sit at Peter's side as the boy slept, a bandage wrapped around his head and a cast on his arm. Pepper sat beside Tony, her hand firmly in his, resting her head on his shoulder, and every once in a while, he'd turn to press a kiss to her hair. According to Helen, Peter's accelerated healing meant that he would only need the cast for two weeks or so, but that he'd need to stay in bed for a little while considering the concussion.  

That was fine with Tony. He wasn't letting the boy out of his sight ever again.

Thank you for reading!