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Peter leapt from the skyscraper to fly through the air as he surveyed the city. He was past his curfew but since May was at work, it really didn’t matter as she was at work, and wouldn’t be back until the morning.
He had already had an eventful evening, saving a few people as they walked along the streets- including a teenager who hadn’t been paying attention to their surroundings at all. He had only received a warm response from two of them- Spiderman wasn’t a super respected superhero like the Avengers, but he wasn’t disliked either. He knew a few people out there weren’t a fan of his, people who he hadn’t been able to assist and who had been injured. There had been one that night who had shouted at him in an alley, and he had to escape quickly by swinging up and away.
The material of the suit bunched up slightly on Peter’s arms and he pushed them back down as he landed on the roof of the next building. He had stitched together the entire suit before May had found out about him being Spiderman, and when she found out, she had helped make it even better and tried helping out with the formula before Peter had shut that part down. It had been a highly amusing evening with the two of them ending up covered in glue, string and other various items.
He glanced down at his watch to see that it was 2 in the morning and he really did need to get home. There was a paper he still had to write for one of his classes that next morning, and Ned would smack him if he fell asleep in class again, and made Ned take all the notes again.
As he got ready to jump back off the building, there was a clatter on the gravel behind him and he whirled back around, putting his hands out with the web shooters out, ready to protect himself as needed.
A dark figure walked towards him with their hands held out in surrender.
“What do you want?” He called out towards them, ready to send out any webs as he needed.
“Spiderman, I’m with S.H.I.E.L.D. It stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. We like to keep track of anyone who is special.” The person called out as they came closer, and Peter let out a stream of webs in their direction. The person yelped slightly and took a slight step back quickly.
“Hey! I’m on your side Spiderman.”
“Why me?.” Peter cried back. “And I thought S.H.I.E.L.D disbanded- you know, due to the whole evil Hydra thing?”
Peter had watched the news when Captain America had taken on the governmental organization, and it had been shown that HYDRA had infiltrated them so thoroughly.
“We’ve taken care of that and are coming back. You can trust us, and we would like you to come and work for us. We believe that someone with your capabilities could be a true asset to S.H.I.E.L.D.” The person in black took another step in Peter’s direction, and he adjusted the web shooters, stopping them in their tracks.
“I don’t want to work for you.” Peter said. He truly didn’t, there was absolutely zero interest for him. Working for S.H.I.E.L.D would mean that Peter would have to reveal his identity, go to work for a governmental entity and change his life. And tell May.
He shuddered inwardly as he thought about that last one, having to tell his aunt, who had given a few conditions for him to still be Spiderman, one of them being that he could not and would not reveal his identity.
“You wouldn’t have to reveal your identity, if that’s a factor. But we do want you to work for us.”
“No.” Peter shook his head as he stepped back from the dark clothed person. They took a step forward to him again and Peter took another step back. “I have to go.”
He took a running leap off the building as he shot out a web to the next building. As he leapt off and swung, he turned in midair to see the person still standing there watching him.
Feeling wary, he took an extra long and confusing way back to the apartment- turning around every so often to ensure that he wasn’t being watched. He had read things about Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D and how it was full of spies, and he did not want to be found out.
When he landed on the fire stairs outside the apartment, he waited for a few moments before climbing in through the window and shutting it. He pulled the blinds down and then started taking the suit off before throwing on sweatpants and a hoodie before sitting down at the desk in his room. Ned had texted a few times, but he had told Peter goodnight a half hour earlier, and Peter didn’t want to text back and potentially wake his friend up. Ned was a great friend but even he didn’t like being woken up in the middle of the night- Peter had done that to him a few times when he had been injured before May knew, and Ned had informed him just how stressed out it made him.
-
“Did you sleep last night, or no?” Ned asked as he looked Peter up and down in their classroom the next morning. Peter had his arms draped across his desk with his head down, but he pulled it back up to see his best friend looking at him with his eyebrows raised. “That’s a no then?”
