Absisive Aunt May
Peter's been acting strange ever since his uncle ben died after being shot over 6 months ago which just left him and his Aunt to fend for themselves
TW: Child abuse, violence, descriptions of the aftermath of child abuse
Tony Stark was known as many things, Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,but he wasn't known for being stupid,An idiot, yes. But stupid? No. So when Peter came into the lab after being gone for over a month silent, with his shoulders hunched, and refusing to meet His eyes ,Tony immediately knew something was wrong,and he knew that if he tried to address it directly with the kid right off the bat, he'd probably stutter out some lame excuse, or go on the defensive and then he'd leave and probably not return . Despite what many people believed ,he wasn't completely tactless.
"Hey, kid," he said casually. "Long time, no see." Peter merely shrugged. "Well, come on over here," Tony said. "I've been working on some upgrades for your suit I think you could help me with-"
"Mr. Stark," Peter said cutting Tony off mid sentence,. "I can't stay to long . I just came to tell you, that I won't be joining you in the lab anymore, And I can't go out as Spider-Man, either."
Tony froze, before slowly looking up.
"What?" he asked.
Peter took a deep breath.. I'm sorry. The suit is with Happy."
Without giving Tony a chance to reply, Peter hurried out of the room, leaving a shocked and confused Mr. Stark staring at the spot peter just vacated from.
"Hey, Tony, are you alright?" Friday alerted me that you heart rate spiked and your blood pressure is high Bruce asked, concerned, asking Friday to open the door Tony was frantically searching through all the footage Karen had recorded under the Baby Monitor Protocol,that he ad secretly installed into the spiderman suit, His hair was all over the place,from the amount of times he ran his fingers threw it,eye bags that size of saucers, and the lab was an even bigger mess than it usually was. He kept muttering swear words and nonsense under his breath, running a hand through his hair, and occasionally he'd kick a chair, table, or the wall.
"Something's wrong," Tony muttered in answer. "Something's really wrong."
"What's wrong?" Bruce asked cautiously. One never knew what might happen when Tony was in this state. Once, he got so frustrated with himself that he and punched a hole through the wall. Another time, he'd completely broken down and sobbed for nearly half an hour, before disappearing into the bathroom for two hours, asking Friday to make sure no one could enter and emerging looking completely fine and asking what's for dinner like nothing had happened The last time something like this had happened had been when the Rogues had been pardoned and came to the avengers tower to apologise and try and make amends for what had happened during the whole mess with the Accords; he had screamed at Steve for two hours straight, swore continuously for ten minutes, then stormed of into the lab,not leaving for 5 days straight,Something told Bruce this was not like those times.
"Peter," Tony said simply. "he came in here, a few hours ago, right on time for lab day, right? And it's been a month since he's showed up, so I was already getting a little concerned,i even tried calling him but he just kept saying he was busy and that he was fine,so i just ignored it,but then he finally comes to the lab acting all strange, and skittish, and he wasn't talking like he usually was, he kept stuttering and refusing to look at me,and hes hands kept shaking and when i asked him if he wanted to help me work on some upgrades for his suit,which he absolutely loves by the way, he told me he wouldn't be coming in ever again and that he'd left his suit with Happy! he just quit being spiderman. Why on earth would Peter do that? Those are, like, his two favorite things in the world. It's not like him. He'd never do that. So I have reached the conclusion that something is really wrong, and I need to figure out what it is."
"Okay Bruce said slowly. "Have you found anything?"
"No!" Tony snapped, throwing his hands up and collapsing into a chair. "The last time Peter put the suit on was nearly two months ago. Which means it was nearly a month before he stopped coming in for lab days. And there's nothing, nothing at all, in almost a year's worth of footage, to give any indication as to what is going on with him now!"
"Why don't you try calling him again or try calling his best friends,maybe they know something ?" Bruce suggested. "Or you could just wait for him at school tomorrow, and just ask him what's wrong?" Tony went completely still for a moment, before smacking himself on the forehead.
"I am such a fucking idiot," he muttered, standing up.
...Time Skip...
