Author's Note:

Through the last year or so, I've enjoyed watching several Marvel movies with my family. While I try not to make it obvious, I tend to enjoy delving at least for a short time into the infamous realm of fanfiction reading when I've watched something that I would like to see more character interactions played out with. In that time this time around, I've found a familial-like tie between Iron Man and Spider-Man that I've particularly liked seeing. Thus I sat and rambled away on my keyboard, delving into the perhaps slightly more infamous realm of fanfiction writing.

Disclaimer:

I own very little in the grand scheme of things. Among the long list of what I do not own are the rights to anything to do with the MCU.

Chapter 1:

"Kid, where are you?"

Tony Stark, Iron Man, paused mid-flight, eyes scanning the skyline filled with billows of smoke and choking ash blown in a December wind. Sirens wailed in the not so far distance, the sounds of a structured chaos' attempt to quell the newest destructive chaos faced.

"Kid, c'mon, talk to me."

Tony's voice was short and clipped; not unusual, but now it held a particular edge reserved especially for one Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man. AKA his ward; HIS ward, and that made all the difference.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Peter! Thank God, where are you?"

"Um," The silence that followed was short but telling.

"Not good enough, Pete, talk to me, I can't see a thing up here. Visibility's way down and I can't trace heat signals in all this." A scream sounded from below, and Iron Man flew down to stop a collapsing second-level porch from fatally injuring a frightened young woman. "Go on, get out of here! Go that way!" He directed towards the sirens, and she scrambled to take his instruction. "Darn civilians." He muttered before turning his attention back to his comms. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah! Yeah, Mr. Stark, I'm fine, it's cool! I'm... just a little bit stuck, that's all." He quieted at the last part.

"You're wha- Shoot!" Iron Man dodged as another thunderous explosion sent a large chunk of housetop his way. He blasted it as it passed with one shot from his palm to keep it from careening to the ground in a massive boulder and causing any more damage. Although, at this point, it was looking less and less as though that really would've mattered. A good number of civilians had already evacuated. A lot of the buildings were already a loss. There were still too many people left, though, and he and Spider-Man had gone out to handle the threat. "You're 'stuck'? Define 'stuck'."

Well, Iron Man had gone out. He hadn't counted on Peter joining him.

"It's fine, I'm fine!" Peter, Spider-Man, insisted.

"Talk to me when the town's not burning down from terrorists setting off hidden bombs left and right with you immobilized down here in it; where the heck are you?!"

"I don't know!"

Iron Man landed on the ground, exasperation in his voice. "Look, can you see me at least? C'mon, Kid, give me something to work with, doggone it!" He ran to pull over and crush a fire hydrant, allowing the water to shoot out over the flaming buildings.

"Where am I, where am I..?" Peter asked himself quietly. Then, louder, "Uhhh, there are stairs! And there's a hole in the roof! I think I was near 10th Street, North side. An apartment building?"

"Good, keep going." Tony immediately had Friday interfacing to show him the exact row the street was on. "Holy crow..." Every building was aflame. "Kid? How close are you to that fire?"

There was an awkward pause. "Closer than I would like, but I'm good."

"Will you stop saying you're fine? You're about to get fried if you stay put! Cheez-Its!"

Peter smirked slightly inside his mask at how Tony had been toning down the language lately. Considering the situation, he found it a wonder he wasn't slipping back into his usual syntax under the high stress. Vaguely he heard something about 'what were you even doing?'. "There was a dog, Mr. Stark, but I got it out!" he supplied, trying to offer up some sort of excuse for his predicament.

"I don't care about the flippin' mutt, I care about you! Look, are you hurt in any way? How are you trapped? Can you use your web-shooters?"

"Mr. Stark, I'm fine, I'm not hurt. My web-shooters are down, I'm just hanging ou- whoops!" a nervous chuckle escaped his lips as a crack of splintering wood resounded nearby, neither of which went unnoticed to the ears of Tony Stark.

"Friday, try to triangulate Spider-Man's comms again. Now, please."

"Confirmed. Boss, I'm reading three possible locations. Transferring to your viewscreen now."

Tony took in the information with lightning comprehension. "There. That one. Hang in there, Kid, I'm on my way."

"I'm not a kid." Peter pouted.

"You. Zip it."

"Boss, I'm reading unexpected thermal activity to your right."

"Wha-?"

