“Mr. Parker!”
Peter’s eyes flew open, blinking rapidly. “Whassup?”
The teacher glared down at him, her hawk-like features sharpening. “Perhaps I can direct your attention elsewhere, Mr. Parker, since your desk seems to be so fascinating.” She slipped a blank sheet of paper on his desk. “Pop quiz, everyone!”
Peter hummed drearily as the room filled with groans, glares heating the back of his head. He shivered miserably and picked up his pencil, wishing he had worn a sweatshirt instead of a thin t-shirt with a science pun on it.
He closed his eyes and tried to imagine curling up in his bed, warm and cozy. Nice and warm, lots of blankets, hot chocolate, sleep….
Mmmm, sleep.
“Peter!” Ned hissed, poking his side. “Pete!”
“Hmmm?”
“Dude, you okay?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, glancing vaguely at his friend’s face. “Yeah, of course.”
Ned squinted. “Yeah, right. You need the nurse.”
“No, I don’t.” Peter scribbled a circle on the paper. “I’m one-hundred percent fiiiiiiiiine.”
“Dude, everything you just said convinced me you’re not fine,” Ned said. “Peter, really. Did you sleep at all last night?”
Peter thought back. Actually, he’d slept incredibly well, falling asleep before his head hit the pillow. “I did. Really good, actually.”
“Did anything happen during your… internship?” his best friend whispered confidentially.
The boy shrugged. “Haven’t gone out for a few days. So, no.”
Ned frowned at Peter, who rubbed his eyes vigorously, his hands shaking slightly as he fiddled with his pencil.
What was going on with his friend?
~~~~~
Happy glanced up to look for the kid, scanning the crowd. He spotted Peter, and his friend, Ted, or Fred, or whatever.
The kids stopped at the car, Ned squinting worriedly at Peter, saying something Happy couldn’t hear. The back door opened and Peter slid in, waving quietly to his best friend. Ned smiled and shut the door.
With a heavy sigh, he slumped against the seat and closed his eyes. Sleep.
“Kid?” Happy said, looking in the rearview mirror. “You okay?”
“Mmhmmm.”
“You don’t look so good.”
“‘M just tired.”
Happy raised his eyebrows. “Sure, kid.”
He drove to the penthouse as fast he could.
~~~~~
Peter staggered to the elevator, ignoring Happy’s offers to help. “No, really, I’m just tired. I’m tired, that’s all.”
“Okay, kid, I got it. Now go to sleep, or I’ll call Tony and May.”
He barely made it to his room without collapsing, falling onto his bed and kicking off his shoes, snuggling under the blankets and curling into a ball.
Within seconds he was deeply asleep.
~~~~~
Tony fiddled with a button on the cuff of his fancy gray suit as Pepper spoke. It felt like the meeting had gone on for days, but in reality it had only been a few hours. Though those few hours hadn’t been exactly short. He was surrounded by old geezers who probably didn’t have their own teeth.
Plus, it was Friday, which meant Peter was already in the penthouse.
He pulled out his phone quietly and did a quick check on Peter’s vitals. His heartbeat was slow, his temperature cool, and was deeply asleep. Tony nodded, satisfied his kid was okay.
“-and that concludes this meeting, ladies and gentlemen,” Pepper finished, neatly stacking the papers in her hands. “Thank you for your attention.”
“Glad that’s over with,” Tony muttered as they dispersed, getting up from his seat and pulling off his jacket. “Thought I was about to die from old age.”
Pepper rolled her eyes. “More likely to die of cold, Tony. It’s freezing in here.”
~~~~~
The inventor walked through the penthouse, rubbing his eyes. First he checked the couch for Peter (empty) then continued to Peter’s own room.
He knocked gently on his door before pushing it open and moving to sit on Peter’s mattress, pressing a kiss to Peter’s forehead and smoothing back his soft curls.
Tony frowned suddenly and felt his kid’s forehead. “Jesus, you’re cold, baby. FRI? What’s his temp?”
