Everything was perfectly normal for a week after Peter had gone back to school. Or, rather, as normal as things can be when you have a teenager, a feisty businesswoman and a multi-billionaire/superhero living under one roof. Yup, everything was going great.

“Mrs. Potts!” Peter yelled, tearing through the hallways to get to her office. He was breathing hard from running at a dead sprint, but the burning in his legs felt great; he hadn’t had a chance to run in a while.

“Woah, Peter.” Happy stopped Peter just a few feet outside the door to Pepper’s office.

“No, I need to see Mrs. Potts!” Peter says, trying to juke around Happy.

“Yeah, nice try kid.” Happy snorts. “She specifically told me, head of security, not to let anyone into her office today. She’s extremely busy with a lot of work.

“Please, it’ll be super quick!” Peter pleads.

“Go bother Tony.” Happy rolls his eyes.

“He can’t help with this!”

“I’m pretty sure he can help with anything.”

“Not this!” Peter cries. “Happy, please!” At this point, Pepper had heard all the yelling and had looked out to see Happy forcefully pushing Peter down the hallway. She laughed as she saw Peter backflip over Happy’s head and rush towards the door, only to swing onto the ceiling a second later when Happy tried to tackle Peter.

“What’s going on out here?” She opens the door, unable to contain her smile, seeing Happy poking Peter with a broom, trying to get him off the ceiling.

“Pepper, your kid is a menace.” Happy said in a business-like tone. He straightened up, and smoothed out his suit jacket.

“Mrs. Potts, Happy threatened to spray me with bug repellent.” Peter says in a tone mocking Happy’s.

“I would never!” Happy said, brandishing the broom again threateningly. Pepper just laughs. “You guys need to get along.” She shakes a finger pointedly.

“Alright, you heard the boss!” Happy claps his hands together. “Begone, spider-child. Let Mrs. Potts work in peace.”

“Woah, woah.” Pepper raises two hands, staring between the both of them. “If Peter needs to talk to me about something, then he’s definitely allowed in my office.”

“Yeah, Happy.” Peter jumps down from the ceiling and smooths his shirt as he walks past Happy.

“Watch it, I still have that bug spray.” Happy growls quietly to Peter. Peter just grins at Happy and passes him into Pepper’s office.

“So, what’s up, Peter?” Pepper says, shuffling some papers on her desk and reading them. She asks the question distractedly, and Peter bites his lip, debating whether or not to distract her from her work.

“You’re not distracting me.” As if she read his mind, she talks to him over the top of the paper she’s looking at. A second later, she sets it down. “Don’t worry. What’s going on?”

“Well, uh…” Peter didn’t really know how to phrase it. He was a jumble of nerves, from both what he needed to tell her, and if she would be able to help him. The last time he had needed help with something like this, it was at homecoming. But, surely, this was different, right?

“What do you do…” He grimaces at how awkward he’s being. “If you get asked on a date?” Pepper stares at him for a second, taking in the question. He can see it click in her mind, and her eyes widen in surprise.

“You have a date?” She exclaims. “Peter, that’s fantastic!”

“I’m really excited.” He laughs, scratching the back of his neck. He can feel his face going red, but Pepper doesn’t seem to notice.

“So, who’s the lucky person?” She winks at him. Peter grins shyly. “Well, MJ asked me out earlier today, and I said yes.”

“MJ?” Pepper cried. Peter realized, with a small laugh, that Pepper was even more excited about this then he was.

“So, I know that you’re probably better at this than Tony is…” Peter says awkwardly. Pepper grins proudly down at him. “Do you want me to help you get ready?”

“Yes!” Peter gasps thankfully. He didn’t know if he was ever going to actually say the words to ask.

“So, when is the date?”

“We’re going to have dinner and see a movie on Friday.”

“Well, today is…” Pepper ruffles through some papers, reading the date on one, and finishes, “Wednesday. That doesn’t give us a ton of time.” She thinks for a moment.

“What are you supposed to wear on a date?” Peter says worriedly. Maybe this is a much bigger deal than he originally thought. It’s concerning that he originally thought that it was a huge deal.

“Oh, something nice.” Pepper waves it away. “Tell you what, let’s go shopping right now. Do you have a lot of homework?”

