I've never written a Marvel fanfiction before, so I'll admit to being a bit nervous. Not to mention, this has been done before, probably better than I could ever do it. But I enjoyed writing this so maybe someone will enjoy reading it.

Also, for this story, despite how excited I am for Infinity War, this story ignores Infinity War.

3 Days

It took Tony three days to hear about what had happened. Three days. Three days where the kid could have been getting the best medical care in the world, rather than laying in a regular Queens hospital ill-equipped to handle his particular...needs. Mutation. Whatever. Three. Days. And he had no idea how to forgive himself for that.

Things had been...fine. Normal. Heck, good. Things had been good! After the kid turned him down for a spot on the Avenger's, or what was left of them, he started having the kid over every couple of weeks for suit upgrades, reinstalling the parachute the kid absolutely could not remember to tell Tony needed reinstalling, no matter how many times Tony all but begged him to, and general mentoring. At least, it started out that way.

The first time Happy had delivered the kid to the compound for one of these meetings, Peter had stared, mouth agape, at the lobby and the living quarters and the training room, all of which he had been shown on a brief tour meant more to fill time than familiarize him with the place. Honestly, Tony had had no idea what to do with the teenager. There were only so many upgrades he could install in a suit. He'd introduced him to Rhodey properly, and Vision who had smiled at the kid while he'd asked a million questions, answering them all patiently. Then Peter had stood in the middle of Tony's private lab, turning in slow circles as he took it all in and Tony worked.

So for Tony, despite the twinge of amusement he got watching Peter Parker stare in awe at everything Tony took for granted, it had been kind of...awkward. Impersonal. Any Tony Stark didn't really do awkward. He was used to being in charge of situations, but this kid...this kid that so obviously idolized him but also feared him a little...this kid made it really hard to feel in charge of anything. He was gonna let this kid down. It was inevitable. He let everyone down at some point or another.

At first, he'd thought that had already happened. He'd taken the kid's suit away, then Peter had crashed a plane on the beach wearing only sweatpants and a hoodie, and then he'd turned Tony down when he'd offered the kid what he'd thought was the one thing he'd wanted. He'd been almost ready to give up when he'd come up with the idea. Let the kid come over twice a month and work on his suit. Be...something to him. A mentor. A...mentor. He'd start with mentor. He knew he had no business trying to be the kid's parent. So mentor it was.

Happy had taken the kid home a few hours later, and after waving halfheartedly in the kid's general direction, Tony Stark had decided that he couldn't stand the thought of working in awkward silence for several hours while this over-eager, painfully-good, usually-impossible-to-shut-up Spider-kid sat in awkward, awed silence twice a month. And there was no way he was gonna cancel...call the kid up after one visit and tell him it wasn't working out...that he'd just have a drone pick up the suit when it needed fixing. So the next time, he'd had food and juice ready for the kid like some kind of soccer mom, ignoring the snort from Rhodey when his friend had walked by and found him putting plates of sandwiches out.

The bewildered but grateful look on the kid's face when he'd arrived to find Tony in the kitchen offering him food had reminded the man that this kid had to eat practically every hour thanks to his spider-mutation...and that he hadn't fed him last time. So from then on, there had been a mini fridge in his lab filled with juice, a counter devoted to snacks that he would occasionally partake in so the kid wouldn't feel bad eating alone, and slowly but surely, Peter had started to relax. That had reminded him that this kid basically worshipped him and that maybe, just maybe, they could be something more than an eccentric billionaire and the kid he was mentoring.

The bi-monthly meetings had turned into weekly ones after a few months. Tony had gotten the idea on a Thursday, the week the kid wasn't supposed to come over. Well, maybe not an idea. An impulse. Half of his inventions had come from impulses. It had been Thursday afternoon and he'd been wondering what the kid was up to. It happened more and more as the weeks went on. He would be in the middle of a meeting or messing around in his lab, and he'd wonder what Peter was doing. If the kid was okay. If he was alone in that apartment, or if he was out being Spiderman, or spending time with the Ned kid who'd hacked his suit. So he'd pulled out his phone, opening the last text message Peter had sent him and writing a new one.

