Work Text:
“Grounded?!”
Peter exclaimed and May watched with pinched brows and pursed lips as the boy gaped at her from the sofa, his arms on both sides of his body, pushing him forward so he’d lean towards her. She didn’t like the whole idea of looking like an authority figure to your child by standing up and making them sit down, but Peter’s been ignoring her for a while now. She had to make a stand at some point, and that point came now.
She was sick of getting home after getting calls from the school about Peter’s absences or emails about him leaving detention just like that. And yes, she knew he was Spider-man, but he was still Peter Parker and his school work mattered more than jumping around the city helping cats who meow for help in the middle of his history class. Even Tony agreed with her about the way Peter’s been dismissing school lately. It’s very unlike him. She knew how much Peter wanted to succeed in life. That was how he got a scholarship to Midtown, after all. He worked hard to get where he was and now he threw it all away to play superhero like he always dreamed as a kid.
When Ben was still alive he usually took on himself those moments when Peter had to suffer the consequences of his actions because May was never good at reprimanding her nephew like that. She was always too proud of him to really punish him or talk him out of being who he was to focus on the things that mattered in life. But Ben wasn’t here and she was all alone in front of Peter and the school. She had to do something, and the only thing she could think of was to ground Peter.
Arms crossed in front of her chest, she eyed Peter sternly, trying to stay cool and not break under the wide-eyed stare Peter was giving her. Damn it, he was always so good at getting what he wanted by just looking at people and making them feel guilty about not listening to him. But this time Ben’s voice backed her up in her mind, telling her she had to do it for Peter’s own good. For his future. He had to open his eyes, look around and realize the world wasn’t only the playground of his mind, the one he’s been dreaming about since Iron-man first showed up. Peter had to do the right thing.
So she took in a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, Peter. You’re grounded.” She pressed her lips together when he just kept on gaping at her, looking lost and hurt, like she was taking away a part of him by grounding him. She shouldn’t feel this bad about it! Parents always ground their kids when they step out of line. It’s Parenting 101. “And don’t ask me for how long. As long as your grades don’t go up and you keep on sneaking out of school, you’re grounded. That means coming straight here from school. No friends, no phone, no computer.”
The air left Peter at once and he slumped against the cushions, looking betrayed and dejected. For a moment he just breathed, in and out, in and out. Then the hurt expression turned to one hard and iron-like. He didn’t look at May before he left his phone on the living room table, got up and walked to his room, closing the door behind him. May exhaled the moment he was out of sight, collapsing to the couch and replaying her words in her head. He deserved that, right? That was a good punishment, not too much… right?
Tony’s hand began to tire after a while of just being held out like that, hanging in the air between them. Honestly, Tony needed to put it down already because the kid was obviously going through something. He was frozen in place, still staring at Tony with narrowed, disbelieving eyes. He looked like the world was ending. Like Tony was going to kill him. Like he failed a Math test.
In reality, all Tony did was ask for the suit back. The spider-suit. The one he couldn’t let the kid wear now because he made a deal with May. They both agreed Peter’s been out of focus lately and needed to get his priorities straight once again. Which meant he couldn’t go out as Spider-man. And that meant Tony wanted the suit back. May wanted to take it at first since it was Peter’s suit, all made out of the spandex Peter bought and patched up. It was HIS. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it from Peter, so she asked Tony to take it. Which felt weird, but oh well.
“Come on, Pete. It’s just until May decides you can have it back.” The man said softly, trying to make Peter see why he did it. All in all, Peter owed Tony for not telling SHIELD and the rest of the Avengers he was Spider-man. He found out who the kid was when one day May Parker showed up with Spidey’s limp body in a cub. She begged the billionaire to help her because Spider-man got hurt in battle and she feared he might not make it. Which was ridiculous because by the time Dr. Cho started treating the kid, his wounds and injuries were already mostly healed. His healing factor was THAT good.
Back then, Tony was supposed to report to SHIELD about all of this, but the moment May Parker pulled the mask off Peter’s face to allow Dr. Cho to take a look at him he decided against it. This was a kid, not one of SHIELD’s projects. And he wasn’t about to let him be one. So Tony promised to keep their secret and kept an eye out for Spidey whenever he went out. He didn’t expect it, but when May told him Peter wasn’t paying attention to school anymore because of Spider-man he agreed with her and saw the trouble with it. Spider-man was a smalltime vigilante. He helped old ladies cross the street. He carried groceries for people. He could use a break to focus on the things that mattered to Peter Parker.
Peter took a step back, finally getting out of his frozen state and looking like he might bolt any moment now. “This isn’t YOUR suit, Mr. Stark.” He said, voice harsh but beyond that Tony noted the tone of panic. The kid was afraid. He was scared and worried and he knew what was happening and didn’t like it. “You can’t take it. You can’t.”
“Well, your aunt asked me to. So I just might.” Tony tried to sound reassuring when Peter glared at him. “It’s not forever, Peter. It’s just for a little while. Your aunt doesn’t want you going out there right now, and frankly, I think she’s right.”
The boy snorted. “You don’t GET to have an opinion about this. Even if May does confide in you, I don’t.” Peter’s grip on his backpack tightened and he took another step back. Tony was glad he ordered FRIDAY to lock the area after Peter got there. He didn’t want to chase the kid around the city for his suit. They both didn’t need the attention. “I’m not giving you my suit.”
There was a loud, metallic thud behind Peter and Tony watched as the boy’s eyes grew with realization at the distinct sound of an Iron-man armor landing behind him. The whine of the repulsor made the boy’s hands tremble with rage and when he looked at Tony again, face flushed, the man was slightly taken aback at the sight of the tears in the boy’s eyes, threatening to roll down his cheeks. God, he was making a child cry. How horrible was that?
With shaky hands, Peter unzipped his backpack and tossed the spider-suit over. Tony caught it, wincing at the texture of the spandex between his fingers. Vigilantes usually weren’t kids without any money so Tony was saddened at the thought of Peter going around this awful city in nothing but this thin material. He had no protection, of course he got hurt so much. Well, he always healed before he could see any evidence of the bruises and injuries, but he knew the kid got hurt because vigilantes got hurt. A lot. Just look at Daredevil.
