All The Stars Align

Tony woke up to the sun shining in his eyes so he rolled away from the window and tried to reach out to feel Peter but then all the memories from the last few days came rushing back to him.

Peter wasn’t with him anymore.

Peter was in a coma.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, not feeling anything.

The sun was bright meaning that it must be mid morning. He rubbed at his eyes that felt so puffy and cleared his throat. “How long was I sleeping for?”

“You have been asleep for seven hours and fifty six minutes.” FRIDAY answered him but that was way too long. So much could have happened to Peter in that time so he quickly got out of bed and went into the bathroom to pee, brush his teeth and change into decent clothes then he put some deodorant on, not knowing when he was going to shower next.

Tony left his bedroom and began rushing towards the stairs so he could go check on Peter. As he passed by the laundry room, he found Pepper in there sorting through clothes. “What’re you doing?”

She looked surprised to see him. “Just helping you out, Tony.”

He shook his head. No. Peter’s scent was still on all his dirty clothes. They were all inside out the way Peter took them off and were covered in stains that Peter put on them. He wasn’t going to erase that.

“I don’t need help. Don’t… don’t wash Peter’s clothes. Just…” He grabbed all of Peter’s clothes that he could see and put them in the laundry hamper. “Don’t touch these.”

Pepper looked at him with such sorrow. “Oh Tony.”

He didn’t want to hear it. “Just don’t wash his clothes.”

After that, he rushed down to the MedBay and pushed open the door to Peter’s room. Part of him was hoping that Peter was awake, sitting up on the bed and talking a mile a minute about something he found interesting that wasn’t interesting in the slightest to Tony but he loved listening to his kid talk.

Peter was the exact same as he left him all those hours ago.

Rhodey was sitting in the same position too and had his hand on Peter’s forehead. He looked over at Tony and smiled weakly. “You look better.”

Tony was immediately making his way over to Peter and running a gentle hand over his arm. “Any changes? Did anything happen while I was gone?”

Rhodey shook his head and stood up. “Nothing. The doctors came in a few times to check brain activity and other stuff and so did the nurse.” Rhodey looked down at Peter with a sad look on his face.

Tony didn’t know what else to do. He begged and he prayed for someone to save his baby and he wasn’t being answered.

He watched Rhodey leave the room, saying something about talking to the team but Tony didn’t care. He fell into the chair next to Peter’s bed and squeezed his hand, breaking apart once again.

Maybe this was karma.

Could it be everything that he’s done wrong in his life is finally catching up to him. He always knew deep down that he didn’t deserve Peter. Maybe the universe was catching up with his mistakes and punishing him in the worst way possible.

The universe knew to give Peter to him for just the right amount of time for him to fall in love with his perfect little boy and then rip Peter away from him in the most ruthless way possible.

Tony thought that they were laughing down at him and mocking him as he cried and begged to have his kid back.

He didn’t care what he did in his past, he regretted so many things each and everyday but that was his past. All of those things had to happen to lead him to where he was today.

So maybe it was karma.

The door was being opened again and in walked two doctors and the nurse. He didn’t care to remember their names since his mind was completely blank now. “How is he? Is he getting better?”

One of the doctors walked up to Peter and opened up his hospital gown where his stitches were. “Peter’s internal wounds are reopening and aren’t healing the way we would like them to so we might have to take him back into surgery.”

Tony stood up and shook his head. “No. How-how isn’t he healing? He’s supposed to be getting better.”

The doctor nodded as he pulled out a monitor and ran it over Peter’s abdomen. “Because he lost half of a kidney, his body is trying to fight the infection but is ripping open his internal wounds in the process. So we have to take him so we can get everything back under control.”

The tears started flowing freely down Tony’s face. He placed his hand over Peter’s chest and shook his head. “I-I don’t… he has to have another surgery? How will that… he can’t.”

Tony didn’t want them cutting into his baby again. It was too much and he didn’t know if Peter would survive it this time. He couldn’t sit and wait around, not knowing if he was going to receive the news that Peter was dead or alive.

He couldn’t do that again.

“Mr. Stark, your son is in good hands but we have to take him now. He has bleeding in his abdomen and we have to stop it.” One of the doctors said, gently but firmly pulling him away from Peter’s bedside.

Tony reached out for Peter and wanted to fight and scream like Peter did every time he had to leave him. He knew he had to let them take his boy even if it was killing him.

He quickly leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll see you soon, baby boy. I love you so much. Don’t leave me, Peter, okay? You have to fight.”

Tony pulled away from Peter and had to watch them roll his child down the hallway, not knowing if he was ever going to see Peter alive again.

There was a hand on his back and for the first time, he noticed that Pepper and Rhodey were standing behind him.

“Tony, he’s gonna pull through. You know he’s in good hands-”

Tony pulled away from Pepper because he couldn’t take it. His whole world was falling apart around him but the worst part was he couldn’t do anything about it but watch it happen.

He felt like he was drowning and the only fresh breath of air that was going to save him was seeing Peter awake and okay.

“Tones, you should rest-”

Tony ignored them by pushing past the both of them and walking towards the elevator. He just needed a drink to try and feel something. He was already feeling nothing and needed to feel something other than the numbness.