Another charge detonated, this time in a building Iron Man was passing directly beside, throwing him violently away along with large sections of planks and beams. Quickly he engaged his thrusters, rolling off of the debris even as they and he flew.

"What was that, another one?!" Called Peter.

"Agh..." Tony grunted, "Yep, and intel says there may be 4 more bombs just like it."

"Holy..."

"Language."

"I didn't say anything!"

"Yeah, but you were thinking it."

"Yeah, but bombs? How's that..." Another sudden noise came through the comms via Peter's end, this one involving loud metal bangs and clanging. "Mr. Stark, I think now would actually be a really good time for me to be out of here."

"Almost there." Tony rocketed the remaining yards down the street in mere seconds, arriving at what remained of a seven-story apartment building. Half was completely demolished, the other teetering dangerously. "Floor number?"

"Uh, fourth? Mr. Stark..." A twinge of panic coloured Peter's voice, and Tony felt a chill run down his spine.

"Friday, I need a more precise lock! Try to contact Karen again, get their coordinates and a heading!"

"I can't, Boss." Friday reminded, "Karen is offline, this is the best I can do."

"Grrrr..."

A bark sounded nearby.

"'Flippin' mutt..." Tony incredulously thanked... he didn't know who, but he now had affirmation. "Okay, Pete, I'm coming in, the second you spot me, holler!"

"Okay. Okay okay okay okay okay..." The comms crackled, fire rushing to drown out and consume all other noise. Iron support beams creaked and groaned, wood splintered and glass shattered. Peter whimpered. "This is fine this is fine this is fine..."

"Peter! Focus!"

"Oh man!"

"Building; left side, right side?"

"Left! Wait, I think I saw you, look up! No, not that way, this way... on your right! Here! I'm right here!"

Tony looked around desperately trying to spot a bright red clad figure amongst the dark destruction. Finally, something caught his eye; a soot coated spandex covered leg sticking through an opening of tangled beams and rubble, somehow not yet fallen from its precariously perched location above a burning pile of what appeared to once have been various pieces of furniture.

"I see you! Time to go." Using his thrusters, he made an assisted leap to land beside the pile around Peter Parker and with effort began shoving girders, drapes, glass and more aside, quickly finding the shape of the top of a head and an arm raised to shoulder level, pressing against the pile to keep the Spider-Man attached to it from becoming strangled against the confinements.

Peter coughed slightly, "Mr. Stark!"

"In the flesh." He quipped. "What the heck, Kid? What's all this?" He began working rapidly. The entire floor shifted and dropped an inch. Peter grunted involuntarily. Iron Man tapped the trapped figure's shoulder quickly, not breaking pace in his work, "Easy, I'm gonna get you out of there." He glanced around as he said this, the flames suddenly much closer seeming than they had been a moment before.

With little warning the floor dropped another two inches, and girders buried behind crumbling plaster walls gave a revealing squeal. The whole building swayed and things began tipping, within only a couple of seconds making it clear it wasn't going to stop. "Shoot. Okay, here we go. Grab onto me!" Tony grasped Peter's left arm that was freed and Peter returned the grip as best as his angle would allow. As their immediate world's tilt accelerated, suddenly the whole pile Peter had been entangled in fell undone with the change in angle of gravity, and with a yelp he found himself falling along with Tony amidst all the rubble that had entrapped him milliseconds before down towards the lower floors. Tony tightened his grip and fired his free hand thruster. The two of them were yanked upwards and Peter yelled while shielding his head with his right arm. Dodging under the falling floors, Tony twirled and weaved, threading his way between burning lumber, furniture and plaster, then straight up toward what he hoped was a smoke-filled hole that would lead to safety.

It was. Tony shot out of the hole in the "ceiling"; what had been the floor of the next level and part of a wall, and Peter abandoned shielding his head in favor of bringing his right arm up to grasp Tony's along with his left as they careened into the flaming building on the opposing side of the street. Instead of trying to redirect their trajectory, Tony yanked Peter closer and bent instinctively to protect Peter's head with himself. They burst through the entirety of the structure with concussive ease, into one wall and out another, the Iron Man suit taking the brunt of the blows. The suit thrusters disengaged as they finally ended in a sprawling tumble on an alley street, at the very last of which the two of them were thrown apart as Tony plowed into a streetlight and Peter was flung shoulder first into the side of a commercial sized metal dumpster.