“Peter’s temperature is at 79 ℉,” she answered.
“What?!” Tony bolted to his feet. “Read his vitals.”
“Heart rate sixty beats per minute, blood pressure 70/80 mm Hg.”
Without thinking, Tony scooped a limp Peter into his arms and sprinted to the medbay.
~~~~~
“He’s hibernating?!”
Helen nodded. “It’s his spider side. It was cold enough today to send him into hibernation.”
Tony paled even more as he took this information in. “How do we fix him?!”
“Tony, calm down, take a breath. He’s gonna be okay.”
He took a shaky breath, massaging Peter’s smaller hand between his. “How do we wake him up?”
She smiled. “As far as I can tell, it’s best to warm him up slowly. That includes warm blankets, and lots of cuddles.”
~~~~~
Tony wrapped his arms around Peter, rubbing his back, the boy’s head resting on his chest. He kissed Peter’s temple and smoothed back his curls before starting to order Happy and Rhodey around.
“Get his Iron Man blanket, it’s his favorite, he needs it,” he ordered. “Get his nightlight too, he can’t sleep without it, and his teddy bear. Oh, his Spider-Man hat, get that. And find a weighted blanket, he has one in his room, it’s dark blue.”
Tony ignored the eye roll Rhodey gave him, and kissed Peter’s forehead gently.
“You’re gonna be okay, tesoro, I got you, Dad’s got you. You’re gonna be okay.”
God, he wished Peter could wake up right then.
~~~~~
Tony sat up in Peter’s hospital bed, reading aloud from some sort of science-y book about spiders he thought his kid might enjoy.
“‘Spiders have blue blood. In humans, oxygen is bound to hemoglobin, a molecule that contains iron and gives blood its red color. In spiders, oxygen is bound to hemocyanin, a molecule that contains copper rather than iron,’” he read. “How about that, kiddo? Pretty cool.”
Peter stayed silent. Tony tucked the many blankets more firmly around him, picking up his hand and running a thumb across his knuckles.
“‘During the 16th and 17th centuries, it was believed that a bite from a species of wolf spider would be deadly if the victim did not dance to a specific type of frenzied music. It inspired a dance called the tarantella.’” Tony snorted. “Now that I would like to see.”
Without one of Peter’s witty comments and high-pitched giggles, it was a lot less funny.
He sighed at the boy’s pale, lax face. “I miss you baby.” He dropped his forehead to Peter’s. “I miss you so much.”
~~~~~
Peter gradually became aware of two things; the soft snoring in his ear and a loose hand in his curls.
He was warm and cozy in a pair of strong arms.
Peter hummed quietly and buried his face in Tony’s chest.
He let himself slip back to the comfortable darkness.
He was safe with Tony.
~~~~~
“You know what I mean!” May insisted as Tony stared at her blankly. “The teddy bears with lavender and rice in them, you put them in the microwave and they get nice and warm. Please don’t tell me you’ve never heard of those.”
“So what, you eat them?”
“No!” she scoffed, “They’re all warm and fuzzy. I got one for Pete when he was little, but it had a hole and we had to throw it out. Maybe it’ll help?”
The inventor smiled.
The inventor smiled. “Maybe.” He reached for his Starkpad on the bedside table. “Would he like an Iron Man one or Spider-Man one? Nevermind, I’ll just get both. FRI, speed order.”
Barely fifteen minutes later Happy entered the room, holding a box. “Package.”
May blinked and stood to take it. “That was fast. These are super cute, Tony. I’ll go warm them up.”
“How’s he doing?”
Tony sighed, combing his fingers through Peter’s curls. “His temp is a lot warmer. He’s getting better.” He smiled and kissed Peter’s forehead. “Aren’t you, bubba?”
“Good.” Though people thought he didn’t care about Peter, Happy privately thought of himself like his uncle. “That’s good.”
May walked in a second later. “Nice and toasty.” She slipped the hot bag underneath the blankets, under Peter’s socked feet, and placed the other one by his side. “There we go.”
