Spiderman Oneshots

Sticky fingers (4)

Tony ran a hand through his hair as Happy pulled up outside the kid's apartment building an hour after his school finished. Pepper would never let him live it down if she could see him now - he was turning into such a dad. But he'd been cc'ed into a private email from the police to Pep that morning telling all the CEOs of big companies that the thief Stickyfingers had been apprehended and their tech was safe. After bribing some people at the police station he'd learnt the identity of the thief and that Spider-Man had been responsible for capturing her and providing evidence that meant she'd be locked away quickly. He also knew that Peter had been the one to anonymously alert all the businesses that Stickyfingers was a threat in the first place, probably with the help of his programmer friend. All in all the kid had done a really good job with this one - clean and efficient, unlike the Vulture fiasco - and Tony felt an inexplicable urge to tell him that.

He wasn't a dad, just a good mentor. Totally.

Anyway, that's why he was striding up a flight of dirty stairs in a run-down apartment building (there was no way he was taking an elevator not controlled by FRIDAY - he'd seen Speed after Peter had insisted he watch some Really Old Movies) at 5pm on a Monday. When he knocked on the door May yanked it open with surprising ferocity. 

"Hey, is Pete around?"

"Where is he?"

Their voices clashed horribly. "Pause, what do you mean? Is he not here?"

May shook her head in silent distress. "He's not with you?"

"No. Did he not come back last night?"

"I don't even know if he was out-"

"He was, he caught a thief we've been after for ages, that was why I was here, to thank him."

"A thief? Nothing violent?"

"No. If you give me a minute I can track his suit-"

"His suit is in his room."

"What?"

May led him into the kid's room and explained how she'd found his suit in a backpack on the floor by the window. The window was open but she said that wasn't unusual. His phone was in the backpack too.

So he'd definitely been back in his room between arresting Stickyfingers and May finding him gone, he wasn't out as Spider-Man, they had no way of contacting him and no clue of what might have happened.

"I'll find him," Tony vowed before he left. "Don't worry."

Natasha was in the penthouse kitchen when Tony got back. He eyed her with suspicion, remembering how hung up she'd been about Peter and Stickyfingers.

"What's got you so frazzled?" She asked as she buttered some toast.

"I'm Tony Stark, frazzled isn't in my vocabulary."

One perfectly trimmed brow rose. He sighed. "My intern's gone missing, his aunt's super worried."

Nat seemed completely disinterested. "Teenage boys sneak off all the time, he's probably fine."

"I know," Tony said, "but he never sneaks out without his s- his phone. Let me know if you have any ideas of what might have happened, okay?"

"Sure," Nat said noncommittally as she picked up her toast and walked out. 

"Okay, FRI, I need you to run through some street CCTV. What's our last sighting of him?"

~

Peter was exhausted, humiliated and thanks to his enhanced metabolism he was famished too. The metal taste of the gag made him want to vomit, the uncomfortable positioning of the vibranium cuffs was giving him arm cramps and all in all his existence sucked.