Published 9th April 2022

Summary: Peter goes missing from school and when Tony finds out, he has to figure out where he is. If only he had payed more attention during an argument they had had before hand.

I'd written about half of this idk how long ago (months?), but I finished the rest just now. I hope you enjoy.

Peter's POV

The feeling first hits when I'm sitting in my third line English class. It's a small feeling at first, a small tingle in the back of my mind as I try to focus on the stupid adverbs and poems or whatever. Ive always been better at science. But as the class continues, the feeling grows. Ned doesn't have this class but MJ does, so it doesn't take her long to figure out something is wrong. She's always been the observant one.
"What is it, loser?" She speaks up from a row behind me. I turn to look at her, noting how she even puts her book down to listen.
"Hmm?" I whisper.
"What's wrong?" She presses calmly, attempting to sound casual. I shrug.
"I'm not... overly sure..." I admit quietly. "It's probably nothing."

My sense blares and I flinch, looking to the front of the room. A loud crash sounds several classrooms away, followed by several terrified screams. It's not nothing.
I look back at MJ in alarm. I glance down at my bag, where I know my spider suit is. But I can't just put it on here, the class will know! What do I do?!

MJ gets up abruptly from her seat and glances at me before pointing out the window. "Look, do you see that guy?!" She yells. The whole class turns their head towards the window and I use the opportunity to slip out the door, making a mental note to thank her later.

I run down the hall and make my way into the boys bathroom—empty, thank god— and slip my suit on. "What's going on?" I whisper, pulling my mask on and pressing the spider emblem on my chest to fit the suit to my form.

"A 911 call is being issued from classroom 6D. I would suggest approaching with care," Karen responds. I quickly leave the bathroom and hurry down the hall, shoving my bag on top of my locker as I pass it.
"Thermal scan, how many signatures?" I ask Karen as I near the classroom.
"Twenty four heat signatures detected, it is unclear which ones are students and which ones are potential intruders."

I slip up to the door and peer through the window, listening carefully to try and figure out what is going on. From what I can see, most of the students have moved as far from the front of the classroom as possible, except for one. That one is being held tightly by a man who's holding a gun to his back. Joining the intruder is two others. Something about them is familiar.

"Peter my scans are detecting that the intruders are the criminals from your last patrol."
I freeze. "The ones from the warehouse?" I whisper.
"Yes, would you like to call boss?"
"No, no, don't do that!" I exclaim immediately. I don't want to bother him, especially not when he's already annoyed at me.

Flashback— two nights ago.

"What were you thinking?!" Mr Stark snaps from where he hovers in his suit. At least, I assume he's in there. "You could have been killed!"
I'd just stopped a bunch of men from escaping a military warehouse with weapons. They were nasty looking things, I couldn't risk them getting out in the open. So I had to stop them, no matter the cost. Too bad I lost the element of surprise.

"They were stealing weapons! I-I couldn't let them get away!" I defend myself. "You... you know that they would have hurt people with them. Or sold them to people who would."
"So you threw yourself in front of them?!"
"I didn't mean to be hurt, but I couldn't let them get away! There was no harm done, sir, I was able to—to web them up!"
"If there was 'no harm done' then why did your suit alert me that you were shot? Twice."

"I was just doing what I had to do—"
"No!" He raises his hand at me as if to cut me off. "I don't want to hear it. This cannot keep happening. Either you change how you approach it or I'll step in and do it for you."
I sigh, looking down with a groan. "I'm sorry."
"No, I am." He responds, before beginning to fly off. He pauses. "Go to Medway."

He shoots up and out of view.

*present rime*

So, yeah... you can see why I don't want to bother him. I snap out of my thoughts. I have to stop these guys. Why are they here anyway?! I listen closely when one of the men starts speaking with a smug, dangerous tone.

"So, tell me," he hisses, waving his gun around, "who do you think will show up first? Spider-man or our backup?"
"W-why are you doing this?" The teacher whispers, positioning himself so he's in front of the students.
"It's nothing personal," the man, I'm gonna call him Mr wave because he won't stop moving that gun around, says. "Spider-man did something we don't like, so now he's gotta pay."
"But why us?" The student being held at gunpoint asks. The teacher gestures for him to be quiet.
"Because you're 'innocent'. We all know what the spider is like, always trying to save everyone. Sticking his nose in our business."