Peter closed the backpack and turned around at once. Tony instructed FRIDAY to unlock the facility. “Kid, this is for your own good.” He said, aiming his words at Peter’s back.
There was no response.
“May, you want a cup of coffee?” Samantha asked after getting up, ready to take a break. She’s been at it for two shifts, nearly keeling over. May, luckily, had only one shift today so she wasn’t too tired just yet. She shook her head at Samantha and then went back to reading the doctor’s report about Emily’s progression. The poor girl was still hurting a lot and was too allergic to most painkillers. They were trying their best but Emily’s parents were worried for a good reason and May couldn’t help but feel their pain. Not knowing what to do and feeling useless and helpless in the face of your child’s pain is torture.
Her phone started ringing then, making her shift a little to take it out of her pocket. The number belonged to Peter’s school. Another phone call? Again? Really? But Peter was GROUNDED. True, the boy hasn’t been grounded in quite some time, not ever since Ben died, but back then every time he was grounded he listened to the rules and obeyed them, never ignoring Ben or hers orders. Her fingers curled around the cellphone and she took in a deep breath. Maybe it wasn’t about Peter missing school. Maybe it was something good. Or something different. Maybe… she didn’t know, but she had to keep a cool head about this.
She turned towards Rio, the nurse sitting next to her, and pointed at the phone. “I’ve got to take this. Please make sure there’s nothing urgent with Emily, okay?” She pointed at the file of the girl and Rio smiled warmly at her, her head bobbing up and down. May mumbled a quiet thanks and then ran to a quiet room, eyeing a doctor who was standing in the corner, texting. “Hello? May speaking.”
“Ms. Parker, this is Loreta Williams.” The woman on the other side said tiredly. May sighed. Not the secretary again. She was sick of hearing her voice. Sure, that woman was only doing her job and was quite pleasant but May bet she was sick of calling May just as much as May was sick of getting calls from her. That woman must have May’s number memorized by now. “It’s about Peter.” The ‘again’ went unsaid. “He has been late to three lessons today and didn’t show up to detention. Mr. Morita would like for you to come and speak with you, if you could.”
Controlling her voice, May noticed the way the doctor looked at her like he was slightly afraid of her himself. How come her own nephew didn’t think she was that scary? She needed some kind of power over this kid. “I’ll be there in half an hour.”
After that she apologized to her boss, thanked Rio for taking on May’s patients and walked outside and towards the subway. She fiddled with her phone for a moment, biting her bottom lip the entire time, but eventually decided to just text Tony about this. Peter didn’t have his suit. How could he still go out as Spider-man? Or maybe Tony lied to her and didn’t take the suit after all? No, she believed him. He wouldn’t lie to her about it. She could tell the man cared about Peter, not just Spider-man. He wouldn’t lie if it meant Peter’s future was on the line.
After sending the text and getting a confirmation that yes, the suit was still with Tony, she checked the news for anything about Spider-man. It’s been almost two weeks since Peter’s been grounded and up until now she didn’t think he went out against her will. And yet there were articles about Spider-man still showing up around Queens during the last couple of days. Her hand shook at the sight of it. Peter’s been going out. She didn’t know how he had the suit back, but he was still dressing up and swinging around behind her and Tony’s back and he’s been lying to her about it!
She’ll admit, she wasn’t supposed to know about Spider-man. The only reason she found out was because she startled him so badly once when he thought she was working by coming back and slamming the door that he jumped from the sofa all the way to the ceiling and stayed there. When she freaked out about it he tried to lie but eventually had to tell her the truth. It was pretty obvious after seeing him sticking to the freaking ceiling, after all.
But she did find out. She knew he was Spider-man and despite him not liking it, he still listened to her up until now. What happened that made him suddenly look the other way and rebel? Of course, he was a teenager, but this was ridiculous. He was supposed to listen to her. Instead, he kept on sneaking out in the middle of the night to go around and have fun behind her back. She was furious.
The hisses and whimpers from the shadowy part of the alleyway quieted down the moment Tony landed there in his armor. He let FRIDAY show him the heat radiating off the figure in the dark before stepping forward and stopping a few steps away from Spidey. The kid was on the ground, sitting and leaning against the brick wall. He had an arm wrapped around his middle and his mask on to hide his identity and expression from Tony.
“Where’d you get the suit?” Tony asked sharply. FRIDAY scanned Spidey but the wounds she detected got better and better so quickly that she had to update her report every few seconds until Tony told her to stop. This was ridiculous. He pulled the kid onto his feet and despite probably still hurting, Peter didn’t object and just pulled away, one arm still covering his middle where FRIDAY said he once had a deep wound. Now it was closing up and turning superficial. Soon there’d be nothing left but the memory of it.
Sighing, Spidey looked up at Tony. “You really thought I have only one suit? They get torn up so many times, I have to have more than one.” He huffed and finally let go of his stomach. Tony was relieved to see nothing more than a tear in the fabric of the suit and slightly red skin below, but it was all healed up already. This would have been incredible had this not been an actual child under the mask. “What are you doing here?”
Tony frowned. “You aunt texted me. She had to leave work to talk to your principal about you ditching school again. I’m pretty sure she’s less than enthusiastic. Anyway, she asked me to find and bring you back home to have, what I assume would be, a pleasant, civil conversation.” He smirked at the kid even though he couldn’t see it with the Iron-man mask on. He thought the tone of his voice was enough to let the teen know what expression he had on his face. “And I’m going to have to get this suit as well.”
Spidey moved faster than Tony could comprehend. “No way.” And he was off, swinging away in his apartment’s direction. Tony blinked a couple of times, caught off guard, and then groaned and followed him, knowing May might want him there. Plus, he really did need to take that suit away from the kid. And make sure he didn’t have any more, perhaps.
If Spidey was aware of his presence, which he probably was, he didn’t let Tony know. He just kept on swinging forward, his arms taking him towards the apartment without so much as glancing back towards Tony. According to FRIDAY, May was already back. And if her texts were anything to go by, she was seething. He considered warning the kid about how his place wouldn’t be quite as safe as he might think but decided against it. Peter was smart. The fact that May knew about him going out despite being grounded was probably enough to let the boy know he was in big trouble.
