He woke slowly the bright sun in his eyes as he stretched to his fullest before finally getting up. Looking around his room he noticed that it looked as messy as usually and made a note to clean it when he got home tonight. He knew he would mostly likely forget. He jumped up and started dressing knowing he had to get to the bus stop before he was late. He ran through the empty apartment and made it to bus stop just as it's pulled up to the corner. He went and sat in the back plugged in his headset and ignored the trip.
Twenty minutes later he arrived at school content to start the day. Walking in the door he noticed several strange looks before he got to his locker. He ignored them like normal because he was used to being stared at like he was different. He grabbed several books from his locker and headed to his first period giving a wave to Ned from across the hallway, not noticing the shocked look on his longtime best friends face. He yawned as he claimed his seat in his first class. The teacher gave him a funny look as she completed roster but continued on and started her lecture.
"Mr.Parker you are needed in the office." The secretary stated from the doorway jerking Peter from his daydream. He'd nodded at the older women and gathered his things and followed her down the hall. He was surprised to see Mr. Stark and Mr. Rodgers standing outside the office looking at him.
Tony smiled at him and stepped forward. "Hey kid, hows it going?" He clapped his hand on the younger mans shoulder and pulled him into a tight one armed hug. Peter noticed Steve on the phone behind them.
"What's going on Mr. Stark? Do we have a mission?" Peter asked concerned as the men led the startled youth from the building. The town car sat where it normally would, Happy standing by the open back door.
"Not exactly kid. I'll explain when we get back to the Tower." Tony said putting Peter in between himself and Steve. The trip was made in complete silence. Peter thanked his luck that they weren't going to the Compound. When they arrived the three quickly went up to the higher levels and into the team training levels which was completely devoid of anyone.
"I called ahead and said I needed this level clear for a while." Tony explained to Steve's confused face. The two went and sat on the mats stacked against the far wall leaving Peter confused in the middle of the gym. "Now Pete I need the truth..."
"I always tell you the truth Mr Stark." Peter interrupted.
"I know kid but I need to stress the seriousness of the situation." Tony continued. "Now i am going to start the story you are going to finish it, with no interruption, got it?" Tony said cutting off the kid he loved like a son as he opened his mouth.
"Yes sir."
"Okay. Five weeks and 6 days ago I received a call from you saying you were in trouble and needed help. The call continued for about thirty seconds so that I could hear confrontation on the other end but the only other thing I heard from you, and I mean out of your mouth, was the sentence "Mr. Stark Help" and the line cut off. Nobody has seen you since." Tony took a deep breath and looked at Peter who seemed freaked out. "Then this morning I get a call from your friend Mr. Leeds saying you were at school acting as if nothing was wrong." Tony stood and walked up to the startled youth looking him dead in the eyes. "I spent the last six weeks looking for you and your Aunt everyplace I could think of. I turned over every rock i could and brought down several organizations who i even thought might have been able to hold you." He took a deep breath and sat next to Steve again. "This is where you fill in the missing space Peter."
It took Peter a minute to process that all, but he eventually looked up at his mentor and teammates and could only whisper "Aunt May is missing?"
"Yes son she is. Your apartment you share was trashed and there was broken glass everywhere." Steve replied.
Peter sank to the floor. "I don't know. The last thing i remember was patrolling and i went home and feel asleep got up this morning feeling good and went to school. Mr Stark you have got to believe me. Mr Rodgers i swear I don't remember anything after that. Oh God May. Where could she be? Who has her?" He looked at both heroes with a pleading look on his face and what Tony called his puppy dog eyes.
Both men just looked at him and he realized neither one knew what to do. He looked down at his hands and just wanted to cry. He heard the sound of feet coming nearer and then felt Tony's hand on his back. Steve stood next to the crunched Stark just looking with pity at the young superhero.
"We will find her, kid." Tony promised rubbing his charges back. "Steve can you grab the team. We will need their help."
Peter was unsure how long he sat there but he remembered Steve leaving and CLint and Nat entering. They both nodded to the pair still in the middle of the gym before going to find their own spaces on the mats.
Tony walked halfway to them and started having a conversation about something when he heard his phone ring. Tony looked up at him as he pulled the phone from his pocket and looked at the caller ID.
Tony looked at him in confusion as his face lit up in joy. "Who is it kid?"
"It's Aunt May!" He exclaimed with a smile on his face and he hit the answer key and raised it to his ear even as Tony jumped up and ran to him yelling for him not to answer.
"Hi Peter." A smooth sounding voice said on the other end. "It is time for Phase 1."
It was as if a switch had been thrown and suddenly as Tony almost made it to him, Peter stood up without any emotion in his face and grabbed Tony by his arm before throwing him over his shoulder onto the mats behind him. He looked at the two spies who now stood looking at him in front of him. Neither one moved and held their hands opened in front of him to show they were unarmed.
"Peter we don't know what is going on but we can help you." Nat said calmly.
He didn't even give a response he just leaped straight up and hit the roof, sticking immediately and crawling to the air vent in the corner. He only had one thought and that was to get to the server room.
