Trigger Warning: Suicidal Theme - First Marvel Universe fanfiction! Hope you all enjoy- this will just be a one-shot but I love the parental dynamic between Tony Stark and Peter Parker so I just had to write this one. Let me know what you think!~


Tony's eyes blearily took in the sight of the faint city lights glow that shined through the dense smog of New York City as he willed his suit thrusters to go faster, he was exhausted after the unforgiving onslaught of meetings and appearances he had, had to make throughout this one night alone. Happy had insisted he take the jet home, he had been in Hong Kong less than 2 hours ago, but Tony had refused saying his own suit was faster than the multimillion dollar jet.

"Tony- they're already here to pick you up! Just take a little nap on the jet ride home- you will be there in no time. It can't be safe to fly around in your suit when you're this tired."

Tony turned toward Happy just before reaching the exit door of the massive hotel they had just checked out of as he sighed and tossed Happy his personal identification badge. "The sooner that I get in my own bed, at my own house, the sooner I can actually fall asleep and be left alone for a while. Now, I hopefully won't be seeing you soon an-"

"Actually you have a 10AM appointment in downtown New York with the board of city protection services and-"

"Nope! Not doing this right now. Enjoy the private trip, have a drink for me, I'm going home." And with that Tony had taken off, he knew Happy was right, it was a bit reckless to fly around when he had only had about three hours of sleep in the past two days. His mind drifted as he flew high across the ocean at dizzying speeds, he prayed Pepper didn't catch wind of him pushing his own limits, she would surely kill him.

As his pent house came into view though, Tony forgot all about the risks and smiled thankfully to himself. "F.R.I.D.A.Y initiate outdoor lighting on the top deck please."

"Finally, home." Tony mumbled as he prepared to land on the now well-lit landing pad just below him.

"Sir, there seems to have been a perimeter breach in the past twenty minutes, perpetrator has just escaped."

"What the…"

It was at that moment that Tony saw a shadow quickly fall past the glow of his pent house lights. "Hey!"

Tony quickly lunged towards the falling figure, his tired eyes barley making out the person's body as he caught them just in time. He was furious when he looked down and saw the familiar young face.

"Kid!"

Stark landed swiftly, he quickly realized the boy in his arms was unconscious as he made no movement to get out of Tony's arms, "Of course." The billionaire sighed as he rushed inside, trying to keep his overall panic buried, he set Peter on the couch and wasted no time to check the floor. "F.R.I.D.A.Y. run diagnostics on all security systems throughout the building, I need a current status on any heat signatures- do an explosives check on this level as well."

"Yes sir, there are no other entities in the building as of right now, no explosives, tracking systems or hidden technology detected."

Tony's stomach dropped at that, who pushed Peter off the balcony then? He shook his head, not sparring a moment, "Alright- I need a full report on the last 20 minutes."

"There was only one intruder to the building at 2:03AM, and that was Mr. Parker, immediate babysitter protocol was extracted and adapted from KAREN and implemented. Diagnostics were ran upon his arrival and recognition, he was in great distress. I have no video feed to offer as my systems were limited at this time, apologies sir."

His head started to spin as Tony's thoughts drifted to darker scenarios as to why Peter fell. "Alright…Karen, play the feed from Peters headcam from the past 20 minutes."

"Certainly."

Tony strained to hear the video feed as he heard a distinct strain in Peters breathing, like he had been running for miles. He grew frustrated as he was only meet with darkness on the video. "Karen, where is the visual?"

"At this point in time Peter had his hands covering his mask, sir."

Stark shifted uncomfortably at that as Peters voice suddenly came into the audio full blast throughout the room.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry….God, I'm so sorry."

The feed suddenly went from black to complete clear depicted view that made Tony's heart leap into his throat.

"Oh kid…"

Tony watched the feed in guilt as he saw Peters arms come into the cameras view, the boy's hands trying to close up a particularly large and fatal gash across a young girl's side.

"You're going to be alright, ok? I'm going to save you…j-just stay with me!" Peters shaking voice cut right through Tony's senses, his fatigue long forgotten now.

The camera suddenly panned up as a paramedic neared Peter, took the young girl from him and rushed her off. Tony could see the boys bloodied hands shaking as he handed the girl to the medical team. A blanket was draped over her body, it was obvious she was dead, there had been no hope.

Suddenly a large middle-aged man who looked half hysterical approached Peter, "It-It's your fault! Hero of the people? You are useless! I saw you perched on the rooftop right when the crash happened! You piece of shit! All you heroes are useless!"

