Work Text:
‘SPIDER-MAN NO MORE’
‘QUEENS’ DEVASTATION FOR LOST VIGILANTE’
‘NEW YORK'S FALLEN HERO: REMEMBERING SPIDER-MAN’
‘BODY NOT RECOVERED - SPIDER-MAN SEEN THROWN INTO HUDSON AFTER CLOSE FIGHT’
No.
No, this couldn’t be true. It had to be some media prank, some sick joke. Tony was just checking his phone once he’d woken up from a dreamless sleep next to his fiancé. It was a normal Saturday morning.
Spider-Man was fine. Peter was-
“Tony? Tony, what’s wrong?”
Pepper's voice sounded like she was underwater, whispering from too far away. He clutched at his phone, hard enough to hurt, but the sharp pain was nothing compared to the dagger in his chest, twisting slowly through his heart as he read the headlines on the screen.
Spider-Man was dead. The headlines were certain. It was everywhere, every news channel, every platform he checked.
He wasn’t sure if he was breathing anymore, he couldn’t be because suddenly Pepper was kneeling in front of him on their bed, hands on his shoulders and mouthing things to him.
Only she wasn’t mouthing, Tony just couldn’t hear. He didn’t want to hear. Peter was dead. Peter was dead. His Peter was-
A hard smack across his face snapped him back into reality, gasping violently.
“Tony!” Pepper cried, cupping his cheeks in her hands so he could see her again. “You have to breathe. Come on. In and out.”
Tony shook his head, ragged breaths coming short and fast. Peter was dead. His soulmate .
“Focus! Tony, look at me. Look at me! In,” she instructed, taking an exaggerated breath. “Out.”
He tried, he really did. And then he threw his head over the side of the bed and threw up.
He heard Pepper gasp, asking Friday to get Helen whilst he retched, emptying his stomach until he was left dry heaving and hyperventilating.
“Tony, please,” Pepper begged, pulling him back up and into her arms. “I don’t understand.”
“Pete. Pete,” he sobbed into her chest, completely numb. His world was gone and he was too busy getting a good night's sleep to notice.
He was tucked up in bed and Peter had died.
He wasn’t there for him. He never would be again.
He closed his eyes, letting out a broken wail. It couldn’t be true. Peter couldn’t be gone.
“Pepper?” Helen’s familiar voice asked after a knock at their bedroom door.
“Oh thank God. Please, I don't know what’s wrong.”
He couldn’t see what the doctor was doing, eyes clenched shut and face hidden in the nape of Pepper's neck.
“Tony, can you turn around?”
He wanted to say no, but Pepper pushed him away enough that he had to.
He didn’t want to know what he looked like. Helen held her poker face well, but there was a split second where her eyes widened when he turned to her. His skin was clammy and he was so cold. So fucking cold. Like all the happiness from his body had disappeared. He’d never imagined what losing a soulmate must be like, but this must be it. It felt like he was dying.
“Hi, Tony. Focus on your breathing, okay? I’m going to ask you some questions and you can answer by nodding or shaking your head. Can you do that?”
He swallowed, ignoring another bout of nausea and nodded.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Tony shook his head but clutched his chest, desperately trying to stop hyperventilating so he could speak.
“Is there something wrong with your chest?”
Tony nodded, “Pe- Pete,” he rasped, feeling a new wave of tears. His breathing was slowly returning, but it felt like he’d run a marathon leaving him gasping and exhausted.
“Peter? Has something happened?”
He nodded, clumsily reaching for his phone which had been disregarded on the bed. He failed to get his fingers to cooperate on the first few attempts, but he eventually grabbed it.
She took it from him, frowning as she read the screen.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Pepper asked and Helen simply passed the phone to her.
Pepper gasped, a small heartbroken sob escaping her lips, but Helen seemed unaffected by the news.
Anger suddenly melded into his devastation. Didn’t she care? She was supposed to be his friend and his soulmate was dead.
“These headlines are over an hour old. Is this reaction from reading them?”
He glared at her, unsure what game she was playing.
“He wasn’t like this when he woke up, only when he looked at his phone,” Pepper answered for him.
Helen frowned. “Tony you need to be switched on right now, Peter’s life might depend on it.”
Now it was Tony’s turn to furrow his eyebrows in confusion.
“You’re his soulmate. It’s a well-known fact that if your soulmate gets hurt, you can feel it. Right here,” she pressed gently at his chest.
He nodded. He knew that. It happened every time Peter got hurt or vice versa. The pair would always know.
“You didn’t feel anything all night. You slept soundly.”
Tony gave a slow nod. “Yeah.”
“It was only when you read the news that you reacted so strongly.”
