So, I just had this thought in the shower after watching Homecoming again the other day in preparation for further work on my Spidey fic. I don't know if anyone else has thought this yet, but I felt it needed to be done.

This was supposed to be a oneshot, but it was starting to get pretty long, so I decided I'd split it up between two or three chapters to make it an easier read. I doubt it'll get much longer than that. And since this was a separate short story, I decided to go ahead and post it because it wouldn't mesh with the upload schedule for long anyway.

Anyway, I won't dredge on too much. Hope you guys enjoy, and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! 3

Peter Parker was having a very bad day.

Well, was it even day, anymore? It was hard to tell. He knew, when he left the dance, it had been around nine pm, but he also didn't know how long he'd been knocked out after. It could be the wee hours of the next morning now.

Because of course he'd been knocked out after.

His homecoming date's Dad had turned out to be the big bad guy he'd been fighting for the past few weeks - surprise surprise. He supposed he should have known. Now that he was a hero, all the bad things were going to come his way, including the worst of the bad things - bad luck.

Based on the conversation in the car, he could tell the man was suspicious. At the mention of Peter's internship with Tony, and the fact that Peter knew Spider-Man, he almost thought he was going to stop the car right there and say screw the facade for a chance to get at him.

But he didn't. He kept driving, and he stopped and let them out at the school, smiling and kissing his daughter on the cheek as she went in, his eyes on Peter the whole time.

Then came the confrontation. He had a choice, and he knew it. He could let himself be intimidated, and he could decide not to go after him. This route would have been all the easier based on the fact that he didn't even have a decent suit to fight him in. All he had was a homemade one, and Lord knew how much web fluid was even left in it, since he hadn't worn it in months. And yet… could he live with himself if he didn't?

Deciding the answer was no, he went to the dance long enough to do what he needed to, then retrieved the suit from its hiding place and headed out.

...and got knocked out as soon as he walked out the back door.

When he came to, it was dark, and he didn't see anyone around him. That was odd; his night vision had never failed him before. Where was Liz's dad? Was that who had knocked him out? If not, who else would have done it? Where was he?

Now, he had no idea where he was. He had no idea what time it was. He knew, when he woke up, that his mask was gone, and that he was tied up, because he could feel it. Well, actually, he couldn't feel much of anything, but he also couldn't move, which was enough in and of itself to tell him what he needed to know. He was oddly numb and tingly all over, and his head hurt and was feeling rather fuzzy. Funny, that never happened in the movies.

Okay. So, he'd screwed up big time... And it wasn't looking like there was anything he could do about it. He couldn't even make his fingers respond to him, let alone move his arm enough to shoot a web. He groaned a little, letting his head slump back against the wall. Great. So he was stuck here until either help came, or the vulture guy came back to finish him off.

What a fitting end to the day. Honestly, what a fitting end to this week, which seemed like it had been from hell. What a fitting end to him. A helpless mess, just as he always truly had been.

This was the only thought he could hold on to until he blacked out again.

Tony was feeling rather nostalgic.

He didn't like it.

It was an odd feeling. Once upon a time he'd told Pepper that he'd been called many things, and nostalgic was not one of them. And that was still true, in its essence, but he was certainly feeling it now. Leaving the old Avengers Headquarters behind was a big step, but it was the best one for what was coming next. He knew he was making the right choice, even if he was questioning it every step of the way.

Speaking of questionable decisions… He walked out to the balcony, leaning against the railing and staring out over the open sky. He felt bad about the way he'd treated the kid the other day. He may not have been right, and what he'd done in hacking the suit and directly disobeying him was wrong, even if it was genius. But Tony still felt bad for the way he'd treated him. He just still had a hard time fathoming exactly what Peter had been thinking. He knew where the thoughts had stemmed from, to an extent. He remembered a time not so long ago when he'd acted without all the information, sure his judgement was best and that the whole world was either against him or just didn't know what he knew. He remembered the disastrous aftereffects of those decisions, too.

But the look on his face when he'd told him he was taking the suit back…

Tony shook the thoughts away. He was doing the right thing. Somebody had to look out for the kid, and clearly no one else was going to do it. Besides, he meant what he said to him about not wanting anything happening to him on his conscience. And if he kept throwing himself into situations he didn't have the experience to handle, he would get hurt eventually.