Tony landed outside the apartment building and watched as Peter swung towards his bedroom window, opening it up and shutting it behind him with a loud clang that echoed down the street. Tony rolled his eyes and walked inside, his armor coming off and his legs taking him towards the elevator. By the time he reached the floor of the Parkers there were already yells coming from the apartment. He recognized May’s voice and winced for a second before knocking. There was a moment of silence before May appeared in front of him looking disheveled and upset.
“He locked himself in his room.” She informed him immediately and then shut the door behind Tony to go back to Peter’s bedroom door. Her hand banged the wooden door and the man heard it when the hinges whined under the pressure but didn’t give in. “Peter Benjamin Parker, come out here right now!” She demanded.
There was no reply from the room and Tony quickly put on his glasses, muttering under his breath. FRIDAY talked in his ears again and he asked to hear what was going on inside that room. For a moment there was silence and then he could hear the muffled sounds of someone sobbing into something, probably a pillow. His eyes closed for a moment and then he turned to May who kept on banging on the door, looking like she was at the end of her rope.
She gave him a fierce look and Tony only shook his head. “He’s crying.” He informed her and her expression immediately fell. Her hand lowered and she leaned against the door to try and hear something. Anything. Now that she was completely silent, Tony didn’t need the glasses to be able to hear the quiet sobs of Peter from inside the room. They were loud enough for the two of them to hear.
May’s breath hitched. “I don’t know what to do.” She shook her head and slid down to the floor, her back against the wall. “I don’t know what to do. Ben was always the firm one who made sure Peter was stepping out of line. He’s a good kid. I don’t get why he would go behind my back. He used to love school.”
And frankly, Tony didn’t have anything to offer the woman, so he just stayed there until FRIDAY told him Peter fell asleep and May went to the kitchen, gave him something to eat and then put a plate with lots of things to choose from next to Peter’s closed door. He needed a lot of food, especially after getting hurt. May wasn’t going to starve him, even if he was stubborn and refused to listen to her.
Then Tony left, asking May to keep him updated.
Peter went missing two days later. At least, May only noticed it then. She got a call from the school the day after Peter fell asleep crying informing her that Peter never even showed up to school. She knew he wasn’t at the apartment because when she woke up his bedroom door was open and there was no sign of him anywhere. She went to work after telling Tony about it, thinking Peter was just avoiding her. But not showing to school at all… that was bad. That was really bad. And yet she figured he was out there, being Spider-man again. She couldn’t stop him, apparently, so she just sighed into the phone, apologized and said she’d talk to Peter.
He wasn’t in the apartment when she came back and not the day after. When she checked his room again she found out it was left exactly the same, as if no one’s even been inside in the last day. That made her feel a wave of panic. She called Tony and asked him if he could find Peter but he told her that he couldn’t track down his phone because there was something interfering with the signal.
And that was worse.
They met up behind Midtown, Tony in his suit and May with her phone ready just in case Peter called all of a sudden to tell her he was at a friend’s house. Though he didn’t really have any friends she knew about at the moment… her chest clenched at that but she pushed through. She needed to find Peter, then worry about his social life.
“There have been Spider-man sightings yesterday,” Tony said the moment he got there, his mask retracting. He handed her his glasses and May gave them a skeptical look. “FRIDAY is installed onto them. Just put them on and she’ll help you. Use her to find the people Spider-man interacted with, ask them what he did and if they know anything. I’m going to try and go through traffic cameras. See if I can spot him anywhere.”
Unable to speak, May nodded and put on the glasses. It felt weird and she knew she probably looked ridiculous, but she had to find Peter. And just like that, Tony flew out of there, already muttering to FRIDAY under his breath. May watched him for a moment before getting directions from FRIDAY herself. She led her to a convenient store two blocks away where a cashier looked at her phone after briefly smiling at May’s arrival.
Using the information from FRIDAY, May stepped towards the young woman and tried smiling at her as well. She didn’t think it looked very genuine but it was justified seeing as her nephew was missing.
“Nancy Port?” She asked and the cashier nodded, her brows shooting up. “My name is May. I’m looking for Spider-man and heard you’ve encountered him in the last twenty-four hours. Can you please tell me what happened?”
Nancy eyed May for a moment but then her shoulders relaxed and she leaned forward on the counter, the grin on her face disguising her wince. “I just went out for a little break yesterday morning? I went out back and this guy came towards me with a knife.” Nancy shifted uncomfortably and May’s heart ached for her. “He wanted to… you know.” She looked down for a moment, her cheeks flaming with shame. “I cried for help. What else could I do, right? He had a knife. All I had was a cup of cold coffee. If it were hot I could at least try and pour it on him but the machine is broken.” Her voice wavered. “I kept on yelling until he put the knife to throat and threatened to slice me open if I don’t shut up and let him do whatever. And then Spider-man showed up.” Her eyes twinkled with what May realized was hope. “He just dropped from the top of the building, landed in front of us and pulled the knife away from me.” She shook her head and a hysteric laugh bubbled out of her. “He started joking around like it was nothing and I watched him as he knocked the guy out cold.
“I expected him to leave after that, you know? Because that’s what those people do. They come, save the day and then leave the way they came from in a flash. But he webbed the guy and the knife to the ground and then came up to me and asked me if I was alright. I couldn’t really talk, I was too out of it, so Spidey led me back inside, poured me a glass of water and sat down with me.” She smiled. “I couldn’t really talk much, so he talked for the two of us, telling me about mundane stuff I can barely even remember now. But it helped. He made me feel better.” Nancy shook her head. “If it were my mom with me she would have tried to hug me and I would have pushed her away. But Spider-man didn’t even lay a finger on me. He just… he just talked. He talked until I felt better, enough to thank him and offer him a couple of cookies and a cup of coffee. He didn’t take it, but he was really nice about it.”
