A/N: Thank you to those who continue to faithfully review, you keep me going. This next bit is broken into two chapters.

Chapter 14: Teenage Angst

Peter's POV:

I arrived home, feeling bored out of my mind and famished. As I walked in I asked Friday if anybody was home, and was disappointed yet unsurprised when she told me no. I walked into the kitchen and wondered what to eat. I didn't exactly know how to cook. I knew I should've just grabbed a sandwich on the way home. Oh, well.

It'd been a month and a half since Tony and Pepper had asked to adopt me, and I was now an official member of their family. I still couldn't help but grin widely every time I thought about it. Officially, my name was now Peter Parker-Stark, but it was agreed by us all that for safety reasons, and to keep the media out of my life that I would drop the Stark in my everyday life; or at least until I felt comfortable taking it on.

Tony, being the big dork that he was, presented me with a fake birth certificate with the date of the adoption along with my new name, current weight, height, and age. It was now proudly displayed on the wall right next to a picture of the three of us. As weird as the gesture was, it was so Tony Stark I couldn't help but laugh. I was really touched that he and Pepper seemed to be as excited for my adoption as I was.

Before the adoption took place, we discussed where we would live. I'd assumed we'd be living at HQ, but they said it was up to me. They asked me first, if I wanted to return to my same high school, and I'd been surprised that it was even an option. I immediately agreed, and they had then told me they'd bought a penthouse for us to live at, so we wouldn't have to get up at the crack of dawn every day for me to get to school. Pepper also added that she wanted me to have as normal a life as possible, and that living at the Avengers headquarters, was not the conducive to that.

I'd felt guilty that they were moving back to NYC just for me, especially since I knew, Tony at least would need to go back to HQ for Avengers business. They'd scoffed at my concerns, Tony saying it was no problem, and Pepper assuring me that living in the city again would be helpful to her as there was an SI building here.

The new place was really nice. It was at the top of a nice apartment complex, and we had the top two floors. The very top, Tony converted into a temporary lab, while the second floor was for living. It wasn't big, by Tony standards, but he didn't seem to mind. The bedrooms were a nice size, and I was allowed to decorate mine however I wanted. I had a couple of things from my old apartment, some of my stuff and some of my aunt and uncle's stuff. I also had pictures of me with my new family. I toned down on the Spiderman theme, but Tony still managed to sneak in a huge Spiderman emblem onto my ceiling. That man could be more of a kid than me. I was surprised his bedroom wasn't entirely decked out in the Iron Man theme, but I guess Pepper wouldn't let him.

It was nice living close to my school. I was close enough that I only needed to hop on one bus to get there, unlike before. Tony and Pepper had assured me they could give me a ride if I wanted, but I disagreed for several reasons. First off, it wasn't public knowledge that they'd adopted me, and it would stir questions if they drove me to school every day. The story was that a cousin had come to take care of me. Secondly, I had to admit that it'd be embarrassing being dropped off at work like a little kid every day. I wanted my independence. Tony had looked aghast at ever being considered an embarrassment while Pepper had been completely understanding.

Being able to go to the same school was a huge help as it was the only familiar thing I had left. Having Ned was the biggest relief, because after everything we'd been through, he was like a brother to me now. I'd also been getting closer to MJ over time, and she'd been really helpful in helping me deal with my aunt's death. She understood losing parental figures as her parents had died a few years back, and she was currently living with an older brother. She and Ned were the only two that knew I'd been adopted by Tony and Pepper. I'd actually had her over to the house for twice now, and she'd stayed for dinner once. She had yet to meet Tony, but she and Pepper had hit it off instantly. I wasn't really surprised by that, though, as everybody liked Pepper.

Now, while having been adopted rather than living on my own was great, everything wasn't peachy. Tony and Pepper were really busy people, and they came and went at odd hours. Sometimes they'd be gone for days, and with Tony, we didn't always know where he was or when he was getting home. More often than not, I found myself arriving home and being alone; which, I was embarrassed to admit hurt me. It was childish, but I wished I could see them more, Tony especially. Pepper usually managed to make it home every night, even if it was late, and we said hi, but it still wasn't enough. Tony, on the other hand was here or he wasn't, and the wasn't happened more and more lately. Something was going on, but of course I wasn't privy to what that was.