“Uh, no.” Peter says, taken aback. Pepper can’t be dropping everything to take him shopping for his date, right?

“Good!” She says, standing up from her chair and heading for the door. “I’m dying to get out of this office anyways. Let’s go!”

Ten minutes later, Pepper and Peter are driving together to go to the mall. Peter bounces in his seat happily, answering Pepper’s barrage of questions about MJ and his date.

“So, how did she ask you?” Pepper grins. It seems that she hasn’t stopped smiling since Peter had told her about the date.

“Well, she kinda just walked up to me and like… demanded that we were going out on Friday. She said, ‘Alright, Parker. Movie and dinner on Friday. Sound good?’ and then I gave a confused response saying yes, and then she pretty much said, ‘Great, then it’s a date’.” Peter smiles happily at the memory.

“Peter, that is so sweet.” Pepper says. “I’m so psyched for you!”

“I’m pretty excited too.” He beams. A second later, they pull into a parking spot at the mall, and they head into the first store.

“Go crazy, kid.” Pepper smiles, standing and staring at Peter.

“I… Uh,” He looks at the ground then up at Pepper, hoping he won’t have to say what he’s thinking.

“It’s alright, we’ll look together.” She lightly grabs his arm and directs him to the teenage boys’ clothing section. They browse for a few minutes, before deciding that all the stuff in the store was too casual. They head out the large door, and into the large walking area of the mall.

A memory surfaces to the top of Peter’s brain suddenly, of him and Aunt May walking through the mall laughing at a cheesy joke he had told. He doesn’t know why the memory sticks out so easily in his mind, but it sends a wave of pain into his heart. The same pang that he always feels whenever he remembers a memory with May.

“You okay?” Pepper must have noticed the hurting look on his face. Peter quickly wipes his face clean of emotion as best as he can. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He tries to muster a grin, but it comes off shaky and unconvincing.

“Is it something about the date?” Pepper says quietly. “Or about coming here with me? Cause I can definitely call Tony if-”

“No, Mrs. Potts!” Peter says quickly. “No, this is all amazing. I’m very excited for the date, and even more excited to get one-on-one time with you. It’s been great, thank you. It’s just-” He hesitates, but Pepper sees it in his eyes.

“May?” Her voice barely leaves a whisper, but to Peter it sounds like she’s yelling. He just nods, not trusting his voice not to shake with emotion.

“It’s okay, Pete. I know it’s hard, but you’re so strong. I’m sure it’ll be okay. Do you want to keep going, or should we go home?”

“No! I want to keep going.” Peter smiles genuinely. “I’m fine, now. I promise!” He points forward. “Onward!” He laughs a little, and hears Pepper’s tinkling laugh beside him as they continue along.

After striking out in two other stores, they finally stand outside one called Walton’s. Ned and Peter had always made fun of it, because it was the place that all the super rich (usually snobby people) shopped. I guess, Peter thought as they started in, that he fits that category now.

“Pepper, everything here is so expensive.” Peter says under his breath. “We really don’t have to come here.”

“I just know we’ll find something good here.” Pepper waves a crowd of whispering people. Probably gossiping about the fact that they saw Tony’s fiance with the same kid that had been seen with Tony.

Peter had gotten used to the whispering whenever he went out. It didn’t take a lot of effort to get over it, actually. Everyone at school always whispered about him when they thought he couldn’t hear them, but his spider powers gave him super hearing. It was a useful ability, he figured, being able to hear the bad stuff people said about him. At least it gave him an idea of who he should stay away from, and how he should act in front of other people.

They arrived at the teenage boys’ section and Peter rushed to a flannel shirt with colors that spoke to him. He ran his hand along the fabric, taking in the softness of it. He fumbled for the price tag, turning it over to see that the shirt was $40. He took a step back, making a face at Pepper, who laughed.

“Pick out anything you want, Peter.” She nodded encouragingly.

“But it’s all so expensive!” He protested. “I feel horrible, wasting your money like this when I could just be wearing clothes I have at home.”

“Aww, c’mon!” Pepper urged. “This is your first date! You’re supposed to wear something nice!”

