Chapter 3
I was once a tree, raising from the ground
Winter, spring, summer or fall, I still grew tall
Till you cut me down
Are you really happy now?
Peter felt his phone buzz, and he opened his eyes expecting to see a text from Ned. He was wrong.
Hey kid, wrong number. Mind telling me what happened?
Shit.
He snatched his phone and, sure enough, his frantic string of texts had been sent to Tony, not to Ned.
Shit. Shit.
This was bad. He wasn’t sure this could be worse.
He threw his phone to the ground again.
Maybe he could find a way to convince the man that he was alright. If he could get to the bathroom and clean himself up and maybe send a picture of him smiling with his thumb up. He could totally do that. A convincing picture, maybe along with a text reading sorry mr. stark!!! that was supposed to go to ned! its part of this really lame game we play im totally fine see?
Peter nodded. That would have to do. He let out a long breath and began to stand.
His back screamed at him to stop, and his chest didn’t enjoy the movement either. He was so, so dizzy. The spots got larger.
And then his knees buckled and he lost consciousness before his head hit the carpet.
~
The familiar sound of repulsors woke him up. He supposed he should be worried about the implications of that, but considering the fact that his entire body felt that it was on fire, he really couldn’t get himself to care.
He closed his eyes as he listened to the front door cave in. Ben made a startled yelp and the Iron Man suit appeared, the big metal boots thudding with every step.
It began to register to Peter just how tired he was.
“Where is he!?” he heard Tony yell. Ben must have pointed because he didn’t say a word, but Tony made his way to Peter’s room just the same.
His door opened with a loud squeak. Peter opened his eyes again just in time to see Tony step out of the suit. The man rushed toward him, dropping to his knees once he was close.
“God, kid,” he said.
“D’n’t cry M’s’er S’ark,” Peter said quietly. He gave his mentor a small smile. “See. ‘m fine.”
“I’m going to get you out of here, alright?”
“‘Kay.” Peter blinked slowly. “‘m tired.”
“Stay awake, Pete.”
“‘Kay. ‘ll try.”
Peter gave in to another frighteningly slow blink. And then another. And then another, but his eyes didn’t open after that one.
~
Peter woke to find that he was no longer in his bedroom. He looked around at the plain white walls and row of plain white beds. The smell of disinfectant lingered in the air. He must be in a hospital.
But that wasn’t good, was it? One blood sample and his identity would be revealed.
He had to get out of here.
He shifted, going to pull the IV from his vein when the door opened and Bruce Banner himself walked into the room.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
Peter let out a breath, instantly relaxed, and let his head go back into the pillow. Of course he wasn’t at a hospital, he was at Medbay in Avengers Tower.
“I thought you weren’t that kind of doctor,” Peter said with a light smile. Bruce chuckled.
“Guilty. But I do know the basics, like how to read your vitals and make sure you’re not dead. Tony wanted me to check on you.”
“Mr. Stark? Is he here?”
“Yeah, yeah. He was in here with you all night and all morning but Rhodey just dragged him out for some fresh air. I can go get him.”
Hope bloomed in Peter’s chest but he quickly dulled it away. Mr. Stark had been here all night and all morning for him, and now he wanted to take up more of his time?
Selfish.
“No, no it’s fine Dr. Banner.” He could tell that Bruce didn’t quite believe him.
“Really, it wouldn’t be any trouble. Tony would probably be mad if I don’t tell him you’re awake.”
“Oh.” Peter swallowed. “Okay, well if you want. I don’t want to get you in trouble.” Bruce nodded slowly, concern dancing in his features.
“Yeah, I’ll go get him. I’ll see you later with the rest of the team, Pete. Get well soon.” And with that, he left.
Peter let out a long sigh. What was going to happen now? He knew that Tony wouldn’t let him go back with Ben no matter how hard Peter would try to convince him that he deserved it. But other than Ben he had no family to go to.
He didn’t want to be stuck in foster care. He was fifteen, no one wanted to adopt a fifteen-year-old. He would age out and then what?
He didn’t think his life could get any worse. How was it that the world continued to prove him wrong?
The doors opened again and Tony rushed in. An easy smile plastered itself onto his face once he saw Peter.
“Welcome back to the world of the living, Mr. Parker,” he said as he sat down in the armchair next to his bed. “I leave for ten minutes. I’ll never let Rhodey live this down.”
“It’s alright Mr. Stark, I’m completely fine. I should probably go home now actually, I’m not supposed to be here until—oh it is Saturday now, isn’t it?”
Tony gave him a sad look. “You know I’m not letting you go back there, right?”
“Well, yeah. But I have to. You can’t stop me.”
“I can and I will.” Peter clenched his jaw. He made his way to respond but a yawn came out instead.
“Get some sleep, bud. We’ll talk about it later,” Tony said. Peter nodded, looking solemnly at his hero.
And the last thing he saw before drifting to sleep was Tony’s warm brown eyes.