Tony flinched as a distinct crack was heard across the cameras feed, the visual swiftly cutting out then slowly coming back into focus as police swarmed the guy and lead him away in a police car. Tony felt anger bubble up in his stomach towards the drunken man as the scene continued.

Peter seemed to be forgotten as the scene dissipated quickly, soon he moved to a nearby roof, the camera was now still as it faced towards the ground. Sobbing could be heard clearly throughout the feed, slight incoherent mumbles broke out every so often as well.

"Karen, verbal report."

"Peter was patrolling twenty first street at approximately 1:30AM when Barry Warner, the man you just witnessed in the video feed, wrecked into the side of a building at 60MPH. I did a BAC on him as he approached Peter and found he was 3 times over the legal limit, he only received a moderate concussion from the crash. His daughter, Grace Warner, age 8, died in Peters arms upon his quick arrival. At 2:00AM Peter rushed here after having multiple panic attacks, he sprained both his wrists and his ankle as he was swinging from the buildings to get here at dangerous speeds. He also received a broken nose from the intoxicated individual."

"…play the rest of the feed." It wasn't necessary really, in fact Tony was sure it would have just broken his heart more to watch anymore of this but he had to know if Peter was followed, he didn't want to believe the obvious situation. Didn't want to believe that Peter likely thought the whole situation was his own fault, that he took the drunk jackasses comments to heart and came to the pent house in search of help of any sort but got none.

As the video resumed Tony nervously watched as the suits camera was jostled around while Peter jumped from sky scraper to sky scraper, he heard the heavy breaths and slight sobs from the boy as the camera showed his penthouse coming into view.

"He c..an help…take it away.. he'll help"

"Kid…"

Peter barged into the building from an open window, as soon as he entered the main complex of the penthouse he sobbed. "Mr. stark! Please- I…Mr. Stark! I killed her! My fault…all these deaths…I can't do anything right."

Tony grew more alarmed as he heard Peter speak so hopelessly, he couldn't help himself. "Pause. Karen, what does he mean by 'all these deaths'?" It didn't sit right, maybe the boy meant his other deceased family members, maybe in his anguish he thought that the girls death was enough- but still. Tony needed clarification more then anything now.

"In the past week alone Peter has been first hand witness to three fatal car crashes and one murderer victim."

Shaking hands ran down Tony's face as he nodded, "resume the video."

"H-he's not here…Karen he's not here."

The unemotional A.I.s voice took over, "Perhaps he is still on his business call, would you like me to send a distress signal?"

"N-no, there's no need…this is a sign."

"Peter, the suits indicators have run a diagnostic scan, you need medical attention for your broken nose."

"I'm sorry." Peter mumbled quietly as he opened the outside decks doors. "Deactivate safety protocol measures." The boy sobbed.

"I am sorry, Peter, I am unable to follow these specific instructions as babysitter protocol rule 543 indicates that only at age 18 are you allowed to withdraw certain protocols.

Tony heard Peter sob louder as he pulled at the suit, taking all articles of the suit off except the mask, leaving the boy in his normal casual wear of his nerdy T-shirt and jeans. Lastly Peter took off the mask and turned the camera toward himself.

"Mr. Stark if you are seeing this then please know I'm sorry. I've tried so hard…I tried to not bother you all this time, I even got a therapist to help me with my guilt and fear…but I could barely scratch the surface…I-I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted to tell anyone everything and how hard this has all been. I've watched so many people die…and I…I didn't save one. I'm not a hero . Please take the suit back and give it to someone who can actually do it justice. T-tell Aunt May I love her…tell Ned I'm sorry…I'm so sorry."

And just like that the distressed teen laid the mask down gently on the ground, the video feed still playing as the mask was in direct sight of Peter as he climbed on the ledge and looked down over the city, no more sobs, no more tears, just a blank expression as he let himself fall.

"That's enough…" Tony ran another anxious hand over his face, "shit kid." Without another thought he scooped the kid in his arms, Bruce crossed his mind as he brought the kid to the medical wing of the tower but something told him he would need more help than just Bruce. He had no doubt the man could help with the physical ailments of the boy, but as far as the mental hurt…he was at a loss. That's when he realized, it had to be him to talk to Peter. It was his responsibility to do so after all, he had caught him, had seen the cruel and unforgiving situation as it was, it was his job and first priority now.

Once Peter was carefully placed on the bed, Tony immediately called Bruce, "Medical wing ASAP." He hung up without any further word on just what the hell was going on.

