Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider and after a bout of illness, which was his body’s reaction to his DNA being forced to change, he woke up with new powers. He has the ability to climb walls, he is stronger than he ever thought was possible, he has a danger sense, he is speedier than before, he is more agile, has faster reflexes, and more stamina. All of these sound like they would make his life easier, which they do, but then there were other enhancements that may seem beneficial, but they have an unpleasant side. His sensitive senses, which cause him to go into overload, and his healing factor for instance.
Peter has a love-hate relationship with his enhanced healing. When he’s on patrol or on a mission and gets injured he is so glad he has it. It helps him heal so much faster than he would without it. He knows it has saved him quite a few times when his injury was more lethal. But, then he gets sick. Many people don’t think heroes can get sick, especially not super soldiers. A lot of citizens loop him into a category with Steve and Bucky, but, although he is enhanced, he is not a super soldier. His immune system is very different from Steve and Bucky, Peter almost never sees them sick if at all. But, when Peter gets sick it hits him hard. People think his enhanced healing would help him when he gets sick… it doesn’t.
His enhanced healing makes things worse when he falls ill. His body tries its best, it fights and fights, trying to get rid of bacteria. The issue is that not all bacteria are bad and his healing factor doesn’t not pick and choose between the two types. It attacked the good bacteria to the point where there is virtually none left to fight against the bad bacteria. Without much defense, bad bacteria can slip though and settle in causing Peter to get sick.
Peter hates how often he gets sick. He’s a hero, he shouldn’t be knocked down by a common cold or the flu. He is stronger than he has ever been and yet, when he’s ill he feels so weak. He feels like the little boy he used to be. He used to wear glasses and bring his inhaler everywhere he went. He can see perfectly now, he can breathe just fine, and yet he still feels so small and helpless.
Case and point, he curled into a ball on his bed in the tower, sniffling and shivering. He has school today and he was planning to patrol, all of that seems to be going out the window now. He’s a hero, he has to keep going no matter what though, so he takes a deep breath and tries to get up. As soon as his legs take his weight, he falls back to the bed, sitting on the edge and breathing hard even though he barely moved. He can’t tell if he’s moving, the room is, or none of the above, but everything around him swims.
There’s a knock on the door, and just the small tap tap tap causes his head to throb, he lets out a small wine. “Pete, are you up yet? You have to head to school, bud, Happy’s waiting, and I have a meeting to get to.” Peter groaned and put his head in his hands, elbows resting on his thighs. “Peter?”
His nose felt so congested and his head felt like it was going to explode. His muscles ache and his throat feels like he’s swallowing around broken glass. He’s somehow cold but also sweating at the same time. He feels awful all around.
There was another knock before the door creaked open. Actually, the doors weren’t very squeaky, but Peter could still hear the movement and it graded against his already aching skull. “Pete?” There were footsteps, to Peter, they sounded like a giant’s. “Peter, what’s wrong, are you okay?”
Peter opened his eyes, not even realizing that he had closed them. Tony was in front of him now, crouched low, so he could look up at Peter’s face. “What’s going on, kiddo? Are you sick?” The man asked, taking in the redness of Peter‘s face, as well as the sweat beating on his forehead, a few curls plastered to his skin by the moisture.
“No?” Peter croaked.
Tony was used to Peter’s stubbornness,
“You sure?” He challenged.
“No,” Peter’s answer was quiet, full of despair.
“It's ok not to feel good Pete, it happens.”
“But I’m Spider-Man,” he whined, acting more like a child than in his own childhood.
“And I am Iron Man, I still get sick.” He shrugged.
“Yeah but I have spider DNA,” he protested.
“Oh, and that makes you better than me?”
Peter's head snaps, “What no!” The movement caused a wave of pain. His brain felt like it was the ball in a pinball machine. “I didn’t me to-“
“Whoa, bud I was just messing with you. You really don’t feel good do you?” Tony was used to Peter downplaying his symptoms, and for all he knew he still was, but he could see the pain and exhaustion displayed through every crease in the kid's face.
Peter sighed and gave up the charade, not that there was much of one to begin with, “No, I feel like shit.”
“Language.”
Peter looked at him with a bit of shock, “Seriously?”
Tony let out a little huff of a laugh, “I think I’ve been hanging out with Capsicle too much.” Peter put his head back in his hands, as if they could help grasp and take away the pain. “Friday, what's Peter’s temperature?”
