“You want me to babysit on Saturday? Are you sure?”
“Yes Pete, we are sure. Pep and I would like to go out for a few hours without the little monkey.”
Peter stopped in his swinging for a moment, to focus on the call with Tony. The roof he had landed on was empty but it wasn’t like people didn’t know who he was, or that he knew Tony.
Peter hadn’t spent time with Morgan without Pepper or Tony there but it had been almost 3 months since Europe and having his identity revealed and almost a year since Tony had almost lost his life, and if the man was finally ready to go out in public, Peter didn’t want to be the one to prevent that.
“Okay!” He agreed.
“Really? I know this is a big ask kid. We both know how enthusiastic Morgan can be.” Tony’s voice sounded hopeful as Peter let out a laugh. Morgan was very energetic and enthusiastic about everything. She had worn Peter out the previous weekend and he had fallen asleep right in the middle of tea with her stuffed animals, and only Tony nudging him a few hours later had woken him up. Morgan had tucked all of her stuffed animals around Peter and he hadn’t even felt it- a fact that Tony had found hilarious.
“We’ll have a great time.” Peter replied.
“Thanks kid. Want to come up to the cabin around 2? You can stay the night.”
“See you then.”
-
The drive up to the cabin normally took a few hours from the city but Peter always enjoyed it. Tony had given him a car after the identity debacle and Peter had made him design it very plain and boring. The inside had a few tricks but no one could ever guess those. It did have a self-drive program but Peter liked to actually drive it himself.
As he pulled into the cabin, he could see Morgan standing on the porch. Her face lit up when she saw the car and she waved to him. Once he parked and turned the car off, she came down the stairs towards him.
“Hi Petey!” She cried out excitedly as Peter opened the door to give her a hug.
“I just saw you last weekend Morgan.” Peter said when she squeezed him with all the strength her 5.5 year old body could muster.
“But that was sooooo long ago!”
“She’s pretty excited that it’ll be just the two of you.” Tony came out the door and headed over to them. When Peter broke away from Morgan and stood back up, Tony squeezed his shoulder in greeting. “She has lots of plans.”
“Oh yeah?” Peter asked Morgan and she nodded.
“Baking cookies and pizza and then tea since you fell asleep last time, and then coloring and then swimming in the lake.”
“Well Peter won’t be swimming in the lake but he will watch you, and you need to wear your water wings and stay in the shallow part.” Tony replied and Morgan pouted.
“I know daddy. Always the wings in the lake. Peter, you never swim with me.”
“I know but I will soon, okay?” Peter assured Morgan. He and Tony had plans to get Peter swimming lessons so that he could learn to swim and join them in the lake. It was something he could kind of do but he wasn’t confident or secure in large bodies of water at all.
“You going to be okay?” Tony asked Peter as they all headed through the door into the cabin, Morgan dashing ahead with Peter bringing up the rear with his backpack.
“We’ll be fine.” Peter replied. He didn’t have a problem being down by the lake, he just didn’t want to be in it.
“We will only be a half hour away, and don’t tell Pepper but I do have one of the suits linked to the watch, if you need anything at all.” Tony said and Peter nodded as he heard Pepper call out.
“I heard that!”
“Rhodey, Sam and Scott are all at the new Compound so they are available as well. They know you’re alone with Morgan.” Tony said after he and Peter stopped laughing.
“Tony.” Peter said seriously, trying to convey to the man that everything was fine. He had picked up on his nerves the moment he stepped out of the car. “We will be fine. You’ll be back tonight, and Morgan & I will be just fine.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying.” Pepper walked through into the living room with Morgan right behind. “Hi honey.”
“Hi Pepper.” Peter smiled. He always felt slightly awkward calling the adults by their first names.
“See Tony? They will be fine.” Pepper assured the man who wrinkled his face in response. Pepper just shook her head in response before turning back to Peter. “The numbers are all on the fridge if you need anything but i’m sure that one will be monitoring everything anyways-“
“Hey!”
“- Anyways,” Pepper continued, ignoring Tony’s outburst. “I’m sure Morgan has told you all about her plans for you. We will be back by 8. I know I won’t be able to keep him away any longer.” Pepper nodded at Tony who looked offended.
