Steve strode into the meeting room, holding a StarkPad and flicking the image on the screen belonging to the device upwards. It appearing on the main screen of the room. “We have word of Hydra building back up again. There’s a base they’re building in Wyoming. Fury has tried to send agents in but they never come out.” He flicked the image on the tablet to the left. The TV mirroring Steve’s effect. Showing the whereabouts the hideout was as well as the scans of the building. “So, we’ve been called in to deal with them. Peter, I know we agreed to have you join our next mission but I think it’s best you sit this one out.”
“Mr. Rogers I piloted a plane away from crashing into a city, pulled my punches against you and held my own against a purple titan trying to kill half the universe. I think I can handle a few Russians.” Peter spoke up, earning a hesitant nod from the soldier.
“Fine but you’re sticking with Tony.” Steve insisted, a nod coming from the teen before Steve spoke up again. “With Thor off world, Bucky in Wakanda, Nat and Clint needing rest for Slovakia, in two days and various others elsewhere, it looks like it will just be six of us.”
“If you need us we can help.” Nat offered. “I’m sure we’d be fine for Slovakia regardless.. right Clint?”
“I’m sure you would be Natasha, yes. But rest is important.” Vision spoke this time. Earning a nod from Steve.
“As Vision says. We will be fine Nat.”
“So.. why Wyoming of all states?” Tony spoke up. Now on the Jet with the rest of the team.
“Well it makes sense..” Peter mumbled. “I mean.. it’s a fairly big state. It has the lowest population of all US states at five hundred and eighty thousand. If you were doing sketchy and one hundred percent illegal activities, you’d pick the least populated area with some of the largest parts of land. States like Wyoming and Montana fit those bills. But Wyomings population is under half of that of Montanas - sorry I was rambling again wasn’t I.” Peter shrugged.
“A bit.” Steve spoke up, getting a glare from Tony. “But, you do have a point..”
“Of course that comes with drawbacks. We can’t blend in with a crowd. We don’t have any elements of surprise and perhaps more important, no where to land.”
“How so?” Tony spoke up with a frown.
“And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one..” Peter mumbled. “Think about it. The majority of the left side of the state is filled with mountainous areas. And it just so happens- and I’m sure that was planned- that the base is placed right in the crook of the numerous mountains that connect heading into yellowstone park. You know. An area where rangers never once even bother to check? We can’t land the jet around there because there’s no where safe to land. And we can’t land any closer because that will draw attention but if we land too far away, it could take hours to get there.”
“So you’re saying our only option is to jump out of the jet.” Steve mumbled.
“That is exactly what I’m saying.”
“Jesus Christ..”
“Alright kid, get on my back.” Tony spoke, crouching down for Peter to jump on. He done so, sticking to the suit but still holding on. He wasn’t scared of heights. He wasn’t scared of falling either. But God was he was scared of falling from this one. “You let me fall and I’ll kill you in hell.” Peter joked.
He watched as Steve put on a parachute as well as Bruce before the six of them jumped from the jet. Peter hiding in the mechanics shoulder that was covered with cold armour to try and protect himself from the air so he could manage to breathe.
Once landed, Peter unstuck himself with ease but remained close to Tony, slipping in under his arm and just leaning against him. Taking in the building.
“Okay.” Steve spoke as he undone the parachute. “Wanda, Vision and I will be one team. Tony and Peter you be another. Bruce. You wait out here. Only let the big man out if necessary. Everyone got it?”
Peter nodded and spoke up. “How many floors are there?”
“Six. My team will take the bottom three. You two take the top three.” Again, they all nodded. Heading towards the building.
Peter scaled the walls first, checking the top floor before whispering an “All clear.” To Tony. The man flying up and through the window. Peter climbing through after and dropping silently from the ceiling.
The first two floors were a breeze. No one in sight. Which put Peter on edge. His senses wouldn’t settle down, his movements tense and quick. “Mr. Stark I don’t like this..” Peter whispered quietly as they made their way to their last floor. But before the man could respond, they were jumped. Tony blasting one while Peter stuck another to the wall. The two ducking behind walls either side of a doorway as bullets flew past them. Peter held up a finger to his lips when the gunfire died down, using his senses to tell when the two people were close enough before he stepped out from his spot.
