I had been a foster kid for my entire life.

My parents had died when I was small, and I had no living family known.

The homes I'd been placed in were crappy, to say the least.

Beaten at some.

Starved at some.

But then I was taken in by NYC's resident genius-billionare-playboy-philanthropist, Tony Stark.

We were really close.

I thought of him as my dad.

He cared for me, fed me, hugged me, talked to me…

I thought it would last forever.

And then my long lost aunt showed up.

Demanding custody of me.

They went to court.

And then, one day Tony didn't show up.

The social worker said he dropped out.

Said he didn't want me.

And not to contact him.

And what was I supposed to do then?

The one person I trusted was gone.

So I went with them.

I stopped being Spiderman.

I left my friends.

I moved to a different state.

Cooperated with them.

For two years.

Until I finally lost patience.

And went home.

----------------

I hesitated at the edge of the giant fight.

I was scouting out the playing field in my old costume.

Not the underoos. The suit Mr Stark made me. Most of the functions were still activated.

It didn't seem like the avengers needed help at the moment, but I pulled on the mask anyway, and swung in.

A girl was backed into a corner, one of the machines holding a gun on her.

I landed on its back, stabbing my hand into the mass of wiring, and jerking sharply.

The red eyes stopped glowing, and it slumped to the ground.

The girl stared at me. “S-Spiderman? No one has seen you in two years!”

I winced under the mask. “Yeah. Had to sort out some problems. You okay?”

She nodded swiftly. “Yeah, yeah! Just- be careful. We need our hero.”

Then she stood on her toes, and kissed the side of my mask. “Good luck.”

My eyes widened, and I had to stop myself from stammering.

“Get to safety.”

She turned and ran, glancing back over her shoulder once.

Behind me I heard a yelp of pain, and spun to see Falcon- Sam falling out of the sky, his wings damaged.

I shot webs in his direction, and tried to catch him.

But I wasn't fast enough.

He slammed into a pile of rubble, clouds of dust rising, and hiding his figure from view.

I landed beside him, going to one knee. “Hey, Hey- get up- wake up! C'mon man!”

His eyes opened, and focused on me with surprise, then confusion. “Pete?”

I shook my head wearily, and held out my hand. “Are you okay? That was a pretty hard fall.”

Sam accepted it, leaning heavily on the rubble. “You- how-?”

I dropped my hands to my sides. “Yeah. Hi.”

He shook his head in amazement. “Wow. Stark's gonna be so emotional. I'm calling it.”

I bit back a scathing retort. “Yeah,” I said instead. “Mad probably.”

He frowned. “Uh… Pete? He isn't gonna be mad. Why would he be mad? It nearly broke him when you disappeared.”

My eyes narrowed. “Yeah. Sure. He was the one who didn't want me, Sam.”

The older man tilted his head cautiously. “No. You disappeared from the face of the earth, kid. He was sick with worry!”

I shook my head, confusion, and a hint of relief filling me. “He dropped out of the custody battle. They said he dropped out. That he didn't want me. That he didn't want anything to do with me.”

His eyes closed, and he muttered something under his breath.

I had a feeling it wasn't very complementary.

“Look, kid.” His eyes opened, and he stepped towards me. “Tony never gave you up. He cares about you more than I've ever seen him care. About anything. Like I said, it nearly broke him to lose you. Those people lied. Okay? Tony would never give you up.”

I turned away from him, running my hand through my hair.

Tony cares.

He didn't want me gone.

He missed me.

What have I done?

I left him.

Sam brought me out of my thoughts with a hand on my shoulder. “Hey. Kid. I can't get back up there, so you need to. Okay? I'll give you my comm.”

I gave a brief nod. “Yeah. Think they'll be surprised?”

He gave a low whistle. “Surprised ain't the word.”

He pulled the earpiece out, putting it in my hand.

“Good luck.”

-------------

I ran and shot webs, launching myself into the air.

Mid swing, I shoved the comm in my ear.

Instantly the voices of the team came through.

“Steve, I need…. Over here.”

