The Boy Who Couldn't Leave

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Tony tapped his foot impatiently. 4 p.m. It was 4 p.m and Peter usually got out of school at 2:30. Where could the boy be for an hour and a half? 

This wouldn't do. Peter would no longer be allowed to travel himself anymore. Nope! He could either be escorted by Tony himself or Happy. 

His attention was momentarily captured by the news in the background. Apparently Spiderman was injured during a bank robbery. Hmmm.

He didn't really have much time to dwell on that as FRIDAY announced "Boss. Peter Parker is here."

Not a moment later. Peter walked through the elevator doors with a smile on his face. "Hey Mr. Stark! Sorry I'm late! The craziest thing happened! I was walking down 71st and 32nd when a bank robbery happened!"

Peter took no notice of the color draining from his mentor's face or the anger that quickly took over his features. "It was insane!"

Tony crossed his arms over his chest and had an unimpressed look on his face. He also saw the boy twitching his shoulder every so often "Where have you been this entire time? And what happened to your arm?"

Tony saw the boy physically recoil at his tone and decided to soften his tone. "Peter, what happened?"

Peter shifted uncomfortably. Something was telling him not to reveal his alter ego. He said "I was on my way here when I saw the bank getting robbed. There was a whole crowd of people and I couldn't get through. But then Spider-Man came and took care of them.

Tony narrowed his eyes. "What aren't you telling me?"

Peter swallowed thickly and said "Before Spider-Man could apprehend one of the robbers, a gun went off and it sort of.........got me,"

Tony could feel the unbridled panic wash over him. He said "What do you mean got me?! Show me right now!"

The boy slowly took off his sweater and showed Tony the wound. All Peter would hear was a sharp hiss come from the older man. He didn't see the anger on his face or the silent curses slipping out.

Before Peter could say anything else, Tony dragged him to the Med-bay where the Avengers doctors took care of the bullet and wound. 

Peter thanked god that no avengers were there to see him get treated like a child. 

Any whines of protest were shushed by Tony. 

Tony paced back in forth in front of Peter. He asked "Does your Aunt know what happened?"

Peter wrung his hands and said "No I haven't told her, but she's working a double shift and won't be home until tomorrow morning."

This intrigued Tony. He asked "Is your aunt usually this absent?"

Now it was Peter's turn to be angry. "She isn't absent! She just works a lot to make money since my uncle died! She has rent, bills and groceries to worry about! Not to mention my appetite."

Tony asked "What's wrong with your appetite?"

Peter looked down and said "I get really hungry. I eat a lot. She says I'm a growing boy."

Tony silently stored this information away. "Well I think it's safe to say we won't go to the lab today." Tony held up his hand to quell the boy's protests. "So why don't you rest some more and I'll take you home. You have a lot of healing to do."

Now this, Peter didn't argue. He was exhausted.

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The next time Peter woke up, he was in his bed, in his apartment in Queens. He looked outside and noticed it was bright, which meant May was home!

He got up and stretched. His healing powers meant the bullet wound was almost healed. He moved to scratch his arm, only for him to touch something attached to his wrist. 

It was a watch? The side of the watch said "Property of Tony Stark." Hmm Mr. Stark gave him a watch? That's so nice of him. 

He sat down to breakfast with May. They were having a nice talk when suddenly the sound of glass breaking in the bedroom caused them to jump up. They were going to check when there was a knock at the door. "NYPD OPEN UP!"

Peter and May exchanged nervous looks. She opened the door only for a police officer to ask "May Parker?" At her confirmation he placed handcuffs on her and said "May Parker. You are under arrest for child neglect and endangerment." He read her rights and began to lead her away. 

Peter yelled "What's going on? I'm not in danger!!"

Peter was helpless. He tried yelling at them to stop, but they keep going and another police officer stopped him from leaving. 

She calmly said "Mr. Parker. Your aunt is under arrest because we received a call saying you were in danger. That your aunt was constantly leaving you alone for days at a time and that if we looked in your room, we would find tons of broken glass that your aunt refused to pick up. They also said that you're constantly hungry"

Peter's stomach chose the wrong moment to grumble. That morning's breakfast already gone. She opened the fridge and cabinets to see no food. May planned to go food shopping that day. They were gonna go together.

When they entered the room, Lo and behold, broken glass covered the entire floor. Peter tried to explain that May was a nurse and worked crazy hours and that they were about to clean the broken glass before they knocked on the door. 

The police officer looked at him sadly and said "I'm sorry but the evidence is against her and if she's always working crazy hours, especially overnight, she should leave someone with you."

Peter looked angry "I'm 14!" and suddenly a horrible thought came to him. "What will happen to  me?! I don't have any other family! Will I go to foster care?!"

The police officer smiled and said "Don't worry about that! A family friend heard about your predicament and offered to take you in. He's signing the papers at the station right now."

That made Peter feel better. Maybe one of May's friends decided to help. 

He still had to ask "Who is it?"

The officer smiled and said "It's supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you. It's Tony Stark, the billionaire! He made the call-"

She frowned and said "Ooops you weren't supposed to know that"

Peter sat in the back of the loose-lipped police officer's car with a few of his belongings in a bag. Mr. Stark called the cops? But why? 

His eyes wandered over to the watch on his wrist. He noticed there was no clasp for the watch to come off! He felt around the band and noticed it was completely smooth. Then he once again looked at the "Property of Tony Stark" engraving. A sinking feeling overcame him.

Peter didn't think about that before. What was property of Tony Stark? The watch or him?