“Kid-“ Tony tried to stop him. Watching as Peter webbed the faces of the two Agents and slammed them down to the floor. Knocking them out and at the least causing a concussion.
“I wish you’d stop doing that-“ Tony grumbled as he stepped out from his own hiding spot and his suit when he saw the office. “Your suit isn’t bullet proof. Mine is. Seriously kid it’s-“
“Mr. Stark just- stop talking for a minute.” Peter mumbled. Hand to the mechanics chest. He heard a “we’re out. Nothing important on our end” from Steve through the comms. Peter tapped Tony’s chest and mumbled a “wait here”
As he moved closer to one of the offices. The ticking got louder. It sounded like the arms of a clock. But only louder. Much louder. He carefully made his way inside. Checking for any traps and walked around to the back of the desk where the seat was. Slowly opening the draw and pausing when he saw the bomb placed inside.
10
At first Peter just stared at it.
9
Then his thoughts changed to how could he disarm it?
8
No.. he could disarm it in eight seconds.
7
Was everyone out?
6
Tony wasn’t out-
5
He sprinted from the room. The regard for any traps set now long gone as he ran to Tony.
4
“Get out of here!”
3
“What? Why!”
2
“Bomb! Go! Run!” He pushed Tony to move. Always behind him as the two ran
1
Peter continued to run behind him until the explosion, grabbing Tony and trying his best to protect him from the blast since Tony wasn’t in his suit. Holding the older man’s head to his chest with one hand. The other hand clinging to him and just trying to keep him safe as they were engulfed in flames. Peter falling to the floor with the other as the floors beneath them started to crumble. After they fell, he had just enough time to kneel over Tony, supporting the rubble from collapsing over them but with costs.
Metal rebar through the calf of his right leg and through his left lung. Using his back only to keep the concrete flooring up.
As Tony came round he noticed the dripping of something wet on his face. At first he thought it was water from a pipe. But when he touched it and held it to the light of the arch reactor, he couldn’t have been anymore wrong…
He then looked up. Spotting Peter kneeling over his body and blood trickling from his mouth. He tried to sit up. Quickly stopped by Peter’s talking.
“Don’t move- nudge me or any rubble and this whole thing could collapse and squish us like-“ he was cut off by coughing, the rubble rumbling n and shaking. Dust and small rocks falling from above. Tony could see it took everything in Peter to stop his arms from collapsing in on themselves as he coughed. Blood splattering onto Tony’s shoulder which lead Tony to wonder why. The metal bar he found that punctured through the kids lung seemed to be a pretty good reason…
“You’re holding this up?” Tony spoke mostly in disbelief.
“Trying to-“ Peter rested his head on Tony’s shoulder not caring for the blood he’d just splattered from coughing. Arms trembling. “Don’t think we’re gettin’ out..”
“Pe-r -ter To-“ Peter perked up when he heard the weak signal from Steve. Shakily lifting his head up some. “Peter? Peter can you hear me?”
“Rogers.. rubble. Hurry..” Peter rasped out down the coms, coughing once more. This time more blood than the last. And every time he coughed, his body would move. Causing the loss of blood to increase from the stab in his chest and calf and more rubble to fall around them. “Just.. can’t hold it-“
“What do you mean you can’t hold it?” This time Bruce spoke up.
“Pete’s single handedly stopping three floors of rubble from collapsing on us while having literal metal through his lung-“ this time Tony coughed. But from the dust. Not from any injuries.
It took them nearly two hours to get to the two of them. Tony being drug out from under Peter after determining it was safe while Steve took the weight of the large slab of concrete from Peter that had the rebar stuck into it and thus, stuck in Peter’s chest while Bruce figured out what to do.
“The only thing I can suggest is.. we cut the bar off. But the vibrations of the saw could cause an increase in blood loss- no. It will.”
“Listen I don’t care how you do it. I’m about to give in here. Either cut me free or my arms are gonna give and I’ll just fall off it that way..”