“Peter Parker has an elevated temperature of 102.7 degrees Fahrenheit” (39.278 Celsius) Tony whistled at the high number, “Yikes. “I’ll be right back okay?” Peter made a noncommittal noise, his eyes closed once again.
On his way out of the room, Tony asked Friday to turn the lights to 25%, hoping the dimness will help. He walked into the hall and grabbed his phone from his back pocket. He called Happy.
“If we don’t leave now, Peter’s gonna be late.” The man answered the phone gruffly.
“Peter’s staying home today.”
“Is he okay?” The roughness in his voice disappeared. Tony smiles, Happy likes to put on this tough exterior and pretend he doesn’t care, but he worries just like the rest. He loves the kid, even if he won’t admit it.
“He’s sick.”
“Do you need me to pick anything up for him? I can watch him while you go to your meeting.”
“Actually yeah, can you pick up some Pedialyte, electrolyte popsicles, and some chicken soup? Also, can you grab some of Peter’s pain meds and fever reducers from the Medbay on your way up?”
“Of course, what about the meeting?”
“I’m not going, I’m gonna stay with the kid,” Happy started to reply, but Tony’s focus was rerouted. Peter‘s door opened, and the kid came out, holding onto the wall.
“ no, you can’t cancel your meeting because of me,” he says, his voice hoarse and strained. Peter didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but his enhanced hearing made it hard not to.
“I can and will.”
“I can handle it Mr. Stark, I’m Spider-Man, I’m fine.”
“You may be Spider-Man, but you are not fine.” Peter is about to say something, but Tony stops him, “If I go to the meeting I wouldn’t even be able to pay attention, I’d be too worried about you. So do us both a favor and let me help you.” Peter was surprised, he was used to dealing with this stuff on his own. Ever since his parents passed, he dealt with sickness on his own for the most part, Ben, and may always be at work or sleeping, trying to keep a roof over his head and food in his belly. After Ben died he had to take care of himself even more, May is amazing, but she had worked double shifts more often than not. “Please.”
Peter finally gave in, sliding down the wall and sitting with his legs tucked to his chest, “Fine,” he said miserably as he put his head on his knees.
“Hap, you still there?”
“Yep, on my way to the store now. Do you want me to call Pepper and let her know you won’t be at the meeting?”
“Yes please, thank you. You’re a godsend.”
“Remember that when you choose my Christmas bonus.”
Tony chuckled, “Will do, see you soon.” He hung up and put the phone in his pocket, thinking about what to do next. “You know what I think we need?” It was rhetorical, “I think we need a blanket and pillow fort.” Peter didn’t say anything. “Can you walk?” Peter gave a minute nod, trying not to move his head much. “All right, let’s get you over to the couch.”
Peter groaned as Tony helped him up, keeping one arm across Peter's back in case the kid needed support. He whispered to Friday asking her to draw the shades, it was a particularly sunny winter day. The lights were dimmed and the sunlight was cut off. Tony settled Peter on the couch and started collecting blankets and pillows from around the penthouse. He built the fort around Peter, making sure the kid was snuggled up and as comfortable as he could be. Once he was done, he made a cup of coffee and a cup of tea and sat next to Peter on the couch.
“How are you feeling, kid?”
“Guilty.”
Tony didn’t expect that, he was more asking how Peter felt physically, but he didn’t like Peter was hurting emotionally either, “Why? Because of the meeting?”
Peter looked over at him, his face was weary, “No, well, yes, but that’s not the only reason.” His voice sounded painful, Tony passed him the tea. Peter blew on it for a moment and took a small sip, it eased his throat a little.
“You don’t have to feel guilty about the meeting, honestly, I didn’t want to go,” he admitted, but quickly added, “don’t tell Pepper that.”
Peter would’ve usually laughed at that, but he wasn’t feeling well and it was obvious something was weighing on his mind. “What happens tonight?”
Tony’s eyebrows furrowed, “What do you mean?”
“I can’t go on patrol tonight, what happens to the people in danger?”
“Peter, sometimes you have to prioritize yourself.” he knows he doesn’t even follow his own advice.
Peter closes his eyes as he says his next words, “When you can do the things that I can, but you don’t and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.”