Tony was beyond aggravated,he was bordering on furius. for the past week tony called and texting him almost constantly, and had even gone to pick him up from school every day, and yet, he still hadn't managed to even speak to Peter once. It was pretty obvious Peter was avoiding him, but Tony didn't care; he was determined to figure out what was wrong. He was in the lab again, when his phone rang. It was a number he didn't recognize, and he almost declined, but something told him he should answer it. And so, listening to his gut, he accepted the call. "Tony Stark," he said.
"Mr. Stark?" an vaguely familiar voice said timidly. "Um… this is Ned Leeds. I'm Peter Parker's friend?"
"Oh, yeah, he's talked a bit about you," Tony acknowledged. "What can I do for you?"
"Well… it's Peter, Mr. Stark, sir," Ned stumbled over his words. "I'm… I'm really worried about him."
"You and me both," Tony muttered.
"What happened?" "Well, during lunch today, I noticed that he didn't have a lunch again, which has been happening a lot the past two months, I don't think I've seen him eat lunch once… Anyway, when I asked him about it, he got all defensive and stuff. He tried to leave, but I grabbed his arm, and he jumped almost a foot in the air and flinched away like he thought I was going to hit him or something. And when he did… well, his shirt moved a bit, and I saw some weird bruises on his arms, and I asked him what had happened, because unless they got there this morning they'd be healed by now, you know? So I asked him where they'd come from and when, because I was a little concerned about them, they looked kind of nasty, and he just kind of mumbled that May got mad this morning and hurried off like something was chasing him." Ned explained. "Peter's been acting… off, ever since Uncle Ben died, i know he was struggling a lot with what happened,as he saw it happen,but he refuses to talk about it, but he seemed to start being his old self again,you know always chatting about random things and always had a smile on his face, but… I don't know,for the last 2 months He's been acting weird.", he hardly talks to me anymore, and just seems to avoid any contact and always refuses to build some legos with me,he just changed so much
"You said he's been acting off?" Tony asked.
"Uh huh," Ned confirmed. . "Mr. Stark… can you please go check on him? I mean, I'd go myself, but I'm supposed to be grounded right now… I got detention last week, so I'm not supposed to leave the house except for school stuff.",and he always talks to you
"Yeah, yeah, I'll go check on him," Tony was already standing, getting ready to call his suit to him. It was faster to fly than to drive. "I'll… I'll let you know if I figure anything out, alright? Is this number fine for me to call?"
"Oh! Um, yeah…" Ned sounded a bit overwhelmed at the thought of Tony Stark calling him. "Yeah, this number's good."
"Okay," Tony hurried out of the lab. "Okay. Thank you, Ned-" Tony ended the call, sprinting down the hallway.
Tony landed the suit in front of May and Peter's apartment building. Stepping out of the suit, he sprinted inside, ignoring the looks he was getting from those around him. The elevator was broken, as per the usual, so he ran up three flights of stairs to get to May and Peter's apartment. Upon arrival outside the door, he could hear the muffled sounds of someone crying and ominous thumps. The door was locked, so he began banging on it. The sounds ceased immediately. Tony continued banging on the door, shouting for someone to open up, but of course, nobody did. Taking a few steps back, Tony walked forward swiftly and kicked the door. The lock splintered and the door swung open, revealing the apartment. It resembled something out of one of those old horror shows,clint was always watching,the apartment was a mess,Broken beer bottles littered the floor,medication was lined up on the table, Chairs were overturned, food were scattered everywhere, and there were terrifying splatters of blood in some places on the floor and walls. Laying on the ground in the kitchen was Peter. His shirt had apparently been ripped off, revealing his too-visible rips and too-small stomach. Lashes were littered all across his back. Bruises marred his face, and his curls were matted with blood. The sight made Tony want to throw up. Instead, he threw himself across the room, falling to his knees beside Peter, who's eyes weakly flittered open.
"Peter! Oh my God, Peter," Tony gasped. His hands hovered in the air, unsure of what to do.
"M'sr St'rk?" Peter slurred.
"Yeah, Pete, it's me, it's Tony," Tony stammered. His hand moved gently towards Peter's shoulder. "God, Pete… can I touch you?" Peter blinked blearily up at him, before shrugging weakly. "I guess. I don' feel so good, M'sr St'rk…"
"Fuck, Peter," Tony blinked furiously, trying to keep away the tears that threatened to appear. "Peter, I'm going to call May then Happy, and we're going to get you to the MedBay, alright?" Peter's eyes flew open, and he sat up sharply only to gasp as he jostled his injuries. As it was, his hand closed around Tony's wrist as Tony moved to grab his phone.