Bruce bit his lip. Neither were good options.. but removing the bar altogether seemed like the least traumatic on the organs of the two options
“Okay.. you’re going to do just that. Slowly. Just slowly move to lie down. That’s it..”
The pain wasn’t bad. But then again he couldn’t feel anything in that general area of his body. He tried to do it slowly. But his arms couldn’t take any more. Collapsing under his weight which caused the bar to tear out. Blood gushing from the injury. But Peter didn’t care. Or he didn’t notice. No one knew which. He didn’t react when the pressure was applied. He didn’t react when he was picked up. He didn’t react when he was set down in a bed on the jet. And the only change in Peter was he passed out shortly after the Jet took off.
Peter was in and out of consciousness for the days that followed. More unconscious than conscious but when he was he was mostly silent. Just.. lying there. Conscious but not present. It was worrying Tony a great deal. The kid had took a nasty blow to the head and days later was still dealing with a pretty bad concussion. It had became obvious when his adrenaline wore off. Drowsy and unresponsive. Confused and scared. He hadn’t spoken a word. He hadn’t moved besides being moved to the bathroom for his business or to move his head to look around the room. The rest of his body feeling too damn heavy to Peter to move.
Cho had given up on trying to get Peter to stay awake. As much as she hated the idea of Peter sleeping with a concussion she knew he’d be driven mad being forced to stay awake for what was so far three days with the concussion. There were small signs of improvement but Tony felt the improvement was too slow..
It took Peter a further two days to even acknowledge someone’s presence. As the boy came round he felt a hand holding his own, looking down at the strangers hand then following it up. He quickly realised it wasn’t the hand of a stranger but rather Tony Stark. “Mmm.. mr sta..” Peter groaned, trying to get the mechanics attention.
Tony looked from his phone down to the teen, noticing he was awake. “Hey kiddo..” Tony whispered gently. His voice was rough and worn down. Now that Peter thought about it.. his whole body looked worn down..
“You hurt..” Peter whispered. It came across as a statement but was intended as a question. Luckily Tony picked up on that..
“Nono.. not hurt kiddo..” Tony shuffled his chair closer to the bed and squeezed Peter’s hand gently. “Not hurt.. you saved me..” Tony hated that. He hated that Peter had so recklessly thrown his life away. So prepared to die to save Tony.
“S’ good.. wha happ’nd..”
“You don’t remember? The building collapsed from a bomb kiddo.. rebar though your leg and chest. You almost died, kid..” Tony whispered. Trying to break the news gently but there was no gentle way of putting it. “You’ve been out for.. five days now? Nearly six.. you woke up every now and then but you were out of it.. nasty concussion..”
Nodding slowly, Peter looked down to his chest. Shakily using one hand to pull away the hospital gown from his chest and looking down the neck hole of it. Spotting the bandages that were thicker then he would have thought.. “But.. the healin’” Peter whispered. “Should be healed by now..”
“Your body’s exhausted Pete.. you held up three floors from crushing us for nearly two hours with a punctured lung and two sticks of metal through you..” Tony sighed softly, moving to sit on the edge of the kids bed. His hand carding gently through Peter’s hair. “It’s a lot on any super soldier body, let alone yours..”
He watched as Peter nodded, then as the teen struggled to move along on the bed ignoring Tony’s protest. When there was room, Tony just sighed. Slipping into bed beside Peter and letting the teen get comfy cuddled up to him. “You don’t ever do that again..” he whispered to the kid. “Don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.. risked the world to get you back..”
Peter muttered a quiet “M’ srry” head resting on Tony’s chest and closing his eyes. There was a drowsy and half asleep “Love you dad..” that came from the teen. And Tony doubted that he even knew he said it.
Tony just placed a kiss to the teens head with a “love you too.. kiddo..” glancing to Pepper who was sat in the corner of the room that Peter hadn’t even realised was there. “Oh shut up..” Tony grumbled. Looking down to Peter. Any annoyance immediately fizzling away and replaced with an immense amount of care for the boy.