I Promise

“He’s out.” Helen proclaimed.

Tony looked down at the limp form in his arms. He was sad to see that this was the most relaxed he had ever seen Peter. Even when he was asleep his face was always furrowed with trepidation, for what he saw in his dreams, for what was waiting for him when he was conscious, or both, Tony didn't know. Only with the help of a drug did Peter truly look peaceful now.

“Tony, we need to move him.” Helen’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. Tony didn’t realize he was holding Peter tight, like he did not want him to be taken. “He’ll be fine, it will be over before you know it.” Helen might have thought that was true, but those next few hours would feel like days to Tony.

He loosened his grip right as some of Helen’s staff came in with a gurney. Two nurses gently lifted Peter's unconscious form from Tony’s chest and placed him onto the gurney. They stripped him to his boxers and put him in a hospital gown before strapping him in. They then started connecting him to machines that were attached to the gurney. During this Helen followed the movements of the nurses with Peters IV bag, so it wouldn’t be pulled out. She came around with the bag and hooked it onto the IV stand connected to the gurney. She then got to work on putting in a second IV.

Tony knew Peter was unconscious and could not feel it, but he also knew how afraid Peter would be right now if he were awake. He had to ask, “Why are you putting in another IV?” Peter already did not like seeing the one that was already in, if it wasn’t necessary Tony wanted to limit the number of things Peter was afraid of.

Helen answered without letting her attention slip, “The first is for the anesthetic, if we deliver fluids through that one anymore it could dilute it and he would be at risk for waking up. But he still needs the fluids so I have to set up a second IV.”

Tony nodded slowly, he had not moved from the bed. The last thing he wanted was for Peter to wake up, he shuttered just thinking about it. While he was stuck in his head Helen finished putting in the second IV and the nurses had taken the oximeter off Peter’s finger and replaced it with one that looked almost identical, but was connected to a bigger machine that displayed his oxygen level. They also put leads on his chest that all connected to a machine on the gurney tracking his heart rate. They placed a blood pressure cup on his bicep as well, and Tony had noticed they had to use the child size one because he was so malnourished. Helen was going to put in the breathing tube downstairs in the sterile room for sanitary reasons and to save Tony that image of Peter.

By the time they were done Tony could barely see Peter between all the machines and wires. It all looked so dramatic, but he knew every piece of machine was needed and there to make sure Peter was okay. They started to move the gurney and Tony immediately hopped off the bed. It was like there was a magnet pulling him, he did not want to leave Peter.

Helen noticed the sudden move, “Tony, you can ride down with him, but you will have to wait in the waiting room during the surgery.”

Tony wanted to argue, but he knew it was for the best. If he was there he would just be in the way, “Okay.”

They moved smoothly through the halls and into the elevator. FRIDAY took them straight to the Medbay. As they rolled the gurney out it hit a bump between the elevator and the floor they were on. Peter’s hand fell and hung off the gurney limply. Tony instinctively grabbed his hand as a confort. Whether it was supposed to be a comfort for Peter or for himself only he knew.

“Alright, we’re going to take him in, you can wait over there in the waiting room.” Helen knew Tony knew where the waiting room was, it was his building after all, but she knew he was not in the right headspace at the moment. His worried mind might need the reminder.

“C-can I just have one minute?” Tony had told Peter everything would be fine, but to be honest he was scared as well. It wasn’t a big procedure, but he had not been separated from Peter for more than a few minutes since he had known him. Just the thought of being away from Peter and not there to help him made his heart crack.

“Sure.” Helen smiled sympathetically. She and her team stepped away, but did not go too far.

Tony leaned over Peter and brushed his hair away from his face with the hand that wasn’t holding him. “Alright kiddo, I'll be right out here the whole time. I am not leaving. I will be right with you when you open your eyes again.” He was about to pull away when he remembered what he forgot, “I promise.” he whispered. And with that he stepped away.

Helen came back and gave Tony another smile right before her and her team took Peter through the double doors. Tony just stood there and did not move. He knew he was being overly dramatic and supid, but he felt like a piece of his heart was in that room and he was broken without it, without Peter. Again, over dramatic, he had only known the boy a few days, but there was something about him that made Tony feel protective towards him. He stood there for, he’s not sure how long, until three figures came down the hall. Rhodey was the first to greet him, “Tones, how are you? How’s the kid?” He looked concerned.

Tony realized he had not spoken to his best friend the whole time Peter had been here. “I-I’m fine. He’s in there.” He pointed and looked at the double doors longingly. Rhodey gave a small nod of understanding.

