This is set after Iron Man 3 and before Civil War- Harley's age does not quite fit, here he is only three years older than Peter making him only 8 in Iron Man 3. I hope you can overlook this small discrepancy.
Comments and suggestions are most welcome, hope you enjoy.
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"Tones, have you seen Peter? He's not in his room," Steve came into the kitchen, he rubbed Morgan's back gently as she grizzled on his shoulder, colic was definitely a challenge.
Tony looked up as he grated cheese on top of his huge lasagne. Natasha was beside him preparing salad, an equally huge salad, the residents of this home required a lot of food.
"What no? I thought he was in his room, Happy dropped the kids off out front. Harley's here," Tony nodded towards their adopted son who was doing his homework under his father's watchful eye, Harley was inclined to skip homework and required supervision. It had been hard at first, arguments and teenage snits abound but now Harley accepted it.
"Friday, where's Peter?" Tony asked and the reply displeased him, displeased him an awful lot.
"Peter is not in the building Mr Stark, he has not been in the building since this morning. However, I have located him on the lobby cameras, walking away from the building at 3:45pm."
Tony frowned, not again, he had not done this again. He didn't even bother calling his phone, it would be in his bedroom, Peter knew to ditch his phone if he wanted to disappear.
Steve did anyway and the ringing echoed from down the hall.
"You have got to be kidding me, that brat is toast when he gets home. I am done with this Steve, completely done," Tony vented and Steve had to agree with him.
"I know, I know. I will have to carry through with my threat won't I?" Steve was at the end of his tether as well.
"Yes, yes you will. He was warned, he obviously didn't take us seriously so now we have to prove we mean what we say," Tony was beyond annoyed, way beyond.
Harley whistled under his breath, staring down at his Math, his little brother was going to catch it big time this time.
The two men looked at each other in despair.
Their twelve year old son had become the devil incarnate ever since Morgan had appeared in their lives a little over a month ago, they had decided to adopt again once Harley had settled. A four month old baby this time, as opposed to a teenager, and a little girl, a daughter to complete their family.
It was a dream come true for the couple, a wonderful, joyful gift, unfortunately this was not a view shared by their youngest son.
His jealousy was out of control, and it manifested itself in extreme acting out and disappearing at will, it felt like their sweet, lovable son had been stolen away and been replaced by a complete monster, a small monster who was causing complete havoc in their home.
"Wow you guys need to come down hard on your little guy, he is really pushing the boundaries," Nat laughed as she cut up cucumber.
The two men glared at her, they were very well aware of that.
"Harley, where is Peter?" Tony chose not to reply to Spy lady, he switched his attention to their 15 year old who had received the new addition more philosophically. He basically milked the situation and accepted the many guilt presents (Tony spoilt his kids, big surprise!) with glee. He even held his sister occasionally!
"Not sure, like Fri said he walked off as soon as Happy left, I tried to stop him but he ignored me. Sorry," Harley blushed and shrugged, he ducked his head, hoping to avoid an interrogation.
He chose not to share that his little brother had cussed him out before he stormed off.
Tony was annoyed with himself, he should have checked on the boys but he was busy in the kitchen, he heard the elevator and had assumed it was both of them- his assumption was wrong.
"Right," Tony looked at Steve, who rolled his eyes. They had tried to be gentle, understanding but they had now reached a crisis point. Peter could not disappear at will, he was a Stark and the child of two Avengers; that had connotations around safety, the threat of kidnap a constant worry. It was clearly time they got tougher, much tougher.
Then to emphasise that point Tony's phone bleeped, he glanced at the screen and his face flushed with anger.
Harley cringed, very aware what the message said. He had covered for Peter, not mentioning that the squirt had spent the afternoon in an arcade instead of school and he was regretting it, he tensed hoping that his dads didn't call him out.
"What?" Steve didn't want to ask but he had to.
"Give me my completely beautiful and adorable God Daughter. I will bathe her, feed her and put her to bed," Nat helped out as she took the now settled baby from Steve's arms. He smiled gratefully.
Tony handed the phone to Steve, who groaned as he read the text message.
"He cut school again?" Steve was going to go nuclear at Peter when he got hold of him, but they had to find him first and that was no easy task. Peter had proved very elusive when he chose to be, he was bright as a spark thanks to his father's genes, it was a blessing but at times a curse, like right now.
Peter was Tony's biological son, the result of his past promiscuity, he was a handsome child, all brown curls and deep mournful doe eyes, Steve had come into his life when he was five, little more than a baby; they had formed an extremely strong bond- Steve loved him deeply and he was just as much his son as Tony's.
At the time of Tony issuing his ridiculous challenge to the Mandarin, Pepper was Tony's partner and Peter had been a secret, a closely guarded secret- he was removed to a safe place when the threat was imminent.
Pepper and Tony separated and the rest is history. Steve and Tony had come out about their relationship a couple of years later and despite their misgivings the union was generally accepted, celebrated even, earth's greatest heroes married, raising a family together. United forever, it made the world feel safe.
For the first years of his life Peter had been an only child (although he had contact with Harley) , the centre of his father's then his parents' universe, that had changed, now he was a middle child and he was protesting non verbally; causing his dads a lot of stress, which on top of caring for a five month old and a moody teenager, was stretching them, testing them hugely. Parenting their extended family was proving to be a baptism by fire at the moment, their duties as Avengers an extra pressure.
