The Mission
I think we've all had it once. I mean, Peter's life is just so relatable, right? Don't you just hate it when you're spending time with your favorite superheroes and the AI in the ceiling (which is not in the ceiling, by the way) alerts you of a dangerous villain that's attacking the city? Well, that's exactly what happened to Peter.
"Sir, there is an alert of a troublemaker causing trouble in the city," FRIDAY alerted the three people standing in the kitchen. Tony sighed, putting down his coffee.
"Yes, I imagine that's the reason why they call them troublemakers," he replied as he slowly sauntered off to get his suit.
"You asked me to alert you, sir. I am alerting you, sir," FRIDAY simply replied with her most emotionless voice, causing Tony to come to a halt, making a face.
"Sassy, much," he mumbled before shaking his head and continue his route through the halls, Steve following closely behind. Peter stayed in the kitchen, trying very hard to be casual and ending up knocking over a coffee cup. "You too, Underage," Tony shouted back to the kitchen. Peter quickly straightened up from his leaning position against the counter, maybe a bit too fast and knocking over the cup again.
"Oh, poopies," he mumbled, attempting to clean up his mess.
"Leave it," Tony's voice shouted from the halls. Peter made a 'sorry' motion towards the spilled coffee before speeding off after his mentor.
"Iron Man, you got incoming," Cap's voice sounded over the comms.
"Got it," Came Iron Man's reply. Peter shot another web, sticking one of the, to his opinion rather misshaped robots face-first to the wall. He was a bit further away from the main fight, to his protest, of course. Peter did appreciate the concern but come on, Tony wouldn't even let him run with scissors.
"Can I help?" He tried again, knowing the answer before it came.
"Nope, too dangerous,"
"Yeah, I have to agree with the genius on this one," Came Cap's confirmation. Peter sighed. It was just robots, nothing more, right?
"Steve," Tony started, and the fact that he hadn't made the obvious sarcastic retort that everyone was expecting immediately put Peter on edge. Apparently, Steve had noticed it too.
"What's wrong?"
"Steve," Iron Man repeated, voice tight. "Steve, there's a bomb,"
Peter wanted to slap himself. It was always bombs. Every time something went wrong, it was because of bombs. A bitter chuckle filled the comms.
"It's always bombs, isn't it?"
Apparently, Tony thought the same.
"Mr. Stark, don't go in!" Peter exclaimed, just barely dodging a random loose robot-arm one of the metal creatures had thrown at him in clear desperation.
"You watch your Spider-Ass, Underoos," Tony warned. Peter threw his hands up, muttering something inside his mask.
He's definitely watching me, the teenager thought. It's just getting creepy now.
"He's right, Tony,"
Peter tensed, Cap rarely called the billionaire by his first name in battle. It was usually just 'Iron Man'.
"Wait for me to get there, we can take it out together-"
"No, Steve," Tony interrupted. "I can't wait for you to get there, there's people in that building. And seeing as there's no one else here right now, I guess that just leaves me,"
"Tony," Steve tried again.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, voice small. He heard Tony sigh in defeat.
"Sorry,"
Steve immediately started yelling through the comms but Peter was frozen. He looked into the distance where he knew his mentor was, currently fighting for his life. He didn't know how much time passed, it all seemed to go so fast, but at the same time, it was as if everything was moving in slow-motion.
"Tony, I'm almost there. Just wait for me to get there, I'm close-"
The building exploding cut him off. Even from this big of a distance away, Peter could feel the heat wash over him like a sunlight after the rain. A big mushroom-cloud filled the sky, ash and dust raining down. Peter didn't hesitate a second. He fired his new web shooters, slinging away faster than he ever had before.
By the time he arrived at the scene, paramedics were taking care of the injured as firemen tried to put out the fire. The young web-slinger saw the Captain's shield on the ground, its owner already in- no, on the destroyed building, climbing the big pile of bricks that had once been an actual building. There was barely anything left of it now.
The soldier suddenly sped up, reaching the very top and not hesitating to slide down the other side. Peter took it as a hint that he'd found something, someone, quickly racing after him. When he reached the top it took everything in him not to fall back down again. On the ground was the armor. Or, rather what was left of it. It was torn to shreds, the helmet was completely gone and the suit was barely wrapping around the arms and legs. The back seemed to still hold, but the front was merely a few strings of armor.
Steve was kneeling beside it, his hands hovering above Tony's lifeless form as if not sure if he could touch him or not. Peter carefully approached, praying to no one in particular as he kneeled down and put a finger against his mentor's neck. He closed his eyes and held his breath as his fingers softly touched Tony's neck. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he felt a gentle thudding against his fingers. He did realize it was too slow.