Then, there were the rules. I hadn't expected to have a curfew. Aunt May hadn't set one, even after she knew I was Spiderman. Here, on the other hand I was expected to be at home by midnight and asleep by 1AM. A couple times now, I'd accidentally missed that curfew, and Tony had sent his suits to pick me up and fly me home. After the second time, three days ago, my curfew had been changed to 10PM for a week. I'd been pretty pissed, telling Tony that bad guys didn't have a curfew, and that he was allowing people to be hurt or killed by demanding I be home so early. His expression had darkened at my accusation, especially when I refused to apologize, and my curfew had been changed to being outright banned from going out for the week.

Tony had been gone since he'd passed down my cruel sentence, and it had occurred me to go out. However, I knew that even if I removed the tracker from my suit, he'd still know I was out because of Karen. I loved Karen, but it was so not fair that she was programmed to listen to him first and me second.

Not for the first time I wondered why Tony and Pepper adopted me if they were never going to be around. I instantly felt guilty for the selfish thought. They were trying, I guess, but they probably just didn't know how to take care of a kid. Besides, I had a home, clothes, and food, and even an allowance. What did I have to complain about?

I pulled out two crumpled up notes from my school. One was from my history teacher and the other was from my English teacher, both requesting to speak with my guardian. They didn't know who my real guardians were, and I was going to keep it that way. I'd been a little distracted at school lately, and my grades in classes other than math and science were suffering. Those were the only classes Tony cared about, so I really figured he wouldn't care about the others. My future was with the Avengers, not getting into college. I just needed to pass so I could move on and eventually graduate.

I stuffed the notes into my backpack, planning on just forging notes from my "guardian" that they'd talked to me and things were going to change or whatever…Really these teachers were being jerks. They should realize that I'm dealing with the loss of my aunt, and so clearly my grades are a result of me grieving.

I walked to the fridge, intent on finding something to eat when I saw a note taped to the fridge. Had to be from Pepper because Tony would've just told Friday to tell me whatever he wanted me to know; or he'd have just texted me.

Hey Peter,

I tried calling but you didn't respond, so I just wanted to let you know I've been called to an emergency meeting in Florida. I'll make sure I'm back by tomorrow evening. I'll try and call later, so take care and stay out of trouble. Remember, NO SPIDERMAN!

Love, Pepper

I let out a heavy sigh before grumbling at the last bit. No Spiderman. Who was going to stop me, I thought sardonically? An empty suit?

I sighed sadly now, realizing that Pepper would probably miss my decathlon competition tomorrow. Tony and Pepper had said they'd be there, but I guess they couldn't. I didn't know where Tony was, and Pepper wouldn't be home early enough. Whatever. Aunt May hadn't ever been able to make it either because of work.

I threw myself onto the couch, and stared morosely at the ceiling. I was bored. I didn't want to do homework. I wanted to go out as Spiderman. I couldn't believe I was grounded! I mean, who grounds a super hero? What an embarrassment.

I mulled over what to do when I decided there was nothing stopping me from going out. I didn't have to use the suit Tony gave me. I'd just go in my old suit, and leave my phone here. There'd be no way of him tracking me. Yeah, if he asked Friday he'd know I was gone, but I could always say I was with Ned and that I'd forgotten my phone.

Feeling a familiar thrill of excitement, I rushed into my room, glad that I'd decided to keep my old suit. Tony had told me to just throw it away, but when I argued, he'd just rolled his eyes. The next day I'd walked into my room to see it in a glass case with the title, Mach 1. Looking at the case, I felt a flash of guilt of what I was about to do. He was being overprotective though. And what right did he have to order me to do anything when he wasn't even around? With that thought, I opened the case and put on my old suit. It was embarrassing looking, but my desire to go out and patrol was stronger than the need to look cool.

Putting the suit in my back pack, so that I could keep as much as I could from Friday, I rushed out of the penthouse, ducking into an alley to get changed before swinging away. I let out a whoop of excitement as I felt the rush of adrenaline course through me. I loved swinging through the city. The freedom, and the feel of the wind rushing past me. I supposed Tony probably felt the same when flying.

I went first to Ned's place. I needed him to provide an alibi should Tony call him. I snuck into his room, and snickered when he let out a squeak of surprise.

