“Is it snowing anywhere right now?—can we go to, like, Alaska, or something?” Peter asked suddenly as he walked down the pier, dragging his feet—alongside Tony.
It was somewhere around three in the morning, twenty minutes earlier Peter was in the suit and swinging around the city—but when his mentor saw that Peter was out in the middle of the night, he decided to call him and check up on him, which eventually led them deciding on going to the beach together for a late night walk.
It was ultimately the best decision, because with the kid swinging around the city, the last thing any of them needed was Peter getting hurt on the one day that there wasn’t anyone in the Avengers tower medbay—it was currently under construction for a couple of days, which led all of the actual nurses and doctors to not be in the building.
Which, what is he saying? It wouldn’t be a problem, it was only two days, and tomorrow it’d be back to normal—plus, there was a very low chance that the kid would manage to get hurt while right by Tony’s side.
After a second, Tony scoffed. “First of all, I doubt it’s snowing anywhere near us—second of all, we’re not going to Alaska.” He began, before glancing over at him skeptically. “Third of all, it’s October—why do you want snow?”
“Christmas, y’know?” Peter simply answered, as if it made his words make any more sense. He peeked over the edge of the pier to look at the water, his hand on the rail. “Snow and Christmas are the best, I like cold weather a lot more than hot weather—plus, like, if we skipped Halloween, I’d be perfectly cool with that.” He said, and Tony listened as spoke, raising a brow.
Tony let out a huff of laughter. “Uh huh, got it.” He said, before adding. “What’d Halloween ever do to you?” Tony asked a bit accusingly, though there was a hint of amusement clear in his tone.
He noticed the way the kid shuddered at his question, and that only increased his curiosity.
Peter gave in. “It’s terrible, every year something badhappens.” Peter said, glancing over at him in slight fear. “One year when I was like, twelve—someone dressed up as Iron Man tried to kidnap me—and I thought it was actually him.” He further explained, and Tony’s jaw dropped.
“Someone tried to do what?” Tony asked, his eyes widening—but Peter continued, waving his hand dismissively, even with the topic at hand. “I kept asking him science questions, cause, y’know, I thought it was Iron Man—but he ended up dropping me back in the street somewhere.”
Once he got over the initial shock, Tony laughed, but it wasn’t really a laugh at all, more of a choked-up sound of utter shock. “Remind me not to take you trick or treating this year.” He remarked with a snort.
The kid sighed. “But I swear, Halloween hates me, Mr. Stark.” Peter said, looking at his mentor with full seriousness. “The next year I went, I ended up dressing up as Iron Man—and everyone kept denying me their candy, like, I don’t even know why—but all I got was two whoppers and licorice.” He huffed resentfully, stopping in his tracks as he leaned over the edge of the pier’s very sketchy wooden rail.
“Maybe it’s not Halloween, it could just be you.” Tony suggested as he bit back a smirk, earning himself a glare. “I dressed up as you, back me up!” Peter exclaimed.
Suddenly, the kid looked like he had an idea. As his eyes lit up, it quite literally looked like a lightbulb over his head.
“Actually—Mr. Stark, considering how both of the incidents were Iron related, maybe it’s actually just an Iron Man curse.” Peter said with a small grin plastered on his face at the sudden realization. Tony watched as the wooden rail creaked underneath Peter’s weight as he leaned against it, he wrinkled his brow in slight concern, distracted from the previous topic.
“Careful, underoos, things probably older than me.” Tony mostly exaggerated as he gestured to the general area, keeping an eye on Peter. The kid continued leaning against the rail as the noises increased, the wood slightly leaning.
“Surprised it’s not already fallin’ apart, then.” Peter remarked teasingly, which made him roll his eyes.
Tony opened his mouth to jokingly say something about not jinxing it—but only mere seconds later, as the wooden railing began to break, it seemed like it was a little bit too late for that.
There was a cracking noise, a flash of movement, and a loud and alarmed yelp.
Tony leaped forward as Peter immediately lost his balance against the now broken wooden rail—but they were way too far apart for him to be able to catch him, even the kid's enhanced abilities couldn’t save him as he did a nose dive, straight into the cold water far below them.
A splashing sound that proved that the kid actually fell in was all it took for Tony to tap the arc reaction on his chest and suit up, the nanotechnology forming around his body as he immediately powered up his thrusters.
