Hurt by a Teammate
Tony honestly thought he had gotten away with just a bruise. When the bot slammed into him, he was sure he would be done for, but much to his surprise it released him almost immediately. He felt slightly tingly, as if someone had shocked him, but the feeling didn’t register as he flew away from it.
“Mr. Stark!” Peter’s voice through the coms brought Tony back from his near death state.
“I’m okay kiddo.” He reassured him, rising above the scene. The bot was minor, already half destroyed by its lack of coordination by the time they got there, and Peter probably shouldn’t have been there. Tony could’ve handled it by himself, but they were in the lab when he got the call, so Peter insisted on coming along. Peter shot a web at the bot, pulling it from the air.
“Boss, the suit is in the process of deactivation.” Friday said helpfully, as if it were normal for the Iron Man Suit to deactivate itself midair.
“What? Don’t deactivate!” Tony said, but it was too late. Friday stopped responding, and his controls were going haywire.
“Uhh, Mr. Stark?” Peter sounded uncertain. “Are you okay? You’re sort of drifting.” Tony was attempting to enact all his emergency protocols but none of them worked, the entire suit had malfunctioned and was quickly shutting down.
“I’m losing control.” Tony panicked, realizing there was no way to fix this. He was falling, and in about ten seconds he and all some ninety pounds of useless Iron Man suit was going to hit the ground.
He started to brace himself for impact, the screen in front of him completely dark. It was then, ten feet from the ground, that his leg got ripped off his body. Or at least that’s what he felt.
There was an audible crack, and at the same time an agonizing, ripping sensation spread through his knee as he caught a glimpse of the Spider Man suit above him. He shouted in pain, collapsing as his feet hit the ground. The suit felt heavy around him, specifically on right leg which was currently on fire. He grabbed it with his arm automatically, breathing heavily with pain.
“Shit.” He murmured under his breath, forcing himself to stand, which unfortunately left him on the ground with his knee in more pain.
“Friday, talk to me.” His voice was tight with pain as he watched Peter start to web up the robot. Friday did not respond, confirming his worst suspicions.
He pressed the emergency release button that caused the suit to collapse in on itself, leaving him in his civilian clothes. He winced as he glanced at his knee which was already seeming to swell.
Pulling out his phone with his good arm, he shakily army crawled as best as he could into an alley as he pulled up Rhodey's contact. He picked up after two rings.
"Tony, I literally just got in the city and you're already bothering me?" Rhodey joked playfully. Tony leaned heavily against the building, holding back a yelp as his knee jostled.
"Peter.... need your help." Tony said tightly, barely able to clear his head enough to make out the words.
"What?" Rhodey was all business now, his voice giving away his concern. "What's wrong with Peter?"
"Nothing...I'm out though and he's alone. The thing is worse than....stupid.." he breathed, jumbled thoughts leading to disconnected sentences.
"I'm on my way. Did you hit your head?" Rhodey, ever the worrier knew Tony Stark had a knack for hiding head injuries until the last second.
"No." Tony breathed, closing his eyes as he tilted his head back. Maybe he wouldn't ever be able to use his right knee again. Then he would have to make a prosthetic limb, something he couldn’t even fathom right now with his foggy head.
"Stay with me Tones. I'm messaging Clint, he's on his way." As if on cue, Tony saw Clint out of the corner of his eye. He breathed a sigh of relief, finally able to relax now that Peter wasn't alone.
After a couple minutes, there was a giant boom, vibrating the ground and unfortunately Tony's knee, then silence. He stood much to his discomfort, stumbling out of the alley and landing in the middle of the road. He pushed himself up again so that he was standing on his good leg.
Sure enough, the giant robot had fallen, Peter sufficiently webbing it. Almost as soon as he took in the scene, Peter was running to him.
"Oh my gosh Mr. Stark, I'm so sorry." Peter said, hesitating a few feet away as his worried eyes scanned Tony favoring his leg.
"I didn't mean to I swear, you were falling and I just didn't know what to do and when I passed over you I thought I could grab your leg and I totally forgot the most basic physics of-"
"Peter stop." Tony said, finally cutting off Peter's ramblings. "It's fine kid, you saved me."
Clint approached them, shooting Tony a pitiful smile.
"Dislocated?" Clint asked simply.
"Probably. Maybe tore a couple muscles from the feel of it."
"I'm sorry-" Peter began again, but Tony cut him off.
"Hey, no apologizing. The adults are talking." Tony tried to muster his usual personality with his knee sending shooting pains up his leg. Clint laughed at that as police sirens approached.