“On your left, Rogers.”

“Too many….. need backup.”

“Someone get to my location!”

“On it!” I said quickly.

“Uh… who's that?”

I landed silently on the roof to the right of Steve and Clint.

“Your left.”

Both their heads turned in the wrong direction.

“Uh… other left.”

Their mouths opened as they saw me.

I waved awkwardly. “Hi. Need a hand?”

They gaped at me for what seemed like hours before the voice came again.

"Uh, someone help?"

I smacked my palm against my forehead. "Right. See you guys in a few."

---------------

Natasha caught sight of me as I swung to her location, and it startled her enough that she didn't see the gun aimed at her.

I shot a web, and jerked her out of the way before it could find its mark.

She dropped to the ground, eyes scanning me for injuries. "Peter, what the-"

I held up my hand. "Explanation later. You good?"

She gave a brief nod. "Go."

--------------

When the battle was over, the team gathered around the square.

The civilians had all disappeared, of course, to safety.

Hopefully.

Nat had a bullet to her shoulder.

Clint had a gash to the side of his head.

Steve had a wounded leg.

Tony was relatively okay.

Wanda had protected herself with her magic.

Pietro was unharmed.

Clint and Steve still had shocked looks on their faces.

Nat saw it, and shook her head. "You guys see the same thing I did?"

They nodded slowly.

Tony glanced up from his seat on a large piece of rubble. "Am I missing something?"

Nat, Clint, and Steve started laughing tiredly.

"You could say that, yeah."

But the voice hadn't come from them.

--------------

As soon as I was sure that the team could handle the rest, I dropped out of sight.

I was a bit unsure about how Tony would react.

For two years I had believed that he didn't want me.

And then being told that he did, and they had lied to me?

The lying part wasn't exactly a shock. The system wasn't exactly trustworthy.

But knowing that Tony missed me? That me leaving hurt him?

I felt horrible.

"Can't say I'd blame him for not wanting me after this." I mumbled, watching them taking care of each others wounds.

Then my hearing picked up on Nat's quiet comment, and I grinned slightly at Clint and Steve's responses.

Then Tony looked up. "Am I missing something?" He asked tiredly.

"Uh... yeah. You could say that."

The team turned, confused looks on their faces as I stepped out of the shadows.

I had changed out of my suit, pulling on jeans, a tshirt, and a hoodie.

Ironically, it was an ironman hoodie.

I worried the cuff with my fingers. "Hey guys."

Nat gave me a smile.

Clint winked.

Steve waved wearily.

Wanda and Pietro were just confused, not knowing who I was.

Tony...

He just looked shocked.

When he didn't say anything, I looked at the ground. "I- I didn't know that-"

He stepped forward, the armor opening, and stopped in front of me, running his hands over my arms, and to my shoulders, as if assuring himself that I was real. "Pete?" His voice was a whisper, relief bleeding through.

I lifted my head.

His eyes were bright with unshed tears, and his lips had lifted in a disbelieving smile.

"Hey...dad." I said quietly. "I missed you."

He held out his arms for a hug, which I gladly accepted, throwing my arms around him, and closing my eyes.

"Where were you?" Tony asked softly. "I looked for so long."

Before I could answer that, Sam chimed in from behind me.

"He thought you didn't want him."

Tony stiffened, and I could hear the hurried intake of air. "What?"

"They told him you dropped out of the custody battle. That you didnt want him. Or any contact with him. That's why he didn't try to call."

Tony stayed motionless until I tried to pull away, and then he tightened his hold.

"I never gave you up." He whispered, quietly, where no one else could hear him. "I wouldn't. For anything. I'm so sorry. You're my kid. Okay? Mine."

I gave a tiny nod. "Y-Yeah."

He pulled away, but kept his arm around my shoulders. "You hungry?"

I nodded again. "A little."

He grinned. "Good. Cause I'm starving."

As we passed the rest of the group, they gave us various smiles and nods.

But when we passed Clint, Pietro, and Wanda, the white-haired Sokovian shook his head. "I did not see that coming."