Chapter Text
Startled by his buzzing phone, Tony peeked out from behind a cluttered pile of metal and wire in his lab. He rubbed his eyes with one hand while reaching lazily for his phone.
Call from ‘Your favorite intern’
Tony smiled at the contact nickname Peter had added for himself. That kid drove him wild, but in a good way. Even if Tony would never admit it to anyone (he’s got a reputation to keep), he had a real soft spot for Peter. Tony answered the call.
“Hey Pete.” Tony glanced at the clock. “What are you doing at 2:43 am?”
“M’st’r Stark,” Peter slurred. “Its really really really nice to hear your voice.”
“Are you DRUNK??”
“NOO no no no Mr. Stark! Just really tired.” He paused. “Hey, that building’s sideways...wait, no, I’M sideways...”
Tony frowned. Peter wasn’t making any sense. “Pete. What’s going on?”
“Oh hey Mr. Stark!” Peter sounded surprised, like he’d forgotten he was on the phone. “What’s up?”
“You called me!” Tony sounded exasperated but he was growing worried. “F.R.I.D.A.Y update me. Get Karen to run vitals. Where’s he?”
“Karen is offline boss,” the AI informed. Tony’s heart dropped at the news.
“Pete? Tell me what’s going on kid? Why is Karen offline. I thought we talked about this, bud. Open communication, remember?”
Peter started rambling. “I think I ran outta web fluid and I don’t know where Karen went. Hey hey do you know how to get from Prospect Park to Queens ‘cause May’s gonna--she’s gonna kill me if I miss curfew and I-I think I’m a little lost and I can’t find the, uh, app on my phone the one that uh shows the buildings and road line things and everything’s just just a little blurry and I-I---“
“Whoa kid slow down! Are you ok? Are you injured?”
“N-No I’m all good cause I fell when I-I ran out of web fluid, but then, then this building caught me, so it’s all A-OK, M’st’r Stark.”
“A building CAUGHT YOU? WHAT. DOES. THAT. MEAN.”
“Don’t worry about it M’st’r Stark. I’m just gonna get up...” There was some muffled shuffling on the line and then a sharp yelp of pain echoed through the phone speaker.
“PETER!” Tony was only met with radio silence from the other end of the line. “Peter? Answer me, please!” Nothing. Tony felt the swell of panic rise in his chest. Something was wrong; something was really wrong. And he didn’t have a clear idea of what. He hated being out of the loop, which wasn’t something that happened very often. Hell, he didn’t know where the kid even was exactly. And, God, what if when he finally did find Peter after searching, it was too late. Or if this was all worse than Peter made out. The kid doesn’t exactly have a good track record when it comes to telling someone he needs help and shit. This is bad, this is so bad.
A voice suddenly broke through Tony’s spiraling thoughts. “Boss, you are showing signs of a panic attack. Should I call for help?”
Only then did Tony recognize how tightly constricted his chest felt and the wheezing sounds of his breaths rushed to his ears.
“No! No, FRI,” he gasped. Not now, not now. Oh God, please not now. He did not have the time for a panic attack right now. Not when Peter was sick or hurt or worse.
Tony placed a steadying hand on the workbench and the other across the coolness of his arc reactor in an attempt to ground himself. Tony did his best to take deep breaths to calm himself down, but after a grand total three shallow gasps he gave up trying--opting ease his anxiety by getting to Peter as fast as possible.
2 minutes of blurry panic later, Tony found himself soaring above the New York skyline in Mark 47. Even at this late hour, taxis zoomed under street lamps and billboards flashed wildly in the city that never sleeps.
“F.R.I.D.A.Y. you traced the call?”
“Yes, boss. It appears he is in downtown Brooklyn. Cell service was spotty, so I was unable to determine his exact location, but I have narrowed his location to a 1 mile radius.”
“Lead the way.”