#17--April 30, 2019
Leave him alone
Peter cries out sharply as the knife hits him before he can move. With having been so preoccupied getting the woman out of the alley and taking down her attacker, he had failed to notice the two men sneaking up on him until it was too late. His senses warned him of the first man, who is now webbed to the alleyway wall, but not of the second man who was wielding a knife. A knife that is now embedded in the side of his body.
"That wasn't very nice," Peter says, albeit a little weakly, as the man shoves him into the wall and therefore the knife further into his side. He grunts and grabs onto the man's hand which is on the handle of the knife. Peter bites his lip and tightens his grip on the man's hand so that he lets go of the knife before thrusting his hand out and throwing the man across the alley. He webs the man up haphazardly as he keeps holding onto the knife in his abdomen. Peter webs the knife until it can barely shift since the blade is partially out of his side and glares at the man.
He can vaguely hear Karen muttering some things into his ear about him being stabbed and losing some blood, but his narrowed eyes are on the three men. After staring into their eyes for a few more seconds, Peter shakes his head and crawls up the side of the building, sitting heavily on the graveled rooftop and gasping in pain.
"Karen, please inform the police that three assailants are webbed up in this alley," Peter says, trying to keep his painful gasps at a minimum.
"Peter, it has come to my attention that you are in dire need of medical assistance," Karen informs him. Peter groans because he knows that that mean. It means that Karen's going to call Mr. Stark. "Would you like me to call Mr. Stark?"
"No, Karen," Peter says anyway, pulling himself to his feet and looking around himself. "The Tower's right over there. I'll swing over to get help." The admission is soft because he has to get help from his mentor again.
"Very well, Peter," Karen says, sounding subdued and disappointed. "However, I must inform you that the knife is prone to shift due to how you've been stabbed. Swinging will only enlargen the wound, possibly cause you to bleed out, and make the knife go deeper. As it is now, the knife is only piercing your side and has not hit anything vital. With medical assistance, I calculate that your wound will be healed within three to four days."
"Great," Peter breathes out. At least I don't have to worry about going to school since it's the summer. Now I just have to convince Aunt May to let me stay over at the Tower for a week. "Hey, Karen, do you think that I could just jump over rooftops and then climb the side of the Tower?" Peter asks, the thought hitting him. If swinging causes more damage, will jumping do the same?
"I have calculated that if you confirm that the knife has no possible way of shifting, jumping and climbing will not cause you any damage," Karen informs him. Peter nods his head and uses more webs than probably necessary. He also webs a few strands around his lower abdomen since some of the webbing is not being as adhesive due to the amount of blood seeping through the side of his suit.
"Mr. Stark's going to kill me," Peter mutters to himself as he finishes his makeshift bandage. "Okay," he says, trying to pump himself up for the no doubt painful journey. "Let's go. You can do it." After a few more moments of talking to himself, Peter sprints and jumps over the gap of the alley. And he goes to the next building quickly because he can hear the sirens of the cop car coming to pick up the three guys.
The journey to the Tower isn't as bad as Peter would thought it'd be. The knife hasn't shifted so far, though it's still pretty painful, and he seems to be making some decent timing for just jumping and climbing. But now Peter's faced with one problem. The Tower. He has to climb over fifteen-hundred feet.
Remembering how long it took him to climb the Washington Monument, Peter reluctantly shoots a web to the Tower and flings himself to the side. "Hey, Karen, can you tell me where Tony's at?" Peter asks the AI as he makes his way up the building.
"Mr. Stark is currently located in the common room," Karen informs him. Peter nods his head and uses the same technique he used on the Washington Monument to climb up the side of the tower. "I have calculated that if you continue climbing at this pace," Karen informs him, "That you will reach the common room window in eight minutes."
Peter grunts as he throws himself upward again. "Okay," he pants slightly. Peter throws himself upward again and again until he's pretty sure that he's only a minute or so away from the common room window. "Karen, can you tell Mr. Stark that he's got incoming and to open the common room window closest to me?"
"Of course, Peter," Karen says. Up ahead, Peter sees the window open after a few more moments. Peter can hear voices escape through the common room window but with the blood rushing through his ears, Peter can barely make out what they're saying let alone who they are. I really hope that I didn't interrupt something important.