“Not that I don’t trust you kid-“ Tony started and Peter shook his head.
“I know. Now go.”
“Yeah, go!”
“My own daughter kicking me out of the house?!” Tony gasped at Morgan who just giggled.
“Go Daddy Go. Petey and I have plans!”
“Okay okay. We’re going.”
Pepper and Tony left the cabin a few minutes later and Morgan immediately turned to Peter.
“Cookies.”
“What about the pizza first? We can have cookies after dinner?”
“Nope, cookies first.”
-
“I’m not sure this is entirely what your parents had in mind when they knew we were baking cookies Morg.” Peter looked around the kitchen to see a complete disaster and a delighted Morgan.
The cookie dough was on the tray in balls, but most of the other ingredients were scattered around the kitchen. Flour was all over the floor and both their shirts, Egg Yolk was on the counter, clumps of sugar was in the sink and there were chocolate chips everywhere. It had taken them almost two hours to even make any progress on the dough.
“We should get cleaned up.” Peter told Morgan who just giggled. Her dark hair was white in patches from flour.
“Swimming.” She suggested and Peter nodded.
“You go put your swimsuit on and i’ll heat the oven up for the cookies. Wait for me to put your waterwings on, okay?”
“Okay!” Morgan replied happily and took off for her bedroom as Peter put the oven on at 400 to heat the cookies up and started cleaning up the kitchen. He had just cleaned up the egg yolk when the back of his neck flared up right before he heard a splash.
Without even thinking about it, he took off for the backdoor and the lake.
His heart raced as he spotted Morgan in the water off the deck, struggling to stay afloat. She could just about keep her head above the water as she tried to grab the ladder, but she was too far away from it.
Peter ran down the dock before he leaped off it, still in his jeans and jacket. He surfaced, water dripping in his eyes as he tried to find Morgan. She was a few feet from Peter, still struggling in the water and he tried to get over to her. The water was a lot deeper than Peter had expected and he couldn’t touch the bottom as he started struggling.
He went under the first time but fought to get back up and out of the water. As he surfaced, he gasped for air and looked around for Morgan. She was still a few feet away and he propelled himself to get to her. She threw her arms around Peter’s neck, crying and coughing as she did so.
“Petey.”
“You’re okay Morgs.” Peter coughed right before he went under again. As he did so, he made sure to keep Morgan up and out of the water as much as he could.
He forced himself up again and out of the water even as he swallowed mouthfuls of water. Morgan was crying hysterically between her coughs and water kept splashing Peter in the face. He was getting frantic now, trying to look around to see where the ladder was. He knew if he didn’t get Morgan to that ladder, that they would both drown. He had his watch on but he didn’t think that Tony could really get there that fast.
“Morg-“ Peter gasped out when he finally spotted the ladder. “You need to get to that ladder. You can do it.”
“I can’t.” Morgan cried out and Peter started to unwind her arms from his neck.
“Yes you can. It’s so close, you can do it.” Peter grabbed her arms and turned her so she could see the ladder. “Morgan, you have to. I’ll be right behind you.”
Morgan let go of Peter just as he went under again. She accidentally kicked Peter right on the side of his head behind his ear and it was enough to daze him, leading to him opening his mouth in surprise and water immediately rushed into his lungs.
He choked and tried to get to the surface but his head spun and his limbs felt too heavy to move. More water rushed into his throat and to his lungs but Peter didn’t feel like struggling anymore.
He closed his eyes, and just let himself float. He wasn’t panicked anymore- he knew he was in trouble, his neck twinging was telling him that but he just couldn’t bring himself to care. His body jerked a few times with the darkness encroaching and then all was calm and still.
-
Tony’s heart dropped as he landed in the backyard of the lakehouse and stepped out of the suit- he hadn’t used it since he had grabbed Peter after his identity had been revealed, and that had wound up with him lying in bed for two days after while Pepper, May, Happy and Rhodey had worked on the aftermath of Mysterio’s announcement.
