May was at work when she got the phone call. She normally wouldn't answer her phone during a shift, but it was the school. Sighing, May answered, expecting to hear that Peter had ended up in the principal's office, or had gotten detention, or gotten into another fight with Flash, even though he insisted that he could take care of it himself. She froze as soon as the person on the other end told her that the school was on lockdown, and had been for a while. She dropped the phone as soon as they told her that there was an active shooter situation.
"May, are you alright," Quinn, one of her work friends, asked, gently handing her back the phone. May blinked, shaking her head rapidly.
"I have to...I got to go," she said, racing towards the doors and to her car, hearing Quinn calling after her, asking what was going on. She didn't care if she would get scolded for leaving, her boy was in trouble. It's quite possible she broke every single road law to get to Midtown faster. Upon arriving, she parked haphazardly in a spot and rushed to where the police had made a barricade of sorts to keep people from running into the school without realizing the danger, or caring because someone was in there. If an officer hadn't grabbed ahold of May, she probably would have hopped the barrier and sprinted into the school. It was a stupid plan, but her boy was in there, the only family she had left.
"My kid's in there," she shouted hysterically, tears running down her face as the officer maintained a hold on her.
"Hey, hey, listen, everything will be okay. What's your name?"
"May Parker. My kid, Peter, he's in there," May cried. The officer, Terrance, held May tightly and slowly moved her back away from the barriers, rubbing her back comfortingly. May looked into the woman's eyes, daring her to keep her away from Peter.
"Alright May, I can't let you in there. I'm sorry, I can't. What I can do is find Peter for you. Is that okay? Can you wait with everyone else and I promise that as long as you're safe behind here, I will do everything to make sure Peter is alright and will come home to you, okay? Can you stay here for me?" May felt like Officer Terrance was talking to a child, but she nodded anyways, wandering over to the crowd of anxious parents still waiting. She spotted Ned's mother, and Ned, and the three rushed to each other.
"Oh my god May! Do you know what's happening? They just sent out a message saying there was a lockdown, and a possible threat inside the school."
"Where's Peter? Is he okay? Do you know if he's okay?" May looked at Ned, who appeared sick, but was now freaking out because holy shit Peter was inside with a threat.
"There's an active shooter apparently," May said and just as Ned's mother was going to respond, the doors burst open with panicked kids streaming out. They were all in hysterics and the officers tried to corral them all. The grouping of parents rushed the students, trying to find their kid or kids. Some managed to locate them, most didn't. May spotted Remy, a kid in Peter's class whom Peter had tutored in Chemistry at a previous time. She wandered over to him and he just looked at her with wide, terrified eyes.
"Did you see Peter?" Remy nodded stiffly. "Is he-"
"He's okay."
"Where is he Remy?" All the kid could do was point back towards the school before he started sobbing and his parents lead him to one of the medics. May just stared at the building, lip quivering, eyes watering. May felt her phone buzz and saw that it was a text from Tony Stark. Apparently, a news crew was on the sight and was filming the chaos that was the school, but there was no information on why. May decided to call the man who treated Peter like his own son.
"Mr. Stark?"
"Tony, please. May, what's happening? What's going on at the school? FRIDAY alerted me, in the middle of a meeting nonetheless, that Peter's school was on TV, and not for a good reason."
"There's a situation," was all May could choke out, biting her lower lip to keep from sobbing.
"What kind of situation? May, is everything okay? Is Peter alright?"
"I don't know," she whispered and she could practically hear Tony freeze.
"May…"
"There's a shooter in the building."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Don't blast in as Iron Man," May whisper-yelled at the billionaire.
"Why not?"
"It's delicate, the situation. Please Tony, just come as you, not as a hero."
"I would never risk Peter's safety...Alright, I'll be there in five minutes." With that, the phone call ended and May was left standing, tears in her eyes, watching as SWAT slowly entered the building and began clearing classes out.
Tony wasn't sure what to think. All he saw was emergency crews racing around Peter's school and a group of parents huddled together, some holding sobbing students. With that, Tony could only assume the worst. Then May called and confirmed his fear. He left the building, ignoring the people calling after him, and jumped into his car, speeding towards the school.
Some people gaped at him, but most were still too shocked by the events happening in the high school to pay him any mind. He locked the car and rushed around, trying to spot May. He couldn't find her, but he saw Ned, who was visibly freaking out, and looking not quite healthy.
"Ned, hey, kid, where's May?"
"I-I don't know, she was over there, but Mr. Stark, why are you here?" Ned's eyes widened, his mind probably shifting towards the worst case scenario.