There was a whining sound from Peter as his fingers twitched. Tony rushed to move the bag closer to his skin. “There you go, baby, you’re okay. You’re okay.”
May laughed when Peter’s fingers closed around the warmth. “Aaw.”
~~~~~
May helped Tony tuck Peter in, which was hard to do when lying in the same bed.
She kissed Peter’s forehead, gazing fondly at him. “Goodnight, honey. Larb ya.” May smiled. “Night, Tony.” She walked to the couch, lying down and grabbing a blanket.
“Night.” He shifted and circled his arms around his kid. “Goodnight, Petey. I love you so much.” He kissed his cheek.
~~~~~
Tony woke up to whimpering. His eyes snapped open.
Peter was awake.
“Peter?” he gasped, bolting up in bed. “Oh, no, shh, don’t cry, shh. What’s wrong, buddy?” He cupped the boy’s face anxiously. “Are you feeling okay? Are you hurting- does anything hurt?” He pressed the call button frantically. “What’s wrong?”
“‘M cold,” he whined, reaching for Tony. Tony gathered him in his arms, rubbing his back to give him some sense of warmth.
“Oh baby, I got you, shh. You’re okay, we’re gonna get you warmed up. You’re okay, shh.”
He looked worriedly at the layers of heated blankets and hot packs. “It’s okay baby.”
“Peter? Tony?” May mumbled from the couch, slowly sitting up. “What’s wrong?”
“May- May, Peter’s awake! He’s cold, we-we need to heat these up.” He grabbed the Iron Man neck warmer. “Here.”
May jumped to her feet and took it. “I’ll be right back.”
Cho rushed in a second later. “What’s wrong?”
“He woke up, he’s cold. Should he be cold? Is something wrong?” he asked worriedly.
“No, I think it’s just the shock. He came out of hibernation early, maybe his body isn’t quite ready.”
“Hey Peter,” she said to the boy. “This is gonna warm you up, but it’s going to make you sleepy, okay?”
She took a syringe and pushed a clear liquid into his IV. “There.”
“Hmm,” Peter mumbled, which was the equivalent of “thanks.”
“Do you feel better, tesoro?” Tony whispered, still looking worried as ever.
Peter paused, his eyes hazily focusing on Tony’s face. “Hun’ry.”
“You’re hungry?” he cooed. “Oh baby, of course, don’t worry.” Glancing towards Helen and May, he said “Someone needs to make some soup.”
May volunteered, and about ten minutes later she hurried in with a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup.
“Okay, bubba,” Tony murmured. “We got you some soup, okay? Can you open your mouth, sweetheart?”
Peter’s mouth opened. Tony blew carefully on the spoon before scooping it into Peter’s mouth. Peter swallowed it, then glanced beggingly at the bowl.
The inventor quickly gave Peter another spoonful. “Is it too hot, baby?”
He shook his head slightly.
After nearly half the bowl was gone, Peter’s eyes began to droop.
“‘M tired.”
Tony immediately set the bowl on the table and gently helped his kid lie down. “There you go, sweetheart. There you go.” He kissed Peter’s forehead.
Peter snuffled quietly, curling his arms around the neck warmer and grabbing Tony’s arm like a koala. Tony lay back down and pulled the covers up to Peter’s chest.
“Do you feel better?” May asked, combing back his curls. Peter hummed an affirmative, eyes closed.
The inventor wrapped his free arm around Peter, burying his face in his soft curls and kissing them gently. He smiled in relief, drinking up the sight of his now sleeping kid.
“Goodnight, honey,” May whispered. She kissed his temple, then stood and flopped wearily on the couch. “Try to get some sleep, Tony, okay?”
Tony shrugged. “I’ll try.”
It didn’t matter to him. Peter mattered.
He was surprised that when his head hit the pillow, his eyelids began to feel heavy. The rush of relief and love for his kid, his baby, had taken a toll on him.
“I love you,” he whispered. “I love you, bambino. More than you’ll ever know.”
Peter was okay.