May’s eyes softened with every word. She imagined Peter sitting down with this woman after this traumatic event and knowing exactly what to do. He made her feel comfortable again after this. He saved her from that man AND talked to her to keep her present and grounded. “Did he mention where he might be going later by any chance?” May asked gently.
The look Nancy gave her was defiant. “Is he in trouble? Are you, like, with the police? Because they’re wrong. He’s not a menace. He’s a good guy who only wants to help people.”
“I’m not with the police. I…” May’s voice broke. “I know him. The person behind the mask. And he’s been missing.” Nancy’s eyes widened with fear and concern. May breathed deeply and smiled at her warmly. “Don’t worry. I’m going to find him if it’s the last thing I do, Ms. Port.”
“You can call me Nancy. I don’t know anything about where he might be. I’m sorry, I wish I could help. But please, when you find him – tell him he can come here whenever he wants. I’ll give him whatever he needs, no charge. I owe him more than I can give.”
After May promised to deliver the message, she went outside and followed FRIDAY to the next destination.
Tony’s eyes were focused on the screen. FRIDAY brought up every footage with Spider-man from the last twenty-four hours she could find and he just sat there and watched it all. Most of the clips were of the kid swinging around the city. Tony really needed to make the kid tell him how he made those webs, they were amazing. For that, of course, he had to find the boy first.
His attention snapped to one screen where there was a little girl wailing by herself, no adult in sight. She was seven, maybe eight, with two black braids and a short, light dress. She was curled in on herself, hugging her knees close to her chest and looking like a human ball. People moved past her without stopping, ignoring the pathetic sight in order to move on with their day. Tony wondered briefly whether he would have stopped to help. He wanted to say yes but wasn’t so sure about it.
A minute later Spider-man swinged down and landed next to the girl in a crouch, their eyes at the same level. “Hey there,” Peter’s voice crackled through the stereo and Tony told FRIDAY to focus on his and the girl’s voices. She obeyed and immediately separated the other sounds of the video from theirs. Much better. The girl pulled her nose and looked up at Spidey with wide, swollen eyes. “What happened, buddy?”
For a moment the girl just watched him and then she looked around and her lip trembled. “I can’t find Mommy.” She sniffed pitifully and Spidey cocked his head to the side. “She kept on going and someone knocked into me so I lost my grip on her hand.” She stared crying again. “I can’t find her!”
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s alright.” Spidey put a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder and kept on talking softly, soothingly. “I’ll help you find her. I won’t let you stay here all by yourself, alright?” He waited until the girl nodded at him. “Okay, do you have her number memorized by any chance?” When the girl shook her head he took a moment to think. “Okay. Did she tell you where you were going? Maybe we can go there and find her.”
And after the girl told him about the little boutique her mother liked, Peter picked her up and started strolling down the street with her in his arms, talking to her the whole time. About her school, her hobbies, her pet dog named Lilo, her older brother, Mike. The girl’s name was Britney. She was seven and a half and loved Spider-man just a little more than Captain America. Spidey actually laughed at that.
The moment the two of them entered the boutique Tony hacked into the place’s security cameras. He found a woman that looked like an older version of Britney holding her head in both hands and looking like she was going to have a break down right then and there. Another woman, probably the owner of the place, had a hand on the mother’s back, comforting her and calling 911 at the same time.
Then Spider-man walked in with Britney in his arms and the woman bolted towards them picking up the little girl and squeezing her tightly, laughing with relief and kissing her daughter’s head over and over again. The owner of the boutique looked at them and then looked at Spider-man with a bright smile.
“And here I thought all superheroes were focused only on those big explosions and alien invasions.” The owner said and Peter shuffled awkwardly in place, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “I was wrong about you.” She looked at the mother and daughter and nodded to herself. “You’re better than these big, famous heroes. You’re doing something good here.”
Before Spidey could reply, the mother looked at him with watery eyes and latched onto him, pulling him into a hug as well, Britney squished between the two of them. “Oh, thank you. Thank you so much, Spider-man. I will never be able to repay you.” She said shakily.
Spider-man tapped her back lightly. “O-oh, it’s really nothing, ma’am. Who could possibly ignore such a sweet girl, right?” After seeing the video, Tony could tell that a lot of people could, but this was in the past. Peter couldn’t hear him, and neither could the woman. “Anyway… I don’t need anything. Just have fun with your daughter.” Then he turned towards Britney and held out his hand. She bumped it with hers and giggled. “Stay close to your mom, alright?” Then he waved at the three of them. “Alright, gotta go. See you around, ladies!”
Tony stared at the screen for a few moments before he turned to look at the time stamp. This happened yesterday morning. Peter was supposed to be in class but instead he helped this girl find her mother. He groaned and turned back to the rest of the footage. This still didn’t tell him where Peter went off to later on and FRIDAY told him after that he went straight back to school. So that couldn’t be it.
May already talked to a boy who got bullied and had Spider-man show up and help him realize he’s not useless or stupid or a freak. She already talked to the owner of a dog who got lost and found Spidey. The vigilante got it back and then played with the dog a bit when the pet refused to let him go straight away. She already talked to plenty of people, but she kept on going because nothing led her forward. Nothing led her to Peter and where he might be.
Flora Higgins was her next visit. She was an elderly woman who lived down the road from the school. She welcomed May in with a smile. Sure, she looked confused and a little taken aback, but she still greeted May like she was a constant visitor and as if there was nothing weird about her showing up at her home on this random day.
The place was small and comfy, with pictures lining the walls and flowery furniture. There were ceramic dolls on a couple of shelves and books littered the walls. It reminded May so much of the house she grew up in that she had to ground herself for a second. Flora offered her a cup of tea and May thanked her, sitting on the sofa and looking around, trying to understand what Peter did to help this woman. Did he carry her groceries? Did he fix her door? Did he… what? What did he do here?
“You look just like him, dear.” Flora said and May snapped back to the present. The old woman stared at her with a relaxed grin, holding her cup of tea to her lips. At the look of confusion on May’s face, the woman went on. “I hope he’s not in trouble for coming here, honestly. I never wanted to give this young man a hard time. He was simply being nice. A true gentleman.”
May blinked at her. “I’m sorry, who are you talking about, Ms. Higgins?”