“He’ll be okay, he’s a tough kid.” Bucky added. And if anyone knew whether that was true it would be him.

Tony nodded with a small smile to Bucky. That was rare, especially since he was not putting on appearances for Peter’s sake at the moment. Bucky returned the smile. Tony then gave a slight nod to Steve who was also standing there.

Steve felt awkward in the situation, he had not officially met Peter yet and Rhodey was closer to Tony than he was. But he came mostly for Bucky. He did want to know how the kid was, memories of how sacred he was on the jet flashed through his head. And he did want to check in with Tony to see if he is okay. But he was there for Bucky. Although he did not show it to the rest, Bucky was struggling.

Not only was he enraged at Hydra for what they did to a child, what they did to Peter. But this whole situation brought unpleasant Hydra memories back to him. Since clearing out the Hydra base he had had nightmares about them every night. He thought those had finally stopped, but seeing Peter and the muzzle brought them all back. Steve was there for every one of them, holding him and helping him though it. He felt bad for waking him every night. Bucky had even offered to sleep on the couch instead of in their bed so he could get a good night's sleep. Steve had refused.

Last night after he had come back from officially meeting Peter he cried in Steve's arms. The minute Peter said the word ‘chair’ he broke inside. He held it together for Peter until he left, but he was heartbroken that Peter had to go through that. Bucky would still feel phantom pains just thinking about that god awful machine. So, Steve was there for Bucky and Bucky was grateful.

It was silent for a while until Rhodey spoke up, “Why don’t we sit down? We’re going to be here for a while.”

Although Tony did not want to create even more space between him and Peter he knew it would be exhausting to stand in front of the doors for the entire surgery. Without a word he turned to walk to the waiting room, the other three right behind him. Tony and Rhodey sat down in chairs next to each other and Bucky and Steve did the same. Bucky and Steve’s chairs faced Tony and Rhodey. They sat in silence, none of them knowing what to say.

____

Peter didn’t know where he was, everything was pitch black. He thought he would be scared, since he couldn’t see or feel anything. He should be afraid, but he felt comforted. Although he couldn’t see or feel he could hear. But he could only hear an echo. An echo of two words from the one person he trusted more than anything. Two words that made him feel safe. Two words that told him everything would be okay.

“I promise”

___

It had been 2 hours, two of the longest hours of Tony’s life. He knew nothing life threatening was going on behind those double doors, but he still couldn’t help but worry.

“He’ll be fine Tones.” Rodney said as he noticed Tony's anxiety increase through the two hours.

“I know, I know, I just want to see him.”

“You will soon, I’m sure they're almost done.” Rodey tried to reassure.

Steve being ever logical needed to ask a question plaguing his mind, and since they just had to keep waiting he thought now would be the best time, “Tony can I ask you a question?”

Tony was already dreading the question even though he did not know what it was. Still he agreed, “What’s on your mind, Capsicle?” He was happy for the distraction at least.

“Once Peter is healthy, where will he go?” Bucky and Rhodey had the same question, but they were not as brazen as Steve to actually ask. Especially at this moment when Peter was still in surgery.

Tony looked up at him, confusion etched into his face, “What do you mean? He stays here.” He said it like it was obvious.

“You're going to raise the kid?” Steve had known Tony for a while and never pictured him as a mentor or father.

Although Tony already told Helen Peter was staying, the words ‘raise the kid’ rang in his mind. More specifically ‘raise’ like a parent does to their child. Tony had not had a good role model for a father. For a businessman, maybe, but father definitely not. He didn't want to make the mistakes his father did. If he was anything like Howard as a father, then he did not deserve to be one. A father that is. But when he thinks of treating Peter the way Howard treated him it makes him physically ill. He would never speak to or hurt Peter the way his father hurt him. So yes he was going to raise Peter. Obviously he already missed over ten years of his life, but he can try his best to make the rest of his life happy. Help him be a kid for a few more years.

Just a few weeks ago his own train of thought would have made him laugh. ‘Raise a child, yeah right.’ But Peter opened something in his heart that he had, until recently, locked up tight. Peter had made him believe for the first time in his life that he would not end up just like his father if he had a kid. He had dismissed the idea of a family, a traditional family, since the Avengers were somewhat like a family, many many years ago. He was too afraid he would turn into his father if he did. The last thing he ever wanted to do what hurt someone like his father hurt him, but Peter proved his worries to be unfounded. “Yes.” It was a short answer to such a heavy question and large train of thought, but it was all he had to say. Yes he would raise Peter.