He heard Pepper calling him but he didn’t care. Once the elevator doors shut, he pressed the button for his lab. “Evoke all access to everyone in the lab. I don’t want anyone coming down, FRIDAY.”

“Are you sure that is the best idea-”

“Just do it!” Tony yelled as he marched out of his lab and over to his workbench. He went to reach for the drawer to grab the key but his eyes caught Peter’s baby tooth that he lost a few days ago.

Tony picked it up and looked down at it, realizing once again that Peter was too young to be taken away from this life. He still had more baby teeth to lose, he wasn’t allowed to die.

Tony didn’t waste anymore time, he grabbed the key to unlock the drawer where he kept the key for his alcohol cabinet. He pulled the key out and looked down at it.

He hadn’t had a drink in almost a year. Ever since Peter came into his life, he stopped drinking because he never saw the need to anymore. He had something to live for.

He didn’t ever need to drink with Peter in his life but now Peter might not be in his life.

Standing up, Tony walked over to the long forgotten cabinet in the far corner of his lab and hesitated. Was he actually going to do this? He had no one there to stop him.

Peter might not…

He turned the key and grabbed the first bottle he found, ripping the lid off and chugging it down. After having gone so long without drinking, he felt it burn his throat which had him gagging and spitting half of it up so he washed it down with some more.

After almost half the bottle was gone, he looked down at it and hated himself even more for unlocking the fucking cabinet.

How could he have done that when he was supposed to be there for Peter 100%. Without thinking about it, Tony turned around and threw the bottle of alcohol across the room.

He watched it hit the wall and shatter into a million pieces, glass flying everywhere.

Tony looked down at his hand and at his watch, with one movement, he was tapping on his watch and turning it into his Iron Man gauntlet.

He turned around and aimed it at the cabinet of alcohol then without a second thought, he fired. Glass and liquor went all over the place, splashing and cutting him in the process but that didn’t stop him.

After his alcohol cabinet was destroyed, he looked down at his hand as he stepped over the glass to walk towards his desk but turned and saw his reflection in the glass window. He hated what he saw.

He saw a failure of a father that didn’t deserve to live anymore. He would gladly take Peter’s place, to take all his pain from him so Peter got to live his life.

He turned towards himself and raised his arm up, firing his repulser and shattering the glass.

Tony felt the blood boiling in his veins as he shattered the other glass windows in his lab. He was filled with so much rage he just wanted to have Peter back in his arms where he belonged.

Tony stopped and covered his face with his free hand to cry into it. Grass was breaking all around him but he didn’t care. “Please. Please!” He didn’t know who he was begging to or what exactly he was begging for.

He picked up a metal bar that was on the ground and threw it across the room, not knowing what he was hitting or where it was landing.

He sank down to the floor, landing in all the broken glass of his torn apart lab but then he was hearing a loud bang from where the metal bar landed. When he looked up to see what he hit, his heart sunk.

Tony quickly stood up and rushed over to see the irreversible damage that he had done. “No. Fuck no. Please, oh god.”

He picked up what once was the secret project that Peter was working on. It was broken into a million pieces and falling on the floor. Tony attempted to pick everything up but it was too late.

It was gone.

With the realization that Peter never got to finishing it and now might never will, Tony leaned over the desk and threw up into the garbage can that was there.

He fell onto his knees and threw up again and then again.

Once he was done and able to catch his breath, he collapsed fully onto the floor, not caring or even noticing that he was laying in broken glass and cutting his skin up.

He broke everything beautiful that he touched.

Peter was an example of that and now Peter might be gone. He might never see his kid again.

Tony screamed. And screamed. He screamed until he didn’t have any more energy left in him to scream anymore so then he cried on the floor of his lab, broken and numb.

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Tony woke up with a start.

He realized that he must have passed out because he didn’t remember falling asleep. His head was pounding and he was pretty sure that his arm was bleeding.

Pushing himself off the ground, Tony brushed the glass off himself and realized he stunk like alcohol. What a father he was.

“FRIDAY, how long was I out for?” Tony rushed out of the lab to quickly change and get rid of all evidence that he had been drinking and ruining his lab, along with Peter’s creation in the process.

“You have been sleeping for three hours and four minutes, Boss.” FRIDAY replied and Tony swore. That was way too long to be away from his kid.

Showering, changing and brushing his teeth took him a total of twenty minutes. He grabbed a bottle of aspirin on his way down to the MedBay and ran down.

He pushed the doors open to Peter’s room and saw that it was empty. He shook his head in denial because Peter should be back by now. He should have been back from surgery by now.

Tony felt sick. He wasn’t even there for Peter. What if his kid died? What if Peter died and he was too busy getting wasted in his lab to say goodbye to him. No. No. Peter wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead.

He pushed the doors open and went to find a doctor to talk to but he couldn’t find anyone. He started to walk down the hallway but right as he was about to ask FRIDAY to tell him what the fuck was going on and where his kid was, he saw Peter being wheeled back down the hallway, looking even paler than he had when he left for surgery.