"He-help!" He yelled, stumbling back up again and yelling at the paramedics he knew were on the other side of the brick hill. "Help me, someone's injured! We need help!"
Steve bent down to gently take Tony's head and place it on his lap. He softly stroked some blood-soaked hair from the billionaire's forehead.
"Please, don't do this to me," he begged, tears forming in his eyes, his voice nothing more than a whisper. "Don't do this, Tony. Open those eyes, please,"
Steve closed his eyes, the feeling of past events replaying in his mind as tears rolled down his cheeks. What if he didn't wake up this time? What if that small pulse just gave out and Tony was-
"Steve,"
Steve opened his eyes, looking down at Tony in his arms.
"Steve," the genius repeated, his voice barely a whisper. "Steve,"
"I'm here," Steve replied with tears in his eyes, laughing in relief as he grabbed his friend's bloody hand. "I'm here,"
This caused Peter to look back, stumbling over to the two as fast as he could. Tony was breathing shallow, uneven and uneasy breaths, but it was an improvement from the lifeless look he'd had before.
"Mr. Stark?" The young Spiderling asked softly, tears soaking his mask. Tony slowly blinked his eyes open, staring up into the sky with wet, brown eyes. Steve gently shook his shoulder, softly talking to him to gain his attention. It worked as the genius turned his head ever so slightly, his glassy eyes staring up at him.
"You cryin'?" He croaked out. Steve laughed, more out of relief than anything else as tears still made their way down his dirty cheeks. Tony sighed, closing his eyes as a single tear slipped from the corner of his eye.
"Steve, it's- it's cold," he croaked weakly. Steve gently wiped the tear away with his thumb, smiling down at the small-looking figure in his arms.
"I know, paramedics are on their way, alright? Just hold on for me, can you do that?" He tightened his grip on the smaller man as he started coughing, his whole body shaking with the force. "Just hold on, for me? Please?"
Tony nodded weakly, his head rolling against Steve's suit, listening to the strong heartbeat. It was pulling him down and he wanted nothing more than to just drift off. Before he could, however, he was pulled back to reality, the physically painful reality by someone shaking his shoulder.
"Don't fall asleep, please Tony, stay awake. Spider-Man, please guide the paramedics here?"
Peter shot his mentor one last look before shooting off to find his mentor help.
"I'm here, Tony," Steve continued to talk to him to help him stay awake. "I'm right here and I'm not going to leave, alright? I'll stay with you the whole time, I promise. You're getting out of this alive. We all are, got that? All of us,"
"Steve," Tony whined. "Ste-heve,"
Steve sighed, putting his newspaper aside as he approached his friend in the hospital bed.
"What is it, Tony?" He asked with a smile and patience that even surprised himself. Tony looked at him, brown eyes clearer than they'd been in days.
"I'm bored," he stated simply. To anyone else that would've sounded like a 5-year-old but not to Steve. The soft way in which his teammate spoke was enough to tell that it was really bothering him. "I want to work, I want to do something. Not just lie in bed all day. I'm not made for that, Steve!"
Steve couldn't help the chuckle from escaping. Most people hated working, and Tony did too, only in a different way. He hated business meetings and files and neat desks. He loved to tinker in his lab, creating things he didn't need and no one else had even thought of making.
"Not funny, I think I'm really going to die in here," Tony warned, his voice stern but his face soft. "What's the point of hospitals if they leave you in there until you still die of boredom,"
Steve leaned in until his face was just inches away from Tony's, a mischievous look in his eyes.
"Well, I suppose I'm going to have to give you the 'breath of life', right?"
Tony looked confused for a second until their lips touched, and he didn't hesitate to kiss back. The secret kiss could have lasted for hours, were it not for the fast footsteps in the hall coming towards them. They quickly pulled back, Steve winking to the smaller man once more before his face disappeared behind his newspaper again.
Not long after, Peter rushed into the room. His face was barely holding his huge grin and Tony was worried it would actually split.
"Mr. Stark, you're being released in a couple hours! You can go home again! Isn't that great? I think it's great, don't you? Bye!"
Without waiting for a response the teenager was out the door again, heading off to who-knows-where. Tony mumbled a quick 'finally' towards the ceiling and threw the covers back to sit up straight. Steve was next to him in no time to support him.
"Let's go home," he smiled. Tony pressed a last, quick but soft kiss against his lips.
"Yeah, let's go home,"