It was an itch he couldn't scratch.

His spider senses had been going off all week and it was making him restless. He taps his pen against his desk and his leg bounces as he constantly looks up from his notes and around the classroom in a paranoid frenzy. He had to calm down. It could be something as stupid as paparazzi. Except being adopted by Tony Stark-and of course Doctor Strange-after Aunt May's passing was old news, and they never made him this on edge.

Ned leans over when the teacher turns their back and whispers, "Dude. What's wrong with you?"

"...I feel like I'm being watched."

They duck their heads when the teacher turns back to the class and the conversation is put on hold until after class when the two meet at Peter's locker.

"Have you told ?"

"He's in Europe until Sunday."

"Oh right. What about Dr. Strange?"

Peter winces as he closes his locker. "If I do that, I'm convinced he'll wrap me in bubble wrap and lock me in my room."

Ned coughs to hide a laugh. "How long have you been feeling like this?"

"...since Dad left?"

"A few days?! Not a few hours?! Peter you need to tell someone!" His best friend gives him a worried look and Peter waves him off.

"It's probably nothing. Flash has set it off before."

Ned looks at him skeptically but nods and they part ways after their handshake. As he leaves through the doors, Peter puts his earphones in and starts his walk to the subway. Happy usually picked him up after school, but he had taken the day off and he wasn't about to let Stephen portal him home. That would just draw more attention to him that he didn't want, especially since the news of his adoption was finally starting to lose its appeal.

Pepper was doing a great job of keeping the media away. Sure, they got a little too brave one time and were waiting outside the school, so the teen had to wait inside until Happy and Tony cleared a path. One journalist got too brave and too close to Peter and was quickly corrected by Tony's fist.

Both Pepper and Stephen weren't very happy about that little stunt. The sorcerer was quicker to forgive though.

Halfway to the subway, Peter freezes when his senses dial up to eleven and he looks behind him when the feeling of being watched screams at him. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.

He turns to continue his trek to the subway when he suddenly feels a sudden jab in his neck, and a bag was thrown over his head. Oblivion took him before he could even think to fight back.

Or press his panic button.

Stephen frowns and checks his phone. Peter wasn't home yet and he didn't get any kind of message from him to inform the sorcerer of any last minute plans. No going home with Ned, no Decathlon meeting, no after school patrol...hell, no detention. An hour was too long for him to pick up a sandwich from Mr. Delmar as well.

"FRIDAY, where's Peter?"

"According to the tracker in his watch, he is approximately two blocks from the subway. He hasn't moved for 28 minutes."

That wasn't worrying at all.

"Call him."

A few moments pass. "No answer Doctor."

"Shit."

"Should I notify the boss?"

"No. Not yet. Check surveillance feed for Peter."

In the meantime, he hoped he would be able to find a strand of Peter's hair. It was likely the only chance he had of finding the teen if FRIDAY didn't find anything on cameras.

Peter woke feeling sluggish. Once he was aware enough and took in his surroundings, he realized he was chained to a chair bolted to the floor. He could easily break the chains, but whatever he was drugged with left him so weak he could barely hold his head up. So he took in whatever surroundings he could. Not that there was anything to see, he seemed to be in the basement of a large building and it was freezing. He wasn't sure if the temperature was intentional or not.

The door across from him swings open and slams against the wall, causing Peter to grimace from the noise. His hearing was still dialed to eleven and the rebounding door only added to the pounding headache he had. One of his captors probably hit him over the head for good measure. Bastards.

"So Baby Stark is awake. I'm kind of surprised. I thought you'd be out for a couple more hours." A man strolls in with two others who stay by the door.

"What can I say? I'm an overachiever." Peter responds dryly.

That was apparently the wrong thing to say because his head suddenly snapped to the side when the man's fist connects with the opposite cheek. If the teen had a headache before, it was a full blown migraine now.

"I didn't want to do that kid. We just want some of Daddy's money."

Peter glares up at him. "He's out of town."

"Oh we know kid. Now he can't come rescue you. He'll emhave to/em pay for your safe return."

