Can you guess what I'm going to say here? I don't own Marvel.

This was a request by @FenrirWolfe14753. I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: mentions of depression, suicidal thoughts and tendencies, reckless endangerment, mentions and possible descriptions of poverty.

May had died 153 days, 14 hours, 17 minutes and 5-6-7 seconds ago. Peter knew because he had stopped Ben's old watch at the exact second May was declared dead. It became a constant reminder of the closest things he had to parents. For about 153 days, 14 hours, 17 minutes and 15-16-17 seconds, he had been running from the CPS.

He had dropped out of Midtown and finished his high school degree online when May got sick so he could work during school hours to pay for the medical bills. He had lost touch with his friends, constantly busy and never free when they were.

He was lonely.

No one knew May had died. Peter hadn't told Tony, and since he wasn't close enough to the adult Parker, he wasn't notified by anyone else of her death.

He knew he was acting different since her death. He'd gotten reckless and impulsive during patrols, conveniently scheduled around school times so the Avengers would still think he was in school.

Peter glanced at the working watch directly below Ben's old one. 4:15. He should probably head to the tower.

Peter cleaned himself up as best as he could in the public restrooms and swing to the tower, already putting on a fake smile.

"Hey, Mr. Stark!" He shouted as he entered the tower from a window in the lab.

"Hey, kid!" Tony shouted from underneath a car. He pulled himself out and smiled at Peter, a streak of oil across his forehead and his hair in a very un-Tony-Stark-ish mess. Peter smiled back, thinking that sometimes, Tony was the only thing that kept him going.

"Come join me. She's a mess, but she's beautiful. A little work, and I can promise she'll be the best on the block." Tony gestured to the open hood of the car and Peter dived in, glad for any distraction.

Hours passed comfortably in the lab. At 10:00, Tony glanced at the digital clock on the wall and cursed. "Sorry, kid. Your Aunt is going to kill me. I'll call her and tell her you're staying the night."

"No need!" Peter panicked. "I-Umm-I can text her. She has a night shift, so she won't have her phone on her."

Tony nodded approvingly and started to clean up. Peter pulled out his phone, aiming the screen carefully away from both Tony and FRIDAY's cameras, and pretended to type. "Okay. She'll see it later tonight."

"Great, kid. Why don't you get cleaned up and we'll watch a movie?"

Peter grinned. He was probably way too excited to take a shower, but that's what happens when you live on the street, running from CPS.

Once cleaned, Peter joined Tony on the couch and binged watched Star Wars with him. Only halfway through The Empire Strikes Back, Tony turned to Peter and asked softly, "Is everything okay? You've been a bit off lately."

Peter stiffened. He forced himself not to cry. It had been over 5 months since May died, but he still wanted to cry every time he thought of her. "I'm fine."

"Peter, you can tell me anything-"

"I'm fine, Tony. Please, can we just watch the movie?"

Peter's pleading voice and use of his first name convinced Tony to back off for now, but he was determined to help his kid however he could.

---

155 days after May's death, a guy trying to rob a teen by gunpoint lowered his gun as soon as Spidey arrived. To be honest, this particular guy wasn't a very good criminal, and had been caught multiple times by Spidey. He had been in jail the last few months, but he could tell something was up.

"Spidey? You good?"

The man had always held the suspicion that Spiderman wasn't as much of a man as he wanted people to believe. More of a boy, really. And so, Garry, for that was his name, never tried to hurt the kid. He was a criminal, but he wasn't heartless for Pete's sake.

Spidey titled his head. "Yeah, dude, I'm alright. Umm...you?"

The teenager Garry had attempted to rob ran away at Spidey's gesture, but Garry was more concerned about the hero. "Are you sure? You're a lot less upbeat than usual."

Spidey just webbed him up. "I'm fine, Garry."

---

Peter stood on a rooftop, thinking about the odd encounter. Normally, he would be thinking about death if he was on a rooftop, but today he couldn't stop thinking about Garry. He and Garry were well-acquainted through Garry's attempts to do crime, but he didn't think he was so different that a criminal would notice. He didn't know yet, but Garry wasn't the last to notice and comment.

---

"You alright, Spiderling?" A doombot asked through a com system as he destroyed it.

"Do you need help, Webs?" The newest 'Vulture' type guy asked.

"I'm kind of worried about you, Arachni-boy." An alien witch said as she was wrapped in his webs.

Everyone, literally everyone was worried about the hero. Posts were trending everywhere, asking what was wrong with their favorite hero, and telling him to take care of himself and that they loved him. Villains worried about him, because taking over the world wasn't nearly as fun when you were fighting an obviously depressed hero, and it was even less fun when there was no hero to fight. The Avengers were worried about the kid who had given them all something to fight for.

Peter was just tired.

He didn't think he could fake it anymore. If people were going to keep asking if he was okay, one day he was bound to break. He didn't want that to happen. He didn't want them to know.

He wanted to die.

He knew he shouldn't. It was wrong, May wouldn't want him to, but he wanted to see his family again. He wanted to finally get to really know his parents. He wanted to talk to May and Ben again. He wanted to relax and not have to worry anymore.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Ironman thrusters and he suit landing behind him. Tony stepped out of the suit and walked a few steps closer to Peter. Peter didn't move from the edge of the roof.

"Hey, kid."

"Hey."

Peter wanted him to leave. Tony was the one person he wouldn't do this for if he asked, but he really didn't want him to ask.

"Can you step away from the edge?"

Peter sighed. Tony was the one person he would live for, so he stepped away. Tony gently pulled him into a hug. Peter just stood there, numb.

"I found out about your Aunt." Tony whispered. Peter stiffened, trying to pull away. Tony didn't let him. "I wish you had told me earlier, but I understand. It's hard. Harder for you than it was for me."

Peter suddenly remembered that Tony and lost his parents when he was about Peter's age. He looked up at his mentor. "Does it ever stop hurting?"

Tony sighed and smiled sadly. "No. It hurts. It'll never go away fully, it just gets easier to deal with."

Peter leaned into the hug, finally letting tears fall. Tony kept talking. "I wish I could tell you it's okay, but I know it isn't. I wish I could say it's going to be, but I can't promise that. What I can tell you, Pete, is that I'll be here for you. I'm right here, and even if something happens to me, you have all the rest of the Avengers by your side. I'll never let you be lonely again."

Peter let himself be led into the tower. He let himself take the offered hot chocolate, let himself agree to live with Tony, let Tony take care of him.

It didn't get any better for a very long time, but eventually, surrounded by his friends and family, Peter started to heal.

5 years later, he returned to the roof and placed a single item there: Ben's old watch, with the time May died on it. He vowed that he would never again let himself drown in grief, and that he would always find someone to help him. He vowed that he would always do his best to help others with the same problems.

Spiderman became most well-known for his suicide prevention programs he started around the city. He spent every night finding the most likely places for people in a bad place to go and he would spend hours if they needed it to get them help.

And Peter knew that May was proud of him, and that he would see her again when he was much, much older.

The End.

Ahhh. I hope you enjoyed that.

Bye!