Chapter Text
It started out as a cancelled lab session.
Peter didn’t think anything of it at the time. It wasn’t the first time it had happened. Usually it would be a last minute board meeting or Avengers stuff and Peter was cool with it. He’d just patrol that evening instead or hang out with Ned.
Today was the third lab session Tony cancelled in a row. It had now been over a week since the kid had seen him and what was worse was that he’d realised he hadn’t spoken to him in just as long.
It was Happy that broke the news every time, picking him up from school and instead of turning down their usual route to the tower he’d continue down to Queens, giving Peter some excuse involving SI, but the more he thought about it, the less he believed him.
The teen checked his phone to find there weren’t any new messages. The last one in their chat was from Tony last Wednesday saying ‘see you soon’ after Peter had confirmed he was swinging over to say hi.
“What did you say he was doing?” He asked, looking back up to Happy who had his eyes trained on the road.
“Oh, um. A meeting... An important one.”
Peter’s heart dropped. How could he have been so stupid? It wasn’t even like Haply was a good liar and up until now the teen hadn’t noticed. He bit his lip, staring down at his lap as he tried to figure out how he’d been so naïve to believe him. That was before the fear started seeping in because Peter must have done something, right? Tony wouldn’t just stop seeing him for no reason. He must have done something wrong and Tony hated him so much he couldn’t speak to or even look at him.
He heard Happy curse, sounding flustered. “Are you crying? Shit, please don’t cry. What’s wrong? Anyone I need to pay a visit to?”
“Why won’t Mr Stark see me?” He sniffled, trying (and failing) to act mature about the situation whilst his crippling fear of abandonment ate him up from the inside out.
“What do you mean? You saw him last week.”
“He won’t see me. He’s cancelled the last three lab sessions. I was meant to be staying over this weekend.”
Happy softened, trying his best to give a reassuring smile. “I’ll get him to talk to you, okay? But I promise you’ve done nothing wrong.”
Peter huffed, not believing a word.
The more Peter thought about it, the more he realised how odd Tony’s behaviour had been in the past nine days. The billionaire would text him at least once every day, even if it was just ‘bored’ whilst he sat through what was probably a very important meeting. He hadn’t texted Peter for nine days. He hadn’t called or picked him up from school either, drawing the teen to the only logical conclusion. Tony didn't want to see him. Worse, he didn’t want any communication with him at all.
“Kid, please don’t get upset. I’ll get him to call you as soon as I get back, okay?”
“Sure.” Peter muttered, slipping out of the car the second it came to a stop outside of his apartment block.
It took him longer than usual to climb the stairs, backpack weighing heavier than usual and he forced himself to shrug it back up his shoulder every fifth step when it undoubtedly started to slip.
Fumbling for the keys, he opened the door to a surprised looking May who was in the middle of getting ready for something. She had her hair loosely curled, makeup done with purple eyeshadow and wore the skirt she keeps for special occasions since she deemed it too expensive for everyday wear.
“Peter? What happened to spending the night at the tower?” She asked, frozen in place.
Peter shrugged, dumping his bag beside the door before lightly kicking it shut.
His aunt frowned, moving closer. “He cancelled again? What is that -“
“Three times.” Peter finished for her.
May gave an unimpressed huff, placing her hands on her hips. “That man. I wished he’d at least give us some warning! I was supposed to be going out for…”
Peter raised an eyebrow. “For?”
“Just dinner, nothing exciting.”
“With who?” He questioned, failing to hide his smile.
“Just someone from work.” She brushed off, reaching for her bag on the table.
“A male someone?”
May blushed, smiling as she fished out her phone from her bag. “Looks like Tony isn’t the only one cancelling things today.”
“Wait, What?”
“Well I’m not leaving you on your own, I’ll just rearrange.”
Peter immediately shook his head, quickly moving to her. “No, no, don't do that. I’ll probably just go out patrolling anyways.”
“But there’s no food in.”
“I’ll stop by Mr Delmars, they open late on a Friday.”
May looked unsure but Peter gave an insistent nod, smiling.
“Fine, but here.” She said, rummaging through her purse and handing him a ten dollar bill. “Get yourself something nice? Maybe not the number five smushed down real flat?”
Peter laughed, stuffing the note in his pocket. “But that’s the best one!”
May chuckled, ruffling his hair. “I’ll be home by ten, just in time-“
“For my curfew, yes mom .” Peter joked.