“What happened to him? He looks even worse. Oh god.” Tony went to reach out to touch Peter’s hand and squeeze it but he stopped himself. He was too scared to even touch his kid because Peter looked so weak and fragile. He didn’t look good. He didn’t even look alive and that terrified Tony.

“Mr. Stark. Can you please come with me?” Tony looked over at one of the doctors and froze. He saw the regretful look on their face but he didn’t want to hear it. It was never any good news.

Why wasn’t Peter waking up?

“No. I’m not leaving him.” He pushed past the doctor and followed Peter back into his room but he was still too scared to touch him. It looked like Peter was going to break apart into a million little pieces if Tony touched him.

He thought back to Peter’s lego that he broke or the secret project that Peter was working on. He broke everything he touched.

“Please take a seat, Mr. Stark.” The same doctor had asked him so Tony watched as all the other doctors and nurses got Peter hooked up to his machines then left.

He took his same seat as before but didn’t touch Peter. He was too scared to.

“We were able to repair the hole in his kidney and stop the bleeding but Peter lost a lot of blood.” The doctor began, pausing to let Tony process everything. “His body is working extra hard now to try and replenish all of the blood that he lost.”

“Is that why he looks so pale?” Tony asked, already knowing what the answer was.

“Yes. We will continue to monitor his vitals as usual.”

Tony nodded. He didn’t know how else to feel. He didn’t hear good news. Peter still wasn’t waking up.

When he looked up at the doctor, he saw Pepper walk into the room with red, puffy eyes but he ignored her and looked back at the doctor. “Will he wake up soon now? Now that-that he had the surgery?”

By the look on the doctors face, Tony now knew that that meant they didn’t have an answer for him. At least not an answer that he would like.

“We don’t know. We’re continuing to monitor his brain activity but it’s impossible to say.” He told him regretfully. “Some people are in comas for a day and others can spend the rest of their life in them.”

Tony looked away. Peter couldn’t grow up in this bed. He had to wake up.

Pepper sat down on the other side of Peter’s bed and stared at Tony. “I can smell alcohol on you.”

He looked away, choking on a sob. “He can’t die. He can’t. He can’t. He-he still has to lose his baby teeth. He… he can’t die, Pepper. I-I won’t survive that. I-I can’t live without him!”

She watched him break down, knowing there was nothing she could do to make him feel better. Peter didn’t look good. It was obvious to anyone who looked at him. She didn’t know if she would even be sitting here a week from now, but she didn’t want that to happen.

It was obvious that if Peter died, she would be losing Tony as well.

The monitor on the screen began to flatline so Tony sat up and grabbed onto Peter’s hand. “What’s happening? Is he dying?!” Tony yelled, watching all the doctors race into the room and crowd Peter’s body.

“No pulse. Let’s start chest compressions.” One of the doctors ordered and began doing CPR on Peter’s chest.

Tony couldn’t watch the scene unfold in front of him but he couldn’t look away. He couldn’t go through this again. He wasn’t going to lose Peter.

“Get the paddles! Let’s charge to 100. Clear!”

Tony stared at the screen on the monitor. Praying for it to start beeping again instead of the straight line moving across the screen that was screaming at him.

“No change. C’mon, Peter. Charge to 200. Clear!”

Tony couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t even trying to get a breath in because that wasn’t important right now. What was important is that Peter breathes.

Peter woke up and sucked in a huge breath of air.

He looked around the strange room that he was in and immediately tensed up because he didn’t know where he was or what was going on but he wasn’t in pain anymore.

He looked in the corner of the room where his eyes were drawn to and he spotted his dad but he looked sad. Peter had never seen him look like that before.

There were voices shouting all around him but Peter made no mind of that as he walked towards his dad and stood in front of him, looking up. “Dad? What’s going on? I’m scared.”

Tony wasn’t looking at him. He wasn’t even acknowledging that Peter was standing right in front of him. “Dad? Daddy?! Look at me. I’m right here. Daddy! I’m right here!”

Peter let out a sob and tried to reach his arms up to be picked up like his dad always did but not this time. Tears poured down Peter’s face the more his dad ignored him.

“Daddy. Please. I-I’m right here. Stop ignoring me!” Peter screamed out but Tony was looking over his head so Peter turned around to see what he was looking at and screamed once he saw it. “No! No!”

He pushed past the doctors and raced to stand in front of the bed. His bed. He was looking down at his body and suddenly it felt like his feet weren’t touching the ground, like he was floating.

“Wake up!” Peter screamed at himself and turned to look at his dad who was screaming at him not to leave him.

Peter didn’t want to leave his dad but he was right there.

“Help me. I-I’m scared, daddy. Please.” Peter turned to face himself again and grabbed onto his leg but then he was floating up.

“We got a heartbeat.”

Tony sucked in a huge breath of air and raced to stand by his son's side so he could hold his hand. He felt like he was ready to pass out himself. “You’re okay. Don’t ever do that to me again. Okay? Okay, just… hold on, Peter. Baby, stay alive.”

Tony laid his head on Peter’s bed, praying for Peter to wake up and come back to him now.

Pepper joined Tony’s side, not knowing if this was it. If this was where they would lose Peter.

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They stayed like that for the next few hours, both of them crying over Peter but not a word said between the two.

