Hey! This is my very first Avengers fan fiction, and it contains fluff. If you read this story please drop a review. The more reviews the more motivation I get to add another chapter and keep it going :) So please leave a review after you read, thanks 3
After what felt like being out all night as Spiderman, Peter entered his room through the unlocked window. He checked the his phone for the time, which read 3:25.
It was officially his birthday. Peter Parker was 16, and he couldn't imagine what his Aunt May had prepared for him tomorrow.
She was always the best when it came to his birthday. Every birthday was different, and unpredictable. Peter had learned to stop trying to guess what she would do considering he never came close to getting it right.
Luckily, today was Saturday. Even though it was summer break having your birthday on a weekend is nothing short of a blessing.
After taking off his suit, Peter practically dove into his bed. His eyes felt heavy and the covers pressed against his skin were comforting. He fell asleep faster than you could say 'Spiderman.'
-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Peter woke up with sunlight shining on his face. He realized Aunt May must have let him sleep in, considering it was 12:14 p.m. Ready to start the day, he hopped out of bed and put changed his clothes.
He left his room and was surprised at what he saw. It wasn't exactly what he was seeing, more like what he didn't see. There was nothing. No cake, banner, presents.
Of all the unpredictable things his aunt did, she almost always had some surprise for him when he woke up. Maybe having nothing was the surprise, and there was something else, he thought.
He went to go to his aunt's room, when he noticed the door was open. Aunt May never slept with the door open. Peter quickly went inside, and found what he was expecting to find in the kitchen, but not the way he thought.
There was a 'Happy Birthday' banner, but it was laying on the bed as if left out to dry. Still no sign of his aunt. He checked the whole apartment, and found nothing. Looking under Aunt May's bed, he found wrapped presents, no doubt hidden from him for his birthday.
Maybe Aunt May had a treasure hunt for him and he had to find a clue? He was trying to convince himself nothing was wrong, but even his spidey senses were off, telling him otherwise.
As if on cue, there was a pounding knock on the door. Peter practically ran to the door, expecting to see Aunt May at the door, screaming 'I got you' in his face and making him feel stupid for ever thinking something was wrong.
That was definitely not what happened.
Peter opened the door, only to find a police officer. He was an average height black man, slightly overweight. The officer had a look of guilt in his face that made Peter's stomach twist.
"Is this the residence of May Parker?" The officer asked.
"Yeah, she's my aunt. Did something happen?" Peter said with worry etched in his voice.
"I'm officer Jayden," He said, lifting his badge to show Peter his 'proof.'
"Kid," the officer said, rubbing the back of his neck before continuing, "Your aunt was uh... found in an ally. She had been shot in the chest... she didn't make it."
Peter couldn't believe what he had just heard. He had to be dreaming, he had to be. At first it didn't register to him how real it was, but soon enough tears were streaming down his eyes. His aunt was gone?
"We believe the motive was robbery as the contents in her purse were all over the ground, but no money in sight," The policeman said, looking down.
"I-I want to see her," Peter said.
"Of course," Jayden said.
He guided Peter to his police car, and drove him to the hospital.
In the car, Peter asked, "What... what time did you find her?"
"It was 1:12 a.m. when she someone called about her," The officer said.
1:12 a.m. Peter had been out as Spiderman, and he couldn't even keep his aunt safe. Some friendly neighborhood Spiderman he was.
"Do you know who did it?" Peter asked, hoping they had nailed the guy who took his aunt away from him.
"Not yet," Jayden said, looking over at Peter for a second, "but I guarantee you we're gonna do our absolute best to bring your aunt the justice she deserves."
It was mostly a quiet rest of the car ride, aside from a couple more questions Peter had asked. Soon they got to the hospital, and he was led into a room, where he saw what he dreaded seeing, Aunt May's lifeless body.
The tears flooded back, blurring his vision. He sat down next to his aunt, and held her hand, which was ice cold. It wasn't supposed to be like this, Aunt May was supposed to be filling the room with laughs. Instead she wasn't even present.
After a long time of silence, with nothing but his own thoughts to hear, Peter looked up to see a nurse enter the room.
"Hi Peter," she said, with a smile that was filled with sorrow for the teenager, yet also held kindness, "I'm Nurse Rose, but call me Lynn. I'm so sorry for the loss of your aunt."
Lynn walked over to the corner of the room, and picked up a plastic store bag with some items in it. It was the kind of bag you got from a grocery store, but Peter had no clue what was in it.