Maybe he'd give the suit back after the kid had had some time to chew over what he'd done. Maybe, if he could prove he'd learned something from it.

"Tony!" Happy burst through the door, breathing slightly hard. Pepper wasn't far behind him. "Tony-"

"I know. It's about time to go. I'm coming." He sighed, straightening up and looking over the view one last time.

"No, it's not that." Happy glanced back inside, where all the movers were still boxing and loading things, but no one was paying them any attention. "Listen, Peter just left town, and I… I think something is wrong."

"Happy, you always think something is wrong." But his senses were tingling, so he turned and gave him his full attention. A sinking feeling started to form in his gut. "But why this time?"

Happy handed him his phone, wordlessly. The tracker that they'd placed in Peter's phone had pegged him at several places in the last handful of hours. His apartment, at a house in the city, then at his school for a handful of minutes, then showed him moving at several miles per hour heading for the state's border. Happy's phone would have pinged him a warning when he hit the border. And that was at least an hour drive, even at the ridiculous speed he'd been moving at. And now…

Happy watched him study the stats. "The boy can't drive, Tony, and he's certainly not swinging anywhere at that speed."

"He's not with his aunt?" Tony handed the phone back. He had a feeling… but he had to cover all his bases first. He didn't want to assume that the kid had went and done something stupid, but…

"No. He was supposed to be at a dance at his school tonight. Based on this, he arrived there intact and left a whole fifteen minutes after showing up." Happy pocketed the phone, looking at Tony.

Tony looked down, rubbing his forehead. "You think I should go after him?" He didn't really have time to, but he also couldn't shake this uneasy feeling in his stomach that said he needed to.

"I think…" Happy started, then stopped. Both of their eyes dropped to where he'd just pocketed his phone. It had started ringing suddenly. And the ringtone…

Happy pulled out his phone. "It's Peter."

"Well answer it, then." Tony crossed his arms, shifting his weight from foot to foot. It should be a good sign, and yet… that sinking feeling was still there.

"Hello?" Happy held the phone up to his ear, then frowned, pulling it away. His eyes widened when they alighted on the screen. Tony stepped up beside him. What he saw made his stomach lurch so hard that for a moment he thought he was going to empty the contents of his stomach right there.

It was Peter, all right, but he clearly wasn't the one who'd made the call. He didn't really have the technology in his phone to make a hands-free call with no ability to use his hands or feet. Not to mention the fact that he was unconscious currently, head slumped as a deadweight against the wall behind him. He was wearing his rudimentary Spider-Man suit, but the mask was nowhere to be seen.

Tony actually took a step back. The amount of blood covering the side of his face… head wounds bled something terrible, granted, but nobody should lose that amount of blood. It definitely wasn't healthy. And that was just the injury he could see. "Is this live?" he demanded, grabbing the phone from Happy.

"Why yes, it certainly is," a voice that definitely wasn't Happy's answered him. "And I do believe that that is your favorite prodigal super kid. You really hurt his feelings, you know, cutting the internship with him. You almost ruined his relationship with his buddy Spider-Man, too."

"Cut the shit. Who is this? What do you want?" Tony had no idea about half of what he was talking about. They'd used an internship with him as a cover one time, but he hadn't realized Peter had continued to use it. Was that why he'd quit so many things this year? As for the rest, he had no idea what the hell he was talking about. This guy clearly knew Peter was Spider-Man - he was unconscious ten feet away in the suit, for Christ's sake - but that obviously wasn't what he cared about, or he wouldn't have called him.

"Aw, isn't that funny? You haven't truly cared about someone in years, so of course you've never had to worry about a ransom demand before. Well, guess what. Surprise! Here it is. There's a first time for everything, isn't there?" the voice taunted.

A ransom. Because of the internship story, or because he'd guessed - accurately - that he actually had real history with the kid, and that he knew both sides of who he was? Tony gritted his teeth. "Coward. Hiding behind a camera, using a kid as bait. Why don't you show me your face? Or better yet, come meet me and we can sort whatever this is out, man to man." Anything to draw him away from the kid. He fisted his hands and stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep them from shaking. With fear or anger, he wasn't entirely sure, but he was feeling a good bit of both right now. "I won't even bring my suit. We can have a fair fight." At least it would seem fair until he knocked this guy's teeth down his throat bare handed.

