Chapter Text
Peter stared at the clock's hands, watching each second pass by. After every ten seconds he’d spare a glance at the front door, but neither view changed. The clock kept ticking, the door remained closed, and the driveway was still empty.
It was now 4:25pm, a whole hour later than Peter expected Pepper and Morgan to be home after the school run. The teen had already finished at 2:50, patrolled for an hour and swung back in the time his pseudo-mom had been gone. He tried not to worry though, sometimes if Morgan had a hard day in school, Pepper would take her for gelato. He was sure it’d be fine.
Peter was currently sitting at the dinner table finishing his math homework, but procrastination had set in almost ten minutes ago and he was hoping he’d be able to distract himself by playing with his little sister, not that he’d managed to say those words out loud yet.
He wasn’t sure if it had really sunk in that he had a sister at all. If any of it had sunk in.
It was hard to process everything that happened, waking up on Titan to find five years had passed, fighting Thanos again, reuniting with, and almost losing Tony in the space of an hour.
It was a lot.
That wasn’t the worst of it though.
The fatal blow was finding out about May.
Pepper had been the one to break the news to him. They’d been sitting by Tony’s bed in Wakanda when Peter suddenly panicked, explaining that his aunt would be worried he hadn’t come home. She’d looked at him with sad, knowing eyes and taken his hand. Even the most comforting words and gentlest touches couldn’t soften the blow.
May hadn’t blipped. May was dead. May was killed in a hit and run almost two years ago and Peter hadn’t even been there.
The teen was inconsolable for days after he found out. He wouldn’t speak to anyone, eat or even sleep. He was certain the guilt and grief would consume him to the point living would just stop, and Peter had been morbidly okay with that. At least he’d be with his family again, but then a miracle happened.
Three days into mourning, Tony woke up. It was as if the Gods knew there was only one thing - one person - that could bring Peter back from the edge. As soon as Pepper told him, he’d thrown himself from his bed and sprinted to Tony’s room only to collapse in a ball of tears in the man’s lap.
“Shh, I’ve got you Roos, you’re okay.” He whispered, stroking his hair. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Peter shook his head fiercely. “No,” he said, “nothing’s gonna be okay. I’ve got no one left.”
“Yes you do, kiddo. You’ve got me and Pepper, and your little sister.”
Peter’s eyes widened. “You have a kid?”
“I always did, Pete. Morgan’s our second.” Tony explained sincerely and without knowing he’d said exactly what Peter needed to hear.
“Morgan?”
“After Pepper’s weird uncle. She loves you already.”
The teen frowned, wiping his tears away with the palm of his hand. “How could she?”
“You’re her favourite bedtime story.” Tony replied, giving him a tired smile.
“That’s different, she likes Spider-Man.”
“No, I tell her stories of you and me, on the adventures we’d go on. Sure, she loves Spider-Man, but Peter Parker’s her favourite.”
Peter cried more at that.
He loved his little sister. He loved Tony and Pepper too.
It had been two months since Peter moved to the lake house with them once Tony was discharged from hospital. The billionaire still had weekly PT on his arm and the scarring was substantial, but other than that he got a clean bill of health.
Peter sighed, checking the clock again. 4:35pm.
His gaze wandered back to the math question he was stuck on. Well, not stuck per say, more unable to focus on. Something felt off. His Spidey-sense made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he knew nothing good ever followed.
He looked around the cabin which was now fading to darkness as the sun set. There were only two lights on, one hanging over the kitchen table and a lamp standing by the front door. Peter always turned that one on to make the decking stairs safer, but now the once welcoming glow just made the darkness more prominent. It made the shadows look sinister and Peter’s overactive imagination made panic rise in his chest.
Don’t be stupid, Parker. You’re not afraid of the dark, he reminded himself.
Rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, he pushed back the kitchen chair with his legs and wandered over to the front door.
The drive was still empty and there weren’t even headlights in the distance. Pepper and Morgan were nowhere to be seen, leaving Peter alone in the cabin in the woods.
His Spidey-sense continued to buzz under his skin, making him scan the living room in front of him.
Was there an intruder?
No, Friday would have told him. Wait, was she offline? “Fri?”
“Yes, Peter?” The AI responded quickly, making the teen jump. It felt like she’d spoken louder than usual, but that was likely because there was an eerie silence to the house instead of the usual chatter of a five year old by this time in the day, not to mention Peppers business calls or dinner sizzling away.
The only sound that echoed through the house was the kitchen clock.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
If his Spidey-sense hadn’t already put him on edge, he certainly would be anyways now.
Suddenly there was a clunk sounding like it came from upstairs, making Peter’s head snap up. Rationally, he knew it was the pipes. He knew that was the sound they made when the heating turned on, but right now ration was out of the window and the reality was that it could have been a footstep.
Holding his breath, Peter edged towards the stairs, eyes never straying from the darkness that loomed at the top.