Tony nodded again, clarity forcing its way back into his mind.
“Peter isn’t dead. He can’t be if you didn’t feel it. Soulmates are affected the second their partner dies to serious extents, but you didn’t feel anything,” Helen explained.
It made sense. He knew she was right, but the news… they saw it happen.
“Maybe I’m just a shitty soulmate.”
“You’re not. You know that,” the doctor quickly countered. “You and Peter have one of the strongest bonds I’ve seen.”
She was right again. Once Tony could sense the early signs of Peter going into sensory overload before the teen could, he was miles away at school. He always knew when it came to Peter, but logic was lost when it came to the thought of losing him.
“Friday? Call the Parker residence,” Helen instructed.
Ringing echoed through the room and the trio waited with bated breath until May's voice filtered through.
“Tony? Oh God, Tony, is that you?”
“May?” He rasped, feeling the coil in his chest tighten at her panicked voice.
“Is it true? What they’re saying.”
“We don’t think so,” Helen answered. “Tony didn’t feel anything last night to suggest Peter’s been hurt. Is he not with you?”
“I was working a night shift, I came home as soon as I heard the news and he’s not here,” she explained hurriedly, thuds and clatters in the background like she was turning the flat inside out to find him.
“Is there anywhere he could be?” Pepper asked.
“No, he knows he has a curfew and there’s no way he’d be up at 7 am on a Saturday.”
“Friday, connect me to Karen,” Tony said, ignoring how shaken the works came out.
“I am unable to reach Peter’s AI or get any updates from the suit,” Friday informed and Tony felt like punching something.
“When was the connection lost?”
“His last location was the Hudson River, boss,” Friday informed regrettably.
“And did it not occur to you to alert me when this happened?!” He yelled, bile raising again and he threw a hand over his mouth.
The reports were accurate. His kid had been thrown into the goddamn Hudson and his own AI, the most intelligent in the world, hadn’t thought to alert him.
“He’s not dead,” Helen reminded him. “Something clearly happened.”
“Tony?” May asked, still connected.
“I’m going to find him, May.”
“Is he really okay?”
Tony sighed, running a shaking hand down his face. “I-I think so. I’m not… I can’t feel him.”
May choked out a sob on the other end of the line and Tony hung his head in guilt. He promised her he’d protect her nephew. He swore it to himself too, yet here he was, sat drowning in self-pity whilst Peter was missing.
“I don’t- I don’t feel anything. Why don’t I feel anything?” He asked, frantically turning to Helen for answers. Whilst she didn’t have a soulmate of her own, no one here did, it was a rare thing, Helen still had more knowledge of the phenomenon than most people.
The doctor gave him a sympathetic shrug, “I don’t know, maybe Peter’s cold.”
Tony huffed, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. “I’m going to find him.”
“Tony, you’re in no state to-“
“This isn’t about me!” Tony interrupted Pepper sharply, taking everyone off guard. Another wave of guilt hit him in the stomach seeing his partner staring back at him wide-eyed. “I have to find him.”
“Can you even walk?”
Before he could doubt himself, he jumped up off the bed and grabbed his suit's housing unit off the side table. “I can walk just fine,” he lied, trying to hide the wobble in his knees.
He didn’t realise how much words could affect him. The mere suggestion that Peter could be dead sent him into his biggest meltdown since he fell out of a wormhole above New York. He’d rather live that day over and over than lose Peter.
He’d read about some soulmates that die of a broken heart after losing their other half. Tony expected himself to be one of those people if he wanted to be dramatic. It was a selfish thought. Most of the people that died were because their soulmate was the only person they had. Tony had Pepper and Happy and Rhodey and a whole bunch of people that he would consider family, but since meeting Peter his whole purpose in life turned into him.
He didn’t mean to have a soulmate. Most people these days didn’t have one, only the lucky few so Tony never tried to see if he was one of them. Not until Peter Parker came stumbling into his life and suddenly it was like seeing the world with new clarity. He knew at that moment he’d do anything to protect that kid and he had. Until now.
“Well I’m coming too,” Pepper decided, sliding out the other side of the bed.
“So am I,” Helen added, crossing her arms in solidarity.
Tony smiled, feeling suddenly emotional again. Of course, they cared. How could he have doubted it? From the second Tony discovered Peter was his soulmate everyone supported them. It had only been three months, and they were still trying to map out how their bond was going to work and if May was going to accept Tony’s offer of co-parenting, but Pepper had supported him every second. If he didn’t know her better he’d say she loved him too.
“It’s Peter. You’re not the only one who cares about him,” Pepper pointed out, practically reading his mind. “I’ll take the SUV and travel down the river and have Friday scan the passing areas.”
