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The dust was still settling when Peter heard it. He whipped his head around in the direction he thought it was coming from and asked Karen to scan the collapsed building he was staring at. Peter heard it again and started running towards the rubble.
“Signs of life detected, Peter,” Karen sounded sad. “But it’s a small being.”
Just as Peter had feared - a baby’s cries. They were muffled by the tonnes of concrete, and Peter didn’t hesitate to throw himself into the mess. He felt rebar scrap his arms, legs and sides, but the nano suit did it’s job to protect him. His hands were frantic as he began digging, tossing pieces of rubble aside like they weighed nothing. The cries got louder and Peter’s heart skipped a beat. He was so close. Something shifted, causing several pieces of the building to move and Peter stopped, hoping it wouldn’t crush the baby. When the pieces settled, Peter resumed his digging. He could hear a crowd gathered in the street behind him, murmuring.
A clank, Iron Man touching down, and then his name being called. He couldn’t stop though, he couldn’t! Finally, the last piece was removed, revealing the back of a woman, she was bloodied and caked in dust. Under her was a small bundle of blankets. The baby was screaming now, and Peter gentling moved the woman with a murmured apology to get to the baby.
“Pete! What-“
Peter turned, the small squirming bundle in his arms still wailing.
“Oh,” Tony looked wrecked. “C’mon, there’s an ambulance a couple blocks down.”
Peter wordlessly followed, carefully climbing back down the pile of rubble, the baby clutched securely to his chest. He retracted the mask, worried that it might frighten the baby even more, and made soft shushing noises as he gently bounced the infant. God, they didn’t look more than six months old. The pressure of Tony’s hand on his back, guiding him, helped Peter breathe a little easier, Tony always made things better for him.
An EMT ran up to them as they approached. "What happened?"
"Found a baby under a collapsed building," Peter explained, monotone. "The woman was dead, she protected her baby with her own body."
Tony’s gauntlet covered hand squeeze his shoulder in support as Peter handed the baby over to the man. He walked back over to the ambulance and the available members of the team jumped into action. Peter just stared.
"Hey, c’mere," Tony pulled his husband into his chest, wrapping his arms around Peter tightly.
The pressure helped Peter breathe a little easier. In all the years he had been doing the Spiderman thing, he knew there was a death toll; the Avengers had been wracking up a death toll since their first battle together, but seeing that tiny baby wrapped in a blood covered blanket, protected by their mother. The woman’s last act was to protect her baby, a mother’s love allowed that infant to survive, and that made Peter emotional.
They were interrupted by another EMT, she was smiling sadly at them. "The baby seems okay, but we want to take her to the hospital just in case. Would you like to ride with us?"
Peter sniffed, wiping away his tears, and looked back at Tony.
"Go, we can handle things here. She needs you, honey."
Peter leaned over and kissed Tony quickly before following the woman back towards the ambulance. He climbed in the back and sat on the side bench, and then the baby was being passed to him. Wordless, he accepted her. They had cleaned up her face, the few small smudges of dirt were gone, as was the blood stained blanket. Peter spent the whole ride staring down her, and she stared up at him with the biggest brown eyes he’d ever seen.
——
The nurses at the ER took the baby and disappeared behind a set of double doors. Peter, exhausted from the fight and the adrenaline crash of discovering the little girl, collapsed into a hard plastic chair and tipped his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes and just breathed for a moment before pulling his mask back up.
"Karen, can you link up with Friday and see if you can find anything on who the woman was? What the baby’s name might be?"
"Of course, Peter, give me just a minute."
He closed his eyes again and let the sounds of the ER wash over him. Beeping, rushing feet, conversations, it all sounded like static if he let himself drift. So he did.
——
"Peter," He jolted upright at Karen’s voice. "I have found the information you requested."
"Let’s hear it."
"The woman was Maribel Gomez, no listed spouse or partner. Her daughter, Rosa Marie, was born February 2nd."
"She’s barely seven months old," Peter whispered.
"ACS has been called."
"Thanks, Karen. Call Tony."
A photo of Tony appeared on his HUD and then his voice was in his ear. "Hey, honey."
"Hi," Peter sighed. "No next of kin as far as Karen can find, ACS was called."
"Did you find out her name?"
"Rosa Marie."
"That’s a beautiful name," Tony said.
A beat of silence, and then, "Tony, I want to keep her." More silence from the other end of the line. "I know this isn’t really how we thought we would adopt when we decided that we wanted kids, but I just-"
"Hey, hey, Pete, it’s okay," Tony soothed. "Which hospital? I’ll come down."