With the wave of her hand, the woman dismissed May’s question. “Please, it’s Flora. And I bet you’re May. He’s told me so much about you, always with bright eyes, like he can’t help himself. He loves you so much, you know?” Then she shook her head. “Of course you know. He’s your nephew.” At that May’s heart beat faster. She thought this woman knew Spider-man, not Peter. How did she know Peter?? Flora must have seen the alarm on May’s face because she quickly explained. “I was pulled into the alleyway between this building and the one next to us about half a year ago. Was just on my way back from getting some milk and eggs and three people came to surround me and take my money. They didn’t do much before Spider-man showed up just in time and stopped them. He helped me get up here and then stayed for a chat.
“I think he realized I was lonely. All my kids are in LA and never bother calling anymore and my husband died from a heart attack a year and a half ago. Spider-man just showed up the week after with a box of cookies and this eagerness to listen to my stories. He wanted to help me pass the time, make life a little less lonely in this apartment all by myself. So he showed up every week on Monday after he finished school with cookies or interesting books he thought I might like.” She hummed thoughtfully. “I think he was lonely too.”
May couldn’t speak. She had no idea what to say. Peter came here all the time to keep company for a woman no one paid attention to anymore? It sounded so much like Peter, but… but she never expected Spider-man to do anything like this.
Flora just kept on going.
“At some point he came without his mask in his civilian clothes. It was the usual hour and the usual day. I knew it was him by his voice and his height and his mannerism. He said his name was Peter and that he trusted me, he didn’t feel any sense of danger around me, whatever that means.” Flora chuckled but May understood. Peter’s spider-sense didn’t go off at all around this woman so he could tell he could trust her. “He started coming here more than once a week. He told me about his life, about school, about you. And then he told me about the things he did as Spider-man. I don’t know how you manage to not worry about him twenty-four hours, honey. His stories about people with knives and guns or the police shooting him… it’s horrible.”
The police shooting him?
Flora shook her head. “He came here a couple of days ago with a young man – older than him but still young – and told me he’d love to eat some of my homemade cookies. At first I didn’t get it and just brought out the cookies, but later he explained it – this man was going to jump off a building across from his school. Peter stopped him and convinced him to get down.” Flora smiled. “He saved that man’s life by talking to him and making him feel welcome. He has a talent, your nephew.” When May nodded absently, Flora nodded. “He gives the little girl across the hall candies sometimes. The young couple who live two floors below got a couple of dollars from him after he heard them talking about their lack of money. There’s a boy slightly younger than Peter in the floor above us that needs help with his homework from time to time. He comes here whenever he does and asks me to tell Peter.” She paused. “Peter. Not Spider-man.”
Head spinning, May felt like the ground was being pulled from under her. She knew he was Spider-man and still knew nothing. She was still left in the dark. Her nephew let her think all he did was mostly handle things like stray animals. He let her think he stopped robberies and prevented rapists only once in a while. He hid all of this from her… and she felt like it was her fault.
Breathing deeply, May closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. When she looked back at Flora the woman looked at her with deep eyes that were clearly aware of the turmoil going on inside May’s chest. “Please, tell me you have some information. Peter’s been missing and I’m not even sure for how long because he’s been here yesterday but I haven’t seen him since two days ago.” Her hands trembled. “Do you know where he might have gone? Where he might be? Did he tell you anything at all?”
Flora’s eyes widened and she put down her cup of tea, biting her lips. “He mentioned a lot of things, May. Yesterday, though… yeah, yesterday he was acting a bit weirder than usual. He left the impression that he was doing something wrong. He mentioned Tony Stark, if I remember correctly, and you? I’m not sure, he talks a mile a minute.”
“I grounded him.” May said, voice hollow. “He kept on leaving school to help as Spider-man and we didn’t want him to dismiss his future like that. So I told him no more Spider-man until he gets back on track. Tony took his suit away but we didn’t know he had another one.” She sighed. “He went behind my back, though. He never went behind my back like that before.” She shook her head.
The woman in front of her held onto her hand and squeezed. “Family can be hard and teenagers aren’t easy to look after. I think that Peter being Spider-man only makes things harder on both of you. But… did you ever ask him why he does what he does?” When May simply shook her head, Flora smiled. “I’m sorry you have to think about it when he’s missing.” Then she shook her head. “What else did he say? Something about a boy from his school he’s mentioned a couple of times. Osborn, I think. The boy of the man running Oscorp. He mentioned his father too. That was just before he left. He practically jumped out of the apartment, his eyes just lit up after mentioning Osborn. I don’t know why, I’m sorry.”
The Osborns? May knew Harry Osborn was in the same class as Peter but they weren’t friends and whenever Peter mentioned Harry he talked about him like he talked about Eugene Thompson or any of the other bullies he had. Why would he bolt out of here after mentioning –
The wall behind May blew up, the blast sending her and Flora to the floor. May’s head span for a couple of moments, her mind racing. The apartment’s side just blew up. She could have died. Flora could have died. What was going on? He phone was ringing but she ignored it in favor of looking up at the sound of manic laughter erupting from above her.
A green monster stood at the edge, eyes blazing and burning and looking like they came there straight from Hell. He was huge, with green claws and sharp teeth. It was like looking at the Hulk, only twisted, taken from people’s nightmares. And he laughed, cackled, looking at the two of them with delight. The green monster grinned and stepped forward, his arm outstretched towards Flora. May quickly pulled to her feet, ready to push Flora out of the way. But there was no need.
“Leave her alone, Emerald Elf!” Red and Blue slammed into green and the monster stumbled forward, missing Flora and hitting the floor with a loud thud that made May fear the ground would crumble under her feet. She watched as Spider-man landed next to Flora, helping her to her feet quickly. His mask was torn a little, just like the rest of his suit, and she was pretty sure some of the blue of his suit was darker than usual from blood. She didn’t want to think about it. “Ms. Higgins, are you – MAY?!” He finally noticed her. His hands left Flora the moment he was certain she wouldn’t fall down and then he ran towards May, holding onto her shoulders and staring at her through his lenses. “What are you doing here?!”
