The day before going back to school was like Christmas for Peter. He had already set out his clothes, his supplies, the amount of homework that he had done since he had left. It pooled around his bed on his floor, creating an ocean of excitement.

“How ya doin’?” Tony stands at the only non-chaotic part of Peter’s room, the doorway. Everything else is covered in a layer of frantic planning and quick gathering.

“Good.” Peter says distractedly as he swings across the room and lands on the back of his desk chair. He grabs some papers on top of his desk and tosses them onto the floor.

“You’re gonna have a heck of a time trying to get all those ready before school tomorrow.” Tony looks at the fancy watch on his arm. “It’s already nine o’clock, Pete. Lights out in thirty.” He turns to leave, but then steps back into the room.

“Can I help with anything?” He says. Getting your kid ready for school is one of the most important things to know how to do as a parent. Is it a bad sign that Tony has no idea how to do it?

“Uhhh…” Peter thinks as he stuffs something in his backpack. “Lunch. I need to pack a lunch for tomorrow.”

“I’m on it!” Tony says, rushing away to make himself useful. Now, this is something he can help with! He puts some leftovers in a container, and throws in some snacks. He makes sure to exceed a certain calorie limit so that Peter doesn’t get depleted during the day. He’s already put a tracker in Peter’s backpack, and called for Happy to station himself outside the school during the day. He’s debating it, but he also had the idea to lace Peter’s clothes with a tracker to monitor Peter’s vitals throughout the day. But if Pepper heard about that idea, it would be shut down quicker than it had come into Tony’s mind.

“Alright, done!” Tony throws Peter’s full lunch box towards him, which Peter catches effortlessly while swinging in the air.

“Woah, Mr. Stark!” Peter says, squeezing the lunch box. “What did you put in here?”

“Is it too much?” Tony instantly regrets putting so much food into the lunch box. Was he wrong about how much food Peter needs to eat?

“No, this is-” Peter had unzipped the lunch box and was looking into it, but he cut off his sentence with a loud gasp, followed by, “IS THAT A PUDDING CUP?!” Tony laughed from the doorway. “So, it’s good then?”

“It’s great!” Peter beams, tossing the now-zipped lunch box at his backpack. “Thanks Mr. Stark!”

“Of course, kid.” Tony smiles. “I’ll be back at 9:30 to say goodnight.”

“Sounds good.” Peter becomes distracted picking out clothes for the next day and attempting to stuff all the loose papers into his binder.

Approximately twenty minutes later, Tony Stark appears again at Peter’s doorway. Peter’s already getting into bed, snuggling under the big, fluffy covers. Tony watches with a confused expression as Peter turns on his phone to set an alarm, and immediately turns pale. He turns the phone off and sets it down, turning with a grimace to the doorway.

“Hey, Mr. Stark.” He says, trying to muster a calm tone.

“Don’t ‘Hey, Mr. Stark’ me, Peter. What’s wrong? Did you get another text from May?”

“Noooooo.” Peter says, slowly snatching his phone from the table and putting it under the covers on his bed.

“Peter, what did it say?” Tony says sternly.

“Nothing.” Peter says blankly.

“Fine. FRIDAY?” Tony calls into the room, dead staring Peter the entire time.

“Yes, Mr. Stark?” FRIDAY’s automated voice calls back.

“Please read me the most recent message sent to Peter’s phone, please.”

“I hate when you do this.” Peter huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. It was actually really adorable, Tony realizes. If he wasn’t so worried about the text, he would have ‘awwwwed’ out loud.

“The text message reads: Peter, I’ll meet you outside at 10pm tonight. In the alleyway you always used to leave the house through. Be there, or else there will be consequences.” FRIDAY says finally.

“Thanks, FRI.” Tony says, turning his look on Peter again. “So, it’s no big deal, huh?” He shakes his head and makes a face. “A direct threat definitely isn’t a big deal, right? Just another day for Peter Par-” He stops before saying Peter’s birth name, seeing the look on Peter’s face.

Peter looks incredibly white, and a bit like he’s been slapped. He looks bewildered and overwhelmed. “I have to go, Mr. Stark.” He says in a quiet voice.

“Why, Peter?” Tony says. “I took you in swearing to protect you. And she -that woman- is going to hurt you, I just know it.”

“I don’t think she’ll hurt me, Mr. Stark.” Peter says, playing with a loose string on his blanket.

“There’s absolutely no way you’re going to see her.” Tony says. “FRI, lock Peter’s bedroom window.” A loud clicking noise shot through the air, and the window would be incapable of budging until Tony told FRIDAY to unlock it.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Stark.” Peter said in a patronizing voice. He rolled over, setting his phone back onto the bedside table. “Night.” He said in an effort to get Tony to leave.

“Good night, Peter.” Tony said quietly, leaving the room. He shut the door behind himself, and then told FRIDAY to get a car ready.

“I’m going out, Pep.” He says, calling into her office. She smiles and gives him a thumbs up, talking to someone on the phone.

Ten minutes later, Tony pulls up next to the alleyway that he knows Peter always used to leave the apartment. Aunt May is standing there, wrapping a thin jacket around herself and holding a cigarette.

“I didn’t know you smoked.” Tony says, stepping from the car.

“And I didn’t know you saw it fit to bring underaged kids to Iran on dangerous missions.” She shakes her head. “Honestly, Tony. What were you thinking?”

“It wasn’t my fault.” He defends, but the same thoughts have been going through his head lately. What kind of parent is he?

“I know what you’re going to say.” Aunt May took a puff from the cigarette. “It wasn’t my fault, he snuck along, I had no idea he was there. The list of excuses is a mile long, Stark. It seems they never end with you.”

“At least I’m a better parent than you.” Tony snaps, trying to keep his cool. But her words mingle with all the other horrible phrases and doubts in his mind since the first day he brought Peter home. He’s not equipped to be a parent, he has no idea what he’s doing.

“At least I never could have gotten Peter killed.” She gloats. “Really, Stark. The kid is a burden. He’s sneaky, and a liar, and he always goes behind your back. Trust me, I know. So, why not give him to someone that has the time and the energy to take care of a kid? You’re a busy man, you have more important things to worry about than some untrustworthy teenager.”

“But Peter isn’t like that at all.” Tony says quietly. “He’s one of the smartest, kindest, least burdensome kids I’ve ever met. If you’d so willingly try to give him up, you’re crazy.”

“Mark my words, Stark.” Aunt May takes a last breath of the cigarette before tossing it onto the ground and stomping out the end. “I’m going to get Peter back, one way or another. I don’t care how I have to do it.” With that, she turns around and goes back into the apartment complex, leaving Tony to worry about what exactly her plan is.

As he goes to bed that night, Tony can’t fall asleep. Thousands of questions circle his head like a shark, continually pouncing and torturing him further. What if he’s not a good parent? What if he gets Peter hurt, or killed? What would he do then? What if Peter would be better off in a different, safer house? And then the final, hardest question for Tony: What if he's not good enough for Peter?

/AN/ Sorry this is so short, guys!! But hey, at least I posted, right? Kidding! Hopefully I'll post a longer chapter later. I'm excited for the next few chapters, but it's crazy there's so little chapters left!! Love you all!! /AN/