"Oh, uh…"
"Nevermind, Fri’s got it. I’ll be there soon, okay, honey? I love you."
"Love you," Peter replied.
——
Tony arrived before the ACS worker, and a kind nurse showed them to a private family waiting room. It was quieter than the hallway in the ER had been, and Peter’s shoulders dropped a few inches as the noise level cut off as the door closed. He finally retracted the rest of his nano suit and fell into Tony, who just held him.
"When I heard her cry, I-"
"Shh, honey, it’s going to be okay," Tony rubbed up and down Peter’s back, not caring in the slightest how wet the fabric was from all of Peter’s sweat.
Eventually they sat down on a small couch so they could be close without armrests in the way. It was only about an hour more before the door cracked open and an older woman stepped in.
"Misters Stark," She held out her hand. They both shook it in turn as she continued to introduce herself. "Hellen Browne, I’m with the Administration for Children’s Services."
"Sorry we’re meeting under these circumstances," Tony said.
"It is unfortunate, but it’s become our reality with such large scale threats out there these days," Hellen sat in one of the chairs, allowing both men to sit back down on the couch. "Now, I understand you’d like to adopt the infant you found today if no willing or able relatives can be found?"
"If it’s possible," Peter spoke up. "We’re already in the process of adoption, we’ve taken all the classes and passed all the background checks. The only thing left on the list before we could start meeting with kids is the home inspection," He explained.
Hellen nodded as she tapped around on her tablet (the product of a very generous donation by the Stark after discovering just how underfunded the agency was when they started looking into adopting), and then smiled at the pair. "It might take a few days for us to track anyone down, we still have to figure out who the mother was-"
"Her name was Maribel Gomez," Peter interjected. "Single mom."
"Oh," Hellen blinked then looked back down at her tablet. "Okay, well, sit tight for just a moment, okay? I want," She glanced down at her tablet again. "Rosa to be back in a loving home as soon as possible, so let me see if I can get that home inspection done today or tomorrow."
Hellen stepped out of the room, already dialing someone. Peter tried not to listen in, he knew it was rude, but he couldn’t help it.
"What is she saying?" Tony whispered.
Peter cracked a small smile. "She’s speaking with someone about a rush on the home inspection…and looking for any family for Rosa."
Tony nodded as Hellen came back into the room. "Alright, I have someone who can come and do the home inspection tomorrow morning," She smiled. "And I’ll spend the rest of the afternoon looking for any relatives. We’ll rush this process, I hate to see children having to spend any more time in foster care than necessary."
"So, she will be going to a foster home tonight?" Peter asked.
"Yes," Hellen nodded. "Emergency placement is protocol, but I’ll keep you in the loop."
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Browne," Tony stood to shake the woman’s hand again.
——
The pair went home, and Peter stripped off his clothes and climbed into the shower. He just wanted to get into some pj’s and eat his weight in Chinese food. When he was done, a pair of yoga pants and one of Tony’s t-shirts on, he padded out to the living room to find the coffee table covered in take out containers. God, he loved his husband.
"Got your favorites," Tony said, patting the cushion next to him.
Peter picked up his lightsaber chopsticks and dug into the container of pork chow mien. Brooklyn 99 was queued up on the TV, and Friday started the episode without prompting once Tony has his container of beef and broccoli in hand. They were quiet, eating and letting the show play on as the only conversation in the room. It was often like this after spontaneous battles, both needing some time to recuperate.
Later, as they were climbing into bed, Peter’s phone began to ring. He quickly scooped it up, and seeing the unsaved New York City number, answered quickly. "Hello?" His heart was beating so fast he was pretty sure even Tony and his non-enhanced ears could hear it.
"Mister Stark? It’s Hellen Browne."
"Yes, hi. Hello."
"I wanted to call to let you know that we haven’t been able to locate any family for little baby Rosa, so if your home inspection goes well tomorrow, we can start the paperwork and hopefully get you in front of a judge before the end of next week."
Peter’s breath hitched. "Really?"
"Absolutely," Hellen replied. Rosa will have to stay with the foster family until the paperwork is filed, but I’ll put a rush on it."
"Oh, wow. Thank you, so much!"
They said their goodbyes, Peter already crying before he could even hit the end call button. He looked across the bed at Tony, who was just standing there, looking on, tense as could be. His brow was furrowed in worry, and his arms were crossed over his chest.
"Well?"
Peter smiled. "She’s gonna be ours."