Quietly he raised his foot and pushed himself up the first step, wincing as it creaked under his weight.
He went to take another, but Friday perked up, scaring the crap out of him and made him lose his balance. Luckily, one step wasn’t far to fall, landing on his ass with a thud.
“Incoming call from North View elementary school.” Friday informed, almost sounding amused.
Peter put a hand on his hammering chest and tried to slow his breathing down before speaking. “Put it through. Hello?”
“Hello, this is Ms Coles, who am I speaking to?” A high pitched voice came through the speakers.
The teen cleared his throat, brushing himself off as he got back on his feet. “It’s Peter. You’re Morgan’s teacher, right? Is she okay?”
“Oh Peter, are your parents home? Sorry, I mean Mr and Mrs Stark?”
Peter’s heart stuttered at the correction, feeling a pang of sadness. “No, Tony’s at a meeting in the city and Pepper left to pick Morgan up hours ago.”
He heard the teacher catch her breath on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry, but Pepper hasn’t come to collect Morgan. That’s why I’m calling. Is there anyone else that can get her?”
Peter froze, trying to make sense of what the woman was telling him. If Pepper hadn’t gone to collect Morgan, where was she? “I don’t know. I’ll have to call her dad, if not I can come and get her.”
“If you could let me know, that would be great. She seems a little upset.”
Peter bit his lip, feeling his chest tighten at the thought of Morgan sitting alone in a classroom, hours after finishing time.
“Me or Tony will be there in thirty minutes max.” He promised, already pulling the suit out of his backpack.
“Thank you.” She said before the line went dead.
“Friday?” Peter asked, shrugging off his Midtown hoodie.
“Calling Mr Stark.” The AI replied, one step ahead as always.
The billionaire picked up on the second ring, even though Peter knew full well he was half way through a board meeting. “Roos? What up, buddy?”
“Mr Stark, Morgan needs picking up from school. I don’t know where Pepper is, I thought she was getting her since her cars gone and she always gets her from kindergarten and-“
“Woah, slow down, kid .” Tony interjected, “ Pepper didn’t pick her up?”
“No, she’s still there, her teacher just called. I don’t know where Pepper is.”
Tony cursed, “okay. Don’t worry, Pete, something probably came up. I’m gonna go get Morgan now and we’ll be home soon.”
The teen nodded, worrying his bottom lip. He listened to muttered protests on the other end of the call as Tony made excuses whilst shuffling out of the board room.
“Family emergency,” he heard Tony say, and Peter held his breath praying it wasn’t true.
There was no emergency. Everyone was fine. Something had just come up and Pepper hadn’t had time to let Tony or anyone know. Even though she always made sure to let people know about plans changing, especially if it impacted her family.
“Are you okay, Pete?” Tony asked, but Peter knew he knew the answer. There was no point lying.
“Just worried.” He muttered, walking back to the kitchen table.
“It’s fine, kiddo. There’ll be a logical explanation, I promise. I’ll see you soon.” Tony assured, ending the call.
As relieved he felt that Morgan wouldn’t be alone for much longer, his concern over Pepper's whereabouts was increasing tenfold every second. “Fri? Do you know where Pepper is?”
“Unknown. The tracker in her car has been disabled.” Friday responded quickly.
“When?”
“3:04 pm this afternoon.”
Peter’s heart sped up. Why would she turn the tracker off? She’d never done that before, she always droned on about how important it was to stay safe. It didn’t make sense. “Is she wearing her watch?”
“Negative. Her watch was taken off at 3:01pm.”
The teen’s eyes widened. “Where was her last known location?”
“The clearing on the outskirts of the woods.”
Peter felt his heart leap into his throat. “Call Mr Stark!”
Friday didn’t respond, she simply pushed through the call directly to Tony’s car and the man’s voice filtered through the room again.
“Roos? Im driving over to Morgan’s school, there’s no need to-“
“I think something’s happened to Pepper!” Peter cut in, feeling his hands tremble.
“What? Peter, something probably just came up at SI.”
“And not let anyone know? She always picks Morgan up.”
“Kid-“
“The tracker has been turned off in her car and her watch was removed a few minutes before that. Something’s happened, I'm sure of it.” Peter insisted, voice shaking with fear.
“Shit. Look, I’ll get Friday to run an analysis, just stay put until I get home.”
“I need to go and look for her!” Peter exclaimed, once again going back to his suit.
“No. You stay at the house until I get back with Morgan and then we figure out where Pepper is, where I’m sure we’ll find out she’s had an emergency conference in DC.”
“But Tony what if -“
“Peter, stop. If - big if - something has happened, the first thing I need are you two safe. I’ll have Morgan with me in two minutes and I’ll be with you in twenty. I need you to stay . Please.”
Peter sighed in defeat, dropping the suit once again. “Okay, Tony.”
“Thank you.”