"Peter, what are you doing here?" he whispered, looking frantically around the room for any danger. "I thought you weren't supposed to be Spiderman right now."

"I'm not," I replied. "Why do you think I'm wearing my old suit."

"Oh," he replied with a nod before his eyes widened and he said, "Wait, you snuck out? Peter, are you crazy? Why do you always look to put yourself into trouble?"

I frowned at what he was saying. "Relax Ned," I told him grumpily. "I'm Spiderman, and I shouldn't have a curfew or be grounded. I'm a superhero first and foremost, and I'm not going to let people be endangered because of Tony's dumb rules. Besides, nobody's at home anyways, so it's not like I'm missed."

Ned's expression looked sympathetic as he said, "They're gone again?" I nodded, and he let out a sigh. "I'm your alibi," he then stated more than asked, but I nodded my head anyways.

"I left my phone at home, and if for some reason, Tony or Pepper call, tell them I was with you and that I forgot my phone at home, okay?" I informed him, and he grimaced before nodding.

"You know I hate lying to Iron Man; and to tell you the truth, Pepper seems just as scary if not more than Tony," he mumbled, and I gave him a pointed look.

"You're my best friend, Ned, come on, help a guy out," I pleaded, and he smiled as he nodded.

"I got you, man," he assured me. We did our secret handshake, and then I took off.

Patrol was more exciting tonight than usual. It seemed the bad guys had noticed my absence because they were out in droves. I stopped two muggings, one car theft, one ATM robbery, and aided the police in a high-speed car chase. As I stood at the top of a building and looked around, I grinned widely in satisfaction. This was I was meant to do. Spiderman was who I was.

Looking at my watch, I saw it was 3AM, so I decided to head home to get some sleep. I went back to my secret alley and changed clothes before going into the penthouse like a regular human. As I walked in, Friday greeted me and let me know that both Pepper and Tony had attempted to call me, but that she'd let them know I'd left my phone at home.

I nodded, looking at my phone. I saw one missed call and a voicemail from Pepper. Listening to it, it was just her reiterating that she was in Florida while also mildly scolding me for leaving home without my phone. My eyes widened when I saw that Tony had called me five times, left three voicemails, and texted me twice. I felt uneasy as I decided to ignore the voicemails and look at the texts. The first text was a link, and with a sinking feeling I watched a short clip of me webbing up a man to a wall who'd been trying to break into a car. I stifled a groan, feeling I could chalk this up to being an old video, but the video had been uploaded today. Shit.

I looked at the next text from Tony, and groaned again when I read:

Hey Bueller, next time you think about defying me, try not to be filmed doing it. By the way, I'll be home around 5AM, and I better find you sound asleep in your room when I check in on you.

Damn it, damn it, damn it! Stupid people with stupid camera phones that stupidly had to film everything and post it on the stupid internet! Arrghhh! Now Tony was pissed, and I was going to have to listen to him lecture me and then he'd probably ground me some more! Not fair!

I'd done so good tonight. I'd helped a lot of people, but all he could focus on was that I was out past my bedtime?! I wasn't a little kid anymore! I looked at my phone and decided to text Tony everything I'd been able to do tonight in the hopes that he'd calm down. He had to know how much this city needed me. A minute after I sent the text I received a response from Tony.

Good job, but you're still in trouble. Go to bed.

I scoffed, feeling suddenly so angry that I chucked my phone against a wall, a hole being formed. I felt satisfaction at the hole, but disappointed that my phone didn't break. I'd forgotten that Tony had spiderman-proofed it months ago.

I was angry, so angry.

Who did Tony think he was? I got that he didn't want me taking on guys like the Lizard. That I understood. I wasn't quite ready for them, and while I didn't quite agree, my track record worked against me. I didn't get the curfew, though. I didn't get why he would ground me from being Spiderman when I wasn't injured or anything! Was this a power trip? Was he trying to show me who was boss?

And what right did he have to control what I did as Spiderman? I was a super hero! I didn't need to answer to anybody!

Chest heaving from emotion, I ran into my room, and stuffed some clothes into my backpack. See how they like it, I thought moodily, when they arrive home to find nobody here. If they can just disappear for days on end, then so will I. That'll show them that I can take care of myself. That'll show them that I don't need them babying me!