Pepper eventually left, saying something about the others wanting to come see Peter but Tony didn’t answer her. He eventually gained enough courage to reach out and hold onto Peter’s hand, as gently as he could.

Tony was surprised to look up at the door next and see Steve standing there with Natasha next to him. Tony continued to stare at them. He was extremely thankful for their help but he couldn’t express that to them right now.

“We… we came to check on him.” Steve said. Tony noticed how red his eyes were. He knew how much Peter had grown on everyone and how much his boy meant to the team.

“He just got back from surgery. Another one. Maybe not the last one.” Tony answered. “His heart stopped. It-he died. Again. And-and I can’t lose him. I can’t.”

Both of them gave Tony a sad look so he looked back down at Peter. He knew they wouldn’t hurt Peter but he didn’t want them touching him. He was too hurt. Too vulnerable.

“Oh Tony.” Natasha spoke in a voice that Tony’s never heard before.

He felt the tears pouring down his face as he looked at her. “Don’t. Don’t say it. He’s gonna be okay. He has to be okay.”

Natasha looked away from him and down at Peter before turning and leaving the room as if it were on fire. Tony looked up at Steve. “He’s gonna be okay.”

Steve nodded. “He’ll pull through. He’s a tough kid. He takes after his dad.”

The small gesture behind Steve’s words brought Tony some comfort. “Yeah, he does.”

Steve didn’t stay that long. Tony was aware of the man’s presence for a little while after their conversation drifted off but he paid Steve no mind.

When he looked up at the door, possibly hours later, two doctors were walking into the room and holding a clipboard. Tony didn’t pay them any attention, thinking that they were going to check over Peter again but they pulled up two chairs and sat down in front of Tony.

“Mr. Stark, I am so so sorry for your son. We are trying to do everything that we can but I think it’s time to start preparing yourself…”

Tony felt all the blood drain from his body. Start preparing himself… no. He wasn’t giving up on Peter.

“Wha-what? What’re you saying?”

They stared at him for a few seconds with a look of pity before speaking. “Peter’s brain activity has been decreasing ever since he got back from surgery. I’m afraid that even in the event that he does wake up, he will never be himself again. He won’t be the same child that you once knew.”

Tony couldn’t breathe.

He couldn’t process what they were telling him. It-it wasn’t true. It couldn’t be fucking true. No.

“No. He’s gonna wake up. He has to.” He wasn’t going to listen to anything else they had to say to him. They tried to talk to him again but he ignored them.

When they finally left, Tony grabbed onto Peter’s hand a little bit tighter and leaned over to press a kiss onto his forehead. “Wake up for me, Petey. Please. I need you here with me.”

“I know-I know you’re scared… I know, but I’m here. I’m waiting here for you to wake up and I’m not leaving you so please. Please please please, Peter. Just wake up.” He was begging his kid. He needed to have Peter with him.

It was where he belonged.

He brushed the curls off of Peter’s face and tried to smile for him. It’s been way too long since he’s seen Peter’s beautiful, big brown eyes. “I still have so much to teach you. We still have to do so much together, baby. I-I wanna teach you how to swim. Remember… I promised you I would. You can’t make me break that promise to you.”

Tony carefully laid his head on Peter’s chest and cried against him.

He didn’t want to say goodbye to the future they had planned and were supposed to live together.

He didn’t want to miss out on all the milestones of his son's life that he was looking so forward to. They only just started their life together and now it was coming to an end.

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The next five days were spent with Tony holding Peter’s hand and begging him to wake up while praying to the heavens up above to not take his kid away from him.

He managed to get some sleep in the chair while still holding onto Peter’s hand, just so Peter knew that he was there and waiting for him.

The doctors continued to come in and out of the room, checking vitals and the monitor but they came with no good information each time. Tony didn’t bother to ask them when Peter was going to wake up because even though he never gave up hope, he knew they weren’t going to give him any answers so he stopped asking.

The nurse would come in and every hour to change what needed changing and then left after that.

Tony had become so numb to everything.

He bowed his head and started saying a mantra in his head, praying for Peter to wake up.

Pepper walked into the room with a tea for Tony, knowing that he was going to take two sips and leave it like he always did. She sat back down on the chair she always sat in and sipped on her own tea.

Tony squeezed Peter’s hand a little bit tighter but he was positive he felt Peter squeeze his hand back. He snapped his head up to look at him but there were no movements. Peter was still unresponsive. He knew he was imagining it so he bowed his head again and continued with his mantra in his head.

He was about to shut his eyes to try and get some more sleep but right as he went to do that, he heard some gurgling and when he looked up, Peter’s eyes were open and he was choking on the tube that was down his throat.

Tony felt the blood drain from his body and his hands start shaking. He stood up but he couldn’t move. He had no idea if he was dreaming or not but Pepper was standing up and looking over Peter’s body.

“Oh my god.” She ran to open the door to scream for help. “Help! We need help in here!”

Tony managed to get his hands moving but Peter was dying. He was choking and he couldn’t breathe. “Oh god. Help him. Peter. Peter, I’m here. I’m here, Peter.”

