Chapter 7
It’s his sixteenth birthday, and for the first time in years, he’s throwing a birthday “party” (really, it only consists of Ned, MJ, Harley, and Tony); May orders pineapple pizza and Ned gives him a new LEGO set; Harley gives him the potato gun 4.0, and MJ gives him a book on astronomy. They all expect Tony’s gift to be the best (and it is – not only did Tony get Peter his own lab for his birthday, but he also has paid for his college tuition in full), but no one quite expects Tony’s heart problems to resurface in the hours they’re together.
Sixteen is the worst number for Peter Parker when Tony has a heart attack; sixteen is the worst number for Peter Parker as he rides with Tony in the ambulance, tears falling down his face as he begs him to stay alive – he can’t die, not yet, not this way when he’s defeated far worse; and sixteen is the worst number in existence for Peter Parker when the heart monitor beside Tony’s bed flat lines, the arc reactor stops humming, and Tony Stark dies.