I need to work out a way to get in without them noticing straight away—the door way is in clear view of the criminals. "Karen, I need a way in," I whisper. "Without giving away my position."
"There's a vent system through the ceilings. If you enter through the vent in the next classroom it will lead you directly into the target location." Karen answers after a short pause. I nod and slip in.
"Be quiet, and get to safety," I tell the class and teacher as I open the door. "Quickly."
The teacher nods and directs the students into the supply closet at the other end of the classroom.
"You've got this spider-man!" Several of the students whisper.

I don't respond, too busy jumping to the ceiling and pushing on the vent. Karen directs me to the weak spots and I'm able to take the vent out with two small punches. I catch the vent before it can hit the ground in order to minimise noise. I lower it down with a web and crawl up into the vent.

I crawl forward until I come to another vent opening. I peer down. Yep, that's the classroom. I study the room closely. All the students except for the one being a hostage are at the back of the classroom. The three bad men are all at the front.

"The police are eight minutes away, the traffic is built up." Karen informs me. Ok, so I've gotta do this on my own. I don't know how much time I have before the so-called backup arrives.

I check my web shooters to ensure there's enough web fluid. There is. I scan the room one last time. Ok, time to do this.

I crawl up to the vent. Then I slam my feet into it and come crashing through the ceiling. As I fall, I shoot a web at the man with the hostage. The web hits the gun and I yank it away. I land on the ground with a thud.

"Heard you were looking for me, mr criminals!" I beam, putting the safety on the gun and taking the bullets out. I toss the bullets out the broken window which is probably how they got in. The student takes the opportunity to run to the back of the room to join the rest of his peers.

The other two men open fire on me as soon as they realise what's happening. I flip out of the way of the first few bullets and shoot a web at the ceiling, swinging feet first at the first man. I slap into him and he goes flying back at the wall but doesn't stop shooting.

*several minutes of fighting later*

"Watch where you swing that!" I exclaim, dodging the gun which mr wave had started using as a bludgeon once he ran out of bullets. I sweep him off his feet and shoot a web at his stomach. I web him to the ceiling to join the other two men. I brush my hands off. "There. That wasn't too bad."
My two bullet holes would say otherwise. I hear an engine out the window and think it's the police finally arriving, but instead it's a blacked out van.

"Ok, guys you need to get out of here now." I turn to the students and teacher worriedly. They couldn't move before because of the danger of the bullets, but now they can.
"Come on guys, this isn't over!" The teacher exclaims, directing the kids out of the door quickly. "Thank you!" He adds, before following the last student out quickly. I let out a breath of relief. Then I swing out the window and land in front of the van.

"Alright, I'm here now! What, don't tell me you're scared!" I taunt.
"Peter I would advise you call for backup. Scans show eight different heat signatures and you are still bleeding."
"I've got it, it's okay!" I wave Karen off. Just then my tingle blares and I jump out of the way of a spray of bullets. "Whoa, nearly hit me!" I taunt. More bullets spray out of the passenger side of the van and I'm quick to dodge them thanks to my sense.

Several men exit the van with guns in hand. I ready myself, crouching low.
"You don't know what you've got yourself into, Spider-man!" One yells as he cocks his weapon.
"i don't know, I think I have a pretty good idea! As far as I see it, you're a criminal, mr criminal, and I think that means you need to be stopped!" I retort. "I mean, coming to a school? Really?! Did you think I wasn't going to come?!"

"We knew you'd come," another speaks up with a sickening grin. "Which makes it all the more exciting."
"You'll find jail even more exciting!" I tell him with a grin. "You'll be joining your friends." I point behind me to the classroom where the others are webbed up.
"Enough talking, shoot the freak!" One of them snaps.

***

I managed to take down two of the guys, but the van sped off. I knew something was not right, so I had to make chase. Sure, I've still got the bullet wounds and sure my class would know I'm missing by now, but I know I have to take care of these guys before anything else. Besides. I think MJ can help me come up with a lie.
So, here I am, swinging along the city as I tail the van—which has gone through two red lights by the way. By now the police would be at midtown which means hopefully the bad guys can be taken care of.