Tony felt a sense of déjà vu, this was undeniably real though. Tony should have told Peter that it wasn’t his fault the first time the boy uttered those words. He should’ve sent him straight and told him that he didn’t need to hold the entire world upon his shoulders. But at the time, Tony had been a mess. The people he thought were friends, his family, had lied and turned against him. He was so lost and angry at everything. He couldn’t think past himself and his own pity. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
“Not everything is your fault, Peter. I can’t even think of one thing that’s actually your fault.” He takes a second to get his words in order, trying his best not to mess up this time. “Peter you hold yourself up to a standard no one can reach, let alone yourself. Even with the spider DNA, you’re human and you can only do so much, but that doesn’t mean you failed or you need to do better.” And I wanted you to be better. Tony choked on his words a bit, getting emotional, something he’s really not used to, “ I'm sorry I ever made you feel like you needed to be better because that’s not true, and to be honest, I was projecting and that’s not fair to you.” He takes a breath, Peter’s eyes are trained on his, a look of disbelief on his face as he listens to Tony. The older man almost doesn’t believe that he’s saying these things. Part of him hopes that Peter’s fever will keep him from remembering this tomorrow, a larger part hopes it doesn’t. “You need to take care of yourself in order to be able to help others. Above all, you need to give yourself the grace you would grant anybody else.” Tony has no idea where all this wisdom came from, but he tries not to think about it, tries not to think about how he wished someone had said this to him when he was Peter’s age.
“I just feel bad,” Peter whispers.
“I know.” Calm silence falls over the room, only broken by Peter sniffling and the soft prolonged whoosh of the air conditioner. “I have an idea.” Peter, whose eyes have been staring off in the direction of the shade-covered window, looks back at the older man.“ I could call Steve and Bucky and see if they’re willing to patrol for you tonight and tomorrow if you’re still not feeling good.”
“Do you think they’d be willing?”
“For me, not a chance.” He smiles jokingly, “For you, no question. You’ve got the entire team wrapped around your finger.”
Peter smiles and just nods his head slightly, Tony takes that as his queue to call the super soldiers they don’t like to text. He steps out of the room to give Peter some quiet.
Steve picks up on the fourth ring, “Hey Tony.”
“Hey, Listen, could you do me a favor?”
“Yeah, what’s going on?”
“Peter’s sick and-“
Tony stops his sentence when he hears “Is he okay?” on the other end of the line, but it’s more distant and it’s not Steve. Freaky super soldiers and they’re super hearing. He thinks.
“Is he okay?” Steve repeats Bucky’s question.
“He’s got a high fever and he doesn’t feel good but he should be fine. I was wondering if one of you would be willing to fill in for Spider-Man on patrol tonight.”
“Yeah, of course. Do you and Peter need anything?”
“No, happy should be back any minute from the store, but thanks. I don’t know how long he’s gonna be sick, but would you guys be willing to fill-in for him until he’s better? He stressed about not being able to help the little guy.” He poked his head back into the living room, Peter’s eyes were closed but Tony couldn’t tell whether he was just resting or asleep.
“Yeah, that’s no problem. Tell Queens, we hope he feels better.”
“Will do, thanks” he hangs up and heads back towards Peter. When he gets there, he whispers the kid's name, but the boy does not reply. Tony lets the kid sleep as he waits for Happy.
When Happy does come in his footsteps and the crinkle of the bags wake Peter up. Happy put the stuff away before going over to Tony and handing him Peter’s medication.
“Let's sit you up so you can take these,” Tony states as he helps get Peter into a sitting position, the kid whines at the movement. “Sorry, bud.”
Happy had disappeared and just returned with the glass of cold water, Tony thanked him and he left to go resume his security duties. He has Peter take the pills as prescribed by Helen, hoping it’ll bring down his fever and we can feel better. He also urged the boy to finish the glass of water before he laid back down, to which the kid obliged.
“Steve and Bucky are going to do your patrol tonight.”
“Really?” Peter asked, settling back down against the pillows and blankets. His voice is slightly less gravelly from the water.
“Yup. They were happy to help and they hope you feel better soon.”
Peter smiled as he started drifting off back to sleep. As he did, he started thinking that maybe he didn’t have any good bacteria to help him against the bad, but he has a surplus of friends and family and teammates to help him against the bad. He wouldn't trade that for anything, even a healthy immune system.