A team of doctors ran into the room and surrounded Peter. Tony took a step back to let them work but he couldn’t have his kid die now. He was awake. His eyes were open but he was choking.

“Is-is he dying? Oh my god.” Tony covered his mouth and watched as they started pulling the tube from his mouth.

“This is good. He’s fighting incubation meaning that he can breathe on his own now.” Came a voice and it had Tony breaking down but with tears of pure relief this time.

“C’mon, Peter. Keep breathing. Good job, baby. I’m right here. Daddy’s right here, baby.” Tony tried to reassure Peter. He pushed his way to stand next to Peter’s head and started brushing the hair away from his face to get him to calm down.

The tube was pulled out of his mouth but then the doctors were ripping him away from Tony and yanking Peter up so he was in a sitting position. One of the doctors patted roughly at his back while another one shoved a suction tube down his throat a few times.

When Tony heard Peter start crying, he couldn’t stop the flood of tears that followed of complete happiness and joy. He wondered if this was what new parents felt like, after hearing their child crying for the first time which was a sign of life.

Peter was laid back down but continued crying so Tony leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead, already seeing the colour coming back to his face. He placed both hands onto the side of Peter’s face but he could still hear a gurgling sound and before he could say anything, the suction tube was being stuck down Peter’s throat once again which only made Peter cry harder when it was taken out.

Tony loved that sound. His kid was awake and breathing on his own. He was alive.

The doctors moved around Peter some more, directing orders at each other while Tony continued to hold Peter’s head and try to calm him down.

Tony didn’t know how long it was until Peter’s crying moved onto whimpering and he watched all the doctors move around him with wide, terrified eyes.

One of them grabbed a pen light and shined it in Peter’s eyes but Peter was moving his head away and whimpering harder. “Can you tell me what your name is?”

Peter tried to look behind the doctor and opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out so he tried again, only for nothing to come out.

“Can you tell me what happened?” The doctor asked Peter but then his face was scrunching up and cranking his neck to look at Tony who was standing above his head.

Tony smiled at him. “Hi, baby.”

Peter smiled weakly and attempted to reach up for him. “M’is’er S’ark.”

Tony felt all the colour drain from his face. “No. No, Pete. I’m dad. It’s daddy, baby.”

Peter didn’t seem to register anything he was saying. He tried to look around the room and then his eyes landed on Tony again. “M’is’er S’ark, w-where’s Aunt May?”

Tony felt his own tears filling his eyes and pouring down his cheeks again. He shook his head and looked at Peter who looked so scared and confused.

Peter’s eyes rolled to the back of his head before he was going limp again. Tony shook his head while he tried to wake Peter up again. “No. No! Wake up, Peter. Wake up! Is-is he in another coma?”

The doctors were looking at the monitor but shaking their heads. Tony held his breath. Please no. “No. He’s just exhausted and is sleeping now. He should be waking up in a few hours.”

Tony collapsed back into his chair. “Oh thank god. Thank you thank you thank you. Oh my god. Okay.”

Tony couldn’t stop crying but this time he was crying out of relief.

Peter was awake. His kid was alive and awake and that’s was all that mattered but he didn’t understand why Peter had called him Mr. Stark. They were way past that. Way way past that.

“Why did he call me, Mr. Stark and asked for his dead Aunt?” Tony asked one of the doctors that were still in the room. He was so scared of the answer, knowing how delicate brains were.

“We won’t know until he wakes up again but it’s possible he has memory loss. His mind set back to a certain point in time when his Aunt was still alive.” One of the doctors explained to him. “We’ll wait for him to wake up. There was so much going on, it’s possible he was just confused and wasn’t thinking straight.”

“And he’s not in a coma right now?” Tony asked, he had to be sure.

“He’s just sleeping.” The doctor reassured and went to leave but stopped. “Your son is one heck of a fighter, Mr. Stark. I’ll be back soon.”

Tony squeezed onto Peter’s hand again and wanted to burst out crying. He was so relieved. He had his baby back. Even though he was terrified that Peter didn’t recognize him as dad and asked for May but Peter was awake and right now, that was all that mattered.

“Oh my god, Tony.” Pepper cried out, getting up and walking over to rub his back.

He didn’t trust his voice to speak right now so he just nodded his head and started counting down the hours until Peter woke up.

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Peter slept for nine hours which wasn’t as long as Tony thought it was going to be but he hoped so badly that Peter woke up and knew what was going on and where he was.

Two doctors were in the room and waiting to let Peter wake up a bit first and give him some space. Tony watched Peter yawn and try to lift both hands up to rub at his eyes but one of his arms got stuck from all the wires in it so he looked down and started whining.

Tony took that hand in his and rubbed his thumb over it. “Hey, baby. How are you feeling?”

Peter was looking at him with his big brown eyes that Tony had prayed so hard to be able to see again. He looked into them but he wasn’t sure if Peter recognized him or not with the way he was staring at him.

Peter tugged on the wires and whined while looking at Tony wanting him to do something about it. Tony smiled at the fact that his baby was back. “No, baby. These stay in.”

The doctor stepped forward and pulled up a chair. Peter eyed him. “Can you tell me your name?”

