Tony was furious. It had been three days after Peter had taken the beating at school, and he was still walking around. Despite Tony's requests, he couldn't keep Peter in bed. He was up all the time, ready to go, even though it isn't good for his health. Broken ribs don't just heal overnight, which apparently, Peter doesn't understand.
And tonight, both Peter and the Spiderman suit were MIA.
"FRI, locate Peter." Tony calls out, swishing the coffee around in his cup.
"Right away, Mr. Stark." FRIDAY's animatronic voice calls out. "Peter has turned off the tracker in his suit. He is no longer able to share his location with me."
"Wonderful." Tony says sarcastically. "Is there a way you can locate him?"
"I could try to-" FRIDAY's voice stops for a second before continuing, "Incoming call from Peter Parker. Would you like me to answer?"
"Of course!" Tony calls, slamming his coffee cup on the counter a little harder than necessary. In front of him, a small, holographic screen appears. He swipes right, and then stares at the screen.
"Kid, when I get my hands on you-" Tony threatens, letting Peter hear the full amount of anger in his voice.
"Yeah, Mr. Stark, I know that you're really mad at me right now, but I, uh-" Peter's voice is so quiet, and Tony can't see his face. Either he's whispering, or he's calling from another phone, not his suit's mask.
"Peter, where the hell are you?" Tony cuts him off loudly.
"Well, I didn't mean to, but-"
"Why don't you meander longer, and then I'll never learn what's actually going on and why your little butt isn't in bed right now."
"Mr. Stark, I'm sorry." Peter says in a worried voice. "But I'm-"
"Time's up, kid." A gruff voice on Peter's end growls, taking the phone from a protesting Peter. Tony can hear a scuffle on the other end before the phone hangs up and his holographic screen disappears into nothing.
"FRI, track the call." Tony barks.
"Sir, there's a slight problem." FRIDAY says.
"Really? What kind of problem?"
"I have located Peter's call from the Police Station on 7th and Grove."
"Great." Tony rolls his eyes and heads to the garage.
Peter sits in the Police Station staring straight ahead through the bars. He has his own tiny cell, but he could see the glares of the other men in the cell across from him. The angry Police Officers had made it very clear that if he wasn't bailed out by tomorrow morning, they were sending him to an actual prison. He didn't know if it was legal to send a minor to a prison instead of Juvie, but it scared him nonetheless. And then, they had taken the phone three minutes before he was supposed to end the call. If Mr. Stark had no idea where he was, then how would he ever get out of here?
It's not like he was trying to get in trouble. He was just off his game a little bit, being all bruised from the fight with Flash. He had helped some people, before hearing the fight a block away from him. He swung in and helped two people being attacked by a man. After pulling them away from the man's relentless punching, the attacker turned his focus on Peter. Peter didn't mean to, but a punch and a kick later, he somehow found himself handcuffed and in the back of a Police car. Turns out, the man had been the Police Chief of the NYPD. Not great for your friendly neighborhood Spiderman.
"You think we should let the guys on him?" A Police Office laughs, bouncing his head from Peter's cell to the cell filled with the angry people. Peter knew them all; the people he had captured over the course of the night. Of course, his face was uncovered, but the rest of suit was still on. Everyone knew that this little sixteen year old kid is Spiderman. What was worse, is they now knew what his face looks like.
"Nah, the boss would kill us if we did anything like that." The other one yawns, taking a sip from a paper coffee cup. "Although it would be quite a show."
"Yeah." The first one snorts, going back to the papers on his desk. Suddenly, the door bursts open. Peter glances over, before almost falling off the small chair in the cell.
"M-Mr. Stark?" One of the officers stutters, his hands starting to shake so bad that his coffee spills all over the front of his neatly ironed shirt.
"That would be me." Tony rolls his eyes. "I've come to take Spiderman home." Peter gives a silent word of thanks that Tony didn't use his real name. He hasn't told anyone, because they would have gone after him while he's being Peter Parker.
"Sir, I'm not sure if you can-" One of the Police officers looks to the other for support. All he gets is a blank stare and an open mouth.
"The kid needs a legal guardian to bail him from the cell." He tries again.
"I'm sorry, are you doubting my credentials?" Tony leans close to the man's face. "The kid is practically mine. So why don't you release him, and I won't disclose to your boss how many criminal files have been 'accidentally' been lost while you're overseeing them. Okay?" The man opens his mouth, closes it, then opens it again. Finally, he nods, and hands Tony the keys while sweating furiously.
