Chapter 5
Ned was sitting on the couch bored as hell playing a game on his phone but glad to be left alone. Happy had him and Peter pegged – they were so not social butterflies. He was also worried about Peter because he doesn’t trust Flash as far as he can throw him. Sometime later, he heard commotion coming from the kitchen and saw Flash and his friends run back into the house saying, “Oh my god, oh my god” over and over to each other. He thought Peter was going to be right behind them but he wasn’t. He got up and walked over to Flash, “Hey, where’s Peter?” he asked.
He saw the boys just stare at each other and shrug. “Um, I don’t know, he’s not in here? I thought he came back in a while ago. He said he had to go to the bathroom.” Flash lied but Ned didn’t believe a word he said. He was acting too suspicious and he’d want to say he even looked scared.
Ned shook his head at them. “No, I’ve been watching the door and he didn’t come in. Where is he?” He asked again getting frustrated but nervous something happened to Peter.
Again, Flash shrugged, “I’m not his keeper. You look for him. He’s gotta be around here somewhere.” Flash snarled.
Ned huffed and walked by them and started to look around the house in every room, even the bathroom just in case he missed him coming back in but he was nowhere. Then he tried Peter’s cell phone and it rang until it went to voicemail. “Come on, Peter, where the hell are you?” he asked himself.
Since the last place he saw Peter was to go outside, he went out to see if he was still there and maybe stayed back. Who knows, maybe he was having fun out here after all? He saw the small gang of pot smokers playing hacky sack and he walked over to the beer pong table but he wasn’t there. He approached the kids at the table and cleared his throat, “Hi, um, have you guys seen Peter Parker?” he asked them.
“Who?” someone asked since half the kids at this party didn’t go to his school.
“Peter Parker? He came out here with Flash.” Ned said twisting his hands together.
“Oh, I know Flash. He was just out here hanging out in the corner over there. Not sure what they were up to though, but one of them stole a beer cup from us!” The same girl told him. “Didn’t even ask!”
“Ok, thanks. I’ll go check,” Ned said and then walked toward the direction they pointed, into the dark corner of the yard. He didn’t see any signs of Peter but did see an empty red solo cup laying on the ground. He turned to head back into the house and on his way, he called Peter again. No answer but he heard his phone! Peter had a specific ring tone for Ned and it was his! He spun around to see where the ringing was coming from but didn’t see anything so he followed the ringing that led him to the shed.
He was nervous at first because it was dark as he opened the shed door, but then turned on his phone flashlight to see Peter laying on the floor! He shined the light around until he saw the light switch on the wall and when the lights turned on, he noticed that Peter was bleeding from the head and unconscious!
“OH MY GOD! PETER!” he yelled as he ran over and knelt beside him. He noticed he was still breathing but he had so much blood dripping down his face and soaked in his hair. “Peter! Peter, wake up! Please, wake up!” He said nudging him but Peter didn’t move a muscle. He was totally unresponsive. “Jesus, what did those fuckers do to you!” Ned cried.
xXx
Tony was sitting in his office catching up on some overdue SI work when his phone rang. Tony picked up on the first ring because he saw it was Peter. “Hey, Pete. Ready to come home already?” He asked.
“Mr. Stark, sir. This is Ned.” He said into the phone frantically.
“Ned, what are you doing on Peter’s phone? Where is he?” Tony asked with worry. His heart started racing and he stood up from the desk chair.
“He’s here sir but he’s hurt, really bad! I don’t know what to do!” Ned cried.
“Ned, put him on the phone, now!” Tony demanded. If Ned was calling him then he knew something bad must have happened to his son.
“He’s unconscious and I can’t wake him up!” Ned told him and it sounded like the kid was crying.
“Friday, connect to his watch, vitals now!” Tony yelled to her as he ran into the living room.
“Sorry Boss but Peter is not wearing his watch. He hasn’t been wearing it since the first week of September.” Friday announced.
Fuck! “Why the hell not!” he shouted to himself! He knows he’s supposed to wear it at all times when he’s not in his suit! It’s for emergencies just like this! Shit, no time right now, he’ll have to table that for later.
“Ned, tell me everything, where is he and what happened?!” Tony demanded again.