“Have you thought this through Tony?” Steve asked concerningly.

“Yes, in depth.” Tony said truthfully.

“And you still think it’s a good idea?”

Tony sighed knowing Steve would not be happy until he heard Tony’s reasoning. “First of all he is safest here, for all we know Hydra is looking for him.” If only he knew how right he was. “Second, he is not normal. We can help him use his powers for good, or not use them at all, it’s up to him. If he does want to use them we can help him and teach him. Third, we have people here that can help him emotionally. We have people here who have gone through what he has gone through.” He directed the last sentence at Bucky, a bit sadly.

Bucky smiled at him softly. Although he hated discussing Hydra he would do anything to help Peter. Plus he knew it was not good for him to bottle up his feelings so it would be beneficial for him as well.

“Fourth, he trusts me. If I send him away that trust will be broken, and so far he doesn't trust anyone else except Bucky a little bit.” Bucky's heart leapt at the prospect of Peter trusting him. “Fifth and finally,” normally he would not say this next part, but it was only Rhodey, his best friend, Steve, one of his closest friends, and Bcuky who Peter was starting to trust and just that made him like Bucky more. Also Peter had made him show his emotions more on the surface, “I don’t want to let him go.”

The last part hung in the air. It was the raw truth that none of them, except maybe Rhodey, was used to hearing from the man. Steve seemed frozen and shocked thinking ‘Tony really did think this through.’

“We’ll be here to help both you and the kid every step of the way.” Rhodey assured after some comfortable silence as they all took in everything that Tony had said. Bucky nodded at what Rhodey said and so did Steve. Tony smiled at them all. Just at that moment the double door opened. All four of the men's heads snapped in its direction. Tony immediately stood up. Helen came in with an exhausted smile, and before Tony could ask she assured, “He’s fine.” Tony looked relieved even though he knew Peter would be. He saw some nurses wheeling a gurney with Peter on it over to the elevator.

“Can I go with him?” Tony asked not to take his eyes off of the gurney.

Helen turned to see where he was looking and looked back at him and smiled softly, “In a minute. My team is just going to set him back up in your room with some added machines to keep track of his vitals. He won't be awake for about another hour. In the meantime I want to talk to you about the procedure and recovery process.”

Tony couldn’t tear his eyes away from Peter but then he and some nurses disappeared into the elevator. The doors closing effectively cut off Tony's line of sight to Peter. He snapped his attention back to Helen, “Of course, sorry.”

“No need to apologize, let’s sit down. Do you want Bucky, Steve, and Rhodey here while I explain?”

Tony thought for a minute. He didn’t want Rhodey to leave because he was a helpful support for him and Bucky was there to help Peter and Steve was there to help Bucky. He didn’t know if they knew he realized why Steve was really ther,e but he was glad Bucky had a support just as he was trying to be one for Peter. All of them were there in some way to directly or indirectly help Peter so he was alright if they all stayed. “It’s fine, they can stay.”

She nodded and sat down in one of the waiting room chairs. The others followed, sitting in the row facing her. “We took the GI tube out. As you know he heals quickly, as long as he is getting proper nutrients, so, it should be healed in the next few days. In that time we need to keep a close eye to make sure it does not get infected. During the surgery we disinfected your room so that should help. It should be rebandaged and cleaned twice a day until it is fully healed.” She paused to give Tony a minute to take in the information, then she continued. “Before starting the surgery we took X-rays of his legs. Unfortunately it was worse than we thought, we had to re-break his legs in a couple of places.” Tony winced at the thought of that. Helen took a breath to give Tony a second. Tony was not the only one distraught from that information Bucky looked sad and angry, and Steve and Rhodey just looked sad. “After that we splinted both his legs so they will heal properly.”

“When will he be able to walk again?” He said ‘again’ because he knew Peter used to walk, but it just crossed his mind fully that he had never seen Peter walk. He already knew that but never really thought about it until now.

She frowned a bit, “I am not sure. Since he heals fast his legs should be fixed hopefully in the next week, but” They all looked worried at the word ‘but,’ “Since he hasn't walked in months from what I have been told and from the evidence of muscle deterioration in his legs, it might be a while. He will probably need physical therapy to build up the muscles again to make them strong enough to carry his weight.” They all still looked distraught and sad. Helen was quick to try and reassure a bit, “Again, this is all a guess. I still don’t know enough about his enhancements to know for sure. For all I know he will be up and walking as soon as his legs heal, but I just have to think about and plan for every scenario. I already contacted a physical therapist I trust if need be.”