"I can take care of them if you can get him back to the tower." He said to Peter, whose eyes glinted excitedly at having a job.
Once Clint walked away, Peter turned back to Tony, nervous.
“How should I do this?” He asked biting his lip. He looked so scared, something that made Tony extremely uncomfortable. Peter wasn’t meant to be scared of him.
“You swing back to the Tower, I’ll stay here and try to get ahold of Happy.” Tony responded already grabbing his phone.
“Wait, no! I’m supposed to get you back to the Tower.” He objected, sounding more like a little kid than anything.
“Kid,” Tony said slowly, “there is no way you’ll be able to get me back.”
“I can swing.” Tony winced at just the thought of how swinging would hurt.
“Peter, that’s not going to work. Go back to the Tower now.” Tony snapped, starting to get annoyed.
“I can help, please.” Peter looked desperate, something that if Tony had a clearer mind would be a dead giveaway of his guilt. Unfortunately for Peter in this mindset it only made him more frustrated.
“Peter, don’t you think you’ve done enough?” Peter’s eyes widened in surprise and Tony watched his face fall.
“Yes Mr. Stark.” He said quietly, shooting a web at a nearby building and swinging away.
———
Peter did not meet Tony back at the Tower. In fact, Peter had not even spoken to Tony until a week after the incident. Tony wasn’t too worried about it, Peter tended to disappear at times before coming back full force with texts and lab days and voicemails, it was something he had gotten used to, yet this time felt different.
Tony was in the lab working on a more efficient knee brace when FRIDAY alerted him of Peter’s arrival. He frowned, glancing at the date and running through a mental calendar before coming to the conclusion that he had not planned anything with Peter.
He decided to wait it out and let Peter come down to the lab, but that didn’t happen. After ten minutes or so, Tony was growing more confused.
“Fri, where’s he at?” He asked.
“Peter is currently in the penthouse, appearing to be looking through your bedroom for something.” Tony frowned, standing with a wince. He half hobbled, half limped his way to the elevator, then when he reached the penthouse down the hall.
Sure enough, there was a rustling sound coming from his room, then when he opened the door Peter Parker himself looking under the bed.
Tony crossed his arms, smirking as he leaned gently against the doorframe.
“You looking for something?” Peter sat up quickly, bumping his head on the bed frame in the process.
“Mr. Stark?” He said as he rubbed his head where it had hit, sounding confused to find Tony in his own house.
“What’cha looking for kiddo? Maybe I can help you find it.” Peter hesitated, eyes falling to the clunky knee brace around Tony’s knee.
“Hey, eyes up here.” Tony snapped his fingers jokingly, stepping into the room. Peter continued to stare at his knee, a look of guilt flashing across his face.
“I’m so sorry.” He murmured, almost inaudibly.
“Why are you sorry? Are you trying to rob me?” Tony joked, hobbling over to the bed so he could sit.
“I should have known- I shouldn’t have….” Peter stuttered, sitting down on the bed next to Tony and threading his fingers nervously through his hair.
“We all make mistakes Kid.” Tony’s heart broke at the look in Peter’s eyes, so full of sorrow and regret.
“I don’t want to hurt you ever again.” He whispered, staring at his hands almost angrily. Tony grabbed Peter’s hands gently, pulling them to him.
“Hey, look at me.” Peter continued to stare at Tony’s knee, so Tony gently put his hand under his chin and lifted it. After a moment, Peter begrudgingly met Tony’s eyes. “I’m safe, okay? It was an accident. I know that, you know that. I am in no way angry with you, nor did the thought that you may have done it on purpose ever cross my mind. Okay?” Peter stared at him, not saying anything. After a moment Tony nodded Peter’s chin for him with a smile.
“You’re right Mr. Stark!” Tony said in a mocking high pitched voice. “In fact, I always think you’re right because you’re super smart and super cool!” Peter laughed finally, and Tony’s smile widened.
Tony slapped his legs with finality, standing up and glancing around the room. “Alright, what was it that you came in here to steal?” Peter flushed red, bowing his head in embarrassment.
“I left my backpack here and I really need my handwritten essay for tomorrow. I thought you may have put it in your room or something when I couldn’t find it in the common area.” Tony laughed.
“Anything you leave will be exactly where you left it Kid, I don’t put things away. It’s probably still in the lab.” Peter smiled and after a moment scrambled after Tony who was hobbling out of the room.
“I can help you Mr. Stark.”
“Peter, I swear to God you’re worse than Pepper sometimes” Tony rolled his eyes as Peter helped support Tony as he left the room.