Chapter Text
When Tony first met Peter, the kid was a ball of energy. Enough so that even watching him go on patrol was exhausting. The kid was always optimistic, ready for action, and the biggest cheerleader the team ever had. But then he started to seem a little… off? Tony couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Peter spent his weekends at the Compound and from the second he bounded into Tony’s lab Friday afternoon to reluctantly leaving for school Monday morning, Peter would talk his ear off about everything under the sun. Tony would always poke fun at the kid, much like he did with the rest of the team, but he loved having Peter around. The two were inseparable and everyone could see how happy they made each other. Tony had a protege that he could treat like a son and Peter had the father-figure he was desperately craving.
So after a year of Peter spending weekends at the Compound, it was safe to say that the two were close. Peter told Tony everything, or at least, Tony thought he did. The first time Tony noticed something was wrong was at about 4:00 p.m. one Friday afternoon when Peter didn’t come bursting into his lab with a story.
“FRI, send a text to Peter for me. I want to make sure he’s okay.”
Sure, boss. What would you like the message to say?
“Hey, kid. Beating up bad guys without me?”
It’s sent.
“Thanks, FRI.” Tony went back to tinkering with his gauntlet while he waited for a response. Five minutes later his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Sorry! Forgot to tell u I have a date w/ Skip tn. See u tmrw.
“Jeez, is this kid allergic to spelling?” Tony chuckled and sent a thumbs-up emoji. He smiled to himself as he put his phone back in his pocket, already looking forward to hearing about Peter’s date tomorrow.