"Mr. Parker, it appears to me that you are preparing yourself to run away, and I feel that's a bad idea," Friday spoke up, and I completely ignored her. "I feel the need to inform you that if you leave I will notify Mr. Stark immediately."

"So, what?!" I snapped, glaring at the ceiling. "He can't stop me, and I can do what I want! I'm not a kid anymore! Make sure you tell him that, Friday! Make sure you tell him he's a jerk, and-and…," I trailed off, feeling suddenly emotional. Shouldering my bag, I stormed out of the room and out of our home. My first destination was Ned's house. As my best friend, I felt I owed him some explanation.

I snuck into his room, creeped up to him, and covered his mouth as I woke him up. He still screamed into my hand until he figured out who I was. I let him go when it seemed he'd calmed, and he breathed heavily before glaring at me.

"You scared the hell out of me!" he accused. "What're you doing here?" he then asked, his anger melting into confusion and concern. "Are you hurt? Do you need me to call, Tony?"

"No, no, nothing like that," I responded firmly before explaining what I was doing.

He didn't seem happy with my explanation, and he sighed heavily before asking, "Are you sure this is the right thing to do, Peter? I mean, I get how you feel, but from my point of view it seems like Tony and Pepper are just worried for you."

I glared heatedly at him as I grumbled, "You're supposed to be on my side."

"I am, I am, Peter, but I just don't want to see you in trouble, or hurt because of what you're going to do," he defended. My glare softened immediately, and I gave him a little nudge of affection.

"Why don't I come with you?" he asked out of the blue, and I had to quickly stifle a loud laugh as I looked at him incredulously.

"What?" he asked in confusion. "It won't be forever, and I wouldn't mind skipping school for a few days." I shook my head in surprise, marveling at how blasé Ned was suddenly being about this.

"Ned, no, I can't let you do that," I argued. "You'll get in huge trouble with your parents, and it's not going to be easy out there. I've got money, but it's only going to be for food. It's not like anybody is going to let me check out a room in a hotel, even."

Ned frowned thoughtfully, and I felt like I'd won the argument when he stood up, turned on a small light and grabbed his backpack. He unloaded all his school stuff before beginning to stuff some clothes and snacks in it. I shook my head in disbelief as he stated, "I'm not letting you run away alone. I'm your best friend, and you'd be lost without me."

I snickered softly at his words before just giving in. It'd be fun having him along, like an adventure.

"Wait here," Ned then ordered before walking out his room. When he came back a few minutes later he had a long rectangular bag. "Tent," he mentioned, and I grinned, glad he'd thought of that. I'd honestly hadn't thought of where I was going to sleep.

"You can protect us, right?" Ned asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Of course, I can!" I assured him, and he shouldered his backpack before motioning me to lead the way. I went towards his window and hopped out, sticking to the outside wall.

"Maybe I should just walk out the front," he mused, but I ignored him and hauled him out, before jumping down. He yelled loudly, so I quickly dragged him away from his home before anybody came to check out the noise.

"Sorry, sorry!" Ned whispered after we'd gotten far enough away.

"Where now?" he asked, and I kind of shrugged. While having Ned around sounded fun, I hadn't planned on having him around. I guessed we should look for some place to stay. Glad now, that Tony and Pepper had been generous enough to give me an allowance, I hailed a taxi cab and gave the destination. While I couldn't get a hotel room at my age, hailing a cab was no problem.

Sitting down in the cab, Ned and I gave each other looks of nervous excitement as we wondered what the next couple days would bring us.

Tony's POV:

I stood in our house, crossing my arms more tightly than I needed to because of how angry I was. That little punk. That little hot-headed, stubborn, spiderling!

Peter was gone. Friday had informed me the second that brat had left the house with a bag of clothes. I'd rushed here even faster, but still didn't arrive until an hour and a half after he left. A quick glance in his room revealed his old suit was gone, so I cursed inwardly. Dumb move, spiderboy, dumb move.

Knowing it was probably futile, I called Peter's phone. I immediately heard it ring from nearby; and walking into the living area, I saw the phone inside a good sized hole in the wall. Pepper was going to love that.