Peter looked around him again and then looked back over at Tony and tried to reach out for him. “Dad.”

Tony felt his heart burst. “Yeah. Yeah, baby. I’m dad.” He wrapped Peter in a gentle hug and pulled away to press another kiss to his forehead. “What’s your name?”

Peter pointed to Tony’s chest but Tony shook his head. “No, your name.”

“Peter.”

Tony wiped at the tears that were falling and looked at the doctor for him to continue. He was so happy.

“Can you tell me how old you are, Peter?”

Peter looked at his hands and held up four fingers but he looked confused. “Um… fourteen.”

“Good job. And who’s this?” The doctor pointed at Tony and Peter grinned at him but it was weak. Tony still loved seeing that tiny little grin so much, he couldn’t stop himself from crying.

“Dad.” Peter answered and tried to reach for him again but his hand got stuck so Tony reached across the bed to hold his other one too, knowing that Peter liked the most physical contact he could get.

“Who’s this?” The doctor then pointed at Pepper so Peter turned to look at her.

“Pepper.”

“Good job, Peter. Do you remember what happened?”

Tony felt his smile fall. Would he want Peter to remember what happened or would it be best if he forgot it.

Peter thought about it and looked over at his dad to answer. “I saw Aunt May.”

Tony almost choked on his breath. “You what?” He thought back to that brief moment when Peter’s heart had stopped and he left his body. Was it possible…

Peter looked confused but he tried to explain it. “I-I was looking for you, but you weren’t there. And-and everyone else was but… but I didn’t want to leave you and so I came back.”

Tony didn’t exactly know what Peter was talking about but in a way, he did. He didn’t bother to wipe the tears away this time since he knew they would be returning. “Oh baby. You did. You’re so brave, Peter. I love you so much.”

Peter tried to turn to face him but then his face was scrunching up and he was whimpering. “My leg.” Peter pointed at it and then the tears were falling down his face. “Hurts.”

“Peter, you had to have surgery on your leg,” The doctor explained. “Do you remember what happened?”

Peter whimpered and pointed at his leg again before turning his face towards Tony and reaching out for him. “It got stuck. In-in the chains.”

“We’re going to take the cast off to see if you can feel any movement, is that okay?”

Peter shook his head. “No. I don’t want to.”

Tony knew this was necessary. He saw how bad Peter’s ankle was and was terrified that they were going to have to amputate it. “I’ll hold your hand the whole time, baby. Let the doctors check it.”

Peter continued to whimper and shake his head. “I-I wan’-Wanna go to bed. In our bed.”

Tony wanted that more than anything but he knew Peter wasn’t ready to leave yet. “We will soon. You have to get better first. Are you in any pain?”

Peter thought about it before shaking his head. “Mm-mm. Wan’- wan’ my water bottle.”

Tony looked at the doctor to see if that was okay and he nodded so Pepper was standing up. “I’ll go get it.”

Peter watched her leave and moved his fingers up to his mouth but this time, Tony let him. If Peter wanted to do that then he wasn’t going to stop him. It helped to comfort him so he would allow it. “It’s okay, Pete. After you have your water bottle we will check your ankle, okay?”

Peter didn’t respond. They waited until Pepper came back with the water bottle and handed it to Peter who took in his free hand to drink it. The doctor moved to begin taking Peter’s cast off, Tony knew how bad it looked.

He tried to look away every time a nurse would come in to check on the healing process and apply more cream but he always ended up staring, hating himself for letting this happen to Peter.

Tony pointed at Peter’s water bottle to try and distract him from looking at his ankle. “Is this your favourite one? The green one?”

Peter stared at him and shook his head so Tony continued. “Is it… the blue one? The one with sharks?”

Peter was nodding his head and Tony went to continue but then he was whining and looking towards his ankle. “Ow. Hurts.”

“That’s good, Peter. Can you try to wiggle your toes?”

Tony looked at the stitches around his ankle from where the bear trap had broken Peter’s skin and it was almost all healed. The last time he saw it, it was all red and inflamed but now it looked so much better. The doctor looked extremely impressed as well.

Peter was shaking his head. “It hurts.”

“That’s okay. Well try later but it’s healing very quickly.” He covered it back up and went to lift up Peter’s gown to check his stitches there. “I’m just going to check here.”

Peter looked down but Tony didn’t want him to see that either, in case it wasn’t healing yet so he picked up the water bottle that rolled off to the side and pressed it to Peter’s lips, waiting for him to take it.

“Are you still sleepy, Petey?” Tony asked him but he could see the exhaustion in Peter’s eyes. He wanted him to go to sleep so his body could heal and get better but he was absolutely terrified that Peter was going to slip back into a coma and it was going to be the last time Tony was going to talk to his kid.

Peter nodded and continued to stare at him so Tony scared back. He didn’t want to look at the stab wound because then Peter would be following his eyes and see that.

“Just try to stay awake for a little longer, Pete.” Tony brushed his curls back but knew that they would make Peter want to fall asleep so he stopped and went back to holding his hand instead.

“His stitches are healing nicely here too. Very good.” Tony looked up just in time to see the doctor covering up the wound and pulling Peter’s gown back down. “A nurse will come in shortly to change both dressings and anything else that needs tending to.”