“He’s in the backyard in the shed and he’s bleeding from his head, a lot. I don’t know what happened sir, he was outside with, um, some other kids. I wasn’t with him but I found him like this! He needs help and I know I can’t call 911. Please, come help him, Mr. Stark. Please.” Ned begged and he was crying so hard by now.
“Ok, Ned, you did good. I’m on my way. Let me know if anything changes and don’t move him. We don’t know the extent of his injuries. Try to keep pressure on the wound with something and don’t leave his side until I get there, got it?” Tony told him.
“Ok, sir. I will and I’ll keep Peter’s phone with me and I won’t leave him.” Ned promised.
By the time he hung up, Tony was trying to push down the panic that was rising fast. His kid was hurt and didn’t know anything else! He was running towards the elevator when Friday spoke up scaring him half to death.
“Boss, may I remind you that Morgan is asleep in her room,” She announced and he could have kicked himself for forgetting! Usually, it wouldn’t matter because Pepper would be home so with an emergency like this, he could just take off on a moment’s notice but she was out of town for the weekend on business!
“Shit! Is anyone else in the tower? Rhodey, Bruce, anyone?” he asked rubbing a hand down his face trying to breathe pacing back and forth.
“Sorry Boss but Colonial Rhodes is in DC this weekend and Dr. Banner accompanied him. There is no one in the tower except the night janitorial staff.”
“Shit!” he swore again. “Call Happy, now!”
Happy picked up on the third ring and Tony heard loud noises in the background. “Tony?” Happy shouted.
“Happy, where are you?” Tony asked shouting back because it was so loud.
“I’m at Madison Square Garden, remember? You got me tickets to the game?”
Triple shit! He was too far for him to come all the way over here and then have Tony leave once he arrives. He needed to leave NOW! He didn’t know the extent of Peter’s injuries.
“Tony? What’s going on?” Happy asked worried since Tony didn’t respond.
“Peter’s hurt and I don’t have anyone here to sit with Morgan! I need to go get Peter!” he said with a shaky voice.
He heard Happy gasp. “What happened? Is he alright?”
“I don’t know anything right now. Ned just called and said he’s bleeding and unconscious. I have to get to him!” Tony shouted in panic.
“I’m on my way!” Happy yelled back.
“Hap, no you’re too far, don’t bother. I’ll think of something else, I gotta go.” And he hung up. He knew he left Happy with a ton of questions and worry but he had to get to Peter.
“Boss, the Medbay is staffed 24/7 and I’m sure there is someone that you can trust to watch over Morgan. Dr. Cho is in the lab as we speak.” She suggested.
Again, he was pissed for not thinking of the that himself but she did say nobody else was in the tower but he wasn’t being specific. She probably didn’t think he meant anyone in the Medbay counted but he’d reason with her later.
“Yes, patch her through, now!”
After quickly explaining the situation to Helen, she eagerly agreed to come to the penthouse and watch over Morgan while he get’s Peter. He couldn’t be more grateful! When he came back with Peter, he knows he’ll need her but he’ll work that out when he gets back.
As soon as she arrived, he thanked her and activated his nano suit and took off from the balcony. Since it was in the suburbs it was about thirty minutes away by car but he could get there in five in his suit.
xXx
Ned was crying over Peter’s lifeless form. Not lifeless he had to remind himself, just unconscious. He took off the button down he was wearing over his t-shirt to apply pressure to Peter’s forehead wound. He wasn’t sure how hard to press because he didn’t want to hurt him any more than he already was but he knew he had to slow down the bleeding to try to get it to stop.
After a few minutes which felt like hours, Peter began to stir and moan. “Peter? Hey, Peter? You waking up? Can you open your eyes?” Ned asked shaking his shoulder a bit. Peter started blinking slowly but his eyes weren’t focused on anything which freaked Ned out.
“Peter? Can you hear me?” he asked as he watched for any signs from Peter who just laid there blinking. Ned slowly turned Peter’s head so he could look at him and it was almost as if he was seeing right through him. “Peter? Can you hear me?” he asked again sniffling.
xXx
Peter was slowly coming to and he could faintly hear Ned calling his name and he sounded worried. His head hurt so bad he didn’t want to move so he laid still for a little bit longer. He might have dozed off for another minute or two until he heard Ned talking to him again asking him to open his eyes. He was trying and when he was finally able to open them, he couldn’t focus on anything but the pounding pain in his head and he was seeing double.