“I got an hour.” Peter replied. His paper had taken him far longer than he had expected, and he had managed to spend a solid hour thinking about S.H.I.E.L.D and doing his own research on the organization, and the history of the organization. He knew Howard Stark had helped create the organization and that his son Tony Stark had been involved with it. He didn’t know if that was the case now, but he looked up to the man who was one of the most intelligent men Peter had ever read about- besides Bruce Banner.
“Peter!” Ned exclaimed. “You need more sleep than that.”
“It’s fine Ned.” Peter argued as he set his head back down. He and Ned had the furthest back desks in the classroom and the teacher rarely called on either of them, so Peter could only hope that stayed true for that day. They had been covering the same material for the past few days, and he felt confident enough in it so not be worried about paying attention.
“How was Spidermanning?” Ned asked and Peter instantly shushed him. He knew that MJ and Betty were both sitting nearby, and he didn’t feel like more people needed to know his identity- Ned finding out had been a total accident. “So?”
“Good.” Peter replied, hesitating slightly before elaborating, and making the decision to tell Ned about S.H.I.E.L.D’s offer.
“What? But that’s like filled with bad people!” Ned responded to Peter’s story, and his voice got higher pitched. “You can’t dude! You know that right?”
Peter gave Ned a dirty look. “Of course I know that. I told them no and then swung away.”
“Badass.” Ned grinned as he held up a hand for a high five. Peter made no attempt to get his arms of the desk, and Ned moved his hand to Peter’s to give him a high-five.
The class was almost over when Ned turned to Peter, looking horrified. Peter just raised his eyebrows in question at the horrified look.
“Do they know your identity? Like Peter Parker?”
“No.” Peter replied quickly. “They called me Spiderman.”
“Right, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know you.” Ned hissed. “They could totally know that. You’re on a really bad companies list.”
“I don’t think they are Hydra anymore Ned.” Peter hissed back. It was one of the things that had been on Peter’s mind last night- he hadn’t told them his identity but they could easily know who he was, but chosen to come to him as he was Spiderman. “And I told them no.”
-
By the next week, Peter was incredibly frustrated. He had been visited every single night by someone from S.H.I.E.L.D trying to recruit him. They had been dressed in dark clothes each time and he couldn’t ever distinguish if any of the people were the same, or if it is different people each time. One of them had tried to grab his web shooters and Peter had panicked and pushed them away harder than he had intended, and then spent the rest of the evening feeling incredibly guilty. The incident had caused him to end his patrols early and May had been surprised to see him back earlier than his curfew. He had told her not to ask, and the two of them had sat down with popcorn to watch a movie- something that they hadn’t been able to do for a little while and not spoken about it.
Each person had been more pushy than the last, trying to get Peter to join S.H.I.E.L.D. The only good thing that had come out of it was that Peter was able to deduce that they didn’t know what his name was, or who he was outside of the suit. Ned was still worried that they did, and didn’t believe Peter’s protests; going so far as to suggest any additional protections to the suit that they could. Suggestions that had been so outlandish that Peter had shot them down.
Peter was out past his curfew again, the last visit with S.H.I.E.L.D having taken a much longer time to get rid of, and disrupting Peter far longer than he had intended. He had already missed a mugging, but had been there in enough time to assist the woman with getting home, and helped her call the police before taking off. May was at work again, so he wasn’t concerned about getting home.
He was about to jump off a building, when his phone rang and he pulled it out of the suit to look down. May had helped Peter design the suit so that he could hear and speak into a cellphone through the suit, mostly for when she called and wanted to talk to him. The number on the phone was the hospital that May worked out, and while she normally called him from her cellphone, she had called him from the hospital before.
“Hey May.” He answered as he leaned against a post on the top of the building. There was no answer for a moment before there was a deep breath.
“Peter.” The voice said and Peter instantly straightened up.
“You’re not May.”
“No, it’s Gemma. I work with your aunt.” The person responded and Peter nodded to himself. He did know Gemma, he had met her once and May liked to talk about her as the two of them spent many shifts together..
“Hi. Is everything okay?” Peter asked. There was a hesitation on the other end of the line again and Peter’s heart started pounding. “Gemma?”
“Peter-” Gemma said hesitantly and Peter prepared himself to jump off the roof. If something was wrong, he needed civilian clothes. Clothes that were at the apartment.