"Karen, make sure we don't lose that van!" I order, grunting as I swing from building to building. Droney emerges from the suit and flies ahead after the van, which is good because I was getting worried I'd lose sight.

"The van is travelling twenty miles above speed limit and looks to be heading towards the same warehouse as last time," Karen informs me, which is helpful because I know a shortcut.
"Thanks Karen!" I call, changing my swinging direction slightly to accomodate for the new route.

"Is it nearby?" I ask Karen breathlessly as I do a flip off my web and land on a building next to the warehouse.
"Yes, it's five seconds out."
I duck out of view as the van speeds into sight. Droney also comes back to me but doesn't re enter the suit. I watch has the van drives through an opening garage door.

"Peter it could be trap, you should wait for back-up." Karen informs me.
"Have droney scan the building for other entries." I insist, droney flies off. "Come on Karen. I'll be careful." I assure the AI.
"Will you though?" She answers rhetorically. I think she's getting annoyed with me disobeying her suggestions. A video feed pops up in my vision and I'm able to see that droney has found a broken window. I take off towards it, ready to bust in and take the guys down. "I've got this, it's ok!" I mumble, psyching myself up. I try to ignore the ache of my bullet wounds on my side as I move. At least the bullets went right through, so I don't have to worry about that! It'll be annoying to repair the suit, though.

I make it to the window and take a deep breath. "Here we go!" I breathe, jumping in.

Tony's POV

"Boss, you might want to see this." Friday speaks up. I put the repulsor I was repairing down and look up as she projects a news report in front of me.

"...and no students have been reported as harmed as of yet but it is difficult to tell as the school has not yet been cleared of the shooters." The reporter explains, the school behind her seeming familiar for some reason. "The police are inside Midtown now and there have been reports of gunshots," I freeze. Did she say Midtown?! Midtown... Peter.
"Call— no, hack into the cameras." I exclaim, running out of my lab. I was going to call him but then I realised the ring tone could alert the shooters to his position. Please be okay. I activate my suit and take off through a window, flying towards Midtown High as fast as possible.

The footage pops up in my vision as I fly and I look through, seeing many classrooms of students and teachers sitting under desks. But I don't know where Peter is. When I get to the school there are dozens of police cars outside, a few ambulances, along with news crews and anxious parents.

"Ok, what's going on?" I straight up ask one of the officers. "Have you found the bad guys?"
He looks at me, too stunned to speak, so I just fly into the building and have Friday scan for Peter's heat signature.

***

I've searched the entire school. He's not here. But, his webs that encase the guys now being transported to prison suggest that he was. Other than that, all I've found is a bunch of frightened kids.
"Friday, call Peter." I order as I walk down the hall. Where on earth has the kid gone?!
"Call unanswered."
"Then track him."

I fly out of the school grounds, ignoring the news reporters asking for an interview. God, why does the kid have to take everything into his own hands all the time?! First it was don't go after those guys (and get the ferry cut in half). Then it was don't go on the spaceship. Now it's don't track those guys down. What am I gonna do with him? One of these days he's gonna get killed and then... then what do I do!

"His suit is at these coordinates." Friday tells me, a map popping up. It's the damn warehouse.
"Alright. Let's go get Pete." I respond, taking off.

Peter's POV

"Oh come on, really?" I groan out loud, looking down at the dozen men all with guns pointing at me. "So we really have to make this difficult? I'm missing lunch for this!"

They don't respond, only start firing at me. Yay.

I duck for cover, my side screaming at me in pain. I crouch behind an upturned table, trying to assess the situation. I need to think! How do I get out of this?!

"Aww, don't hide, Spidey!" A voice cackles as the bullets stop. "The fun is only just beginning!"

"Okay, okay, I've gotta do this..." I mutter, looking up and seeing a beam above me. "You've got this, Peter."