“Call me if you need me.” She said blowing a kiss before heading out of the door.
Peter stayed in for an hour until his stomach started rumbling. He was meant to be doing homework before heading out to patrol, but what really happened was he stared at his phone, willing it to ring for an hour before giving up.
Happy hadn’t told Tony to ring him. Or perhaps he did and the man refused. Maybe he hated him.
Sighing, he grabbed the money May had left him along with his backpack containing his suit and headed out.
There was something freeing about sitting on the top of a high rise office block dressed in spandex and eating a ham and pickle sandwich. His feet swung back and forth over the edge as he chewed his last bite, wishing he’d bought two. The sad thing about food was finding there was none left.
He pulled his mask on, watching as Karen came to life.
“Good evening, Peter. No lab today?”
Peter’s heart sank. He almost forgot. “No.”
“Oh. That’s -“
“The third time in a row. Yes, you didn’t have to remind me.” He muttered, jumping up to his feet.
“I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.” The AI responded sympathetically.
“I’ve obviously done something wrong.”
“I doubt that, Peter.”
“When was the last time he spoke to me?”
“The last communication between you and Tony was nine days, two hours and thirty six minutes ago.”
Peter sighed, deflating. Hearing it stated so factually felt like adding salt to the wound. “See?”
“Mr Stark lives a very busy life.” Karen tried, but it didn’t make the teen feel any better.
“He never used to be too busy for me.”
“Have you tried calling him?”
Peter frowned. “Why would I do that?”
“You clearly miss him and are anxious to know the reason why Tony has been distant.”
“So you agree he’s ignoring me.”
“I didn’t say that.”
The teen huffed, opting to look out across the New York skyline. “Only because he created you.”
“I do not hold any bias towards Tony as my creator.”
“Whatever. Give me something interesting, Karen.” He instructed and his HUDD lit up a route.
“There’s an ATM robbery three blocks away.”
“May I remind you you haven’t done a patrol report yet.” Karen said as Peter made his way back to his backpack stashed away at the top of his favourite high rise roof.
“You sure don’t miss anything, do you.” He retorted sarcastically, landing effortlessly on the top of the building.
“I’m sure Mr Stark would like to hear about -“
“Well maybe I’m not in the mood to send another voicemail. He doesn’t even listen to them.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“Maybe it is now. Has he opened the last two?”
Karen paused for a moment and that was answer enough. “Mr Hogan has.”
Peter huffed, trying to ignore the pain in his chest. “See you later, Karen.” He said, pulling his mask off and throwing it into his backpack.
Once he’d changed his clothes, he optimistically checked his phone for messages, but whilst there were some from Ned and MJ, even one from May, those weren’t the ones he was hoping for.
Hope was a childish thing anyways, he figured. Maybe if he just expected disappointment it wouldn’t hurt as much.
Saturdays were strange when he had no plans. Peter couldn’t remember the last time he’d been sitting on his bed at 10am at a loss of what to do. He hated it.
He couldn’t help but think about what he was supposed to be doing right now. Usually by this time, Tony had already made Peter pancakes for breakfast and they’d be an hour into tinkering in the lab together. Recently, Tony had offered the teen to help him with one of his new race cars since he was looking into a new era of engines and Peter had been so unbelievably excited.
Maybe that was why Tony wouldn’t see him anymore. It was all the teen would talk about for the week following until even Ned got tired of it.
Did he break something when they were taking the car apart? Maybe he’d suggested something so stupid the billionaire couldn’t bear to be around him again, but no matter how much he wracked his brain, he couldn’t think of anything he’d said or done to make Tony act this way.
Peter was torn from his thoughts when his phone buzzed on his bedside table and he felt a flash of hope. Grabbing it, he opened his messages to find a text from MJ.
Sorry Peter, I’m visiting a friend out of state this weekend.
Peter bit his lip, putting the phone back down. That was the last of his options down the drain. He’d even text Harry from Decathlon asking if he wanted to go to the fair downtown, but everyone seemed to have plans other than him.
“Oh hon, it breaks my heart seeing you all glum.” May cooed, walking into his room before stopping in front of where he was sitting.
“I'm not glum.” Peter muttered as his aunt pulled his chin up between her fingers. She was smiling warmly back, but the pity in her eyes was obvious.
He looked away, opting to stare out of the window.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea, why don’t I call in sick-“
“May! You can’t do that.” Peter protested, turning his head so quickly he almost got whiplash.