“I’ll search around Queens, see if he tried to get home.”
“I’ll join you, Helen,” May said through the phone. “I’m going to start looking.”
“We’ll keep you updated,” Tony said and the call went dead. He sighed, clenching his hands into fists so no one could see how badly they were shaking. “I’m going to fly over and see if I can find him. Take any car you want.”
“Don’t need to ask me twice,” Helen said, making for the elevator.
He took a deep breath, breaking into a walk towards the docking station, but Pepper suddenly grabbed his arm, cutting in front of him.
He frowned and her hands moved to cup his cheeks, a mixture of love and concern swimming in her eyes.
“Keep your head clear, okay?” She said, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I love you.”
He closed his eyes letting the feeling of her lips linger before forcing one last smile. “I love you too, hon.”
He tapped the housing unit, getting to the dock at the same time his suit formed and helmet snapped shut. He shot off into the sky, heading straight for the Hudson.
The journey there was the slowest he’d ever known. He had nothing to keep him company other than his overactive imagination and crippling anxiety, only made worse when he reached the river.
He knew exactly where Peter must have fallen in since there were countless news vans and camera crews reporting from the scene. It made his stomach churn thinking of the kid falling into those waters, especially in the darkness of night.
He flew lower to the river, anxiety bubbling in his chest as he travelled above the water's harsh current.
He remembered the last time Peter had fallen into the Hudson and Tony had his suit remotely rescue him. Why couldn’t that have happened this time?
He sighed, adding that to the list of reasons to hate himself and continued his search.
He couldn’t decide if he wanted to find Peter here. Ideally, he’d be found somewhere inland in some insulated alley where he’d fallen asleep on patrol, but what if he wasn't found anywhere?
Body not recovered. That’s what one article said.
The thought alone made the hairs on his neck stand up, sending a shiver through his spine, but he shook the thought from his head. That wasn’t going to happen. He wouldn’t rest until he had his kid back.
It wasn’t an option.
Tony continued to fly, praying for a message from one of the others telling him they’d found him, but the silence dragged on. It was deafening.
He’d already flown half a mile from where the reporters were gathered and he was beginning to lose hope. He surely couldn't have drifted this far down the river. Peter was a poor swimmer, if he was in the water this long…
Tony swallowed, cursing himself. He should have taught the kid how to swim. He should have put buoyancy aids in the suit and -
“Boss, heat signature detected on the river bed.”
Tony’s breath caught in his throat, looking to where there was a body circled on the HUDD.
“Drop me down.”
The suit soared towards the figure that was undoubtedly Peter. When they were less than 50 meters from him the red and blue suit was painfully obvious, but that wasn’t the thing Tony focused on.
He wasn’t moving.
The kid's mask had been discarded on the grass near his limp right hand, lying flat on his back. He couldn’t see his chest rising.
“Oh God,” Tony choked out, throwing himself out of the suit as soon as he landed. He stumbled onto his knees, eyes never leaving the lifeless body in the grass.
His soulmate. His kid.
“Pete,” he whispered, crawling over and closing the space between them until his hand was cupping his freezing cheek. “Peter.”
The kid didn’t stir, head rolling sickeningly to the side from the pressure of Tony’s hand. He bit his lip, reaching down and pressing two fingers against his neck.
He waited.
“Come on, Pete,” he begged.
There.
Tony fell forward, choking out a sob.
He was alive.
“Kid, oh god, kid,” he sobbed, relief flooding his veins. He hadn’t lost him. He was okay. He pushed himself up, running his hands along his body for any bumps or scrapes but there was nothing. No blood, no tears in the suit.
“Mis’er S’ark?” Peter slurred, eyes slit open and peering down at him.
Hearing his voice only set him off again, pulling the kid into his lap and crying into his hair. “Don’t you ever do that again, you hear me?”
The kid mumbled something unintelligible, but Tony didn’t care. He had his kid safe in his arms. He stayed there for longer than he cared to admit, focusing on the feeling of the rise and fall of Peter's chest in his arms and the puffs of breath against his neck. It soothed his inner anxiety to the point he wasn’t violently shaking anymore and managed to pull away.
The kid was fully awake now, confusion written across his face.
“You scared the living shit out of me, Pete.”
“I don’ understand.”
“You don’t-“ he sniffed, wiping his nose with the cuff of his pyjama top he was still wearing. “You don't understand? You never came home! You… you were gone and everyone thought you were- you’d died and I- oh, God, Pete. Never do that again.”
He pulled him impossibly closer, kissing the kid's temple before tucking his head under his chin, a hand snaked in his curls. Protected.