I rise my arm, sucking in air through my teeth in an attempt to prepare myself for the movement to follow, and shoot a web at the beam. Then I pull myself up and over the table. Despite my attempt to be prepared, I still let out a yell of pain as my side wrenches in hot pain. As I swing, I fire a web grenade at the men, which exploded and manages to trap two of them. As the other 10 open fire again I shoot a regular web at another beam and pull myself across the room, but it seems I'm too late because my left foot jerks and then starts burning with the unmistakable pain of a bullet.

The stream of bullets follow me around the room, I barely manage to find shelter behind a concrete pillar. I groan through my teeth, my chest heaving with every breath. I close my eyes, trying to psych myself up.

"Peter you have sustained a bullet wound in your foot, the bullet is still in there. Would you like me to call for backup?"

"N-No, I can't..." I mutter, shaking my head and opening my eyes again. "I have to do this, I can't... I can't worry Mr Stark." He's already so angry at me. What's this going to do? Prove his point. And then he'll never let me be Spider-man again. What if he asks for the suit back again?!

"Peter, he's going to be worried no matter what." Karen tells me gently.  Theres another spray of bullets, ricocheting off the metal beams my ing around. "I'm going to contact him, the situation is not de escalating."

"No, Karen," I urge, peaking my head out from behind the pillar. My spider sense blares and I duck back, just in time for more bullets to fly. I can't play cat and moise with these guys forever. I push my head back into view and fire a web, swinging over their heads. I knock one down with my legs and manage to grab his gun.

"Let's talk this through, guys!" I call out to them, "this doesn't have to go this way!" I chuck the gun a fair distance away, ensuring it's out of reach. I stick to the wall, looking down at them. They point there weapons at me.

"Incoming call from Tony." Karen's voice rings through.

"Don't answer—"

"Kid! Where are you? I'm a minute out."

More bullets spray, I barely dodge them thanks to the added distraction of Mr Stark. A bullet lands in my shoulder and I let out a groan of pain as I shoot a web and swing around the room— the swinging not helping the wound at all.

"Pete, what's going on?"

"I—" I grunt between gross of pain, doing a flip and landing behind the table I was initially hiding behind. "I can't really... talk right now, Mr Stark."

I can hear their footsteps, they're closing in. I check my web shooters. I don't know how long I'm going to last. But I'm not going down without a fight. So I ready my web shooters, take a deep breath, ignore Mr Stark talking in my ear, and then spring out from my hiding place. I fire several webs. One nails a guy right in the face, another sticks a guys leg to the ground, but the other two miss.

My Spidey senses are going crazy, but I'm struggling to keep up because of, y'know, all the blood I'm losing.

"I can't believe we're going to kill the bug!" One of the guys exclaims gleefully as he reloads.

"Hey, thats not cool, man! I'm not a bug!" I snap, running towards them. "Don't be disrespectful."

They look stunned that I'm moving towards them for once, and have a slow reaction, which means I'm able to punch one of them in the stomach and steal another's gun. However that's all I'm able to do before they fight back so I back up a bit.

One rises his gun and fires it right at my chest, I barely hit the deck in time and feel the wind from the bullet, "that was a little too close for comfort!" I murmur.

There's a loud crash from above, and we all look up in time to see an Ironman suit fly into view. Huh. Well I guess I won't be avoiding a lecture. Being Spider-Man was fun while it lasted.

"Sorry I'm late, I didn't get the invite!" Me Stark exclaims. I squint up at him, wondering if he's actually here or he sent a suit.

"Nobody said we'd be dealing with fuckin' Ironman!" One of the men snaps. "I'm starting to think the money ain't worth it!"

"Hey that's great, we can leave this behind us and—" I'm cut off by one the guys swinging his gun up at me again and firing a bullet. I do a flip and am able to dodge it swiftly, but now there all shooting at me. I manage to dodge them all... except for another shoulder shot... and a bullet to my chest.

That's when everything goes black, the last thing I hear is a repulsor blast and a shout from Mr Stark.

Tony's POV

"Friday, this it?" I ask as I make it to what looks like the warehouse from the other day.
"Yes, the suits signal is being emitted by the far end." Friday responses, and I waste no time flying up and looking for an entry. I spy a window and immediately crash though it.

