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Ned Leeds was having a pretty alright afternoon, as afternoons go. They had travelled upstate for Thanksgiving with his aunts and uncles and grandparents and everyone else in the family, a trip that would last until they left on Saturday. Thanksgiving dinner had been great, with enough leftovers for a thanksgiving sandwich the next afternoon. He was halfway through said sandwich, feet up watching a movie with his brother and cousins when he got a phone call.
May Parker's name flashed across his screen and he was tempted to ignore it— she was technologically inept enough for a butt dial— but decided otherwise, putting his plate on the table and leaving the room to answer her.
"Where's Peter?" May's voice was tense, and it immediately put Ned on edge.
"With Tim." Ned said, his own confusion evident.
Peter had definitely told her the truth about that— definitely not the whole truth, but the truth nonetheless.
May was quiet on her end for a moment, "Who is Tim with? Because Bru— Bruce Wayne is dead."
Ned blinked, trying to process what she had just said. How the hell could he lie to May?
"That's definitely not true." This wasn't a lie— maybe a lie by omission, but not a full out lie!
She didn't say anything, but it was clear she was pursing her lips. "Edward—" Ned cringed at the use of his full first name, "— where is my child?"
"He's with— he's with Tim in Gotham."
"You're not telling the full truth, where is he really?"
"Gotham." Ned said with some confidence before faltering, "Just not this Gotham."
"Okay..." May said to herself, clearly trying to calm down, "okay. If you talk to Peter before I do, tell him I'm going to kill him— if he thinks I was mad about the—" her voice lowered, "Spiderman thing— he's got another thing coming."
Just then, Ned's cousin popped her head into the empty room he was occupying, "You coming to play?" She held up a Switch controller expectantly.
"I've uh— I've got to go May, but I'll text you, okay?"
Clearly unhappy with him, May let Ned go.
[ ... ]
Curled up next to Peter on the couch, Tim finally understood why Jason and Roy acted the way they did. They were watching a movie— The Princess Bride— and Tim wanted very much to kiss Peter. But Bruce was one room over, Jason had been popping his head in every so often to quote lines along with the various characters, and Damian was who-knows-where doing who-knows-what, which really meant that he was probably watching from the rafters.
Peter, however, seemed to have no qualms about the whole PDA thing. At some point within the first thirty minutes of the movie, Peter's hand had shifted from his own lap to Tim's hand. Their fingers were very loosely interlocked and all Tim wanted was for them to not be loosely interlocked. Well, that wasn't all he wanted but, as he said, his family was all scattered around the house and Tim had been the one to suggest the movie being watched in the living room. Jason had been right all those times he'd called Tim a dumbass, that's for sure.
Still, for not really being able to do all the things with his boyfriend that he desired, it was going really well.
[ ... ]
There was nothing May Parker hated more than having to talk to Tony Stark. He hit on her constantly, despite being engaged, had put Peter in danger more times than she could count, and couldn't be bothered to treat her or her kid with any kind of respect. But she didn't have Captain America's phone number.
Tony picked up the phone on the first ring, "Finally decided to throw yourself at my feet?"
It took all of May's strength not to hang up on him. "I think Peter's been kidnapped."
"There's a tracker in his sui—"
May cut him off, "His suit is in his room."
For once, Tony was quiet. Finally, he said quietly, "Shit."
"Yeah," May snapped.
May considered herself a fairly laid back parent. She didn't like to hover or boss Peter around, and was more than willing to force her kid to deal with the consequences of his actions, but she couldn't help but think this had to be at least partially Tony's fault. Every time her kid was in danger she could trace it back to the stupid, know-it-all businessman.
"Can you get to the compound?"
"No." May's voice was firm and unwavering. She refused to let Tony push her around, like every rich man seemed to think he could do. "You know where I live. You have fancy cars and jets. You can come to me."
Silence. Then, "All right. See you in two hours."
[ ... ]
Tony's most, or perhaps only, redeeming quality was that he was punctual. Before the two hours he'd promised had passed, he knocked on her apartment door.
"Tell me what's going on."
"Don't make demands," May said before she could force herself to be polite. "He's supposed to be visiting a friend in Gotham, but when I looked up his dad— His dad is dead, Tony!"
Tony made a face. "Why would his dad being dead mean he's been kidnapped?"
May groaned. This man, she thought, should never be a parent.
"I haven't heard from Peter since he got on the train to leave, so I tried to look up Tim's dad. His dad is Bruce Wayne, and has a whole foundation named after him because he was shot and killed as a kid! So, he couldn't have any kids!"
"Wayne," Tony muttered. "I know that name." He furrowed his eyebrows and then made an 'Ah!' noise. "Martha and Thomas Wayne. They had a kid who died... Are you sure Peter said Bruce Wayne?"
"Yes." May pushed her glasses further up on her nose and sighed heavily.
Why couldn't Captain America have been the one to decide to mentor Peter?
"Well, I know where the Waynes live. We can be in Jersey within the hour if we fly."
[ ... ]
Wayne Manor was a sprawling piece of land with a massive mansion plopped in the center, and May felt incredibly out of place in her $20 dollar jeans and t-shirt as they walked up to the door. Her hands were stuffed deep into the pockets of her coat; the November air was particularly biting tonight and time seemed to go on forever.
A tall, stocky man with thinning, gray hair answered. His eyes went wide at the sight of Tony.
"What do we owe this visit to Mr. Stark?"
"That would be better answered by May Parker, Thomas," Tony told the older man.
May shot him a look before turning to Thomas Wayne with a tight smile. "Hi, um, my nephew told me he was going to be visiting his friend Tim—" Thomas instantly straightened up when May said Tim's name. She furrowed her eyebrows at the movement but continued. "Tim said that his father is Bruce Wayne, but when I looked him up, it— it says he's dead."
Thomas sighed and jerked his head inside. "Why don't you come in? It seems we have a lot to discuss."