"Wonderful." Tony gives the man a smile before moving to open Peter's cell door. "C'mon kid, go get in the car."
"Mr. Stark, I'm-" Peter desperately tries to get out a last word, but Tony talks over him.
"Car. Now." Peter opens his mouth, but thinks the better of it and quickly moves to the car. Tony quickly gathers the meager possessions that they took from Peter and leaves for the car a few minutes afterwards.
He swings open the driver's side, situating himself in the seat before turning to look at Peter. "Well, I'm glad that you managed to stay somewhere I tell you, for once." He shakes his head. "What the HELL were you thinking, Peter?"
"I was just trying to help." Peter looks down and speaks in a small voice. "It had been three days since Spiderman had shown up, and I don't want people to worry and-"
"I thought we've been over this!" Tony smacks a hand on the steering wheel. "Your main priority, Peter, is you. Not me, not the city, you. Does that ring a bell?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Nope. And there's another thing, you sneaking out to do this. We specifically agreed that you wouldn't be going out at night until we were absolutely sure that you were better. And that we needed to get into a daily routine before you could go back to hero work."
"Mr. Stark," Peter says in such a tone that Tony stops talking abruptly.
"What, kid?"
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to help, and I think..." He trails off. For the first time, Tony notices Peter clutching his side.
"What happened? What did they do?" Tony says quietly, reaching into the backseat to pull Peter's arms away from his side. He lightly touches the spot that Peter was cradling, but doesn't get far before Peter flinches away.
"I think they made it worse, Mr. Stark." He says, his eyes starting to tear up because of the pain. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, kid." Tony sighs, closing his eyes. Gosh, he hates seeing Peter in pain. "Let's go back to the tower and let's get you all fixed up."
They finally arrive at the tower, and Tony enlists helps Peter to the med bay. (God knows that Tony desperately needed one) After several minutes of dragging on Tony's part and limping on Peter's, they make it into the room and set Peter on a small wheeling bed. He lays there, closing his eyes on the perfectly white sheets, and tries not to make a face as Tony scans him.
The truth is, he's terrified. He feels so helpless, so unprepared for whatever's next. What if he has to get surgery? Or he can't be Spiderman anymore? Or what if Mr. Stark is mad at him forever? His brain hurts just thinking about it. Then, of course, all the pain brings back the memories with the Vulture, and that's a whole other... he shuts his eyes tighter, trying to shove away the oncoming memories. Forcing them away, his mind leaves him with just one thought: the helpless feeling he's feeling right now is very similar to the one he felt when trapped underneath the roof.
"Mr. Stark?" He croaks, hurriedly sitting straight up and opening his eyes. He looks around the room, and doesn't see him. The lights have been dimmed, and he realizes that he must have fallen asleep. He debates calling out for Tony again before he hears a gasp and a silhouette in the chair next to him jerks awake, their head snapping upright and their breathing going from heavy to lighter once their eyes lock on Peter.
"What are you doing up, Pete?" Tony says groggily, his voice taught with fatigue.
"I..." Peter hesitates. "Was just thinking of some things. Why are you sleeping next to my bed?"
"I..." Now it's Tony's turn to sound awkward. "Just wanted to make sure that you'd be alright during the night, and my bedroom is too far away from the med bay."
"I'm sorry that I'm making you sleep in an uncomfortable chair." Peter says. "I'm absolutely fine, Mr. Stark. You can go to your own room now."
"Kid, you're my number one priority. I'm not leaving your side." Tony smiles in the dim light, and Peter returns the smile.
"What were you saying woke you up?" Tony adjusts his position in the chair and tips his head backwards.
"Uh, nothing, Mr. Stark. Just some old memories."
"May?"
"Nah, something before that." Peter sighs. "I don't want to talk about it." He gets into a comfortable position on the bed. "Are you sure that you're fine in the chair, I'd be happy to switch if..." He trails off as he sees Tony's expression.
"Alrighty then. Goodnight Mr. Stark. And thank you... for everything." Peter says slowly before closing his eyes. Tony waits several minutes before replying.
"Of course, Peter. And..." He hesitates, not sure if he should even say it. The kid is definitely asleep by now, right? A soft snore from Peter confirms his theory, and he whispers the words, "I love you." before falling asleep himself.