"Relax, kid, hey, I'm sure Peter'll be fine. I'm just here as me, not a hero. May said no," Tony said with a dry chuckle before Ned gripped his arm tightly and stared him directly in the eyes.
"I was supposed to be in there. If I wasn't sick today, I would have been in there with Peter. He's probably being an idiot... Please make sure he's okay Mr. Stark. Please," Ned begged. Tony pulled away from his grip and nodded before making his way towards where Ned said May had been. Spotting a familiar head of hair, Tony ran over and pulled her into a hug. The woman started crying, soaking Tony's suit jacket, but he didn't care.
"Tony, you came."
"Of course. Peter's important to me," Tony said, before freezing. He hadn't actually thought about what he just said, it just sort of happened. Thinking about it, he realized he really did care for Peter, and he realized just how important the kid was to him. May looked at him with tear-filled eyes and a trembling lip.
"You're important to him to. After Ben passed, he'd been so down in the dumps, getting into fights, letting his grades go, not sleeping, hardly eating. Then you showed up and he's been slowly getting better. He looks up to you Tony, and he was so heart-broken when he thought he disappointed you and lost the internship. He'll be so grateful to see you." Tony held May as she started crying again, blinking in surprise. He knew the kid looked up to him, but he never realized how much of an impact he had had on the kid. He was going to have a chat with Peter about his habits after this whole mess was sorted out and finished. Just as he was about to respond though, he heard a nearby officer's radio go off.
Tony and May both froze as they heard one of the SWAT calling for paramedics. There were three dead, another one critically wounded, and a fifth slightly injured. Tony and May looked at each other before Tony stalked over to the officer.
"What's going on in there?" The officer looked flustered.
"Mr. Stark! What-what are you doing here? What can I do for you?"
"You can tell me what' happening in there."
"I'm sorry sir, I can't do that."
"I heard that there's three dead, one person critical, and another injured. You tell me something, is it over?" The officer looked conflicted, but asked if the identity of the shooter was confirmed. The radio crackled with the answer that yes, the shooter had been identified and was one of the deceased. Tony let out a breath of relief, but the knot in his stomach didn't go away. All of the students who had been in the building and were alive and well enough to walk were hugging their parents, or each other, crying with happiness of being out of the building. Tony, May, Ned, and Ned's mother looked at each other, and they waited.
None of them were prepared for someone on a stretcher to be wheeled out at high speeds, paramedics clamoring and scrambling around the person lying prone on the sheets. Everyone was watching, silent, as they loaded the person into the ambulance, the scream of a flatline tone sounding before the doors shut and the vehicle took off, sirens blaring, racing to the nearest hospital.
May had her hands over her mouth, sobs breaking through, muffled by Tony pulling her close to him. Tony was stoic, unmoving, and freaking out on the inside. He hoped to god that that wasn't Peter. He was also partially hoping it was because he wouldn't be able to handle it if Peter was one of the three dead, or if Peter was barely injured and another student was dying. The kid would be self-loathing and filled with guilt, probably thinking that it should have been him. Ned and his mother were both crying, Ned partially hyperventilating as the sirens faded into the distance. There was still silence, even more of it, as three more stretchers were rolled out of the doors, white sheets draped over them. They were loaded into their own vehicles, which then pulled away silently, no need for sirens.
The out walked Flash Thompson, white gauze on his head his, blood on his hands and clothes, shaking with every step. His parents ran over to him, his mother embracing him tightly. Then Flash saw the group of four. He pulled away and wandered over to them all, eyes wide when he noticed Tony Stark standing, hugging a sobbing May, who turned to look at him.
"Peter?" Flash looked at his hands and shook his head.
"I tried to stop the bleeding."
"Is he-"
"Close," Flash mumbled before walking back over to his parents. The group was not reassured in the least. Officer Terrance walked over, face solem. She put a hand on May's shoulder to get the woman's attention before placing her hands on her belt.
"Peter's alive." May gave a sob of relief.
"But?" The officer fidgeted in her place, shifting from one foot to the other.
"They're bringing him to Queen's Memorial. I'll get you an escort if you want." Tony nodded stiffly, and as officer Terrance was calling for an escort, Tony led the group to his car, which thankfully had more than two seats. As soon as the police came, Tony started the car and the group shot towards the hospital, everyone going through a range of emotions.
"He'll be okay, he's a strong kid."
"I know, I really hope he'll be okay."
"May, I promise that he'll be okay." May turned to Tony with fire in her eyes.
"Don't make promises you know you can't keep Stark," she seethed.
Silence echoed in the car, broken only by the sounds of the sirens leading the way.