“Can he go to sleep now?” Tony asked but he didn’t want Peter to go to sleep. He was terrified of Peter sleeping now.

“Yeah, he’s going to fall asleep in the next few minutes and most likely stay asleep well into the next day. It’s his body’s way of recovering.”

Peter continued to stare at Tony as his eyes started to become heavy with sleep. Tony still wasn’t ready yet. “But it’s safe… he won’t fall into another coma?”

The doctor smiled patiently and walked over to tap on the monitor. “It’s perfectly safe and encouraged that he sleeps. See here, this monitors his brain activity and everything is looking perfect so don’t worry, Mr. Stark, he won’t fall into another coma.”

Tony squeezed Peter’s hand tighter and thanked the doctor.

“Although I’m going to take his water bottle out of his mouth so he doesn’t choke.” The doctor reached over to take it from Peter but Peter whined and turned away from him so Tony reached out for it.

“I’m gonna take it for a little bit, Pete. You don’t need it anymore but it’ll be here for you when you wake up.” Tony carefully took the water bottle from Peter and handed it to Pepper who put it on the table.

“Close your eyes now, baby. I’ll be here the whole time.” Tony reassured him by running his hand through Peter’s hair. He was terrified as Peter’s eyes drifted shut but he knew it was what Peter needed.

Tony had held Peter’s hand just like he always did but after the fifth hour, his own eyes were starting to get heavy. He actually managed to eat almost a full meal and didn’t want to throw up after but he was now ready to pass out himself.

He knew he couldn’t though. He had to stay awake for Peter.

Rhodey walked into the room and stood over Peter’s bed. “He’s okay? He’s awake now?”

Tony nodded, feeling the strong urge of sleep becoming even more powerful as each second passed by. “Yeah. He’s out of the coma but he’s been sleeping for about five hours now.”

Pepper had gone up and told everyone the news that Peter was awake after the first time he woke up but Tony didn’t want anyone to come down even though they were desperate to see Peter. He needed to have Peter all to himself and he needed Peter to stay calm and not get overwhelmed with everyone coming in to see him.

Tony wasn’t even sure if Peter was aware of half the injuries that he had and what was going on with his body.

“That’s amazing, Tones.” Rhodey walked over to Tony’s side to pat his back. “He’s gonna be up and running around in no time. He already looks so much better. Stronger.”

“Yeah.” That’s my boy. “He’s a little fighter.”

Rhodey left his side and walked over to pull up a chair next to Pepper. “I can stay here with him while you go try and rest-”

Tony was cutting him off straight away. “No. I’m not leaving him now. If he wakes up and I’m not here… no way.”

Rhodey sighed and Tony knew that his best friend knew there was no way he would be leaving Peter. “Alright. I’ll stay awake but how about you try to get some sleep on the couch there?”

Tony knew there was a loveseat couch behind him but he couldn’t pull it next to Peter so he slept on the chair. “I can’t hold his hand from there.”

“I’ll hold his hand. It’s right there. You need to sleep, Tones, because Peter’s gonna wake up and need your full attention on him and you can’t do that with how exhausted you are right now.” Rhodey made a good point. Tony knew that Peter was going to need his full attention when he woke up.

“Alright… if he wakes up, wake me up.” Tony stood up and eyed his best friend. “Promise me you’ll wake me.”

“Yes. I promise. Get some rest.”

With that, Tony attempted to get comfortable on the tiny couch and was out in a matter of minutes.

.
.
.

Peter slowly started to wake up after sleeping for twelve hours straight.

He lifted up his free hand and rubbed at his eyes then he was looking over but he didn’t see his dad.

Rhodey stood up and tried to wake Tony up once he saw Peter starting to stir. “Tones? Tony. Wake up. Peter’s awake.”

Tony was up in an instant.

He shot his head up and stumbled into the chair to check on his kid. “Hey. Hi, Pete. How do you feel?”

Peter yawned and rubbed at his eyes again while looking around the room. “What are you looking for, bud?”

Peter turned towards him and smiled faintly. “You.”

“Aww, baby. I’m right here. I told you I wouldn’t leave you.” Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s forehead and brushed the hair away, feeling that Peter desperately needed a shower but he didn’t even know how that would play out.

Tony looked up at Rhodey but he was so lost. He had absolutely no idea what day or time it was. “How long was I sleeping for?”

“Bout seven hours.”

Tony nodded. So Peter slept for about twelve hours. That was pretty long, he wondered if his stitches were healed at all or the broken bones in his body.

One of the nurses was walking into the room with a tray of food and smiled widely at Peter. “Hi Peter. I have some food for you to start off with.”

Peter looked at her.

“I’m just gonna lift your bed up so you can eat.” She pressed the button that lifted the bed up then placed the tray on the table. “No solids yet since it’ll be hard on your tummy but we have yogurt, applesauce and jello.”

Peter continued to stare at her so Tony stepped in. “Yummy, Pete. What do you want?”

Peter looked down and tried to lean closer towards his dad. “Waffle.” He whimpered.

Tony moved his head closer to Peter to try and hear what he was saying. “What, baby?”