"When we found your aunt, it she was had this bag in her arm. While the contents don't suggest anything to us, we thought it be best to give it to you. Maybe you know why she got these things," Lynn said, and handed Peter the bag.
Peter held it delicately, knowing it was probably one of the last things Aunt May touched. He opened the bag, and yet again tears pricked the corners of his eyes when he saw what was in the bag.
There was vanilla cake mix, and chocolate icing, along with a small pack of gel icing. His favorite. Aunt May must have been out trying to surprise Peter with it for his birthday, before...
Peter couldn't bring himself to finish his thought. He just looked up at the nurse in the room, and mouthed a 'thank you', not being able to speak.
If it wasn't for his birthday, Aunt May would still be talking to him. Instead he was the reason she was gone. He was even out at that exact time, and couldn't save the one he loved most. If Peter had never been born Aunt may would be here.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Lynn said gently, "but you are just a teenager. We found your aunt's phone and called her one emergency contact. They said they would take you in. They'll be here shortly."
Peter just nodded. He figured it must have been one of Ned's parents, no one else would be on Aunt May's emergency list or agree to take him in.
Nurse Lynn left him alone for the last few moments he had with Aunt May. Peter had never cried so much in one day, let alone probably his whole life. He was officially a complete orphan now, no relatives to be his guardian.
"Hey kid," a familiar voice said.
Peter stood up from the position he was sitting next to his aunt, and saw... Tony Stark?
Seeing Peter look so broken hit Tony harder than he thought it would. He could relate to the kid, he lost his parents at a young age too. Though Peter was clearly much close to Aunt May than Tony ever was to Peter.
Tony walked over to Peter, and did the last thing Peter thought he would do. He hugged him. A tight hug, filled with sorrow and understanding. As weird as it was, it was exactly what Peter needed in that moment, so he just hugged back.
Finally breaking the hug, Tony said, "Happy's out front, we're gonna take you in."
"What about..." Peter looked over at his aunt, and finished the sentence without words.
"It's up to you kid," Tony said, "If you want us to host a um... funeral we'll do that, and you can invite whoever you want. It can be all of New York City or just you and a friend, whatever you want."
"Yeah, I don't really wanna think about that today at least..." Peter said, "before we leave, can I uh... say goodbye?" Peter said shyly.
"Yeah, you got it. I'll be waiting outside the room," Tony said, and shut the door on his way out.
After about 5 minutes, Peter came out with tear stained cheeks.
"Okay... I think I'm ready," Peter said, looking at the ground.
"You sure you're okay? I could make a few more phone calls while I wait if you want more time," Tony asked.
"No, if I go back now I'll never want to leave that room," Peter said, knowing the hurt that would come back too soon to walk into that room again.
"All right, let's go," Tony said as he slung his arm around Peter's shoulder, and guided him outside to the car.
When they got outside, it was pitch black. He hadn't realized so much of the day had gone by so fast.
"What time is it?" Peter asked ask Tony gave Happy the green light to head home.
"8:55," Tony answered.
"8:55 pm!?" Peter asked in surprise. How long had he been in that room?
"Yeah, unless the sky tells you differently," Tony said.
"So how come you picked me up?" Peter asked, not understanding why Tony had shown up to take him.
"I had Happy's number put in your aunt's phone in case anything ever happened," Tony answered.
Peter just mumbled an 'oh.' Tony was probably referring to if anything happened to him not his aunt. He still didn't understand why Tony had come. He'd ask later.
Taking a sip of his water, Tony said, "Tomorrow we're going back to your apartment, you can get all the things you wanna keep. For now you'll have to sleep in those clothes."
Peter just nodded. He hadn't realized how dry his throat felt until now. Or how his stomach was empty and in need of food. Or how heavy his eyelids felt, like he could barely hold them open anymore.
Tony noticed Peter trying to fight sleep, then said, "You need some serious rest kid, just try and sleep right now. We'll wake you up when we get there."
Peter had practically fallen asleep before Tony finished his last sentence, with his head leaning against shoulder. Tony just sighed, the kid had been through a lot in a day and he wasn't so sure if he would be the right person for Peter to lean on at a time like this in the teen's life.
Tony just picked up some paperwork to read on the way back. But taking care of a teenager would be far more work than what he was holding in his hand.
Tony just sipped his water, not knowing what the crazy week ahead had in store for him.