“What?” Peter answered. “What’s wrong?”
“Peter, it’s your aunt. She was hit by a car a little while ago, and she didn’t make it.” Gemma’s breath hitched and Peter almost instantly dropped to his knees and threw up. He could hear Gemma’s voice coming through the phone, but he kept retching.
The next thing he became aware of was walking through the hallways of the hospital. As he glanced around, he had no recollection of how he got off the roof of the building and to the hospital. A glance down at himself did show that he had changed, and had a pair of jeans and a hoodie on with sneakers, and the apartment keys in his hand.
“Peter!” He glanced up and recognized the woman walking towards him as Gemma. Her face was pale, with her eyes red-rimmed and her hair was mussed up. She reached Peter and instantly threw her arms around him in a hug. Peter couldn’t bring his own arms up, and they remained at his side limply as Gemma hugged him. She pulled away a moment later, stepping back before taking Peter’s chin in her hand. She looked at him as he stared back blankly. “Honey.”
Gemma gently slapped Peter’s cheek as she shook his shoulder, and Peter felt like it brought him back down to the earth. He blinked a few times, and saw the relief flit over Gemma’s face.
“Are you back with me sweetheart?”
Peter nodded, and then a moment later burst into tears. Gemma threw her arms around Peter again, and this time he hugged her back firmly as the tears flowed. He eventually broke away from her to bring his hands up to his eyes to try to wipe away the wetness.
“Can I see her?” He asked, and Gemma nodded.
“I’ll take you.” Gemma put her hand on Peter’s arm and carefully led him down the hallway. As they went, Peter saw a few other nurses sending them sympathetic looks, and he eventually just stared at the floor.
Gemma stopped after a few hallways in front of one of the closed doors. “She’s in here honey.”
“Um, what happened?” Peter asked. He didn’t know if Gemma had told him on the phone when he had completely blacked out from life, but based on the look she sent him, he thought she might have.
“She was in the parking lot helping a woman in labor, and another car came in with someone having a heart attack, and in their desperation didn’t see her or the doctor. The doctor had some broken bones, but May hit her head too hard. I’m so sorry sweetheart.” Gemma explained as she rubbed Peter’s arm gently. He nodded, starting to feel numb again.
“Would you like me to come in with you?” Gemma asked and Peter nodded. He was starting to feel shaky and sick at the thought of seeing May. He had been there when Ben had died, but this would be completely different. It had just been him and May for a few years, and the two of them had survived. Now, he simply had no one.
“Okay.” Gemma opened the door and gently pushed Peter through ahead of her before stepping in behind him, and shutting the door.
There was a body on the bed, covered in a sheet and Peter froze. Gemma gently pushed him from behind until he was closer to the bed and then let go of him. Peter put a hand on the bed and gripped the edge of it tightly.
“Are you ready?” Gemma asked from the top of the bed, and Peter nodded. Gemma pushed the sheets back and May’s face was uncovered. She simply looked like she was sleeping to Peter, there was a small cut on her forehead and another one around her jaw. Peter hesitantly put a hand out and touched his aunts’ face gently. Her face was cold to the touch and a wail ripped through Peter suddenly.
His legs gave out beneath him, and he dropped to the floor as he covered his face with his hands, and the sobs started to rip through him. The ground was cold under him, but it felt no colder than May’s face, and he imagined the rest of her. He could hear the ground vibrating under him, and then warm arms wrapped around him. He didn’t react to Gemma, just kept his head in his hands as the sobs continued. The sheer amount of tears seeped through his hands and dripped down onto the floor, and down Peter’s forearms, soaking the sleeves of his hoodie.
“It’s okay honey. You just go ahead and cry.” Gemma whispered into Peter’s ear, and he nodded slightly.
He wasn’t sure how long they sat on the ground before his tears started to dissipate and he took a few deep breaths. Gemma continued to whisper words into his ear, and he tried to take some more breaths as he wiped his face.
