Tony, as always, is working in his lab late at night when his music suddenly stops and FRIDAY’s voice comes through. Her voice, although mechanical, sounds a bit frantic, “Boss, Karen has just informed me that Peter has two gunshot wounds and has fallen unconscious.”
Almost like he had been struck by lighting Tony rockets out of his chair and starts running to the balcony as a suit forms around him. The nanobots close to meet each other just as he bursts through the balcony doors and takes to the sky following the route already on his HUD. “FRI, vitals now!” He commands. Red lights up his screen as Peter’s dropping vitals appear. “Shit! FRI get me there faster!” As soon as the words leave his mouth he is shooting through the sky at an alarmingly fast rate, but he doesn’t care. All he cares about is getting to his kid.
The flight lasts maybe five minutes at the most, but to Tony it feels like an eternity. His breath starts coming faster and faster as he imagines what he will find when he gets to the location. Will he be too late? What happened that caused this? Why didn't Peter call him for help? He snaps out of his thoughts as he starts his descent. He takes a few deep breaths, he can freak out later, right now he has to keep a clear head and help his kid.
When Tony touches down on the pavements he finds himself in the entrance of an alley. He runs in looking around trying to find any sign of his kid. It takes him longer than he wishes for something to catch his eye. A flash of bright red standing out from all the muted dull colors of the brick walls, trashbags, and dumpsters surrounding him. He practically stumbles out of his suit, ordering it to stand guard behind him, trying to reach the flash of red as fast as possible just for his heart to stutter at what he sees. It’s Peter, slumped against the side of a dumpster. His mask is still on and as soon as Tony crashes down next to the boy, his knees sending a jolt of pain up his body that he ignores, he rips the mask off of the kid. He is met with a pale relaxed face. One might believe the boy was just sleeping if it weren’t for the pale white skin and the dark red puddle growing beneath him. Not to mention the two holes, one in his chest and one in his abdomen.
“Kid!” He practically screams out tapping the boy’s cheek. Peter makes no move. “Come on Pete, this is no time or place to sleep.” Still nothing. Without another thought he scrambles back to his suit letting the nanobots form around him like liquid and then scoops the kid up. He feels nauseous at the way Peter’s head lolls to the side and off his shoulder at an uncomfortably looking angle. He fixes it so Peter’s head is now pressed against his chest and holds him tighter not caring that his armor is getting stained with blood. His kid’s blood.
He takes off ordering FRIDAY to have Helen Cho ready for when he gets back to the tower. The flight back feels longer than the flight there as he keeps looking down at the unresponsive boy in his arms. “Hang in there kid, stay with me.” His voice cracks and he would be embarrassed, but no one is there to hear it. The rhythmic beeping of Peter’s pulse within his suit is the only thing giving him relief and showing proof that the kid in his arms is alive.
The second he touches down Peter is ripped from his metal arms and laid on a gurney. For a split second Tony wants to fight and take his kid back, but he knows Peter needs treatment. Keeping him would put him in more danger than he already is. By the time Tony is freed from the suit Peter is already gone from his sight. His breathing picks up as he no longer can see the boy or focus on the pulse that was the only thing keeping him together.
He stumbles into the building where Rhodey intercepts him. “Tones, you okay man? What’s going on?” Tony says nothing as he stares at the closed medbay doors and hyperventilates, his knees wobbling and close to giving out.
“Are you hurt? Do I need to get Cho?”
That snaps him out of his panic. “No,” he says breathlessly. Helen needs to focus on Peter not him. Peter is the one in trouble not him.
“Fine, but sit down for me okay? You look like you might pass out.” Rhodey leads him, with one hand on his back, to the waiting room nearby, the only sounds being the muffled commotion behind the doors, Tony’s still fast breathing, and the whirl of Rhodey’s braces.
Tony falls heavily in one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs Rhodey does the same next to him. “You want to tell me what’s going on?” Rhondey asks, one hand still on Tony’s back to ground him.
Tony takes another minute to slow his breathing and find his voice. Rhodey is patient and waits as long as it takes. “Peter was shot twice on patrol.” He breathes out, his voice shaking.
“Shit.” Is all his best friend says. They are both silent for a beat. “He’s a strong kid Tony. And more than that he is as stubborn as you, he will not give up and you know it.”
Tony huffs out a laugh, although out of place in the situation he couldn’t help it because, yeah his kid is stubborn. Stubborn in the best way and his best friend is right, no matter what Peter Parker never gives up.
_____
Tony has not left Peter’s side since he came out of surgery. Helen comes in to check on him every so often, recording his vitals and checking if the IV bag needs to be changed. “When will he wake up?” Tony asks, his voice raspy from disuse.
Helen turns from one of the monitors to the disheveled man, “Like I said the last three times you asked, there is no way to know. He is healing well, but his healing factor is working overtime. All of his energy is going towards recovering and everything else is in shut down. He will probably be asleep for quite a while longer, days probably, so he can heal.” Although she has relayed this information to him at least three times before she is still patient and professional, not a hint of annoyance. She knows he’s just worried.
Tony sighed, he knew all of this, but some part of him was hoping that if he asked enough the answer would change. No luck so far. Still he knows the kid is getting better, for one since he is no longer on a ventilator. Seeing a tube down his kid’s throat made him want to throw up, but still he never budged from his spot. It had been three days since the kid came out of surgery.
When he first heard the extent of the damage he thought he might pass out. Peter had a collapsed lung from one of the bullets going right through it. And internal bleeding in his abdomen that had to be fixed. He was on a feeding tube as well as a ventilator for the first two days, but after the surgery and his healing factor working on repairing the damage it became safe to take him off of both on the third day. Earlier today.