He felt Ned turn his head and that slight movement made him almost vomit. He ended up staring at his best friend who was kneeling beside him crying. Through blurry vision, it seemed that Ned looked scared for him and he didn’t know why.
“Peter? Can you hear me?” he heard him ask again and he didn’t want to see his friend scared anymore so he answered much to Ned’s relief.
“Uh huh,” he said but that was all. He kept staring at Ned trying to focus more but the pain was so horrible. He could barely see Ned and didn’t know where he was or what happened to him.
“Don’t worry, Peter. I knew I couldn’t call 911 so I called your dad and he’s on his way!” Ned told him.
That instantly gave him a jolt of panic and he could hear his heart beating in his ears. Even in his concussed state he knew that was a bad idea. He couldn’t let anyone at the party see Tony Stark come here for him or there would be tons of questions. He couldn’t risk that. The fear of anyone finding out was greater than the pain he was in so he tried sitting up but his arms felt like noodles. He needed to at least get to the street so nobody could see them together.
Trying to sit up was a bad idea because it almost made him black out again from the pain and unknowingly – the drugs. “Peter! Lay back down, what are you doing! You’re hurt and bleeding from the head and Mr. Stark said not to move you!” Ned exclaimed!
“I – I can’t let anyone see Tony with me. I c-can’t.” Peter didn’t even know he started crying until he was talking. Was he crying the entire time?
“What does that matter? Who cares! It would be cool to have Iron Man come for you!” Ned said trying to convince him to not move with a hand on his shoulder.
Peter was trying so hard to communicate but he was slurring badly! “No! It w’dn’t! Tr’st me, I can’t, I can’t r’sk it, I --.” Peter was so out of it he was almost about to tell Ned that he was being blackmailed but somehow, he came to his senses fast and stopped.
“Can’t risk what? What are you talking about? He’s your dad and you need help!” Ned yelled at him which caused his head to ache even more.
“Exactly, Ned. P-please, j’st help me up ‘n get me to the street away fr’m this house, p-please?” he begged crying which wasn’t helping the pain in his head.
Ned looked at him knowing it was a bad idea but he knew he couldn’t say no so he helped him up, very slowly. Peter’s body wasn’t cooperating and as he tried standing, his legs felt like lead. He could barely move them on their own and he became nauseous again. Finally, when he stood all the way up, Ned peaked his head out of the shed and saw that the people outside weren’t there anymore so they must have headed into the house. At least he could get Peter out to the front without anyone seeing them.
“Ok, the coast in clear, nobody is back here so we can cut through the yard to the front and we’ll be on the street. I still don’t think it’s a good idea that you walk though, your dad said not to move you!”
“I can w’lk, I have to. I gotta get out of here b’fore he comes. I can’t r’sk it.” Peter slurred out.
“So help me god Peter, when you’re feeling better you are going to explain what the hell you are talking about! I’m sick of this secret shit, got it?” Ned practically yelled and he felt bad his friend was mad at him.
Peter looked at Ned who was helping him stand and he seemed so conflicted and genuinely worried. He felt so bad for keeping it a secret but he has no choice, he’s trying to be a great friend in avoiding getting his private life made public but he can’t tell him that he was doing this for him.
It was very slow going and it felt as if his body was trying to move through molasses and he didn’t understand why. After a lot of stumbling and Ned half dragging him, they finally made it to the street and he sat down near the curb in the grass at the neighbor’s house. The pain in his head was so intense that he ended up puking which again, didn’t help the throbbing pain and dizziness he was experiencing. He laid back in the grass because he was so exhausted and his body felt like it weighed a ton. He needed to shut his eyes for just a little while. They were also under a streetlamp that was blaring down on him which wasn’t helping and the last thing he saw was the halo around the streetlight from his blurry vision.
He felt Ned shoving his shoulder to try to keep him from closing his eyes again. “Peter, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to sleep right now, you probably have a concussion. Peter? Peter?” But it was too late, Peter felt that familiar pull into darkness and he couldn’t stop it if he tried. His last thought was - too familiar, like that feeling when he’s been drugged…..
~~~~~~~~~~~~xXx~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tony called Ned again on his way because he was almost there and needed to know exactly where he was. Ned explained that they were in the street in front of the neighbor’s house and Tony didn’t have time for explanations right now. Ned told him that he was passed out again and that he couldn’t wake him up so he pushed his thrusters to the fullest to get there as fast as he could. He was trying his hardest to stem the panic. He’d have time for that later.