-
Peter found himself back in the apartment, having completely lost time again, not sure how he had found himself there. The last thing he remembered was Gemma mentioning CPS and leaving Peter alone in the room. He had panicked, knowing that he couldn’t go with CPS and go into foster care. New York City was his home, and being Spiderman was what he was meant to do.
He wandered around the apartment, looking at the various items around the kitchen and living room of the life that he had shared with May. There were signs of both Peter and May, clothing strewn about amid small knick-knacks.
As much as Peter wanted to go into his room and lie down, he knew that wasn’t feasible. He knew enough to know that if CPS was going to be involved, they would look at the apartment for Peter. He needed to go and go fast.
He hurried around the apartment, trying to gather a few items he thought he might need. He was lucky it was going into early summer in the city, and he didn’t need to worry about winter clothes. Hopefully by the time winter rolled around, he would have been able to save up some money or something, and get himself into somewhere warm.
He exited the apartment with two backpacks- one with items he needed, including the suit, and one with items of May’s and some items of Ben’s that he couldn’t bear to part with. He would drop that backpack off at the Leeds’ household with a note, asking them to look after it until he could come back for it. He wouldn’t be able to stay with Ned, even though he knew they would offer, they weren’t his guardians or family- just friends.
He took Ben’s watch, but left behind his phone.
Stepping out of the apartment, Peter felt like he was shutting off a part of his heart. Everything had happened so quickly, and suddenly. He had lived in the apartment for the last 12 years after he lost his parents, and it was home. He locked the door and threw the keys in one of the backpacks and stepped away.
He was alone.
His first stop was to the Leeds’ house and he dropped the backpack off, with a note apologizing and almost begging them to look after the backpack, and then he took off.
The darkness seemed to overwhelm Peter as he stepped away from Ned’s house, and the rest of the houses. Peter had never had a problem with the dark before, but now it felt like it was pressing in on him. He was only 16, and his family was gone. His entire family was gone.
-
A month passed before Peter saw a S.H.I.E.L.D agent again. He had been spending most of his time as Spiderman, during the day and the night. When he wasn’t patrolling, he had been sleeping in different alleys- only managing a few hours each time, too on edge and anxious to really sleep well. In his second week, he had been attacked when he was sleeping, and he had lost half the items that were in his backpack, including some of the money he had taken from the apartment, and one of his warmer hoodies. He had never been so glad that he had taken the backpack to the Leeds’. He had snuck back there once during the middle of the night, and hadn’t seen the backpack, so he assumed that they had taken it in for him.
Peter had seen Ned a few times during the day walking the city, and Peter had deliberately avoided him. He missed his friend, he missed May and he missed his old life, but Peter didn’t want to put Ned in a bad position if anyone asked if he knew where Peter was.
He had seen other people from his school during his patrols- MJ had been around, as well as Flash, Abraham and Betty. He had even helped Cindy at one point, careful not to talk much in order to protect his identity, lest she recognize his voice.
He had cried many nights for May but as time went on, he felt like he had lost the ability to cry, and he sat in silence instead as he thought of the aunt that he had loved so much.
Peter hadn’t been eating much, especially after losing half the money in the backpack, and he could tell it was affecting him. His suit had been baggy to begin with, but now it felt like it was falling off him when he swung. He had been able to find rope which he normally wrapped around the bottom half of the suit to keep it around his waist. He felt way more tired and sick than he ever had before, and the previous night he had actually blacked out momentarily when he had been flying, only the webs saving him from falling.
Peter was standing on a building near Stark Tower when he saw the agent behind him. He turned around to them and saw that they were holding a bag.
“Spiderman.” The person called out and Peter waved sarcastically.
“That’s me.” He was beyond frustrated that they hadn’t left him alone, and that his month of peace was over. Peter wanted nothing to do with them, wanted nothing to do with anyone really.
“We’ve been watching you recently.”
“That’s not creepy at all.” Peter replied sarcastically. He hadn’t been taking his suit off, even when he slept, only removing the mask and pulling on his remaining hoodie. The only time it came off was when he found a laundromat and tried to do his laundry.
“We’ve noticed you don’t seem to be going home, and that alleyways appear to be your favorite location.” The person said, and Peter could deduce that it was a male.