"I am calling Ned's mom," Tony said decisively and Steve nodded, not sure what else to suggest. After checking his homework Steve released Harley, who disappeared to his room, escaping with relief from the tense atmosphere. He texted his brother immediately, he was going to strangle the little shit when he got back. Harley was not a fan of people who upset his parents and it had become Peter's special talent recently.
'Come home bro, parental units are freaking out,' he wasn't surprised when he got no reply.
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Peter glanced at the security cameras, he was gauging their scope and analysing where the blind spots were.
"What game do you want?" Peter asked Ned who sighed, he did not want a game, he wanted to go home but Peter was determined to steal something. It was sport to Peter, he didn't need to steal, he was the last kid in the world that needed to steal, his father was a billionaire and he could have anything his heart desired ( although Pops kept his Dad's indulgence in check ) but recently Peter was all about rebellion and defiance. This was just more of that.
"Pete, let's go to my house and build my new Death Star," Ned pleaded but his friend was not listening.
"GTA then, I will get two cos my dads won't let me have that game which is just fricking dumb considering who they are," Peter was watching the camera.
Ned sighed, it appeared his friend was hell-bent on this madness and Ned could do nothing but watch the train crash.
Peter walked casually up to the shelf and grabbed two games, he ripped off the security tags, dumped them and stuck the contraband in his back pack, then a hand descended onto his arm; Peter was so focussed on the technology, he forgot about the human aspect, he stared into the face of a security guard and bit his lip. He was so busted!
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"So what do we do now? He could be anywhere," Steve felt fear take grip, it was dark and their child, their small, attractive child, was out there somewhere on the New York streets, he was very vulnerable and at serious risk- Steve was barely controlling his panic.
Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I don't know," He replied. Tony felt helpless, not an emotion he experienced often and he felt the same fear as Steve, he took a deep breath in a vain attempt to calm down and loosen the band of distress tightening around his chest.
Steve held out his arms and Tony stepped gratefully into them.
"Love you babes, it's okay we can handle this," Steve whispered in Tony's ear, he was very aware that Tony was highly strung when it came to the kids, he worried about them all the time, his anxiety exacerbated by PTSD.
"I know, he is just a little boy and we are Avengers, the Earth's Mightiest Heroes right?" Tony kissed Steve's neck and let his strong embrace comfort him, he felt calmer instantly.
Just then, the elevator door opened and several Avengers spilled out.
"I had that man, you did not have to help," Clint was digging out Sam who laughed.
"Yeah right, sure you did. You're welcome by the way," Sam shook his head.
"Hey guys, what's with the doom and gloom? Threat was neutralised with our usual aplomb," Bucky approached the two men who stepped away from each other.
"Hope you heathens didn't make a spectacle of yourselves," Tony grumbled as he fiddled with the stove.
Bucky clutched his chest in mock offence.
"Says the man whose entire life is a spectacle," Bucky raised his eyebrows at Steve who smiled tightly, Bucky realised there was trouble in paradise. He frowned and looked around, hoping to get some clues but he knew it was Peter, it was always Peter at the moment.
"It was a jolly romp, pleasure of the highest order, we rained much vengeance upon the villains," Thor declared theatrically, Sam rolled his eyes at Clint, who laughed.
"Okay Shakespeare in the Park, 'twas indeed a jolly romp," Sam mimicked him badly.
"Tones, did you cook?" Rhodey grinned, it had been a fun encounter, no civilian casualties, minimum damage, just taking down the bad guys, bread and butter to the Avengers.
"Uuum yeah," Tony nodded.
"Oh man of Iron, I hope it's lasagne, your lasagne is truly the food of the gods," Thor was in extremely good spirits.
"Which is what you should be eating big man," Sam clapped the God on the back and Thor chuckled in response.
"Indeed. Although, I sense a problem, is there a problem?" Thor frowned and Bucky glanced at Steve who was wound so tight that he looked about to combust on the spot.
"You short a kid again?" He asked with a grimace. The others fell quiet, this was the fourth time in two weeks that Peter had gone AWOL.
"Yep, we are. Petey Pie is missing yet again," Tony replied through gritted teeth as he threw down a towel.
"Okay guys, let's get back out there. Bring the little miscreant back home where he belongs," Bucky reacted immediately, he loved Peter and they were very close so he got proactive. Steve smiled at Tony who nodded, yes he accepted Bucky now. He had been jealous once back in the day but that was in the past. They were a couple, married with kids, it was solid and forever.
"The son of Iron and America is very defiant. He cannot do that, he should respect his elders. We must search for him," Thor looked at the others and they all nodded.
"Thanks guys, but we have no idea where he is. All we know is that he is with Ned," Steve said and there was an uncomfortable silence. An Avenger kid off grid was not good, it was very much not good.
"Have you considered a tracker? That boy needs a tracker big time!" Rhodey said and Tony rolled his eyes, then he stared at Steve who blushed; Tony said the same thing last week but Steve wouldn't even discuss it.
"Okay alright, kid gets a tracker, but we need to find him first," Steve threw his arms up in defeat.
Then both their phones rang.