Tony was about to lose it.
They had searched for almost 4 days now. From New York to Philadelphia, Hong Kong to London. Now even Nepal. Stephen Strange had been everywhere. Much like Tony, his wealth and prestige allowed him to travel. A lot.
Unfortunately for them, that meant they had a lot of ground to cover if they wanted to find the missing Peters.
So they searched, occasionally checking in with the others to ensure that no threat had returned. Luckily there was no sign of Thanos' army. They had relocated Vision to a secret bunker underneath Wakanda, nearly impenetrable and impossible to detect. Shuri and Banner had yet to figure out how to remove the Mind Stone from his head.
The Time Stone still hung around Strange's neck.
Tony would not, could not rest as they jumped from portal to portal. He refused to give up hope, but he was a realist. He knew that oftentimes in the case of missing persons, the longer they were gone, the likelihood of finding them grew less and less.
And Parker was injured, his tracking system and comms somehow rendered useless. Tony had tried again and again to recalibrate a signal with the kid. Nothing. Same with Quill.
So when FRIDAY alerted him to an unauthorized thermal signature over Glacier National Park, he couldn't help his heart from leaping with anticipation.
"You ever been to Montana, Wizard?" He asked as they tracked through a winding path on the outskirts of Nepal.
Strange paused, a quizzical look on his face, "...yes. As a kid. Why?"
Tony's spirits lifted a fraction. "Apparently there's an unauthorized presence that just appeared over Glacier National Park." He worked his jaw as FRIDAY relayed more... unsettling information, "and it's not of Earth."
"That could be them! Maybe Quill figured out how to send out a signal." Rocket stepped forward, excitement plastered his face for the first time in days.
"Or it could be another alien attack," Rogers frowned, "Regardless, it's something we need to check out."
They warped into the middle of the forest, as close to the signature as they could get. By the time they got there, whatever had caused the readings had disappeared.
"Search for any signs of Quill and Parker. But be careful. There could be hostiles. Report back if you find anything," Rogers said, his vibranium arm shields extended. He and Strange headed to the left while Tony and Rocket took the right.
They searched in awkward silence, having not spoken much in the past few days. Strange and Rogers were the most removed from the situation, and they had no problem making small talk and trying to brighten the otherwise solemn mood. But Tony and Rocket had both lost people they were close to. Friends. Family.
So Tony was throughly surprised when the Racoon spoke up, "So who's Parker to you? He your kid?"
Tony was taken aback, "What? No." He laughed dryly, "no no. Though the headaches he causes sometimes make me think otherwise." He ran a hand down his face. "He's my... protegé. Intern. Hell I don't know. I just don't wanna see him dead. He's got a hot aunt who'd be pissed if I didn't get him home to her." Tony knew Rocket could tell he was lying through his teeth. Everyone knew that Tony's affection for Peter ran deeper than that. Their father/son dynamic was so hugely obvious it was a shock no one else had asked him the same question.
"Mm." Rocket mumbled, "yeah, Quill tends to give all 'a us headaches too. Dumb humie. Always manages to land himself in trouble. And we're always the ones who have to drag his sorry ass out of it."
Tony frowned, "But you're sure he knows what he's doing?"
"Oh yeah," Rocket waved an arm, "Star-Munch is a master of improvisation. He always manages to keep himself alive long enough for us to arrive." He rubbed his paw along the length of his gun. "The only times he really seems to screw things up is when his emotions get the better of him."
Tony nodded. He could relate.
Rocket's face grew somber and he picked at his fur. "He's gonna have a real hard time when he finds out about Gamora."
Tony's frown deepened, "How long have they been together?" He asked.
"Geez. Long time. Almost four years, I think?" He squinted his eyes, "Least that's how long they've been doin' it, walls of his d'ast ship are so damn thin you can hear everything."
"O-kay," Tony tried to wipe the image from his mind, changing the subject, "Then it might be smart of us to keep that little bit of info from him 'til we're all home free."
Rocket nodded, and the two mechanics fell back into silence.
A few minutes passed, when Rocket suddenly paused. His ears flicked forward as he listened.
"What is it?" Tony asked, nervousness tainting his tone.
"There's water nearby. A river. If they were here, maybe they tried following the river to find their way out." Rocket set off towards the sound, Tony following eagerly behind. They weaved through the trees, scouring high and low for any sign of human life.
Tony wasn't ready for what he found.