“I just really like alleys. They are convenient places to sleep.” Peter was tired, sleep-deprived, still mourning and over it.
“I have a few items for you here.” The man offered out the bag to Peter. He stepped forward and snatched the bag, and opened it to see inside. There were some hygiene items, as well as some non-perishable food.
“We would still like to offer you a position at S.H.I.E.L.D., and help you get off the streets.” The man offered, and Peter instantly dropped the bag onto the ground.
“This is a bargaining chip?” He asked angrily. “I take this, I come to S.H.I.E.L.D to work for you? Not just giving me this out of the goodness of your heart?”
“Spiderman. We want to help you.”
“No. No you don’t. You just want me to work for you, you don’t care about me!” Peter picked the bag up, and shoved it at the man. Even weak, his strength was still far superior to a regular person, and the force caused the man to step back a few paces.
“Calm down.” The man instructed him as he let the bag drop, and stepped towards Peter. The agent grabbed Peter’s forearm, and Peter instantly reacted before he knew what he was doing. He grabbed the man’s arm and twisted it away from him, causing the man to cry out and jerk away from him. Peter followed after him, kicking him in the leg, and then again. As he went for a third time, the man reached up and grabbed Peter’s own leg and pushed him away. It felt like a small hit to Peter and he pulled himself backwards, as the man stood up. He cradled his arm to his chest but came at Peter again, trying to grab Peter’s arm again. He got his hand around Peter’s wrist and attempted to get Peter down to the ground, but Peter braced himself and brought his wrist around until the man had to let go.
“Leave me alone!” Peter shouted out as he stepped back from the agent, ignoring the bag that was still on the ground.
“I can’t Spiderman. If you don’t come with me right now, you’ll be considered a menace. You just attacked me.” The agent spoke up and Peter backed up further, ready to jump off the building.
“So call me a menace then. I’ll never come with you.” Peter jumped off the roof and away from the agent, heading for where the backpack was. If they had been watching him, then he knew he needed to go elsewhere. He swung faster than he had in a while, anxiety causing him to hurry, desperate to get back to his backpack.
When he landed in the alley, he rushed over to where the backpack was, only to find that it wasn’t there. His heart instantly started racing as Peter saw that the cardboard and garbage he had used to cover his backpack up were displaced and strewn about the alley.
The tears that had been non-existent for the past few weeks came back with a vengeance as Peter sat down on the ground. Now, he officially had nothing except for the suit he was wearing. He had a few dollars tucked inside a pocket in the suit where his phone had gone before, but not a huge amount. He had been intending to use them for a drink after patrolling when the sun came up, and using the rest for the future, but now he had a total of $10 to his name. He had no idea who would have taken the backpack, whether it had been S.H.I.E.L.D, or someone else, and for the first time since he had lost May he felt like actually giving up.
Peter spent a few days in the alley, not bothering to move much, not even bothering to patrol much. He didn’t do the patrolling for recognition, but lately it had been even more tough to do a thankless job and losing the backpack was the final straw. He had ventured out of the alley once to get a drink that he had forced to last the few days, but now he was out again, and down to $5.
He was curled up against the wall in a ball when he heard the clatter behind him. He didn’t even bother to turn around until he heard what sounded like metal walking towards him. He turned around and was shocked to see Iron Man walking towards him.
“Spiderman.” Iron Man said and Peter shrugged. He figured that S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent the man to bring Peter in, and at this point, he wasn’t sure he wanted to even fight.
“Are you here to take me in to S.H.I.E.L.D?” Peter asked and Iron Man stopped in front of him.
“I’m actually trying to figure out why Spiderman, who is a good and friendly superhero, would attack a S.H.I.E.L.D agent who tried to help him out, and offer him some of the resources at their disposal.” Iron Man said, and Peter instantly shot up angrily.
“What?!” He shot out.
“Why did you attack a S.H.I.E.L.D agent? They were just trying to help you with some of their resources.” Iron Man asked again and Peter’s jaw dropped.