"I think I may have some new ideas for suit upgrades. You busy tomorrow after school?" It had been 1:30, so Peter had been in class, but he hadn't been surprised when his phone had buzzed after only a few seconds.

"Yeah! That sounds great! Are you sure, Mr. Stark?"

"I'll have Happy pick you up."

And that had been that. From then on, every Friday night after school you could find Peter and Tony working in the lab. Then, when they were done with upgrades and repairs, during which Peter had begun to tell Tony all about his week at school which the older man listen to with an indulgent smile that, over a few weeks, turned to real interest, they would head upstairs where there would be homework and science talk. Then, one day, Rhodey, who had briefly met Spider-Kid a few times, was waiting for them upstairs with a movie queued up, and it was during this movie that Tony realized he wouldn't know what to do without these weekly meetings. He liked this kid. A lot. Him and Rhodey and Pepper were the closest thing to family he had.

So if the accident had happened on a Thursday or a Friday, he would have known sooner. Happy would have gone to pick him up and he wouldn't have been there. But a Monday night? Despite growing more and more attached to his little spider-friend, he did have actual work to do. Dealing with the accords. Ross. Worrying about the other Avengers. His company, which Pepper ran and yet somehow he still had a whole shit-ton of paperwork to deal with. Being a superhero. Charity events. Dinners. Meetings. Pepper had once bought him a paper planner which had run out of space so fast he'd tossed it after a week and a half. Sure, he still listened to the voicemails that Peter left Happy after patrol, having FRIDAY play them while he was working on his suit or putting Ross on mute during their phone conversations. But he didn't always have the chance. And Peter seemed to understand that just fine, more than happy to catch his mentor up on Friday evenings.

On Tuesday night, he'd had a charity event with Pepper. Who the hell decided to put the event on a Tuesday, he didn't know, but his fiance was gorgeous and he only drank one glass of wine...everything was fine. Instead of going down to his lab to work, he stayed upstairs with Pepper. On Wednesday, he had a meeting in DC that lasted the whole day and almost put him to sleep. Instead, he crashed at a hotel and flew back in the morning. Thursday was spent on the phone with Ross, Steve, and five other people who all wanted meetings with him. So he was glad to escape to his lab that evening. He was looking forward to seeing the kid the next day and wanted to be caught up on his voicemails."

Peter's suit monitored his vitals at all times, and anytime certain things happened...too much blood loss, broken bones, loss of consciousness, he got an alert. But there was nothing he could do when Peter wasn't in the suit. Couldn't exactly implant the kid with a tracker...well, he could, but that was crossing even his moral boundaries, especially since he'd have to do it without telling the kid, since he doubted Peter would go for it. He'd planned on getting Peter a new phone for his birthday in a couple of weeks. One with a tracker. And maybe some other cool new features, like Karen. His aunt didn't like Tony spending too much money on Peter, so he figured he could get away with it if it was a birthday present.

"FRIDAY, play all voicemails from Peter Parker."

"Yes, sir." He didn't think Happy even bothered listening to them anymore, but he still skimmed the texts which, thankfully for Happy, had become a lot less frequent. Maybe twice a week. Sometimes Happy even responded. "Monday, 6:29 pm." The recorded voice told him, then Peter's voice filled the lab while Tony pulled up a holographic display, flipping through suit upgrade ideas.

"Hey, Happy! It's Peter...Parker." Tony snorted. "Just got done with patrol...I stopped three grand-theft bicycles! What is it with people in Queens and stealing bicycles? I mean, it's not like they're even that expensive. I mean...maybe that's insensitive. Maybe those criminals can't afford bikes for their kids...still, they could try to save up or something." Tony scrapped one idea, balling it up in his hands and throwing it behind him, the virtual crumpled ball of paper swishing through a basketball hoop that disappeared in seconds. "I helped a little boy find his mom. She was really worried. Guess he wandered off while they were at the park. Oh, and some guy was trying to mug this kid from my school. He's kind of a jerk but I helped him anyway. And...that's about it. I'm finishing up early since me and May are going out to dinner. She loves this Thai place but it's all the way on the other side of town, so…" He trailed off, and Tony wondered if he was distracted or searching for something to say. "Yeah, sorry. Anyway, we're going out for dinner, and I've got midterms next week so I probably won't be able to patrol as much. Anyway, have a good day!" Tony grinned, finally choosing a screen.