His body hurt from using the suit but the alerts he had received had been terrifying. Pepper had raced for the car while Tony took the suit, after throwing down money for the lunch bill. He had notified the three at the Compound and Sam and Rhodey were also in the air on their way to the cabin.
Morgan was in the water, trying to keep a hold on the ladder and Tony realized with a horrible jolt that he couldn’t see Peter anywhere.
“Morgan!” Tony yelled out as he took off to the end of the dock, his body yelling at him as he did so.
“Daddy!!” Morgan cried back as her hand slipped on the ladder briefly and water splashed up into her face. “Peter’s not up! He told me he would be behind me!”
Tony reached Morgan and immediately leaned down to grab her wrists to pull her up and onto the dock. She grabbed a hold of his neck and started sobbing as Tony put his arms around her, still looking around to see Peter. She was soaked and Tony was instantly soaked through his clothes, water dripping down his neck.
“Daddy! Petey’s down there!!” Morgan cried again and Tony glanced into the water. It was murky and he couldn’t see Peter below the water. His heart was pounding in his chest and he wanted to scream. He needed to get down there but his body was aching and Morgan was bordering on beyond hysterical.
“Tony!” Tony looked up to see Sam and Rhodey landing on the lawn and rushing over to him, Sam reached him first as he retracted his wings.
“Peter is down there!” Tony cried out instantly and Sam dove in without hesitation after throwing the wing pack onto the dock.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Morgan cried into Tony’s
neck and he clung to her. He wanted to
get in the water himself but Sam was stronger and Tony would just be a hindrance.
“It’s okay.” Tony reassured her, not believing the words for a moment. He didn’t care what had happened, only that something had and Peter was in trouble.
Rhodey reached them a moment later and knelt down carefully next to the two of them, a hand on Tony’s shoulder.
“Come on. Come on.” Tony muttered desperately as he waited for Sam to surface.
He did so a few moments later, with Peter draped over his shoulder. Rhodey reached down and pulled Peter up and onto the deck, laying him out in front of Tony and Morgan.
“He’s not breathing.” Sam said, and Tony immediately leaned over Peter.
“Petey!”
“Morgan, go to Rhodey.” He pulled his kids’ arms from his neck and Rhodey reached for her, holding her despite Morgan’s protests. “I have to help Peter.”
Tony put his fingers on Peter’s neck, feeling a very slow pulse. It seemed to stutter as he listened and he looked up at Peter’s face. The kids’ eyes were closed and his face and lips were
pale.
“Okay, okay.” Tony said to himself as he put his hands on Peter’s chest and started pumping up and down.
Sam knelt next to him, dripping water and leaned over Peter’s face, angling him so that he could breathe into the kids’ mouth as Tony continued to pump his chest.
“How long was he under?” Sam asked between breaths.
“Maybe 10 minutes?” Tony guessed.
“Tony, that’s a long time.” Rhodey chirped up and Tony didn’t even turn around to him.
“I know that Rhodey. But he’s enhanced. Maybe that’ll help.” Tony couldn’t think of the alternative, he couldn’t lose Peter this way. It wasn’t something that he could imagine. He needed Peter to take a breath. That’s all he needed right now, they could work on anything else later.
He wasn’t rewarded with a breath for another 2 minutes and both he and Sam were beginning to become breathless.
“Turn him over.” Sam instructed as Peter suddenly coughed. The two of them rolled him to his side and then water started pouring out of Peter’s mouth as he gasped and coughed.
“Good job kid.” Sam praised as he pounded Peter on his back.
“Come on Pete.” Tony murmured as Peter continued to choke and cough water up. The kids’ lips started to turn a much healthier pink and his face was turning much pinker and less pale. “Can you open your eyes kid? I just need to see your eyes buddy, just to make sure you’re still there.”
Tony stroked down Peter’s face as he talked. Peter hadn’t been breathing for close to 15 minutes and Tony knew what kind of damage that could have caused. There was no response from the teenager except for his painful sounding breaths and Tony’s heart sank.
“Petey!” Morgan’s cry a moment later seemed to do the trick and Peter’s eyelids fluttered.