“Are you kidding me?!” He shouted out. “They tried to bribe me, to get them to come work for them. They’ve been asking me for weeks, and I told them no. They offered me items as they realized I don’t have a home, and tried to bribe me. I protected myself, and now I’m a menace! And now, they sent you to come and get me. And I have to try to fight you in order to not be taken in. And all I had is a backpack, and now that’s gone! I don’t even know if S.H.I.E.L.D or someone else took it, but I have nothing and now I don’t even know what the point is of anything anymore.” The words spewed out of Peter faster than he could keep up with them, the anger and emotions pushing them out of his brain while Iron Man just stood in front of him, with his arms crossed. Peter didn’t even know if anyone was inside it, as it was well known that Tony Stark could control the suits from a long distance away. “I mean, why would I even bother anymore, right? I don’t have any say in this, S.H.I.E.L.D has decided they want me, so I don’t have a say in my life. Everyone who has ever taken care of me has died, and people think they are entitled to my stuff, so what’s the point right?”
Peter broke off his angry rant to see Iron Man shifting slightly in front of him. As he watched, the faceplate came down to show Tony Stark’s face. If this was Peter from a few months ago, he would have been beside himself to see the man, but Peter of today couldn’t even muster up any emotion besides anger and hurt.
“Kid.” The man said and Peter jerked involuntarily. “Yeah, I know you’re a kid. I know you’re Peter Parker. You went missing just about a month ago when your aunt died, and no one has been able to find you.”
Peter sighed as he reached up to take his mask off. If Tony Stark knew he was, there was really no point in hiding his identity anymore. His hair was long and greasy and hung over his face when he pulled the mask off.
“Wow, I’m reminded off just how young you are.” Tony remarked when the mask was fully off Peter’s face, and he just looked at him. “You’ve dealt with a lot of shit for your age kid.”
“Does S.H.I.E.L.D know my identity?” Peter asked and Tony shook his head.
“You might think so but I don’t actually work for S.H.I.E.L.D. I am my own man, and once I found out who you were, I came looking for you myself.” Tony paused before he stepped fully out of the suit and walked over to Peter. Peter tensed slightly at the man approaching but when Tony put a hand on his shoulder, he didn’t try to shove him off in panic.
“Listen kid, I’m sorry. I thought S.H.I.E.L.D was giving you items to help you out, I didn’t know they were pressuring you into working for them. They don’t really like not having any special individuals under their control, but I thought they just wanted to help you.”
“They didn’t.” Peter shook his head.
“And I know that now.” Tony left his hand on Peter’s shoulder as he glanced around the alleyway before turning back to him. “Kid, I know you don’t know me but I would like to help you out. As me. As Tony Stark. Not as anyone with any type of agenda or anyone who reports to anyone but myself, and maybe my CEO Pepper. She’s terrifying. Will you let me help you?”
Peter stared at Tony, only seeing sincerity in his eyes and after a moment he nodded.
“Great. I’d love to get you inside and get some food in you, you’re very thin. We’re pretty close to my Tower, would you come back there with me? I’ll take care of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
Peter nodded again and Tony smiled slightly at him.
When Peter took a step forward to Tony, his body seemed to decide he was done with the day. He heard Tony call out as he crashed to the ground and into the darkness.
-
“Hey kid. I have someone who would really like to see you.” Tony walked into the room that Peter had occupied at the Tower for the past few weeks and Peter turned around to him.
When Peter had woken up from his fainting session, he had found himself in the medical area of the Avengers Tower, with Tony hovering over him. He had been lying in a soft, warm bed for the first time in 5 weeks, an IV in his arm and people looking at him with genuine concern and kindness.
Tony had been holding Peter’s backpack, proving that S.H.I.E.L.D had been the ones to take it and Peter had cried heavily upon seeing it. Everything that had been in there was there.
Once Peter had been released from the Medical Area, Tony had shown him to a guestroom, and Peter had taken an hour long shower, spending half of that in tears. He hadn’t expected Tony Stark to take an interest in him at all, and could hardly believe it was happening. The first night he had been there, he had slept for 11 hours straight.
Peter had been with Tony since, getting used to being back indoors and feeling safe, and working on eating proper food again. He had met Pepper, Tony’s CEO and she had been working closely with him on the food problem to keep him from getting sick.