"End of messages." The AI told him. Tony blinked, turning back to the screen that displayed Happy's voicemail and telling himself again that he ought to just give the kid his personal cell.

"What? FRIDAY, play any messages from Peter Parker from this week."

"There are no more messages, sir." Tony stared at the screen, unseeing for a moment. No new messages two nights in a row. Maybe he was studying. Maybe he suddenly decided to stop calling Happy...maybe… "Call Happy. Video call." He commanded, dropping down into a rolling chair at his desk, not giving the man a chance to say much more than 'hello' before asking if he'd spoken to Peter.

On the screen, Happy frowned, looking around the lab where Tony sat. "Uh...no. Not since Friday. I quit checking those voicemails since you started hacking my phone to listen to them. Why not just let the kid have your number, boss?"

Tony ignored that, along with the pit in his stomach as he brought up the display for Spider-Man's suit. Nothing. "Check last footage...last five minutes available." He demanded.

"What? Boss, do you…"

"Hush. Wait…" He waved a hand at the monitor that showed the phone call, watching the bright blue sky appear...Peter was swinging from building to building, the constant movement making Tony dizzy. He checked the time stamp. "Monday...6:37 pm." He murmured.

"Boss?"

"He hasn't been in the suit since Monday night." Tony watching on the monitor along with Happy...watched Peter reach his window, climb up the fire escape, and step into a messy bedroom before he pulled off the mask and the feed went dark.

"The kid's probably been studying for midterms. You're gonna see him tomorrow…"

"End call." He barked, pushing himself to his feet and telling himself that he was worrying for nothing. Happy was probably right...Peter would have called him if something was wrong...except he didn't have Tony's number. Then Peter would have called Happy. "Call Peter Parker." He told his AI, resigned to worrying until he talked to the kid.

The phone rang and rang, eventually prompting him to leave a voicemail. "Hey, kid. It's Tony. Call me back." He ordered, gesturing for FRIDAY to end the call. She did. Staring for another minute at the blank screen where the Spider-Man Baby Monitor footage had been, he groaned, running a hand through his hair. "FRIDAY...call Ned Leeds. Voice call."

The phone rang three times before the kid picked up. "Hello?" His voice was soft and hesitant...like he was at school or something. Tony checked the time. It was 7:13. Surely their nerd club was out by now.

"Ned? This is Tony Stark." He expected some gasping...maybe some stammering. Instead, there was a long, painful silence.

"Prove it." Tony sighed, running a hand down his face.

"FRIDAY, switch call to video." He commanded, and a few seconds later, Peter's friend's face filled the screen. He'd never seen the kid before, just heard Peter ramble on about him. Apparently, the kid was 'great' and 'really smart' and had hacked Peter's suit. And Tony made it a point to keep the phone numbers of the kid's friends, just in case.

When he looked more closely at the teen whose eyes had widened upon seeing the billionaire's face, he felt his stomach drop. He was sitting against a white wall, eyes red-rimmed. "Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah. Hi. You talked to Peter?"

"You...Mr. Stark...I thought...I thought you would have…"

Tony frowned, crossing his arms. "Would have what? What's going on? He hasn't called Happy since Monday, and he's getting worried."

"Mr. Stark...I thought you knew." Ned murmured, looking around nervously and lowering his voice. In the background, Tony heard a voice...like an intercom.

"Ned, where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital...sir...you didn't know?"

Tony dropped his arms, moving closer to the screen and feeling what little patience he had begin to evaporate. Fighting to keep his voice level, he spoke. "Know what? Ned, what's going on?" From what he'd heard from Peter, usually the kid would be losing his shit about now. He idolized Iron Man nearly as much as Peter. But this kid looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown.

"He...Peter was in a car accident with his aunt Monday night."

Tony's world greyed out at the edges and he felt his hands start to shake. No. No...not Peter. The kid was fifteen years old. He...he was Spider-Man! There...there was no way.

"FRIDAY, give me Ned Leeds' location." He forced his voice to remain even...sort of. The coordinates flashed on the screen next to Ned's face. "I'm on my way." The kid just blinked at him before his face disappeared, everything going black.