I shook my head before noting Peter's school backpack sitting on one of the kitchen counters. I looked it over and opened it up, hoping for some idea of where my stubborn spider went off to. I glanced through his binder, seeing nothing but school work. There were two crumpled pieces of paper, and I opened them up, my eyebrows raising in surprise at what they said. Apparently, my studious Peter wasn't doing well in his history and English class, and his teachers wanted to speak with me.

I let out a heavy sigh, leaning onto the counter now in exhaustion. When did this happen? The kid always did his homework, didn't he? He told me and Pepper he did. Admittedly, I wasn't around a lot. The amount of missions the Avengers had increased in the last couple weeks, and the missions kept me gone for two to five days at a time, with only a day or two of downtime. As the de facto leader of the current Avengers I had to be at every mission and debriefing. I was also working with some of the UN leaders on making changes to the Sokovia accords, the first of which was getting rid of The Raft and Ross. We were actually making headway with that, but I'd definitely been busy.

Looking around the house, I noticed lots of Peter's stuff around the rooms with some of Pepper's as well. A sudden feeling of guilt filled me as I realized I hadn't really been here for Pepper and Peter. It didn't even look like I lived here, which was sad. I rubbed a tired hand over my face.

I needed to find the kid. He was clearly pissed at me for having grounded him from Spiderman duties. I figured he would be. I mean, that was the point of punishment, but I honestly didn't expect him to defy me. A week wasn't that long to ask, I felt; but clearly, I didn't know Peter as well as I thought.

He and I needed to sit down and talk.

Where the hell could he be? I groaned inwardly before running up to my lab and putting on my Iron Man suit. I took flight, heading over towards Ned's house. I didn't think I'd find Peter here, but I figured I'd check. Staying high up, I called Ned's number. I heard it ring through the audio's helmet, which helped me locate Ned's bedroom. Searching for heat signatures, I found there were none in his room. Searching the rest of the house I found two heat signatures in what I assumed was the master bedroom.

Son of a bitch. Peter had roped Ned into running away with him. What were they, twelve?

My disappointment in Peter mounted. I knew the kid could take care of himself, but what the hell was he doing dragging Ned into his mess? Why the hell was he running, anyways? What was he hoping to prove? He was smart enough to know that he'd have to come home eventually. He couldn't hide from me forever.

Flying over the city, I decided to do an old-fashioned search, hoping I'd get a glimpse of my kid or Ned. I asked Friday to keep an ear out for anything on the internet concerning Spiderman. When the sun had come out, and I knew school was going to start soon I headed towards the boys' school on the off chance they'd show up.

I waited until twenty minutes after the bell had rang before giving it up as a lost cause. They'd run away, so of course they weren't going to go to school. Looking at his school reminded me that I was going to have to talk with his teachers about the kid's grades. That was for another time.

I headed home next, my lack of sleep hitting me hard. I needed to sleep before I passed out. Hopefully, when I woke up I'd be able to think clearer, or the troublesome teen would get his common sense back and come home. Arriving home, I checked for Peter, hoping he'd gotten over his temper tantrum, but he was still gone.

Worry coursed through me now, dampening some of my anger. What did I do to push the kid to feeling he had to run? Would he come back?

I let out a large sigh before calling Pepper to inform her of our runaway spider. She was shocked and extremely concerned, blaming herself immediately for not being home for him. I tried to soothe her and tell her she wasn't to blame, but she wasn't hearing it. Too tired to argue at the time, I informed her of what I'd done so far before admitting that I needed to rest. She agreed, letting me know she'd be home as soon as she could.

Her guilt further built upon my own. I was beginning to realize that we hadn't been around for the kid a lot as of late. Pepper and I were going to need to talk.

Collapsing onto my bed, I didn't even bother to take off my shoes before I passed out.

A/N: Yeah, so I'm going to come off whiny, but I've noticed a decline in the number of reviews...so, I'm going to be a jerk and hold my story hostage... :(

I'm continuing to work on this story, and I'm currently working on chapter 21. I've honestly never been so interested in a story that I've written so much so quickly and so easily. I'm loving the dynamics between Tony and Peter, and more and more ideas just pop into my head. You're always welcome to make suggestions, and I'll see if I can add them in. Chapter 21 is currently taking place during Peter's summer break.