Peter shoots a web a few yards above the window and pulls on the string, flinging him through the air and right into the window. Peter yelps as he hands, hand pressing to his side and making contact with the knife and bloody webs. Through blurry eyes, Peter looks up and notices that Tony was in something important. And by the expressions on those present, Peter can tell that they were fighting.
"Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Stark," Peter says, stumbling though his feet and gripping the chair of the kitchen table, effectively leaving a bloody handprint, "and sorry about all of the blood. But, uh, I kinda need help." All of the rogue Avengers are staring at him as Tony runs over to him, pulling his mask off and bearing his face to the crowd.
"Kid, what the hell happened?" Tony asks, hands gesturing to his side.
"I got stabbed," Peter deadpans as Tony sits him in the chair that he was leaning against. "Karen told me that it's not major, though."
"'Not major', 'not major'?" Tony asks flippantly as he pulls a first-aid kit out of nowhere. "Kid, you've been stabbed. Stabbed. How is it not 'not major'!?" Peter's face flushes because his mentor is flitting over him while a group of shocked Avengers look at him. "Kid, you gotta take the suit off," Tony informs him as he pulls out different first-aid items.
Before Peter can say anything, a voice cuts him off. "Tony, who's the kid?" A look over Mr. Stark's shoulder provides that Captain freaking America--with a bear no less!--was the one to ask the question.
"Not now," Tony says, his voice like steel. "Kid, you gotta get the suit off," Tony tells his, beginning to cut the webbing off of his suit.
"I can't," Peter murmurs, cheeks flushing red in embarrassment. Tony lifts an eyebrow. "I'm wearing only boxers underneath." Tony rolls his eyes with a snort.
"Of course you are," Tony mutters under his breath. "Okay, just peel down the top part. You don't have to take your pants off or anything." Peter just nods his head, pressing the spider emblem on his front and causing the suit to go slack. He peels it down gently over the knife, biting his lip to hold in a whimper. His side is sticky in blood, though he can already feel his side beginning to heal.
"Wait a second!" a voice suddenly says, causing Peter to flinch and look over at the Falcon. "That's the spider guy from the airport!" Peter feels his face pale and he exchanges a glance with Tony, whose eyes have become hard with a little panic.
"Tony, you brought a kid to a war?" Steve says in his very disappointed tone of voice. Tony just ignores him as he grabs the handle of the knife.
"You ready kid?" Tony asks, making eye contact with Peter. Peter sucks in a deep breath, nodding. With one quick movement, Tony pulls away the knife and places a gauze pad with antiseptic on his side. "I know, I know," he murmurs as Peter winces with a whimper.
"Tony," Steve says firmly, making the man look over at him. "You brought a kid to Germany? Into a war? Where he could have gotten hurt, or worse, killed? Did you only care about having more numbers on your side?"
"Yes, Rogers," Tony bites out, looking at the man. "I brought a kid to Germany. Happy now?" Tony returns his attention back to Peter's side. He pulls the gauze away slightly and sighs. "You're going to need stitches, kid. Not a lot, but you're going to need them." His expression is warm as he looks at Peter because Peter hates needles.
"Tony--" Steve goes to try again before he's cut off.
"Leave him alone," Peter bites out, his eyes steel as he stares into the Captain's eyes. "Yes, he brought me to Germany but here's the thing, I wanted to go. Before Germany, I was swinging around in a hoodie and sweatpants with homemade webshooters. Mr. Stark gave me this suit as protection and it's perfectly capable of keeping me safe. It may not seem like it right now since I just had a knife in my side, but before I got this suit, I was getting stabbed or hurt twice as often. And don't you dare say that Mr. Stark only cares about himself."
The whole rooms is silent before it's broken by Tony. "All done, kid," he says, rolling everything up in some gauze. Peter looks down, shocked, to find that during his little rant that the man sewed up his wound and but a bandage over it.
"Thanks, Mr. Stark," he says, looking at the man with a smile. "Can I stay over here for the week, by the way? May will freak out if she sees me hurt." Peter puts on his best smile, forgetting about the group of gobsmacked superheroes.
Tony just rolls his eyes. "Of course, kid. Head on up to your room, I'll be up in a bit." Peter pulls the top part of his suit back on and presses the spider emblem, making it a suit again. Grabbing his mask, he walks past the Avengers, gives Steve one last glare, and disappears behind the elevator doors.