Rhodey kept coming in to give Tony food and fluids, much of which the mechanic refused. He also tried to get his friend to take a shower and sleep in his own bed, offering to stay with Peter while he did so, but Tony still refused. “I’m not leaving until I know he’s okay.” He would say.
“He is okay, he will be okay.” Rhodey countered, his voice sincere.
“I’m not leaving until I hear that he is okay from his own lips.” Tony would respond and that would be the end of the conversation.
____
Day five of Peter asleep was when everything went to hell. Tony still didn’t move except to use the bathroom connected to Peter’s medbay room. He would also sometimes change in there when Rhodey brought him a clean outfit instead of the wrinkled clothes that he had slept in in the chair next to Peter’s bed.
He hadn’t slept much, too worried he would miss Peter waking up; he had still barely eaten anything, and only drank when he felt lightheaded. It is not like he was trying to go hungry or thirsty, but looking at Peter so small and pale in the bed made his appetite basically nonexistent. Because of this his blood sugar was very low and when he got up to use the bathroom on day five he felt like he was floating. But in reality it was quite the opposite. He crashed down to the floor passing out before his head hit the linoleum tiles with a sickening crack.
FRIDAY alerted Dr. Cho who came running into the room calling for some nurses to help her. They took his vitals which were lower than they should be and got him up on a bed. They hooked him up to an IV and put a heart monitor on his finger. His pulse was faster than they wanted, probably from dehydration. Through all of this he did not wake up. Although, in an ironic turn of events, Peter woke up a few hours after Tony passed out.
______
Tony came to late at night that day. His head was fuzzy and he still felt tired. He tried to remember falling asleep but he couldn’t. He remembers being by Peter’s bedside. Peter! His eyes shot open and he tried to get up. Suddenly hands were on him pushing him back down on the bed. When did he get in bed? He tried to fight against the hands to get to Peter, but they were stronger than him. He kept trying to fight them until the voice connected to the hands spoke and stilled his movements.
“Mr. Stark, you’re okay, everythings fine, just lie back down.” Tony moved his head to the side and saw Peter standing above him, a concerned look overtaking his features.
He hesitantly laid back down and took a minute to take in the rest of his surroundings. He was in the medbay on one of the beds. He felt a tug at his arm and saw an IV catheter in the crook of his elbow. And now that he paid attention he could hear a beeping that matched with his own heartbeat, which also matched the dull pounding in his head. His eyebrows furrowed, “Isn’t this supposed to be the other way around?” He asked looking back to Peter who was now sitting in the chair next to the bed.
“What?” Peter asked, matching Tony’s confused expression.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the one in the bed, not that I am complaining, and I’m supposed to be the one in the chair?”
Before Peter could respond another voice entered the room, “Yeah, maybe if you took care of yourself.” The two look towards the door to see Rhodey leaning against the frame. “Finally awake I see.”
“What happened?” Tony said as he brought hand up to his aching head.
“What happened is you were barely eating, drinking, or sleeping the last few days and your body gave out.” His tone was accusatory, although Tony could also hear the concern coming through his voice. “You also have a minor concussion from hitting your head on the floor when you passed out.”
Tony felt guilty but didn't know what to say to that, so instead he turned back to Peter. “Are you okay?” He asked as he looked the boy up and down, making sure he was okay. It was then that he noticed not one, but two IV poles with IV bags attached. “Wait, what are you doing out of bed?!”
Once again, before Peter could answer Rhodey spoke up, he scoffed, “Like father like son.” He rolled his eyes, “He refused to lay back down the minute we told him what happened to you. Against doctor's orders he forced me to help him in here to wait for you to wake up.”
Tony would have smiled at Rhodey calling Peter his son if he weren’t so concerned and baffled at the boy, “Jesus Pete, you need to take care of your-”
“Really? You want to be giving me that speech right now?” Peter cut him off, gesturing to him in the bed.
“Do as I say, not as I do.” Tony countered, “To paraphrase myself, don’t do anything I would do and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. What happened to operating in that small grey area?” Peter rolled his eyes.
“Seriously?” Rhodey cut in again, “Neither of you have a leg to stand on here. Seriously though, neither of you should be standing or out of bed at all.”
“Rhodey’s right,” Tony said, making the aforementioned man laugh.
“Well that's the first time you’ve ever said that. FRIDAY” Rhodey said looking towards the ceiling, “please tell me you recorded this momentous moment.”
Tony rolled his eyes at his best friend and spoke before FRIDAY could respond, “You should not be out of bed Pete.” He moved over in the hospital bed being careful of the wires and tubes attached to himself. “If you're going to stay here and look after me you have to lie down as well.”
Peter smiled sheepishly, but he couldn’t deny that he was exhausted. He carefully crawled up onto the bed beside his mentor. Tony put an arm around him hugging the boy into his side. He felt Peter relax into the bed as he brushed his other hand through the kid’s curls.
Rhodey smiled at the two, but then became serious, “If either of you even think about getting up, other than to use the restroom, I will strap you down.” Both Tony and Peter rolled their eyes at the colonel. “You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. Jesus, how did I get roped into babysitting two defiant children?”
At the same time Tony retorted, “I resent that!” and Peter counted with, “Not a child!”
Rhodey laughs at the two’s responses, “The apple never falls far from the tree.” And with that he turns and leaves the room. Tony can’t help the smile that forms on his face from the implication of that phrase.
Peter lets out a yawn and Tony looks down at the kid, his eyes drooping with fatigue. “Go to sleep Pete, I’ll be here when you wake up this time.”
Peter smiled at that and gave a sleepy nod, “You better be.” he stated right before he let his eyes fall shut. Tony fell asleep, with a soft smile on his face, soon after, this time on purpose.