“My clothes are nice.” Peter mumbled under his breath, before surveying the rack of clothes again. The patterns were sometimes okay, but none of them fell under $35. Thirty five dollars?! Peter thought. I wouldn’t even spend thirty five dollars on a backpack!

Eventually, he managed to wander his way over to the clearance rack, where the prices were a bit more his speed. He found a nice white shirt and a navy blue button up shirt to go over it for twenty dollars. Much better. He picked out a pair of light blue jeans, and Pepper grabbed a pair of gray dress shoes to go with it. They went to buy their items at the front counter.

“Thank you so much for taking me, Pepper!” Peter grinned excitedly. “I’ll pay you back for all this stuff when we get back to the tower.”

“No, you won’t.” Pepper waved her hand to dismiss his comment. “It’s my treat, Peter.” Peter wanted to argue more, but he knew that nothing good ever came out of arguing with Pepper Potts. He’d find a way to slip the money into her purse later.

“Thanks, Mrs. Potts.” He beamed, as they put the items in the back of the car. He was just about to get in the car, when he heard someone calling his name.

“Peter?” The familiar voice said. “Peter Parker!” His heart fell to the bottom of his chest, slowly freezing over with fear as he turned to face the person desperate for his attention.

He stared straight at Aunt May, trying to keep his face from giving away how nervous he actually was.

**********

Back at Stark Tower, Tony was fighting desperately with his suit. He had the whole building to himself, now that Pepper and Peter were out running errands and Happy had gone home for the day. It was better this way, because it meant that Tony could blast his music as loud as he wanted without getting yelled at by a working Pepper or a studying Peter. Not that Peter ever yelled, of course, but rather gave him a discontented look that was worse than any yelling.

Right now, he was focusing on making his suit have a backup generator. After Iran, he wanted to make sure that no tech-dampening piece would be able to affect his suit again. He was also working on Peter’s suit, adding the same thing. He had some other surprises that he wanted to show Peter once he got home.

Speaking of which, where were Pepper and Peter?

Tony clicked on his phone, glaring at the time brightly shown on the screen. It claimed that it was almost six o’clock, and the drifting sun lighting the sky with dark oranges and pinks confirmed it. Pepper and Peter had left around four, so where were they?

“FRI, track Peter’s backpack, please.” Tony called up.

“Peter’s backpack is located in his room at Stark Tower.” The AI’s voice rang from all around him. Tony cursed. Of course it was, he thought.

“Pepper’s car.” He added as an afterthought. “Track that.”

“Sir, Pepper’s car is still in the parking lot at the mall.”

“Thanks, FRIDAY.” Tony said, clicking his phone on and checking his messages. Usually, if Pepper was going to be somewhere for a long period of time, she would text Tony and tell him. He realized that it seemed that everything was okay, but a gnawing sense of displacement took over his body. It wasn’t that he knew something that was wrong, but rather, he could feel it, somewhere deep inside him.

I’m being silly. He thought, shaking his head. Of course they’re fine. But, as he tried to go back to working with his suit, he started picturing all the things that could have happened. They relentlessly attacked his brain, swirling around his other thoughts and forcing away his focus.

Even if something wasn’t wrong, he had to go check.

**********

“Au- May.” Peter said quietly, watching his Aunt from a distance. She took a step towards him, and Peter pushed himself tighter against the outside of the car.

“Oh, Peter.” Aunt May gave him a smile. It looked genuine, but Peter could never really tell with her. She was extremely good at hiding her emotions, especially anger, when she wanted to.

“Excuse me,” Pepper spoke up from the other side of the car. “Can we help you?”

“I know that you probably don’t want to see me,” Aunt May continued speaking as if Pepper hadn’t said anything, “but I want you to know how much I miss you, Peter.” Peter had been preparing to defend himself, physically or verbally, but her words hit him like a slap across the face. The four words that he had wanted to hear for months, and she had finally said them.

Without even realizing it, Peter had let go of the car.

“Peter, stay back.” Pepper says, trying to come to his side. The car in front of theirs had parked too close, and there was no way that she was going to cross May’s path by going around the back.