Tony sat heavily on a stray chair directly across from the medical bed, he looked up at the broken figure in front of him. The kid definitely did have a broken nose, the slight curvature and profuse amount of dried blood glared back at Tony. His wrist was already very swollen and turning a slight purple at this point. "I'm sorry." Tony whispered, he hadn't the slightest clue how he was going to say anything of meaning to the kid later but knew he would have to. Figuring Bruce has another five minutes till he arrived at the wing Tony decided he would try to atleast say the words he was going to say later.

"That bastard was wrong you know, it was all his fault. He was drunk Pete, there's no way he could have made any sense even if he wanted to. And even if he was completely sober…he was wrong. I know you did everything you could, I watched the feed…there was nothing else you could have done. You can't do this again…you can't ever do this again." Tony's voice cracked a bit as he looked down at the floor, he didn't know who he was trying to comfort in this moment, it was so unlike him. He knew he couldn't drink this problem away though, if he did that it would hurt more than just him this time around, and he wasn't going to risk the boys well being.

"I'm sorry."

Tony's head shot up in surprise, sure enough there was Peter, trying to climb out of bed.

"Hey, whoa, you're ok." A heavy hand fell on Peters shoulder as his swollen wrist gave out under him and he fell back on the bed.

"Just being a burden on you- I'm sorry Mr. Stark…wait…did you-"Peters face broke out in realization, it was almost painful to watch as embarrassment and confusion played across his features.

"I caught you."

"Hey!" Bruce called as he entered the room, he stared at Tony unbelievably, "A little warning as to what I'm walking into next time! You scared me to death! What do we got here?"

"Karen."

"Both of Peters wrists are sprained, his right ankle is also sprained, his nose is broken as well."

Bruce set off to work, Peter quietly thanked the man for not making any comment as he stared down at the thin hospital blanket covering his shaking body. He did not dare look up at Tony.

"I'll be back."

That's all that was said until five hours passed, Peter stared at the mundane ceiling that had been mocking him for the following hours. Bruce had been in and out of the room, a random nurse filled in the gaps so Peter never got the chance to be alone for more than five minutes. He had an uneasy feeling that it was no coincidence.

The boy sighed, he messed up, he knew that. It wasn't as if the action was completely out of nowhere, he had the same self-defeating thoughts that the drunken man had screamed at him about quite often. Suicide was not a rare thought to him, however, he had never thought he would have actually acted on them.

He had always easily talked his way out of anything like that, May would be left alone, Ned would be friendless, and Tony…well…Peter wasn't sure if he would be affected or not. He often told himself that the billionaire would at least be a little sad that there wouldn't be anyone to help him straighten his lab at times for him. His heart went dull at that as the reasons to stay played in his mind, soon enough resolutions to the so called problem of him being gone came up as well, May could move on, she would eventually find someone to take his spot, Ned would probably be motivated to actually branch out and find better friends, and Tony? Well...Peter doubted he'd see much difference in the end. Peter was convinced he was easy to replace at this point.

He swiped at his eyes, clearing away the stray tears that fell from them. Of course, Tony Stark of all people decided to drop in at that exact moment after hours of being gone.

"Hey kid- are you...ok?" The man mentally slapped himself, he kept himself away for hours just so he could gather his bearings, make himself watch the videos of the night prior and yes, even look up and call Peters counselor. Not once did he hesitate as he looked up the counselors whole academic history and life story.

"Anyways...She's crap, your therapist."

Peter shifted uncomfortably, "how did you know I have…a therapist…"

"You kind of told me in your little…video you left me." He didn't want to say it…the last piece of communication he would have ever had from the boy. The final words intended for him. A virtual suicide letter really.

"Oh." Peter looked down again, his hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they took the thin fabric of blanket and grasped onto it at times.

"We have to talk about it, you know."

"I-I promise I won't do it again Mr. Stark. It was stupid, a big mistake, I won't do it again. I'm sorry I-"

"Kid. You scared the shit out of me last night. You made me forget that I haven't slept in the past two days. You made me legitimately cry last night….and let me tell you, it's been years!"

Peter looked down, the weight of his mentor's words crushing him from the inside out. "I'm sorry." He whispered somberly.

"No. None of that, no talking or I'll never get through this!" Tony's voice faltered a bit as he finished, Peter looked up a bit in surprise as he watched the man all but collapse in the hard-plastic chair directly beside him. As soon as Tony looked up at him, Peter looked away quickly as if he had been burned by his gaze alone.

"Look at me kid."

A hesitant set of tired eyes met his determined ones. "I'm telling you all this for one reason only- and that's not to make you feel bad, you're not a burden on or to me. I told you all of that because I want you to know I care damnit. When I caught you last night, when I watched those videos, hell, when I watched you talking into the camera for what you thought was the last time. I never admitted to myself that you jumped, that you really meant to take your own life last night. I've taken every precaution to put you on watch throughout today just in case but…I have to hear you directly say this to me Peter…I need you to say what happened. The truth needs to come from you directly."

