Tony knew Peter had gone to bed that night, he put him in his bed. The kid had fallen asleep on the couch during one of their movie nights. So it was a surprise to him to hear that the normally obedient Peter had got up, snuck out of the compound and in his Spider-Man suit.
"Track him for me FRIDAY." Tony sighed, not sure what possessed the kid to go out at two in the morning.
"He is in a tree at the edge of the compound." The AI told him.
"Any idea why he's out there this late, FRI?"
"He seemed a bit distressed before he dressed in his suit. He seems to be talking to Karen about something. Would you like me to see what they are talking about, Sir?"
"No thank you FRIDAY." Tony told her.
"Would you like me to tell him you are coming?" She asked him.
Tony thought about it for a moment before deciding on what he should do. "No FRIDAY. I will go out there myself."
Putting on a jacket, and bringing one for the kid in case he was cold, he made his way out to the back of the compound and to the lie of the trees the surrounded his land. That kid didn't take care of himself too well, and sometimes it reminded him of himself.
"Taking a late night swing about?" Tony asked him, staring up at the tree that he was sitting in. "FRIDAY told me you were a bit distressed before going out as Spider-Man. Anything I should know about?" He asked him, leaning against the tree.
"It's nothing, Mr. Stark. I'm sorry about waking you up and bothering you. I can deal with it myself." Peter said, looking down at Tony and taking his mask off. He felt a little silly for going out like this. But it helped him.
"Come on, kid. I thought we talked about this already. You never bother me. I'm here for you when you need me Pete." He said, frowning at the thought that Peter thought that he was a bother.
"It's just…" Peter started, trailing off and jumping down. Sitting down on the floor, he leaned against the tree.
"Take your time." Tony told him softly, sitting on the ground next to him.
"It was the night of homecoming." The teen said, taking a few deep breaths. He'd never talked about this before and he was finding it a little hard to talk.
Tony remembered that night. It was one of the scariest in his life. The Vulture hijacked his plane and almost stole some of the most dangerous inventions and equipment. His arc reactors, his Iron Man suits, some of the alien tech he had kept to analyse. It would have been a disaster. Then he heard from Happy that it had been Spider-Man that had stopped him by crashing his plane and webbing him up.
"Before the thing with the plane, I confronted Toomes at his warehouse…" He said before he got interrupted.
"Warehouse? What's this about a warehouse?" The billionaire was already starting to panic that something even worse had happened, and that he wasn't told about it.
"If you let me talk, I can get to that." Peter sassed him a little, shaking his head and apologizing.
"No need Peter. Carry on." He gestured, glancing at him.
"Well, it was the warehouse he and his team made the weapons in. You know the ones from alien tech that they stole from the DoDC. Of course at that time it was empty. There was nothing there. They must have moved their equipment. And I found him, we spoke and then he called on his suit.
"I didn't realise what he was doing… His suit, or well his wings, were working on their own - like how FRIDAY controls your suits - and they were just flying around. I thought they were really off aim, not quite there. They weren't even hitting me. I thought he was just missing me. But he wasn't.
"He told me that he was sorry that it had to end like this. I was so confused. And then Toomes had his wings back, and before I knew it, the supports were gone and so was he." Peter whispered, closing his eyes and trying to calm himself down.
Tony knew what was coming next and it made his stomach churn. Peter had practically told him what happened but he needed Peter to say it. He'd taken his suit away and he'd been in mortal danger. There had been no way for the teen to contact him. There was no way of knowing.
"I must have been out for a minute or two but when I woke up, there was a building on top of me. There was dust everywhere. In my eyes, in my mouth, in my lungs. I couldn't breathe. There was blood dripping down in my eye. And I'm pretty sure I broke a couple ribs. I was trapped and there was no one there to help me. I screamed and yelled, and I finally realised that I was alone. No one was coming to help.
"The was a puddle of water right below my face, my mask half off and I remembered what you told me after the ferry incident. You said, 'If I was nothing without the suit, then maybe I shouldn't have it'. And you were right. I am Spider-Man with and without the suit. So it was only me there and only I could save myself."
"How did you get out Peter?" He asked, looking at him with concern and worry. Peter was here and not in the ground, but his mind was failing him, wasn't giving him the solution to that problem.
"I lifted whatever slab of concrete was on my back, Mr. Stark."
"I'm sorry, what?" He asked, blinking. He must not have heard right.
"I lifted the building off myself. I had to. It took awhile but I got out of there and got on the plane… And well, you know the rest. I saved the plane, webbed all your stuff up with him and left a note. I left and went back home before anyone came." Peter said, giving him a humorless laugh, sighing and closing his eyes for a moment. "And now I get nightmares about that night. I can't be in small places. I have to know I can get out of a place. Every time I get that nightmare, I have to go outside… Helps me calm down I guess."
He pulled the teen in close and hugged him tightly. He needed to know that he was here for him. "I'm so sorry Peter. I should never have taken the suit away from you in the first place. It's my fault you were all alone." Tony whispered.
"No it's not. I was acting like a child. I wasn't listening to you. I was in over my head." Peter stopped him from blaming himself and gave him an easier smile. "But I had to save your plane and if I had my crappy suit, I was going to do it."
"I shouldn't have taken the suit away. And I won't do that again. If you still had the suit, I would have been alerted and I could have been there to help you. You didn't have to go through that alone." He murmured, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "You wouldn't have stopped being Spider-Man because I took away your suit. I should have realised that."
"Thank you Mr. Stark."
"No need kid. I'm always here for you. Now, why don't we go back inside where it is warm. Perhaps we can watch another movie.
" Tony suggested.
"Sounds like a good idea." Peter said, standing up and pulling his mentor to his feed.
They both walked back inside and settled on the sofa. The two of them started on the next movie on their list, calmer than earlier in the night.