Peter bites his lip to hide a smile. They had no idea about Stephen and were probably too stupid to think about the rest of the Avengers. Doctor Strange was scary enough. He no doubt knew Peter was missing by now and was likely scrambling to find a strand of his hair, and having FRIDAY track him. He noticed the absence of his watch shortly after waking so he was hoping his kidnappers would make the mistake of sending a picture or video feed to Tony. That would be all the sorcerer supreme would need.

Sure enough, one of the guy's lackies pulls out his phone and holds it up in the teen's direction after dialing.

"Stark." Tony answers after a few rings.

The lead man takes the phone and moves it closer to Peter. "Mr. Stark. I have something of yours."

Peter looks up at the small screen with a bored expression and finds an annoyed one on Tony's face. Annoyance he knew was not directed at him but rather the morons who were actually moronic enough to kidnap his son. The genius takes in his son's physical health before sighing heavily.

"Real fucking original. You okay kid?"

"Just waiting for you to forward the picture to Mom."

"Already done. Sit tight."

The man holding the phone looks back at his lackies with confusion and it filled Peter with glee. Mama Bear was coming and they had no idea what they were in for.

"I thought you said Stark wasn't married!"

One of the lackies cowers under his bosses glare. "He's not!"

As if on cue, gold sparks flicker in the room before forming into a circle and Peter's captors take a bewildered step back. Stephen steps through with fire in his eyes and without a single word, conjures his whip. He didn't even leave enough time for the trio to process what was happening, and swiftly knocks down the two at the door. With his free hand, he blocks a punch from the leader with a magic shield, whispers to his cloak, and Levi wraps itself around the kidnapper's head.

"Surprise asshole."

He goes down with a loud thud and Stephen takes the phone out of his hand. Tony chuckles from the other end. "Finished already?"

Stephen scowls. "Not quite." He breaks the chains around Peter with his magic and hands the phone to the teen. "Talk to your father until I'm done."

The sorcerer turns his attention back to the three men as they move to their feet and Peter cringes when Stephen knocks them back down with his whip. He presses two fingers on each of the lackies foreheads, putting them to sleep, and grabs the leader by the throat as he looks at Peter.

"Did he do anything?"

"Just punched me."

Stephen raises an eyebrow and punches the final conscious captor, hiding a wince when his hand protests the action. When the third body falls to the ground, the sorcerer binds them with a rope before sending them through a separate portal that Peter assumed was a police station from the glimpse he got. Levi calmly takes its place on Stephen's shoulders after shivering out the rest of it's fury.

"I think Mom is done." Peter says to Tony.

"I'll notify the police. Let Mama Bear look you over and rest...and stay in the tower until I get home."

"But-" Peter starts to protest but both men give him a look. "Fine."

He hands the phone back to Stephen who exchanges a few more words with Tony before hanging up and kneeling in front of Peter. He gently takes Peter's face in trembling hands and studies his injuries before waving a finger back and forth, asking him to follow it.

"I can only see a bruise. Do you have any other pain?"

Peter knew better than to lie to the doctor. He would see right through him anyway. "I have a migraine...and I think I was drugged."

Stephen nods and helps the teen to his feet. "We'll get you home and in bed. Your metabolism should burn the rest of the drug off in the next couple of hours."

Peter nods and follows Stephen through the portal back home and he sighs quietly when the doctor gently kneeds the base of his skull. It felt amazing and was doing wonders for his migraine. He wouldn't mind curling up to Stephen and letting him continue his massage instead of taking pain killers.

The sorcerer chuckles. "Whatever you like Spiderling." Peter looks up at him in surprise. "You said it out loud. Do you think you can eat something or does your head hurt too much?"

"Head hurts." Peter mutters.

"Okay."

Strange leads the boy to his room and lays with him on his bed, allowing the teen to snuggle up to him before massaging his neck again. Peter sighs happily against his collarbone and tense muscles slowly yield to Stephen's ministrations.

"Hey..."

"Yes?"

"Thanks for coming for me..." The boy huffs out a laugh. "You were really cool."

Stephen laughs. "Always Spider-Baby."

"Not a baby." Was Peter's muffled response.

Before he could tease the boy, he felt more than he heard soft snores come from the body attached to his front.

"Very convincing."