Before she had the chance to reply the huge green monster got up and Peter shoved May out of the way, crouching down and getting ready to fight. “Stand down, Peter. You’re mine. You belong to me. You always did.” His burning eyes shined brighter. May heard her cellphone’s ringtone in the background again. Was this Tony?? “I own you. You’re my creation. You’re – “
A web attached itself to the monster’s mouth, cutting off his speech. “Man, do you ever stop talking? I mean, you usually went on and on with Harry but I never actually thought you’d be the talkative villain.” Peter’s muscles visibly tensed. “And news flash, Gobby, I don’t belong to you. I was an accident. If anything, I should sue you for turning me into this. I mean… look at yourself. I could have turned out a big, ugly goblin.”
The Goblin tore the webs from his mouth. “The formula that created you belongs to me. You are who you are because of me. You BELONG to me. Think about the power, the power. The energy flowing through you – it’s all me.” He slashed at Peter who jumped out of the way and onto the Goblin’s back. “Obey me!”
“Hmm…” Peter moved and dodged and jumped and twisted and avoided and did everything in his power to not get hit by the Goblin. “See, I don’t think I want to listen to anyone who’s you know, psychotic. Plus, I’m not the best at following orders. Or did you forget how I even got close to your precious formula?”
“Power. The power…”
Peter was knocked back and hit the wall behind him, leaving a dent his size and shape before webbing the Goblin’s arms and pulling himself forward, kicking his chin. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? This thing turned you into some kind of a monstrous Kermit. And if you haven’t been crazy before, you sure are now.” He punched him again and then was smacked into the floor. When Peter looked around and noticed May and Flora were still around he twisted around and got away from the Goblin, running towards the hole in the wall. “Hey, what do you say about playing some Follow the Leader?” And he swinged away, the Goblin not giving it a second thought before following him out into the street.
May stared, horrified, at their distancing shapes before she snapped back at the sound of her phone ringing AGAIN. She quickly took it out and squinted at the screen before answering. “I found Peter.” She said, sounding panicked.
On the other end of the line May heard blasts and blows and other loud noises she didn’t really want to focus on. Then Tony spoke up. “Yeah, me too.” Then he added, not to her, “Hey, kid! I see you’ve made a new friend.”
Peter’s reply was loud enough for May to hear through the call. “Yeah, introductions later!”
“Anyway,” Tony talked back to her. “You safe? I’m kind of busy dealing with the devil over here. Just wanted to tell you I think I found the kid but I guess we were going to say the same thing, huh?” Another blast interrupted him for a moment. “Stay safe. I’m gonna help the kid over here.”
And then he hung up and May turned around towards Flora who was pale. Still shaking, May offered the woman a smile. “Would you like to come over to our place? I’m sure it would be better than staying here right now.”
Tony reached Midtown School of Science and Technology just in time to see Spider-man getting thrown through the air like a basketball and smashing into the wall of the building. When Tony looked around he saw the Green Goblin advancing, a wide, manic grin spreading on his face. He really enjoyed tossing Peter around, huh?
Flying closer to Spidey, he realized the suit was in a bad shape already. The kid groaned as he got himself out of the crater his own body created in the wall and looked up at Tony just in time for Tony to receive May’s call. God, she finally called him back! He’s been trying to reach her ever since he found Spidey and this Green Goblin guy moving throughout the city with the footage from the streets.
“Yeah, me too.” Tony said to May, his arm outstretched for Peter to take. The kid hesitated for only a moment before latching onto Tony and allowing him to haul him up and onto his feet. “Hey, kid! See you’ve made a new friend.” Tony smirked behind the faceplate and could almost imagine Peter’s grimace behind his red mask.
Tony turned around just in time to see the Green Goblin tearing the school’s gates and advancing towards them, ready to probably tear them apart as well as they were nothing more than pieces of paper. “Yeah, introductions later!” Peter stated and swinged towards the Goblin. Tony heard the students from inside the school yelling – it was probably hard to miss this huge monster outside their classrooms. He hoped no one would get hurt. Which brought him back to the present. Spidey moved towards the Goblin, not to get shredded but to keep him and the fight as far away from Midtown as possible.
Blasting the Goblin a couple of times from afar, Tony remembered May was still on the line. “Anyway, you safe? I’m kind of busy dealing with the devil over here. Just wanted to tell you I think I found the kid but I guess we were going to say the same thing, huh?” He aimed his repulsor again and hit the Goblin square in the chest. The monster stumbled back and wrapped an arm around the wounded area for a moment before attacking Spidey again. Yeah, that was bad. Bad, bad, bad. “Stay safe. I’m gonna help the kid over here.” He flew closer to the two figures fighting. “FRIDAY, end call.”
As the line went dead, Tony joined the fight. Spider-man and he took a couple of moments to get used to each other. They were awkwardly fighting together at first, not working together but trying to stay out of each other’s ways. It wasn’t good enough. This Green Goblin monster… it was strong and huge and kept talking to Peter, telling the kid he had to obey him because he created him. Tony had no idea what that was about but he wasn’t going to let this lunatic hurt Spider-man or take control over him somehow. So Tony tried protecting Peter. That was his most pressing issue – keeping Peter safe.
Spider-man, apparently, disagreed with his technic. Now, Tony wasn’t an idiot. He knew Peter was strong and could probably handle himself pretty well, but he usually took care of small things, unenhanced individuals. Not green, flaming-eyes demons. Tony promised May once that he’d look after Spider-man and Peter Parker, that he’d make sure the kid was as safe as possible. He couldn’t fail her, even if Spidey kept on jumping in the way to punch or kick or smack the Green Goblin.
“Spidey, lay down. Let me handle this. You go and make sure no one else gets hurt.” Tony called, hoping this would get the kid out of the way but Peter just glared at him through the mask, the bug-eyes staring at him unnervingly. Then he twisted and his palm caught the punch Green Goblin directed at him. Alright, Tony was impressed. The kid was stronger than he’d originally thought. But that didn’t make him indestructible.