“Good kid. Can you open your eyes?” Tony asked again and this time Peter reacted. He scrunched his eyes up and then opened them a moment later. He looked slightly dazed as he looked at Tony but he seemed to recognize Tony.
“Hey.” Tony said softly as he continued to stroke Peter’s face.
“Ton-y?” Peter asked raspily and Tony’s heart leapt in excitement.
“Yep kid. That’s me. Can you tell me who’s behind me?” Tony asked. Peter looked exhausted but he needed to check if the kid knew everyone, to know if there was any damage there.
“-Morg, Rhodey. Sam- head.” Peter rasped out and Tony nodded. He felt tears spring to his eyes, but he did nothing to stop them. Rhodey’s hand came down on his shoulder again.
“Great job Pete.”
-
“He’s going to be okay.”
“God, I thought- well, I didn’t think good things when we got there Pepper.”
“If he were a normal kid, there was no way he would have come out of that without any brain damage at all, if he had even survived.”
“I don’t know what we would have done if he didn’t survive.”
“Well he did, so it’s okay.”
“What even happened?”
“Morgan said she saw the ducklings out there and got excited. She only wanted to see them while she waited for Peter but she slipped. She’s extremely upset.”
“And of course the kid jumped in right after her.”
“Tony already said he’s giving him lessons as soon as he’s up again, and putting a gate on the dock. He’s already blaming himself for not doing it sooner.”
“This wasn’t anyone’s fault, except maybe those damn ducklings.”
Peter could hear the voices in the hallway as the rest of his senses came back to him. He couldn’t distinguish them other than male and female. He was warm and dry and lying on something incredibly soft. A small body was lying next to him and someone else had his hand in theirs.
“Pete? You awake?”
Peter opened his eyes, blinking to adjust to the dim light and turned his head to see Tony sitting next to him, Peter’s hand gripped in his.
“Hey bud.”
“Hi.” Peter croaked out and then coughed.
Tony handed him a paper cup of water and Peter grabbed it with his free hand to swallow it down before handing the empty cup back to Tony. He glanced down to see Morgan curled up next to him, fast asleep. He could tell he was in his bedroom in the cabin with a few extra blankets tucked around him.
“She’s pretty upset.” Tony said
“Duckling?”
“Did you hear that conversation in the hallway?” Tony asked and Peter nodded. “I told them they were talking too loud, especially for your hearing. Yep, it was ducklings she saw. It won’t happen again.”
“Not her fault though.” Peter protested. “I should have kept a closer eye on her.”
“Nope. Nope. It’s no one’s fault and no one is to blame, but you weren’t breathing for close to 15 minutes Pete. We could have lost you today, and she’s very upset that she’s the reason you dived in.” Tony replied as he smiled softly at Morgan before looking back up at Peter. “How do you feel?”
”My chest hurts, and my throat and head.” Peter replied as he catalogued how his body felt.
”Sam and I may have pounded pretty hard on your chest.” Tony replied. “We needed to get the water out and you breathing.”
“How’d I get out of the water?” Peter asked as he frowned. He couldn’t recall anything beyond the hit to his head. Morgan shifted slightly next to him and he put his free hand on her small back to calm her down again.
“I got there and got Morgan out, and then Sam and Rhodey arrived soon after. Sam got you out and he and I got you breathing again, after pounding on your chest. You’ve been out for a few hours and May is here. She was in here a little while ago but went to talk to Pepper.”
“Wait, 15 minutes?” Peter registered what Tony had said previously and the man nodded.
“It was a while buddy but you’re going to be okay. You just need to rest a little and we’re keeping an eye on your for any other complications, but then you’re learning to swim. There’s no question about it. I can’t handle anything like that happening again.”
Tony gripped Peter’s hand harder as he spoke and Peter could see the sincerity in his eyes. It always surprised him how different Tony was now than he was before the snap- much more expressive and open. Peter wasn’t sure how to respond to that but he figured an apology was in order.
“Sorry I ruined your time out with Pepper.”
“Ah,” Tony scoffed lightly, “what would I be without the two of you keeping me on my toes and giving me even more grey hairs?”
”I didn’t want to say anything...”
”Shut it kid.”