“I’m so, so sorry that I ever let you go.” Aunt May sniffled, and her eyes were gleaming with unshed tears. “I’ve had so long to rethink my actions, and I’ve realized that I was horrible to you, Peter. You are such a strong, amazing young man. Even an idiot could have seen how you handle yourself, could have seen the good you do. You’re Spiderman, you don’t hurt anyone, all you do is help.” She said the last part quietly. Peter’s eyes welled with tears. He had seen this moment over and over again in his mind, dreaming about it each night. Somehow, his wildest dreams of what it would be like didn’t even come close to right now.

“I want you to come back and live with me, Peter.” Aunt May bit her lip. “I promise, I will be responsible. No more anger, no more lies, no more pain. I promise, Peter.” As if he was being drawn to her, Peter took a step forward. And another. And another. Until he could have reached out and touched her.

“Peter!” Pepper yelled loudly, finally sliding over the hood of her car and rushing to his side. She grabbed his arm and tugged, but it was as if he was in a trance. He was glued to the spot in front of Aunt May, staring into her eyes with a small smile on his face.

“I larb you, Peter Benjamin Parker.” Aunt May said, a single tear slipping down her face. The inside joke the two of them shared caused Peter’s tears to spill over and drift down his face too.

“I larb you, too.” He whispered, running into her arms. She grabbed him tightly, clutching his hair and patting his head softly.

Pepper stood a few feet away, absolutely dumbfounded. What the heck is even happening? She tried to take a step towards them, but a small canister hit the ground in front of her. The second it made contact, a whooshing noise sounded before a thick, foul-smelling gas spread from it. It drifted through the air and wafted into her face. It stung her eyes and left a horrible taste on her tongue. She started to cough, clutching her throat as it thickened the air in her lungs and froze it there. She couldn’t breath, couldn’t speak. Pepper fell to the ground, clutching her throat. Through her watery eyes and slowly blackening vision, she saw Aunt May hold a rag doused in a chemical to Peter’s face. He crumpled to the ground at the same moment that her eyes shut.

**********

Tony flew through the air in his suit, heading towards the mall. It was almost six-forty five. That’s even longer that Pepper had been out with Peter. He had routed his phone to the suit, so if a call or text came in, he would know immediately. FRIDAY was tracking the car, which hadn’t left the parking lot.

Sure, he was probably overreacting, but from the jumpy, electric feeling in his fingertips, he knew that his nerves wouldn’t be appeased until he made sure that everything was fine. Plus, after everything that had happened lately, Tony had been taking the motto, “Better safe than sorry” as seriously as one could take a cheesy phrase meant to teach kids life lessons. This was exactly the kind of moment where he’d rather be safe than sorry.

The boosters on his suit were working hard, but the mall was quite a ways away. Under usual circumstances, he would be able to make it there in a matter of minutes, but he had forgotten to charge the suit the night before, leaving it for changes on the table. Therefore, he was only operating at a speed of about eighty miles per hour.

“Sir, the mall is now closed.” The computerized voice rang in his ear. “It’s seven o’clock. There’s been no movement of the car.” Why the heck hadn’t he put trackers in Peter’s clothes? Or even Pepper’s? This was the kind of situation when he’d need to know where they were, or what their vitals were.

Cursing himself, Tony finally touched down in the parking lot. He watched the people filtering out of the large mall building, scanning the crowd for the faces he was looking for. It helped that almost everyone turned to stare at him, but he didn’t see Pepper or Peter. His heart beating frantically in his chest, he flew to Pepper’s car.

It was in perfect condition, not a scratch or dent in it. Pepper had always been perfectly meticulous with it, and it showed in the way she took care of it. He stepped from his suit, into the cold night air. It was already starting to get dark, which didn’t help his search.

With the help from his phone flashlight, he peered into the front seat. He hoped that he would see them there, eating some dinner and laughing about something. Happy and safe. But the lights were off and no one sat in the either of the seats. There was nothing in the seats, either.

Tony’s heart beat loudly in his ears as he shone his flashlight into the back of the car. Sitting there, plain as day, was exactly what he had feared he would see. A bag of clothes from a store in the mall sat perfectly still in the seat, the bright white of the plastic illuminated with the light shining through the window.

He stumbled backwards a step, letting his arm fall to his side. They had been back to the car. They had dropped off whatever they had gone shopping for, so where were they?