“But you’ll be alone all day.” She complained, plonking down on the bed next to him.
“You refuse to go on sick leave even when you’re really ill, I’m not gonna let you have a day off just because I’m bored.”
May sighed, pulling him into a side hug. “Fine, but you need to do something. Go for a walk. Do an extra patrol. Anything that isn’t moping around all day.”
Peter nodded, “I will.”
“And if you could grab some milk on your way back from your adventures,” she said, planting a kiss on the top of his head, “that would be a big help.”
Peter smiled as she ruffled his curls. “Sure, no problem.”
“Text me if you need me. I larb you!”
Peter smiled fondly, eyes trailing to his backpack.
Of course out of all of the options, he decided to patrol. It had been ages since he’d been out during the day since he spent most of his time in school. It was nice having the freedom of just helping old ladies cross the road or carrying someone’s shopping for them. He guessed criminals often waited until nighttime to carry out their offences, but Peter didn’t mind the somewhat mundane patrol.
He sat and ate lunch in his usual spot, eating a donut a shop keeper had given him for carrying his delivery inside.He watched as the city bustled beneath him, kids running around the street stalls with various toys in hand, dogs barking at each other whilst they passed on the sidewalk. Everyone seemed so happy.
It wasn’t until he saw a boy on his fathers shoulders, laughing giddily, did his mind wander back to Tony.
“Hey Karen?” He asked, slipping his mask back on.
“Yes, Peter?”
“Has Mr Stark sent any new messages?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Did he notice I didn’t send a patrol update?” The teen continued to question in a disheartened tone.
“No one seems to have checked with Friday.”
“You can check Mr Stark's calendar, right? You can access Friday's information?”
“A limited amount, yes.” The AI responded hesitantly.
“What’s he doing today?”
A pause. “There’s nothing in the diary for today.”
Peter swallowed the lump in his throat. “Oh… what about yesterday?”
“Mr Stark's calendar has been cleared for the week.”
The teen’s jaws dropped. “What?”
“According to Friday's data, Mr Stark cleared his calendar nine days ago and blocked it out to not be disturbed.”
Peter frowned. Was he working on an important mission? Perhaps something really had come up and he wasn’t upset with him after all.
“I’m gonna swing over, see if he’s okay.” Peter decided, going for a running jump off the top of the tower block.
It took him less than fifteen minutes to swing to the tower, but for some reason he didn’t want to delve into, most likely fear that maybe Tony really did hate him, he didn’t just head into the tower like a normal person and use the lift. No, Peter simply gripped on to the side of the building and climbed up to the 58th floor he knew the lab to be in. He recognised the floor not only by the view inside, but by the latched window Tony had made to avoid Peter breaking through another whilst injured. Obviously the billionaire had explained that using the front door would be the most sensible and preferable approach, but he also knew logic was out the window, quite literally, when Peter was badly hurt on patrol. A window latch was apparently the best answer.
He found himself next to the latch, but hesitated. His hand was hovering over the contraption, but something felt off. Frowning, he put his hand to the window in a C-shape to give him a better view and put his face to the other side of his palm.
The lab looked how it always did with cluttered desks and abandoned holograms of various blueprints, not to mention the race car that now took centre stage.
Even though Peter couldn’t spot the man, he saw his phone lying on the side of his worktop, giving Peter an idea. He pulled out his own phone, pressing it to his ear after putting Tony’s number in the speed dial.
It was only a moment's delay before the other man’s phone lit up and started buzzing on the desk. Less than five seconds later, Tony appeared, walking briskly over to the phone, but it was what trailed behind him that knocked Peter’s breath out of his lungs.
A boy, slightly smaller than Tony in height and build, walked into view. He was smiling under the mop of brown hair, chatting away happily as he followed the billionaire to his desk.
His eyes snapped back to Tony when he picked up the buzzing phone and what happened next all but tore Peter’s heart out of his chest.
The man put the phone down.
He pressed the red icon so casually it took the teen aback and to twist the knife in his gut, he flipped the phone face down to avoid any further disturbances before turning back to the teenager in his lab.
The pair laughed about something, probably over how annoying Peter was, but then Tony probably hadn’t even bothered mentioning the teen to the new guy.
The fatal blow was seeing Tony ruffle the boy's hair with a grin before walking back to wherever they came from.
Tony didn’t hate Peter. He’d replaced him.