Spidey threw the Green Goblin backwards and the creature fell from the force, knocking into a brick wall. The structure cracked and a couple of heavy bricks landed heavily on the Goblin’s head, making him growl with rage. Peter turned to look at Tony again. “I’m not leaving. This is my fight. You wanna help? Help. But if you want to kick me out of my own life then I’m sorry to tell you for the first time someone’s going to tell ‘no’ to the great Tony Stark.”
Before Tony could even reply, the kid swinged towards Green Goblin who got back up and threw Spidey off his feet with his leg. Tony scowled and then rolled his eyes and flew closer, blasting the Green Goblin with his repulsors and everything he had, hoping he’d focus on him instead of the kid until Peter got his act back together. Luckily, it worked. The Goblin looked up and then hummed, voice hoarse.
“Tony Stark.” He said slowly. “And here I thought I wouldn’t possibly be able to hate you even more.” His eyes glowed even more and his hand caught Peter by the neck, holding him up. The kid thrashed in the hold, kicking the man uselessly. “This is MY asset. Whatever it is you promised him, he belongs to me already. You’re too late.” The Goblin smiled, his sharp teeth showing.
Tony watched as Spidey kept on trying to get away, clearly choking in the monster’s hold. “Promised him? Oh, I didn’t promise him anything. You see, because he’s not an ASSET. He’s a PERSON. A person you might not want to kill right now with that chokehold you’ve got going on there. Unless your ‘asset’ would be of any use to you, dead.”
At his words, Green Goblin loosened the hold a little and Spidey seemed to relax a little. His legs stopped moving so much and his hands held onto the thick fingers wrapped around him as he still tried to make the monster let him go. “Much thanks.” Spidey choked out and then his head moved a little upwards. “Hey, Norm, what do you take for head trauma?” He asked innocently.
When Tony looked above their heads he found the brick building tilting, ready to collapse. It only needed a little nudge and it would crush the two of them. When Tony looked back at the two Green Goblin seemed annoyed and Spidey looked right back at Tony through his torn-up mask. The man still couldn’t see the expression on the kid’s face, but he was pretty sure he was silently asking Tony to do something stupid.
Something very stupid.
Cursing under his breath, Tony brought his hand up quickly and fired his repulsor at the building, knocking it over. The structure fell on top of the two figures, burying them. Tony’s heart slammed in his chest at the sound of the Goblin’s cry getting cut off at once. The kid didn’t even make a sound. Before it was too late, Tony asked FRIDAY to show him where to look for Peter under all of the destruction. There were people around but he couldn’t care less. He had to make sure the kid was alright.
Apparently, his help wasn’t needed. He took a cautious step back when the rubble moved a little from the movements of someone underneath. For a moment he feared it might be the Goblin, but then Spidey threw everything that was on top of him away, coughing heavily and shaking all over. Tony ran towards him, holding onto him and asking FRIDAY for vitals. But everything came up fine. Sure, the kid was hurt but he wasn’t in any immediate danger and his healing would kick in soon to take care of everything.
Peter stayed limp for a couple of moments, his head lulling over his shoulders, but then he snapped back to reality and his eyes drifted towards the pile of bricks on top of the Goblin. He sighed. “Do you have a crane?” He asked tiredly and Tony ignored him in favor of calling his aunt to let her know they were both okay. Kind of.
They let Peter sleep for as long as he needed but now they had him sitting in front of them, ready to hear everything he had to say. An explanation. The story behind what went down. He fidgeted in his place, thinking about how lucky Flora was that May and Mr. Stark let her go. Her daughter came over to take her back to her home where she’d stay until her own apartment in New York got restored. Mr. Stark promised to pay for everything and Flora didn’t seem to mind.
Peter was glad when Flora left with her daughter because he hoped that would make them reconnect after all this time apart. God only knows how much Flora would love for that to happen. He crossed his fingers, praying it would work out. But Flora leaving also meant Peter couldn’t get away with talking to May and Mr. Stark, which led to the three of them sitting in the living room together. The two adults stared at Peter, waiting, and the boy tried to focus on them and not on what Harry must be going through now, with his father taken away by SHIELD.
At least Peter could tell people his parents died in a plane crash that didn’t change who they were. They always loved him and were always good people who cared about society and their family and friends so much. Norman Osborn was nothing like that. He was an egotistical jerk who only wanted power and money, which led him to the formula that turned Peter into Spider-man and himself into a delusional monster. Poor Harry.
When May coughed, letting Peter know they were both still waiting for him to talk, he sighed and avoided their eyes. “Ugh, I don’t know where to start.” He mumbled and then shook his head. “A couple of weeks ago Harry invited me over to his place. Harry Osborn. We aren’t friends or anything, he usually just makes me do his homework for him and in return he doesn’t beat me up – not exactly very close. But I couldn’t really find a reason to say no since he lives in a giant building where they have cool science stuff, so I went there after school and on the way there he said his dad wanted to talk to me.” He frowned and noticed the way Mr. Stark’s lips curled in disgust at the mention of Norman Osborn. “So I just followed Harry in and we watched some movie together before Harry had to go to the bathroom for a moment and his dad showed up out of nowhere and cornered me, saying something about how I should have come to him sooner and how I have to do as he says. He didn’t get to say anything else before Harry showed up again and he just… left us.
“He kept on inviting me over after that and I tried to find more and more excuses as to why I couldn’t come. I just made things up because this was crazy. I had no idea what Norman Osborn wanted from me but just the way he looked at me made my spider-sense go haywire.” Peter shivered and curled up on himself a little. “And then Green Goblin attacked me out of nowhere on my way to school after…” He trailed off awkwardly, watching as both adults looked at each other, realizing he was referring to that same day everything went down. “He kept on repeating himself, saying the same things Norman told me, only he mentioned doing the same to himself. It took me hours to understand it was Norman. He turned himself into a monster ON PURPOSE. How messed up is that? And he did it because of ME. Because he saw what that formula did to him and decided to give it a try on himself since he probably didn’t have many volunteers lining up to have this experiment on themselves.”