As he did so, he was greeted by the usual voice of his AI, though it seemed like she immediately knew the situation at hand. “Detecting nearby heat signatures.” FRIDAY said before he could get out a single word—not that he was complaining—he looked around the water for a second, before he set his eyes on a red and yellow blob off to the right that looked like it was slightly thrashing around.
Tony didn’t waste a single second as he dove into the water as the lights on his suit lit up his path. He grabbed the kid as soon as he was in reach, and brought them both to the surface as quickly as possible—he knew he might’ve overreacted just a little bit, considering he didn’t even wait to see if Peter was gonna come up before jumping in—but you can’t blame him, the kid always had himself in the most dangerous situations, it was pretty much instinct for Tony.
Peter sputtered and coughed violently once they broke the surface, clinging onto Tony’s suit tightly—but even if he wasn’t, the man wasn’t gonna drop him in or let him go.
Tony was really, really regretting his life choices as he made his way back to land, of course, one of the only days there wasn’t somebody with real medical experience in the med bay, the kid decided to nose dive into cold water from more than a hundred feet drop.
He gently laid Peter down on the sand and tapped his chest to get out of his suit, there were very few people at the beach, so he didn’t have to worry much about a crowd. He couldn’t even call an ambulance or take Peter to the hospital—because Tony would have to tell them that he was enhanced, which wouldn’t end well whatsoever, he wasn’t gonna risk his identity being revealed to the public—but that could also lead to his health and life being at risk.
“Hey, hey, bud—you’re alright, get it out.” Tony encouraged as the kid broke out into a coughing fit, his body trembling violently with every one. He helped Peter onto his side as he rubbed his shoulder, before gently taking off his wet hoodie and replacing it with his own jacket.
“It appears Peter is going into cold shock. I recommend you provide him warm clothing or blankets, mostly focusing on his neck and head.” FRIDAY helpfully chirped, her voice ringing through his suit. “Do not place him into hot water or try to warm his legs and arms, heating or massaging the limbs can cause stress on his heart and lungs, but you can offer him warm water.” She added.
He didn’t bother thanking her right at the moment, trying to focus on the kid. “Breathe, I know—you got it, you gotta breathe, kid.” Tony said, tugging the jacket further around Peter as he hyperventilated, still occasionally coughing as he struggled to let any air into his lungs.
As the kid gasped and choked, Tony tried to get more information.
“Does he have any water in his lungs?—anything else besides the shock?” He asked hurriedly, scanning their options. Bruce was at least an hour away from them, but he was the only chance at a doctor or hospital they had.
“No, boss.” the AI provided shortly after. “But I do still suggest he gets medical attention as soon as possible, would you like for me to inform Mr. Banner?”
“Yes—yes, do that.” He instantly said. it was the only thing he could do as he watched Peter shake and struggle to breathe—the breaths he did manage, were weak and raspy gasps.
The kid started slumping slightly, being noticeably weaker than the enthusiastic Peter he was talking to over ten minutes ago. Tony gently took hold of his shoulders, trying to keep him upright and let him lean against him. He tried to help abate his very clear stress and panic, because he didn’t know what was going through the kid's head. “Hey, underoos, can you look at me?” He questioned carefully.
After a few seconds, Peter eventually complied, still looking uncoordinated and confused as he breathed at a rapid pace—but he was breathing, and that alone was the best sign you could have. Peter was strong, but he scared Tony to death sometimes.
“Mr—Mr. St’rk—” He rasped, the words catching in his throat.
“You’re alright, bud—I know, it was just some water, okay? I've got you.” Tony shushed softly, trying to get him to decompress before he passed out. He knew his fear was mostly because of the cold shock, it usually can cause an involuntary gasp reflex, which can lead to stress or panic, which wasn’t a very good combination with a kid that already struggles with an occasional panic attack.
Peter coughed again and hunched over, leaning heavily against his mentor's chest with tears pricking at his eyes. Tony waited a few seconds for the coughing fit to settle, before carefully lifting the kid from the ground.
“FRI, dear, ask if Bruce can clear his schedule and meet us at the tower—will you?” He spoke, tapping the arc reactor in the middle of his chest—the nanotechnology not failing to quickly form around him. “Affirmative, boss.” FRIDAY chirped in his ear.
If you replace the cold water Peter fell in with snow, you could basically say the kid got his wish of it snowing and being Christmas time.
Maybe next time he should settle for an indoor activity.