Clint sent an arrow into the ceiling and quickly followed the boy.
Nat ran to Tony's side as the man regained consciousness. "Peter?" he asked.
"In the vents. Clint went after him." Nat said helping him up. The doors to the gym slammed open.
"What happened?" Steve yelled as he, Bruce and Thor came running in the gym.
"Peter got a phone call from May and then went and jumped to the ceiling and climbed into a vent. Clint went after him." Nat explained.
"We need to go." Steve said leading the charge out of the gym.
Peter swung into the sever room and landed lightly on his feet. He looked at the servers around him that housed everything that Tony has worked on. Everything was here from FRIDAY, to IronMan, to every little thing in between.
He looked down at the flash drive in his hand no idea how exactly it got there but he knew that he was supposed to plug it into the computer tower in front of him. He knew once he plugged it in it would wipe everything clean. It would destroy everything Mr. Stark has every worked on. When he first came in the room he was certain that he knew the reason why he came in here. No he wasn't so certain.
"Peter what are you doing?" FRIDAY's calm gentle voice floated down to him.
"I...I don't know, FRIDAY. " he whispered knowing she would hear him. "I don't remember."
"The boss is on his way down now with the others." She said. "He can help you."
"But what if he is wrong?" Peter said looking up at the ceiling.
"Do you believe that?" She asked.
"Mr. Stark is never wrong." Peter said with such passion it cleared some of the webs that were fogging his mind.
"Exactly." FRIDAY said with an air of superiority.
Peter took a breath. He placed the drive on the floor and just stared at it. "This will hurt you if I plug it in won't it?"
"It will erase my programming, erasing me from existence." She said with no emotion.
Peter looked up at the ceiling again and then brought his fist down on the drive smashing it to pieces. He sat there for a moment.
"They are going to hate me now. I hurt them."
"They are not. You were not yourself." She said. "You are Mr. Stark's son in everything but blood. Mr. Stark created me. I do not have blood to share with him but you could still say that he is my father as well. That makes us family. And family will forgive if necessary but they also will not hold it against you if it is not your fault. They will not hold anything you did today against you except for smashing that drive. And for that action alone I thank you."
"I can't FRIDAY. I can't face them." He shot a web into the ceiling and disappeared into the vent again. He traveled upwards and ended up on the roof. "I can't take there pity. I can't."
"Peter I am informing boss on where you are. I do not like your train of thought." FRIDAY said.
Tony and the others ran to the server room door. Everyone knew the amount of damage someone could do if they knew to do and Peter knew how to harm the servers.
Tony went to yank on the doors and found them locked. He tried to code in and found himself locked out.
'"FRIDAY what the hell?!" He yelled.
"Please forgive me boss but I believe that I can get Mr Parker to back down if I am allowed to try sir." FRIDAY stated.
"FRIDAY..." Tony growled trying the override codes, until Steve put a hand over his. Steve glanced at the scared engineer.
"Let her try Tony. We don't want to get into a physical altercation with the boy." He moved his hand from Tony's hand to his shoulder.
Tony's hands dropped to his side as he waited to see what his children did.
"FRIDAY please stop. Don't tell Tony." He said looking at the edge of the building. "I have been enough of a pain to him."
"Please come back inside then." She tried to tempt him by opening the door on the roof.
"I can't. I hurt my teammates."
"Boss I need your assistance on the roof please." FRIDAY said suddenly making most of the hero's jump from shock.
"What's going on in the server room FRIDAY?" Steve asked as he helped Tony up from where he had slid down the wall onto the floor.
"There is nobody in the server room, Captain."
The hero's looked at each other before running to the stairs.
Peter closed his eyes as he stood on the ledge of the building. His web shooters lay discarded several feet behind him. He felt the breeze just whisper past him and willed it to blow a little harder.
"Peter NO!"
Peter didn't need to turn to know that the entire Avenger team was behind him.
"Peter please just step back from the edge. Please." Tony begged. He could hear the footsteps of just one person walking toward him and then a mild curse as he passed the web shooters on the ground. "Peter I have lost a lot in my life, please don't make me lose your as well."
"I can't Mr. Stark. I failed...again. I don't know where Aunt May is, I don;t know where I spent the last month at...I got myself captured again! What kind of hero does that?" The tears fell down his face. "And I almost hurt FRIDAY."
"But you didn't. You broke through whatever they did to you and between all of us we can get May back. Do you know what I don't want to do is Pete? I don't want to go and find her and have to tell her that you are gone. That I was stupid enough to let you slip through my fingers and do something irreversible. I can fix your mistakes pal, I can rescue you a hundred times over but if you go and do this then that's it. I can't undo this Peter. I can't rescuer from this so please come down from there."
Peter turned to find that Tony had gotten closer to him in the moments since he came on the roof. He looked older somehow just standing on the roof in the light of the city.
"Mr. Stark?" He whispered.
"Yeah, kid?"
He took the three steps toward the older man and burrowed his face in his chest.
"I am so so sorry." He whispered into the older man's shirt.
"There's nothing to be sorry for, kid. That wasn't you." Tony whispered back. "That wasn't my Spider-Man."