Tony was so thankful that she was covering all bases in case, but also worried about Peter’s reaction to another new person. Not only another new person but a stranger to Tony as well. “Thank you, but it will be up to Peter whether he feels comfortable with a physical therapist.”

Helen smiled at him, “Of course. If he does need physical therapy and he is not comfortable with a new person I can get the material and have the therapist show you the exercises so you can do them with him instead.” Tony nodded and was glad she was so understanding.

Just then a nurse came down the hall, “Peter is all set up in Mr. Stark’s room and should be waking up in less than an hour.” he directed at Helen.

“Thank you.” She said to him and he nodded and left. “Alright,” She said, turning her attention back to Tony, “if you want we can go up to your room.”

“Yes, please.” Tony said, all he wanted was to see Peter. He gave Rhodey a hug and gave a nod and a smile to Bucky and Steve. He then followed Helen into the elevator. They rode up in silence. The elevator doors opened and they walked to his room. The door was already open.

When he walked in and saw Peter he felt a rush of emotions of love, concern, and sadness. He was still unconscious, lying on his back. His legs were both in splints so he would not be able to bend them or move them much. He was still in a hospital gown since he wouldn’t be able to put pants on over the splints, but still they wanted him to be covered. Helen gestured for him to come closer. There were machines on the other side of the bed hooked up to wires that were connected to Peter. “All of these machines keep track of his vitals, if something was wrong they would normally beep.” Tony knew that would probably scare Peter, and was about to say something but then Helen continued, “I don’t want to frighten him, and I know just the sight of the machine might, so I want to lessen his discomfort as much as possible. So, instead I have rigged them to buzz your and my watches three times every two minutes if something is off to alert us. If this happens I will come up and check.” Tony was grateful for her considerateness. “While he is out I am going to show you how to clean and redress the surgical sight.” Tony nodded and gave all his attention to her. She lifted the hospital gown, he was still wearing boxers, Tony was glad he still had some coverage to make him more comfortable. On his stomach, where the GI tube used to be was a white patch of dressing. “When you take the old bandage off it will pull his skin and might hurt. Take an alcohol swab and lightly wipe the edges as you pull it off. This should make it come off less painfully.” The bandage came off and Tony saw where the hole in his abdomen used to be. It was now stitched up but looked red and angry. “Then take a different swab and clean the area. After that, take gauze and dab to make sure it is no longer damp. Once it is clean and dry, take a new piece of dressing and cover it. Do you understand?” She showed the entire process as she explained.

Tony nodded, and Helen put the gown back down. “How often again?” Tony asked to make sure he had the right information.

“Twice a day, I can do it sometimes when I am changing the IV bag, but the rest of the time you can do it. In case you forget anything I uploaded the process to FRIDAY’s database so she can help.”

Tony smiled, ‘She thought of everything’ he thought. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Also,” She looked a bit hesitant, “in cases like this where the patient cant walk we would normally put in a catheter,” Tony looked wary since he knew Peter would not be happy about that. He had very little privacy to begin with. “but in this case we did not. We felt it would be a violation of privacy with what he has been through. I would have if it weren’t for his enhanced healing and you helping him. We still can, though, if you think it would be best. I wanted to talk to you before anything.”

“No, I think we can manage. We have so far.” He was glad they did not put it in.

Helen Smiled, “That’s what I thought as well. I saw in FRIDAY’s note that you were planning on putting a support bar in the bathroom for him.” ‘Shit I forgot to do that!’ Tony thought. Helen saw his train of thought, “I had them install one while they were disinfecting the room, hope that’s okay.” She knew it was but still asked to be cautious.

Tony looked relieved, “That is more than okay, thank you so much.”

“Of course. He should be waking up very soon. I’ll leave you be. Have FRIDAY contact me if you or Peter need anything.”

“Thank you,” he said again.

She nodded and turned to leave but then remembered, “I will send up lunch in a hour or so for him and a sandwich for you. No BLT’s.” She emphasized the last part.

Tony rolled his eyes, but knew she was just looking out for him. She left the room and he turned his attention back to Peter. He grabbed the chair on the other side of the room, the one Bucky had sat in, and pulled it up to the side of the bed. Before sitting down he grabbed the red and blue throw blanket that Peter loved and draped it over him. Then he just sat and waited.

Not even twenty minutes later Peter shifted a bit. Tony was up out of his seat in a blink of an eye. He instinctively put one hand on top of Peter’s head and brushed the curls from his face. “Hey, bud, are you waking up?”

Peter shifted again and then his eyes slowly opened.