Several trees were in pieces, completely obliterated. As if a bulldozer had come blazing through the forest. They quickly followed the trail of splinters to a clearing, where a steep drop off led into a raging river. The edge of the white rock looked sharp. Jagged. As if it had fallen away recently.
Rocket swore as he picked up something small and metallic from the ground, "Shit." He muttered.
"What's that?" Tony took what looked like metal shelling from Rocket's paw.
"It's Quill's. A mini bomb. My own design," he grit his teeth, "They were here." Tony's heart leapt. They peered down the ravine, eyes widening, "And it looks like that bastard found them after all." Rocket growled.
Cull Obsidian's corpse lay at the bottom of the cliff, sprawled atop the rock.
A surge of emotion flooded through Tony. Relief that Cull was dead. Relief at having finally found out were they had been all this time. But also an equal measure of fear at not knowing their fate.
"Should the fact that Quill used these bombs be considered a bad thing?" He ventured, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
"He mostly uses them in emergencies." Rocket explained. "They pack a real punch."
"Dammit," Tony mumbled under his breath. He pressed the communicator in his ear, "Rogers. We found something. Parker and Quill were here. Sending you coordinates now. Get here quick."
Mere seconds passed before Strange and Rogers stepped through an orange portal. They grimaced at the sight of Cull's body.
"There's no other sign of them apart from this," Tony showed them the bomb shelling.
"We found something too." Strange said, tattered red fabric bundled in his hand. He passed it to Tony, who recoiled when he felt that it was covered in dried blood.
"FRIDAY, who's blood is this?" Tony asked, dreading the answer.
"DNA match. The blood belongs to Peter Benjamin Parker, age 17. It has been approximately 3 days 17 hours and 49 minutes since the blood has oxygenized."
Ice filled Tony's veins.
Rogers laid a hand on his shoulder. "He might still be alive, Tony." His voice was soft.
Tony ripped his shoulder away, seething, "And what if he isn't, Rogers? What then?" He ran a hand through his hair, "I was responsible for him. Me. And I dropped my guard and now he's gone. You can relate, can't you Rogers?" He bit, and Steve stared hard at the ground.
Stark-" Strange began.
"Don't!" He snapped, and whipped towards Rocket, pointing his finger, "and I don't care that he's with Quill, your so-called "leader." That man is hardly an adult." His voice was raising with each word. "Parker's out here, hurt, possibly dead and it's all my fault," his voice cracked. "No matter what I do it's all my fault."
Tony turned away from the group, fists clenched and jaw taut. Extreme guilt dredging up past horrors. Ultron. Sokovia. The entire debacle with Barnes and Steve...
The kid deserved better than this.
Tony nearly jumped out of his skin when FRIDAY'S voice spoke up. "My apologies for the interruption, Mr. Stark. But my scanners indicate traces of Mr. Parker's DNA pattern approximately 2,640 feet downstream."
"Oh God," he whispered, and bolted down the river.
He heard the others yelling after him, begging him to slow down, but all he could think was "Please be okay please please please."
The scanners led him to the water bank on the other side of the river down below. He activated his thrusters and flew to the other side, heart hammering.
Strange opened up a portal for the others and they met Tony at the bottom, breathless and confused.
"Tony, what-" Steve paused when he saw what Tony was staring at.
A large pool of dried blood on the silty ground.
"Is that..." Rocket whispered.
"It's Parker's," Tony swallowed, his vision whitening. "And it's fresh." His tongue felt dry.
"Shit." He heard Rocket say, as the animal reached down to pick up something a few feet away, cradling it carefully in his paws.
"What is it?" Strange asked.
"Quill's Zune. He never leaves anywhere without it."
"These impressions..." Steve traced the dips in the sand. "It looks like they were laying here for quite some time."
"There's more blood here," Strange said, motioning to a smaller patch of red.
Tony let FRIDAY do it's job. "It's Quill's," he sighed, growing more and more fretful with each new discovery.
"That alien signature... you don't think..." Steve trailed off.
"-ark. Come in." They all paused as a voice filtered through their ear pieces. "Stark? Rogers?" It was T'Challa.
"Yes? King T'Challa? What is it?" Steve asked. Tony held his breath.
"You might want to get back here. We are receiving a signal from the Black Order. They want to speak with us."
"What did they say?" Tony couldn't keep the terror from his voice.
A pause.
"They have Spider-Man and Star-Lord."