Peter couldn't hold the tears any longer as he heard the unnatural desperation in Tony's voice, he couldn't argue with the care and concern etched into the man's voice. "I-I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, Mr. Stark…I wanted to be Spiderman to save people, to help them in every way I could…but all I have seen more than anything is death. So much death. I didn't want to go to anyone, Aunt May made me go to a therapist because I'm failing all of my classes. The only place I felt helpful and wanted was on patrol, it was the one place where my thoughts weren't so dark…but when that man punched me last night I couldn't help but want to beg him to kill me right then and there. I can't even go on patrol and feel like I am worth something anymore."

"Why?" It sounded a lot more like a statement then a question, Tony knew all the answers to every question he was about to ask- almost all of them anyways. But he had to hear it from the kid, to make it real, and for the kid to hear himself as well.

"It was my fault…s-she died because of-"

"He was three times over the legal limit, he was so drunk he probably didn't even know which way was up! I watched the feed…I watched all of it-multiple times, mind you. There was no way you could have anticipated that, they were going 60 miles per hour- your quick but you're not that quick. I'M not that quick, and I don't think any of the avengers could have stopped that tragedy. You jumped into it anyways, risked your identity, to try to save that little girl. Pete…she was gone before you got there, she died on impact there was nothing you could have done."

"I-Its always like that."

"Like what, kid?"

"Everyone is always one step ahead of me, it's like the universe is always trying to tell me that I'll never be fast enough, smart enough…good enough."

No hesitation was present as Tony reached over the railing of the medical bed and pulled Peter into a hug, the boy was beyond surprised as he waited a few seconds, scared it was some miscommunication on his part like that time in the car, before he carefully brought his arms around the man. He felt a strange sense of safety at the moment, from both the world and himself.

"You are good enough. I told you to be better than me…you have exceeded my expectations every step of the way. I gave you the suit back for a reason, you are Spiderman, you have seen more than the average adult has in their own lifespan. I can't help but feel responsible for that…but I'm going to help you now. I will. You're never going to feel this way alone ever again kid, I'm going to prove that I really do care."

Peter wiped away the brimming tears as Tony pulled away and sat back in his chair and gave a reassuring smirk.

"But I need to know one more thing before we move on."

Peter already knew, it was the very question he had been trying to dodge this whole talk. "I did…I-…I meant to jump and I'm sorry. It was my complete decision, no mind control, no manipulation…I wanted to take my own life last night." His voice broke a bit.

"How do you feel now? Honestly Peter."

"I…" Peter looked down, he knew he had only moments ago promised he wouldn't do it again. But despite Tony's encouraging words and reassuring attempts the boy knew that once he went back to Queens, once he went back to his own apartment with Aunt May, his school and the crime fighting, he would just fall back into all the old feelings again.

Peters lack of answer seemed to be all Tony needed.

"Yeah, you are going to disappear for a week or two."

Peter's stomach dropped at that, "M-Mr. Stark I- I can't miss school and Aunt May will worry-" That's when a bigger realization hit Peter, he was going to get sent to a mental hospital. Suicidal sixteen-year-old Peter locked away for days in a mental ward- no. No… "No! I can't do that…can't do this…please let me go home! Let me-"

Upon hearing Peters heart monitor start beeping wildly Tony set his hand on the kids shoulder for the second time that day. "I'm not going to send you to some mental hospital."

That phrase alone seemed to at least stop the boy from trying to get up, "I-I have to go back."

"Why? So you can repeat this all over again? Peter…Kid…you need help, this is not going to go away just because you survived the first time. I can help you. I have people that can help you too, you have to trust someone Pete, why not me?" Tony couldn't recognize himself in that moment, it was unlike him, he knew that. But this entire situation was unlike the kid, so he supposed they were even at this point.

"…You promise you won't send me away?"

"Yes- I promise. If I thought that would benefit you, you would have already been there by now."

Peter gulped at that, "…ok. I trust you Mr. Stark…I do, but you can't- I mean I want help but you can't help me, you have a life too! I don't want to bur-"

"If you say burden one more time I'm pretty sure I'm going to throw this chair through the window. I want to help you- in fact, after having to catch you only feet away from the cement I think I need some closure too! I need to be sure I see you through this- so really you have to agree for both of our mental health statuses."

Peter chuckled a bit, "well…if it helps you too…"

"That's the spirit kid."