If Tony was surprised that all of the lights in the house were on when they got home, he didn’t let it show. Instead he put Morgan down in his usual fashion and placed her back pack by the coat rack.
“Petey!” She squealed obliviously, running to her brother who gave her a strained smile in return.
Once she ran into his arms he picked her up by her armpits and twirled her around like he always did, trying not to let on he was beside himself with worry.
“Hey Mongoose.” He greeted, settling her so she sat on his hip.
“Guess what? I got to do extra colouring with Ms Coles after school and she let me print out whichever drawing I wanted!” She explained happily, gently tugging at Peter’s ear like usual.
“That’s great, Morgs. What did you pick?”
“A unicorn obviously, but Ms Coles said it’s actually a peg-i-sis because it had wings and a horn.”
Peter laughed. “You’ll have to show me later.”
“Morgs, why don’t you grab your colouring book from upstairs and you can do even more?” Tony suggested whilst Peter put her down.
“Really? I don’t have to do homework?”
“Nope.” He said, popping the ‘p’.
Morgan beamed at her father before sprinting off up the stairs, leaving the tension to settle between Peter and Tony.
As soon as she was out of sight, Tony’s face fell and Peter already knew.
“I have people out looking for her.” He said, facing the teen a few meters away.
The kid's heart stopped. “There was no meeting.” He whispered.
Tony shook his head, obviously trying to keep up his strong demeanour, but the cracks had begun to show.
Peter’s face crumpled, throwing his arms around Tony who returned the hug tightly. One of his hands snaked into the kid's hair, whilst the other looped around his back, keeping him as close as possible.
For a moment, they just held each other, faces buried in the other's neck.
“We found her car.” Tony whispered, breathing in the comforting scent of Peter’s curls. “Security found her car on the outskirts of the city. It’s not damaged, but it was left unlocked.”
Peter pulled away, once again moving to his bag. “I’m gonna suit up.” He said, but Tony grabbed his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.
“ No .”
Peter’s mouth hung open in shock. “But I can help find her!”
“I said no, Peter. I can’t let you do that. If she’s missing, my next priority is keeping my kids safe. That’s you, Pete. You and Morgan. I can’t let you go.” Tony explained, still holding onto the kid’s wrist.
“But this is Pepper we’re talking about!”
The billionaire frowned, dropping his hand. “What, and you think I care about your safety less than hers? You aren’t leaving and that’s final.”
Peter went to protest, but the look on Tony’s face made him decide against it.
He was scared.
Peter could count the times he’d seen Tony scared on one hand. The first time was in Germany when Peter had gone down, but it only lasted for a second. The next time was after the billionaire found him the night of homecoming and carried him to MedBay. The third and only other time was when he dusted in Tony’s arms. Nothing good ever happened when Tony was scared and Peter prayed it would be different this time. He had to hope Pepper was okay.
The billionaire sighed, squeezing Peter’s shoulder. “I know you only want to help, Pete. God, I want nothing more than to take a suit and search for her too, but we have our best team out there looking, not to mention Friday. We’re doing all we can.”
Peter closed his eyes, letting his head fall onto Tony’s chest in defeat. “Where is she?“ he asked quietly, trying to keep his tears at bay.
“I wish I knew, kid…God, I wish I knew.”
It wasn’t easy lying to Morgan, especially since she was a very bright kid for her age. She could sense something was amiss, not to mention pick up on the boys’ forced smiles and banter.
The questions the five year old rattled off soon felt like an interrogation that had Tony feeling hot under the collar. ‘Where’s mommy?’, ‘what meeting?’, ‘where?’, ‘when’s she coming back?’, ‘can I call her?’
Each answer was less convincing than the last and in the end Tony had to bribe her with juice pops. He’d then proceeded to let her watch cartoons until she fell asleep in front of the TV and Peter carried her to bed.
Five hours into Pepper being declared missing, a notification pinged on Tony’s phone.
The billionaire had been sitting on the edge of the sofa, scrolling through all the data and feeds he could get his hands on to find Pepper whilst Peter sat near him, legs drawn to his chest and arms curled tightly around his knees.
The noise made both of them jump, eyes falling to the phone left on the coffee table.
Tony instantly grabbed it, and opened the message, not caring about the warning signs about the blocked number. His face immediately paled, jaw dropping as tears sprung from his eyes. He was too shocked to hide the phone from Peter who crawled over to look at the message.
The screen showed a photo of Pepper. She was tied to a chair with duct tape strapped across her mouth. Her eyes were tightly shut from the bright flash of the camera which made the bruise on her cheek bone stand out. There was a cut above her eyebrow that was still bleeding freely down her face and Peter threw a hand over his mouth, feeling suddenly nauseous.
But if he felt terrible before, nothing compared to the pit in his stomach when he read the text underneath.
There was no ransom note, or negotiation, it simply stated ‘Pepper’s life for Spider-Man’s.’