Two minutes later he landed with a loud clank of his Iron Man boots and retracted his nano suit in front of the two boys. He couldn’t believe the sight before him. His son was laying unconscious with a severe head wound all bloody with Ned sitting beside him crying.
“Ned, I know you told me you don’t know what happened but is that the god’s honest truth? You really don’t know?” Tony asked sounding pissed but worried as he ran over to Peter.
“No sir, I don’t. I was in the house and he was outside with Flash and his friends and then when I couldn’t find him after a while, I found him in the shed because I heard my ring tone. That’s all I know, Mr. Stark, you have to believe me.” Ned said crying. “Is he going to be ok?”
“Why was he in a shed? And why is he in the street? I told you not to move him!” He yelled not really meaning to but he was holding in his panic and trying to get the story straight to help Peter. He put on his glasses and demanded Friday to scan him.
“Peter has a severe concussion.” She started with. “There is blood loss but not enough to be in any danger. However, I am showing signs of an altered state.”
Tony frowned. “Altered state? Can you elaborate on that?” He was getting angry because Peter promised he wouldn’t drink or do drugs but now that she mentioned it, he could smell some beer on him.
Friday answered, “I suggest getting him to the Medbay as quickly as possible to run a blood analysist. I am unsure at the moment.”
“Ned, did you see him drink at all? Have you been drinking?” he asked harshly.
Ned shook his head with wide teary eyes. “No sir! Flash gave us cups with alcohol in them but we didn’t drink any, I swear! Um, but I’m not sure what happened when I wasn’t with him but I know he said he wouldn’t drink!”
Tony was trying to calm down because he wasn’t helping the situation and poor Ned was a mess as it was. “Can you tell me why he’s out here then?” Tony removed the bloody shirt from Peter’s forehead that Ned had been holding to take a look. There was a gash on his forehead and he saw a black and blue lump forming. It was still bloody and he also had some cuts on his face as well.
“He woke up for a little while and I told him not to move but he said he had to get away because um, because, um..”
“Spit it out kid,” Tony demanded.
Ned took a deep breath, “He said he couldn’t risk anyone seeing you come get him.” Ned finally told him while Tony just stared at Peter and then looked back at Ned.
“What? Risk what?” Tony asked confused. Why wouldn’t Peter want him to come and help him, especially if he’s hurt?
“I don’t know, he just had me help him move him over here so nobody could see you two together. He could barely walk, I practically dragged him here after he begged me. I’m so sorry Mr. Stark,” Ned cried.
Tony shook his head. Nothing was making sense at all, nothing! He was so lost but he brought his attention back to Peter because none of that mattered right now. “Pete? Can you hear me?” He asked stroking his bloody cheek. “Hey, Pete?” he asked again and he lifted his eyelids to see only the whites of his eyes. He was totally unconscious probably with a severe concussion and he noticed the puddle of vomit next to him confirming it, or his drinking, but the fact that he was asleep was scaring him. It was dangerous.
“Ned, I need to take Peter right now. I’m going to fly him to the Medbay to get looked at. I can’t take you with me, are you ok to get a ride home?” He asked worried about the crying boy. He hated leaving him all alone but he had no choice.
Just before Ned could answer a black car came flying towards them screeching to a halt. It was Happy! He must have left as soon as he called and drove straight over there. He got out of the car and rushed over. “Oh my god, what happened to him?” he asked looking between Ned and Tony.
“We don’t know yet. Can you take Ned home? I need to fly Peter back, he’s still losing blood and the drive is too long. I need him looked at now, he’s not waking up.”
“Yea, of course. Come on kid, you can fill me in on the way.” And both Ned and Happy headed to the car without hesitation.
Before Ned closed the door, he saw Tony bend over and scoop Peter up already in his Iron Man suit. “Please let him be ok.” Ned said and Tony nodded.
“He’s in good hand’s kid.” Tony told him.
He took off to the Medbay with his unconscious bleeding son in his arms. “Pete baby, come on, open those Bambi eyes for me, kiddo.” He begged while holding him tight but still nothing. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, kid.” He mumbled to himself as he pushed the thrusters faster.