The man on the other side of the camera just laughed. "Oh, I know you won't bring your suit, Iron Man. Otherwise you'll be carrying his out as a memorial." He could hear this bastard's feral grin as he spoke. "Look, I didn't want to hurt him, but I'll be honest with you - he's been quite a pest for the past few weeks. I gotta say, you've done a fair job with him. But it wasn't good enough. Even those spidey-senses couldn't detect an electrified hand just waiting to knock his lights out from the other side of a steel door."

He heard Pepper gasp from behind him almost as if from a distance. He was going to kill this guy. There was no doubt about it. He would fry him just like he had to Peter. Tony had been shocked before, and it wasn't a good feeling by any means. He couldn't imagine how Peter, with his already overstimulated senses, had handled that. "Coward," he spit again. It was the only thing he trusted himself to say.

His insults seemed to have no effect. The man just laughed again. "I thought you were famous for your quick wit? Have all the witty comebacks deserted you in your moment of need, just like you did to your young friend here?"

A low snarl ripped from his throat involuntarily. It only hurt so much because it was true. He hadn't realized he was setting the kid up like this when he'd taken the suit away and had virtually cut off the contact between them due to being so busy in the aftermath, but it was certainly undeniable that he had. He was shaking all over now, and there was no way to hide it. "This is ransom demand, isn't it? So just tell me what you want." His voice sounded strained as the rest of him felt with the effort to keep himself under control.

"Fine. I'll be honest with you, I know this isn't a good feeling, and I feel a bit bad about it. So if you come get him - alone, mind you - and bring me my money, I'll let you both walk out of here, no questions asked. So long as you take the boy to go get looked at and agree to stay out of my way, of course. Don't worry. I'll be gone by morning."

Tony closed his eyes. "How much?"

"Hm…" the man pretended to consider it. "That's the question, isn't it? How much is his life worth to you?"

Everything. The thought popped into his head, unbidden, but he had the sense not to say it. Yes, he'd give him whatever he wanted for Peter - the same thing he'd give for the other two people around him. He could see almost everyone he truly cared about right now, and the answer would be the same across the board. "I… how much?"

"How about a full billion? I think that'd be quite enough to set me up for life."

Tony looked at Pepper, who nodded and went to work on it immediately. "You got it, jackass. When and where?"

"Oh, you know. However long it takes you to get the money and get here. I wouldn't take too long, though. The kid's not looking quite so hot." He paused. "And let's not pretend you're not tracking this right now, Stark. You know where the kid is. So come and get him."

And with that, the call disconnected.

It was an effort not to chuck the blasted thing right over the railing. He handed it back to Happy without a word, strolling back inside.

Happy quickly followed. "What are we going to do? Should I call the police?"

"Leave the police out of it for now." He was a man on a mission, searching for his suit in the mess of boxes and crates. "I'll handle it myself." Mostly because what he wanted to do to him wasn't entirely legal. Plus, he didn't need this ending up all over the news. "You and Pepper just work on getting the money as fast as you can. I'm going to suit up and-"

"Is that a good idea? He did threaten to kill him if you showed up in it."

Tony shot him a look. Like he didn't remember that detail vividly enough. "Yeah, well, the kid's hurt, Happy, and it's the quickest way. I'll deal with the rest when I get there." Maybe not his best plan in the world, but he couldn't sit in the car for an hour and a half and twiddle his thumbs, couldn't fathom leaving Peter there like that for that long. He could shrink the suit down to just the glove with his nanotech anyway and just keep it hidden under his sleeve. He'd be damned if he was going in empty handed.

"Fine. What can I do?"

"Help Pepper gather the money. And get me some extra clothes for the kid. He's going to need care I am not qualified to give him."

"What are you going to do, Tony, just drop him off at a hospital? It doesn't work like that. And his aunt-"

"I'll deal with it all later, Happy, now please, just go!" He didn't mean to snap at him, but he was maintaining most of his control by a wire right now. This was too much. This was bad, and it was his fault. And now…

He was going to make it right, all right. Starting by smashing that guy into the cement so hard-... well. Following that thought to completion was probably a bad idea. He was trying not to incubate homicidal ideals right now.

But no matter what happened, first thing was first.

He had to find his suit.