“Waffle.” He whispered again but Tony shook his head.

“You can’t have waffles yet because then it’ll hurt your stomach.” Tony looked at the tray and tried to decide what Peter would want and he decided on the strawberry yogurt. As he opened it up and dumped it into a bowl, Peter was trying to push it away but Tony didn’t let that annoy him.

He was used to Peter not wanting to eat unless it was what Peter wanted to eat. He had even missed that while Peter was in a coma so he tried to be patient, even if it was hard.

“Hmm, it’s strawberry. You love strawberries, Pete.” Tony placed the bowl on Peter’s lap but his other hand was in a cast up to his elbow so he only had one working hand. “Take a bite.”

Rhodey left the room but it went unnoticed to Tony. He picked up the spoon and tried to get Peter to eat it. At the last second, Peter moved his head away and it smeared across his cheek so Tony sighed.

“It’s alright.” The nurse was grabbing a wet cloth and wiping Peter’s face before Tony even got the chance. “Are you in any pain, Peter?”

Peter turned away from her and shook his head.

“Would you like to try something else?” She patiently asked. Tony remembers he hired her and wanted her working for him after all the amazing medical work that she’s done with children.

Peter nodded and tried to lift both hands up so he could wipe at his eyes but his broken wrist was preventing that. He let out an annoyed scream and started crying again so Tony put the bowl on the tray and wiped the tears off of Peter’s face himself.

“There we go. All better now.” Tony wiped them away but Peter was still crying. He knew how hard this was for Peter to not be able to move and have to sit still with so many restrictions.

Peter was constantly running around and jumping off of one thing or the next but now he was bound to a single bed and not able to move half of his body.

He used his good hand to point towards the door. “I wanna go!”

“I know. Soon but not yet, baby. You have to get better first.” Tony wiped at his cheeks again but Peter was throwing his head back which scared Tony. “No. Don’t do that because your head is hurt. You have to keep it still.”

The nurse picked up the bowl of yogurt and stirred it up. “If you eat all of this, the next time you wake up, I’ll have a special surprise for you.”

Tony knew that she had Peter’s attention because he loved his surprises. “What?”

“I can’t tell you. It’s a secret but I want to see this all gone.” She handed the bowl to Tony who took it and held the spoon out.

“Open.” Tony held the spoonful up to Peter’s mouth and to both adults delight, he took a bite and was reaching for the spoon.

“I want Craig of the creek.” Peter told Tony but the nurse was speaking up before Tony could.

“Peter, you still have a very bad concussion so that means no screen time. You have your dad here to keep you company instead and I’ll be back after you finish all your food.” The nurse left after that but Peter was turning to Tony and slowly pushing the bowl away.

“No more.”

“Then no surprise. I’ll go tell her to take your surprise away-”

“No.” Peter whimpered and reached for the bowl again so Tony smiled, knowing that he won that round. He continued to eat his yogurt while Tony just sat back and watched him.

The last few days had felt like a nightmare. He went almost two weeks without seeing his baby awake and during the time, he had no idea if Peter was going to be waking up.

And now here he was, brightening up Tony’s whole life and making living all worth it.

Peter finished the yogurt and pushed the bowl away so Tony grabbed it from him and set it on the tray. “All done.”

“Good job, Petey. Are you still hungry? Do you want anything else?” Tony grabbed the cloth to wipe down Peter’s face at the same time as the nurse walked in.

“Good job, Peter. A promise is a promise so I’ll be back the next time you wake up but let’s check some things first.” The nurse walked over to the end of the bed to start changing Peter’s ankle casting.

Tony knew how this process went. She came in every day, multiple times away to change everything and to check it. She started with the process as a doctor walked into the room.

“Hi Peter. I just wanted to catch you before you fell asleep.” He walked onto the other side of the bed and went to open up Peter’s hospital gown. “I’m just gonna open this up so I can check a few things.”

He pulled the gown open so Tony scanned his body. The bruising was practically fully gone now with just the yellowish colour left behind. “I’m going to press on your ribs so you tell me if you feel any pain.”

Tony watched Peter’s face to see if he was feeling any pain but he barely flinched which he took as a good sign. The doctor moved around some more but Peter didn’t flinch.

“No pain?”

Peter shook his head and when the doctor smiled, Tony smiled because that was always good news.

“Well it looks like your ribs are healed up nicely, Peter.” He was announcing then moving to Peter’s wrist. “I’m going to take a scan of his head to see if his fracture has healed as well as his wrist the next time he wakes up.”

“Alright. How long should it be taking to heal?” Tony asked. He knew Peter healed almost three times as fast as someone his age but he was still hurt and recovering which might take longer, even for Peter.

“For his wrist, it can take anywhere from eight weeks or as long as six months but because of Peter’s enhanced healing, I would have to take a look at the breaks again but… I’d say another week or two. Maybe longer.”

That was a long time but it was nowhere near as long as it would have taken if Peter wasn’t Spider-Man. Tony didn’t want to think about it but he was sure that Peter would have been dead if he wasn’t Spider-Man, although, he also wouldn’t have been in that situation if he wasn’t Spider-Man.

Never again.