May put her hand on Peter’s arm, her brows knitted together. “Don’t blame yourself, honey. It was his choice to turn himself into… this. That’s not on you.” She said it with confidence and Mr. Stark nodded beside her, agreeing. Peter just lowered his eyes to the ground. After a moment May sighed. “I talked to a lot of people about you while you went missing, honey.” She said and Peter gave her a confused look. “I figured you were out, being Spider-man, so Tony gave me a list of people you’ve interacted with to ask them if they knew where you were. It didn’t lead me to you until I got to Flora, but… but it was still enlightening.” She scooted a bit closer. “Pete, those people… you saving their lives meant the world to them. They were all thankful and worried about you. They heard you went missing and looked like their world just crumbled.”
With a smirk, Mr. Stark added, “And their faces when you helped them were so bright, I almost had to look away from the security footage every few minutes. My eyes hurt. I’m serious.”
Peter chuckled a little before noticing May was biting her lip, watching him carefully. “What?”
“They said the police shot you. They mentioned there were people who didn’t like you out there so you constantly had to dodge garbage thrown your way or ignore nasty comments from random people.” Her eyes watered a little, to Peter’s horror. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“B-because I didn’t think it mattered? I mean, it’s pretty much illegal, being a vigilante, so yeah. The police aren’t a fan. I just try and disappear before they show up. And not everyone has to accept me. I… I don’t mind it. I don’t know, it’s not as bad as it sounds.”
The snort from Mr. Stark made both Parkers turn to face him. “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just that from the footage I’ve seen, it is pretty bad.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back a little. “Seriously kid, why do you even bother being Spider-man with this attitude from people?”
At that May looked back to Peter, her brows raised as if asking the same question as well and Peter slumped down in his seat, realizing he had to answer it. Because whether Mr. Stark meant it sarcastically or not, May was serious. She wanted to hear it, the reason behind his Spider-man persona. It only took her month to actually ask him. He wasn’t sure whether or not he really was glad to talk about it or not, but he had to.
“I got my powers when I was on a field trip to Oscorp with my class. There was a spider there that they experimented on with this weird formula and it bit me.” This part May knew about. Peter came back home sick and barely standing up. “Then there was this week when I was sick before I woke up and felt all better. I felt great. It was like waking up in a different body. That’s how I got my powers. Whatever they put in that spider in the lab, it turned me into this. That’s why Norman kept on claiming I belonged to him – cause the experiment was his. But I didn’t use my powers at first. I just had them and tried to ignore them. I didn’t want anything to do with it.
“Then I had the fight with Uncle Ben. Remember? I ran out and he followed me to the street. We stumbled upon a robbery in progress and the guy had a gun pointed at me. I was frozen in place, too scared to move or do anything even though my head screamed at me that I should get out of the way and fast. And then Ben jumped in front of me and the bullet hit him instead.” His breath hitched. “I should have done something. I could save him, but I just stood there like an idiot and let him take a bullet for me when I can definitely survive a gunshot. I should have saved him. But I didn’t.
“I know you think I created Spider-man because superheroes are cool and it’s fun to swing around and play the hero. It is fun sometimes. But that’s not why I do it. It’s because there are people out there who might get hurt without anyone even noticing them and no one would be able to help them.” He stared at the two adults sitting in front of him, desperately wanting them to understand. “They can’t help themselves, but I have the power to save them. I can make them go home safe. I can make sure they get back to their families or get to live another day. And I’m sorry if when I’m at school I’d choose to leave the classroom after hearing a cry for help but I can’t sit and listen to my teachers talk when there’s someone in trouble out there. I care about my future, of course I do, but at least to me, Spider-man is more important. Because if anything bad happens to those people out there that I know could use my help, that’s on me. And I can’t live with that. I can’t make that same choice to not do anything again.”
They were both silent for a moment before Peter felt May’s arms wrap around him and her soothing voice telling him that it wasn’t his fault, what happened to Ben. Did she even listen to the story? Of course it was his fault. But he let her hold him anyway, because he needed it and it felt nice. Beside them, Tony sniffed and when Peter glanced at him the man seemed uncomfortable, like all the emotions were unsettling him.
May hummed quietly, carding her fingers through his hair. “We’re going to find a solution, honey. We’re going to come up with something and this time you’ll help us figure it out, alright? No more sneaking around and no more hiding things.” When Peter just nodded she tightened her hold around him, bringing him even closer. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
They told the school faculty about who Spider-man was. It was Mr. Stark’s idea and it took Peter a lot of time to accept, but eventually the three of them asked to talk to the principal who listened to them as they explained everything. Tony made the entire staff sign NDAs to make sure they didn’t spread the word about Spider-man’s identity and then came to an agreement with the school.
Peter would be allowed to leave school in case someone needed his help outside. But he had to always have his homework done, pass his tests and not slip in any way with his grades. Some of the teachers seemed to take it upon themselves to cover for him whenever he disappeared to be Spider-man, although most of the kids at school couldn’t care less about where he was.
Other than that, Mr. Stark talked SHIELD into making the police stop trying to shoot him wherever he went. Apparently, Mr. Stark didn’t like the idea of Peter having to dodge bullets after saving people, for some reason (he was glad, alright? Just didn’t want Mr. Stark to know just how much that meant to him). So now patrols were a lot easier. Sure, there were still plenty of jerks who threw things at him and yelled at him to get off the streets, but it was still better. A lot better.
The best part was that both May and Mr. Stark seemed to realize they’ve underestimated Peter before. They really thought all he did was help stray animals and old ladies cross the road. They truly believed his encounters with criminals were happening MAYBE once a week at most. When they said that he laughed so hard it hurt. Because he stopped criminals on a daily basis. He just didn’t get hurt so they had no idea. Did they really think he got hurt every single time he faced someone dangerous? That was… yeah, it stinged a bit.
Now Mr. Stark always kept an eye out for him just in case he got in over his head, though that was unlikely seeing as Peter tried to always make sure he could handle things before jumping in and meddling. And May told him how important it was that he didn’t just leave people to deal with the aftermath of being attacked or ambushed by thugs or God-knows-what. And Peter knew that already, but he still liked hearing his aunt saying it out loud.
What he did mattered. He knew that.
Now Aunt May and Mr. Stark knew that, too.