“Who?” Peter asked as Tony stepped aside for Ned to step in.
“Peter!” Ned cried out as he dropped the backpack he was holding and rushed over to Peter. Peter pushed himself off the bed quickly, and stood up in time for Ned to reach him and instantly pull him into a hug.
“Oh my god Peter. Oh my god.” Ned cried into Peter’s shoulder as he hugged Peter tightly. “I can’t believe you’re here, and you’re okay. I’ve missed you so much.” Ned pulled away from Peter and then punched him in the shoulder. “You’re a jerk by the way. Dropping that backpack off, and then just disappearing and leaving your phone behind. I only knew you were okay because of Spiderman reports.”
“I’m so sorry Ned.” Peter replied, but he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Ned. His best friend was standing in front of him again, something that Peter had given up on happening.
“We had a funeral for May. She’s buried next to Ben. If you want to go sometime, i’ll go with you.” Ned offered and Peter nodded. He did want to see May, to talk to her but not yet. “I also have the backpack for you. My mom found it, and we made sure to keep it untouched for you. We also got some other stuff from the apartment before the state took it over. You know I have the spare key, and we went in the morning when we found the backpack. As we left, people showed up, but I have some of your stuff, and some of May’s and Ben’s.”
Peter nodded again, tears springing to his eyes. He knew he could count on Ned, and now he had those items of May and Ben’s that he couldn’t have imagined losing, as well as more things that he had thought he had lost. He didn’t deserve a friend like Ned, someone who had looked after Peter and his life, even when Peter had taken off and not even said anything to Ned.
“Peter.” Ned said seriously and Peter raised his eyebrows up at him. “How did Tony Stark know to call me? How are you here? Peter, Tony Stark called me. Tony Stark knows who I am.”
Peter laughed at Ned’s tone and the two of them sat back down on the bed.
“I’ll tell you all about it, but he found me and brought me here. I don’t know how he knew about you, but he’s Tony Stark.” Peter replied.
“Are you staying here? My mom looked into foster care and adoption, she wants to apply to take care of you. She wanted to as soon as we heard about May, but you were already gone.”
Peter choked back a sob as Ned spoke and his best friend looked at him concerned.
“I mean, only if you want that. She wouldn’t do anything against your will, you know that.” Ned assured him.
“I don’t think she could Ned. She isn’t family or anything.” Peter replied.
“Uh yes she could. Peter, you have met my mom. She does what she wants, and you know she would get custody of you, no matter what it took.”
Peter’s heart soared in his chest as he thought about Mrs. Leeds. The woman was very formidable and strong and Peter thought the world of her. The thought that she would have fought to get him when May had died caused him to feel slight guilt that he had taken off and worried them, but he couldn’t go back and change anything now.
“Tony actually offered me an internship, and somewhere to live.” Peter replied. The man had told him a few days prior that he had talked to CPS and sorted things out, whatever that meant, and then offered Peter a paid internship and told him that he could stay in the Tower if he wanted, or Tony would pay for an apartment for him. Peter had accepted the offer for the Tower, it was on the Subway line for school, and he didn’t think he would be able to live in an apartment by himself yet. He had hopes for the future though, where it wouldn’t feel so bad to be in an apartment again.
“Really? That’s amazing! Do you think he’d offer me one?” Ned asked and Peter laughed. He heard a laugh from the door and was surprised to still see Tony standing there, smiling warmly.
“Yes Ned. Just let me know what you’re interested in, and we can get you an internship here. Any friend of Peter’s who spent so long putting up fliers and notices to try to find him, deserves an internship in my book” Tony smiled at Ned’s disbelief and open jaw and then smiled at Peter, who smiled slightly back.
Tony had told him when he offered him the job that he knew what it was like to be handed a lot of shit in life, and while he himself hadn’t handled it well, he wanted to give Peter a chance. He believed in him and thought that Peter deserved more than the world had currently given him, and Peter had accepted.
He would never forget his parents, or Ben, or May or any of what he had suffered through while on the streets but now he had another chance and he was going to take full advantage of it.