The sight in front of me is worrying. There's a few guys webbed up in varying degrees, but there's still a bunch of guys loose with guns. The most worrying thing, however, is Peter. I can see blood actively leaking from his body. He's been shot.
"Peter's vitals aren't looking well, boss. He's sustained multiple bullet wounds and they've worsened with movement." Friday tells me.

"Sorry I'm late, I didn't get the invite!" I exclaim smugly. A few of the guys start complaining about my appearance— just now realising they've bitten off more than they can chew.

"Hey, that's great!" Peter exclaims, "We can leave this behind us and—" the guys waste no time on firing on him again, I fly closer, but I'm too late. He can't dodge them all and bullets slam into his chest and shoulder. He falls to the ground.

"No!" I yell, firing at the men, the blast knocks them back from Peter. I land with a thud next to Peter, my heart beating rapidly. Oh, god. I fire another stun blast at the men, throwing them back and unconscious.

"Please don't be dead, please don't be dead." I mutter, kneeling next to Peter.

"Heartbeat detected, vitals dropping." Friday informs me. Oh thank god, he's alive! "You need to get him medical aid and fast. Police have been dispatched to this location."

I gather the kid in my arms and shoot back up through the roof. "Tell them to get the Medbay ready, now!" I exclaim, not even glancing at the bad guys.  

Peter remains unresponsive no matter how much I call out to him during the journey. I have to make Friday pilot because I can barely keep it together, my thoughts and heart racing as every second passes.

"Why'd you do this to me, kid?" I mutter shakily. Guilt eats at me. If I'd just listened to him about these men, if I'd heard him out, then none of this would have happened! And here I was, thinking I'd never be like my father.

Distant memories ring in my mind of my childhood, begging my father to listen to me, to pay attention. But he never did. And I'm no different.

*** I'm too lazy to make another part so it's just gonna be smashed together lol ***

*time skip*

"He'll be fine, Tony." Pepper assures me. My leg bounces. I've been stuck in this damn chair for hours! Not a word about the kid.

"You—You didn't see him, Pep." I clench my fists, "it... it's bad."

She sighs. "Tony, the kids been through worse. He'll be fine."

I shut my eyes, trying to stop myself from shaking. "He's... I just... I've already lost him once... Pepper, I can't do it again."

"You love him, huh."

I look at her. "What?"

"He's like a son to you." It's a simple statement.

I pause, thinking it over. I've never told anyone this. Eventually I nod. "Yeah." It comes out as a choked laugh. "He's been like my son for... for ages."

Hell, back when I first met him he felt like a son. Back in Germany, watching him fight. I felt responsible for him; I was after all the one who dragged him there. And then from there on, it just got worse. I tried to distance myself, almost afraid of the potential father-son relationship that would develop, but it didn't work. And then we were in  space. And I couldn't save him there, what's to say I can save him now?!

This time, if I lose him, there's no do over. There's no resurrection. He'll be gone. Part of me wonders what would have happened if I never tracked him down, never brought him to Germany. Wouldn't he have been so much safer? I'm the reason he's here now, I'm the reason he's in that room dying.

"I know you're blaming yourself, Tony." I look at Pepper, not saying anything. "You always do. But don't you think that this is your fault. This was his choice. His. Everything he has done has been his own decision."

I practically forced him to go to Germany. That wasn't a choice.

The door opens, my eyes snap over. "He's awake." The doctor says. "Asking for you."

I stand up. "He's..."

"He's gonna need rest and more food, but his body is doing its work again. He'll be just fine. You can see him, but he's pretty loopy cause of the meds."

I step forward without another word, hearing Pepper think the doctor behind me. I enter the room and nearly stop at the sight. Peter lies on the bed, bandages covering his chest, side and shoulder. His head lulls over and he makes eye contact with me. I can see his eyes are a bit clouded, the meds most likely, and he doesn't seem to be in pain. He smiles a lopsided, tired and goofy grin. "Hey, dad."
 
I nearly burst into tears right then and there.

"Hey, son, how are you doing?" I choke, sliding a seat up to his side.

And there we go. I'm really feeling for the angsty irondad lately, aye? Lol. If you're reading this, I hope you enjoyed. It's not edited. Also wow it's over 4,000 words.