Chapter 5
After about thirty minutes of impatient waiting, Tony started to realize something was wrong. He scratched his head and tried to call Peter for the third time, but it went straight to voicemail again.
He tapped his earpiece, walking away from the crowd and flashing camera lights. Happy followed, making sure no one did the same. It usually happened this way at events, the crowd never left his side. He used to relish in the attention, until everything went to shit and he started to hate the attention. And especially at moments like there, paparazzi were often the reasoning behind clenched jaws and tentative remarks.
“Jarvis, get me a location on Peter’s cellphone.”
“Yes, sir. It looks like it is currently on the way to the Bronx.”
“Yep. That’s not right.” Tony bit his lip, slightly too hard. “Where was it half an hour ago?”
“The subway station down the road, sir.”
Tony tapped his watch, watching Jarvis connect his screen to the map he was looking at. He followed the glowing dot, his mind spinning. Either Peter left his phone on the subway, he still was on the subway, or something pretty goddamn bad happened, because Peter was always early, and never late.
He pushed through the crowded street, picking up the pace when he saw the crowd surrounding the bathroom. The cop cars blocked off part of the street, and he could hear an ambulance wail in the distance.
“What happened here?!” He grabbed one man’s shoulder, pulling him to face him.
The man jerked his shoulder away, scowling. “Some kid was mugged.”
“Where is he now?” His voice was tense, but for good reasoning. Why would this guy be such an ass? Couldn’t he tell that Tony was worried?
“Just took ‘em to the hospital.”
Tony groaned, feeling a pit form in his stomach.
Idiot. You should have had Happy pick him up.
His consciousness cursed at him, he dug his fingernails into his palm, as he felt his breath quicken.
Shit. System override. He tried his best to calm his mind, but he felt his thoughts start to cascade around him. Loud and explosive, coming over him like tsunami. And then came the hyperventilation. Slight, but just enough to make him dizzy. He dropped to his knees, holding himself against the cement walls of the cityscape.
Why now? It had been too long since this had happened. And now, it was all catching up to him at exactly the wrong moment. And that’s what it always seemed to do, always biting him in the ass.
Sure, the kid was on his way to the hospital. But Tony felt obliged to be there with him: Telling him that it was alright, and getting pissy with the nurses who didn’t tend to him quickly enough.
Then, suddenly, Happy’s hand was on his shoulder and he was being pulled onto the leather seats of the car. Tony took a few moments to compose himself. He could breathe easy now, away from the loud noises of Manhattan.
“W-We need to go-“
“Already on it, Tony. You have serious doubt in me, even after all these years.” Tony heard the driver’s side door shut, and they were on the road, weaving through traffic to find their way to the ER.
The ride was excruciatingly long, Tony couldn’t help but think about what kind of fear Peter had been in. What kind of sick assholes could do that to a kid? And he vowed to find them. He was sure the authorities were already started, but he wasn’t looking for simple justice and a few years behind bars.
“A few drunk guys with a temper…” he had heard one lady telling the officer on the scene. Disgusting. To steal from a kid. What kind of fucking menace do you have to be to steal from a fucking kid?
Happy caught a glimpse of Tony in the mirror, his brows furrowed, his ears red with anger. It wasn’t hard to read Tony’s expressions. His white knuckles gripped the door handle, itching to open the door when they pulled into the parking lot. Happy hadn’t seen him this angry in a while.