“God, I love you, kid. I love you so fucking much,” he whispered, feeling more tears fall.
“I love you too mister Stark,” Peter mumbled into his chest, content in the heat of his mentor until something crossed his mind and his head snapped up. “Wait, what? I-I was just patrolling and… what time is it?”
“Almost 8 am, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter,” Tony said, rocking them gently to calm his spiralling thoughts.
Peter was okay. He was safe in his arms, awake and talking. He wasn’t bleeding or bruised from what he could see and Tony felt like dropping to his knees and thanking whichever deity was watching over them.
“Oh my God, I fell asleep?” Peter asked, arms looping around Tony and returning the hug.
“I don’t know, but there were reports of you falling into the river and then nothing.”
“I… I was fighting that weird guy. The one I’ve seen a few times before? Looks like a green goblin or something.”
“Oh, you mean the guy I told you specifically to stay away from?” He questioned, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at the teen.
He grimaced sheepishly, batting those damn baby browns that took down all of Tony’s defences. “Maybe?”
“Peter.”
“It wasn’t like I was going after him! I was just patrolling and then he appeared out of nowhere and he looked like he was spying on someone so I tried to follow him but he caught me.”
“And ended up throwing you in the Hudson,” Tony concluded.
“Yeah.”
“And then you fell asleep,” he added shortly. “On a river bed. In the middle of nowhere. With no way to contact anyone.”
Another grimace. “I guess? Swimming was just so hard and I was kind of exhausted by the time I got out after like ten minutes of trying not to drown and -“
Tony cut him off with a groan, dropping his head back onto Peter’s. “As if you don’t give me enough nightmares already.”
“I-I’m sorry, mister Stark. I really tried. And then my suit was fried so I just thought I could take a breather and… yeah.”
Tony sighed, looping a hand around one of Peter’s wrists and focusing on the heartbeat under his fingers for a moment. “Okay. We have a lot to unpack here, but first and foremost I’m getting you back to the tower. Are you hurt?”
Peter shook his head. “No, just cold.”
“Just cold, he says,” Tony muttered, looping his arms under Peter and picking him up. “a kid who can’t thermoregulate.”
“I’m fine.”
“Tell that to your concerning core temperature,” he retorted, letting the suit form around him whilst Peter was still pressed against his chest. “Friday, let everyone know I’ve found him and turn on external heaters.”
“Done and done, boss.”
“Thanks, dear. I’ve got you, kid.”
As soon as they landed back at the tower, Tony carried Peter straight to medbay where Helen checked him over. Amazingly, Peter was completely unscathed from the incident other than the risk of developing hypothermia from being outside and soaking wet for so long, but Tony got to work fixing that straight away.
He ran the kid a bath, fished out the fluffiest pyjamas and blankets he could find and within an hour Peter was fast asleep in a cocoon of cotton in Tony’s lap on the sofa.
“I still can’t believe he’s okay,” May murmured, shaking her head as she sat by Peter’s other side on the couch.
Tony hummed in agreement, brushing some fallen curls out of the kid's face. “I had no idea what to think when I found him. He looked-“ he cut himself off, swallowing away the bitter taste in his mouth.
“But he’s not. He’s here with us and he’s safe.”
“He’ll be lucky if I ever let him out of my sight again.”
“That’s fine, I’ve already told him he’s grounded for a week for not telling you his suit was damaged. You can keep him company.”
Tony huffed lightly. He hadn’t had it in him to be annoyed at Peter, not when only hours ago he thought he might never get the chance to be again, but it did come close when the teen admitted his suit got damaged the last patrol. That was the reason Friday lost contact. The damages and broken wiring meant water could get in and completely fry the suit, rendering the emergency protocols useless.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him,” Tony confessed, chest still sore from the emotions of the morning.
“That makes two of us, but that’s why we won’t. He has all of us. And God knows you’d move heaven and earth for him.”
Tony nodded. “I know I can’t have been your ideal person as a soulmate to Peter, but I swear I’ll get better. Nothing like this will happen again.”
May rolled her eyes, squeezing his hand. “This wasn’t your fault. It was Mr Lack-of-self-preservation over here.”
“Yeah, I’ll work on that too.”
“What, with your track record?” Pepper chimed in after entering the room armed with a large hot chocolate.
“I’ll have you know I’ve got better.”
“Only for his sake,” she pointed out, placing the mug on the coffee table. “Thought this would warm him up.”
“None for me? Where is the loyalty these days?”
Pepper rolled her eyes, kissing both Peter’s and his forehead before heading back out.
“So, you think it’s about time we discussed co-parenting?”