"No!" he gasped. "No! Don't call May!" "Was this- Was did Aunt May do this ? Peter shook his head frantically. He looked completely out of it; Tony realized he probably had a severe concussion.
"No, M'sr St'rk, I - I fell…" he mumbled. His eyes began to close, and he fell backwards. Tony caught him and gently laid him down, as he slurred out a few more words. Peter's eyes closed all the way, and his breathing deepened.
"No, no no no, kid, you-you've gotta stay awake for me," Tony stammered. "Kid, come on. Come on, Peter. You've gotta wake up. Come on, Pete, please." Peter didn't move. Tony swore, pulling his phone out of his pocket and calling Happy. "Happy, I need you to get to Peter's apartment right fucking now," he said into the phone.
"Tony?" Happy sounded slightly irritated. "Why? What's going on?"
"Peter's hurt, really bad, and he's… I don't know, his healing factor isn't working, I've got to get him to Bruce, you've got to get down here right now!" Tony snapped into the phone. "Just hurry up!" Without giving Happy a chance to reply, Tony ended the call,and called Bruce "Bruce,Bruce thank god, I got a call from Peter's friend, Ted or whatever his name is, he said he was worried about Peter, he'd been acting weird, so he asked me to check up on him… Bruce, May been abusing Peter, I got to the apartment he's unconscious right now and I'm sure he's got a concussion, and… Bruce , there's blood everywhere, and he's covered in bruises,Happy going to bring us straight to medbay " "Alright, kid, c'mon, you've got to wake up…" Tony barely remembered Happy arriving, and the two of them carrying Peter down to the car, ignoring the prying eyes of Peter's neighbors. He didn't remember the drive back to the Tower, or getting Peter up to the MedBay.
He remembered screaming at Bruce when he wouldn't let him in while he was working on Peter. He remembered pacing, and slamming his fist into the wall a couple times, He remembered his team members crying, all surrounding the one way window and praying,for there spiderbaby to be alright,He remembered Peter going into cardiac arrest for seven minutes. He remembered screaming, pounding on the MedBay door He remembered when Peter's heart started beating again. He remembered Bruce coming out to tell them that Peter would be okay, that they were getting nourishment into him, and that his healing factor would start working again soon. He remembered breaking down into tears again, feeling relief crash over him at the news that Peter would be okay. He remembered Happy informing him that the police had arrested May during her shift at the hospital,there was plenty of evidence at the apartment and they even found the belt buckle she used so there was no chance of her being able to walk away, but the one thing he didn't remember was calling the police in the first place.
He remembered Steve and Bruce having to force him to sit back down, as he fought to go get his suit and blast Aunt May into a million pieces,the rest of the team members wanted to kill her,but they knew it wouldn't be what Peter would want. Now, he was sitting next to Peter's bed. He'd been here for the past sixteen hours, waiting for Peter to wake up. Bruce had said it was the pain medicine, and Peter's own exhaustion, keeping him unconscious. Tony was nodding off himself, when he heard Peter shifting.
He snapped his head up fast enough to give himself whiplash, as he made eye contact with the now-awake Peter.
"Hey, Pete," Tony swallowed thickly. "How you feeling?" Peter stared at Tony for a moment.
"Tired," he finally said.
Tony nodded. "Yeah. You've still got some medicine in you." Peter looked past Tony, and around the room. "Where-?" "You're in the MedBay," Tony informed him.
"Do you remember what happened?" Peter stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Aunt May," he said simply.
"Is she-" Tony shook his head. "The police have her. she's being locked up for the rest of his life, I'll make sure of it. she won't be coming near you ever again ,and for the meanwhile,you be staying with me it's already been approved by CPS Peter nodded slowly. Tony gestured at the seat next to him. "Are you hungry? Bruce said you might be hungry-" Tony stood up and made to move away, but Peter's hand shot out and caught his arm in a tight hold. His eyes looked panicked.
"No!" he gasped. He took a few deep breaths, before relaxing slightly, not releasing Tony.
"Stay. Please?" Tony felt the tears coming back again.
"Of course, Peter," he swallowed again. "I'm not leaving you ever again."