Chapter Text
Peter was drifting off into sleep within a minute of sitting down. His injured leg was perched on top of MJ’s lap, where she and Ned flanked his sides. His teammates were all whispering loudly or calling their parents, and he tried his best to tune them out. Still, he heard Clara and Mr. Harrington talking about legal schematics and Abe and Jason discussing who the bad guys might work for.
His healing factor was amazing, and he was incredibly glad for it. He could feel that the blood from his thigh had already stopped flowing, and could feel the itch of his cuts scarring over already. But it also made him incredibly tired. As long as he wasn’t pumped on adrenaline or doing damage control after a fight, he was usually out like a light. But he knew Tony would be arriving soon, and didn’t want to give him a heart attack and make him think he’d fainted.
Thinking back on it, his day hadn’t gone so terribly. Compared to some of his past field trips, nothing truly drastic or life-changing occurred. Sure, the rumors would be circulating by tonight and his classmates probably all have some kind of trauma, but all in all it could have gone worse.
He made it through the day without embarrassing himself, revealing his secret identity, or letting somebody die. Hell, he’d even managed to shut Flash up, which was a serious plus. He felt himself smile and assumed Ned was giving him a questioning look (he was), but found he didn’t care. He just saved all of their lives, give him a break.
But any trace of sleepiness disappeared as he heard the telltale sound of repulsors, approaching at a quick rate. He perked up, drawing the attention of some of his classmates who couldn’t hear it and they looked at him quizzically. He just shook his head and turned to the large floor-to-ceiling windows, and watched as they swiveled open through FRIDAY’s command. Soon enough, a red and gold suit barreled into sight.
Tony soared through the opening, having to roll into a ball onto the ground to stop from crashing entirely. The faceplate retracted as soon as he was on his feet, and he sprinted towards Peter with an exasperated and undeniably worried look. He didn’t even glance at anyone else in the room, on a one track mind to make sure Peter felt safe.
Peter just grinned at his mentor, offering a hand up for a wave. But Tony was there, suit retracting as he kneeled down, and hugging Peter before he could say a word. There were some gasps behind him, but since when was that new?
”Peter, Bambino, are you okay? What happened? FRIDAY told me there was a break-in and I flew in here as fast as I could—“
He was interrupted by Peter burrowing his face into the crook of Tony’s neck and verbally shushing him. Tony just melted into the hug, dropping his head over Peter’s shoulders in plain relief. Peter could smell his expensive cologne and it made him a little dizzy, but he really didn’t mind. He was just glad to have Tony back right now.
Begrudgingly, he pulled away to gesture to his leg. “I did really well. I only got stabbed in the thigh—it already stopped bleeding—and got a couple punches to the face. That’s it, and for 15 guys, it's good for my standards.”
”You got stabbed? FRIDAY, run a medical evaluation right now. Pete, just because you’ve dealt with worse doesn’t make injuries okay. How many is that this month? Three?”
”Peter’s gotten stabbed three times this month?” Someone, Peter suspected Betty, asked, and it was like Tony only now realized there were other people in the room with them.
He turned to look at them all, slightly blanched. Before he could say anything, FRIDAY finished her scan on Peter.
”Peter Parker sustained a non-arterial stab to his thigh, with an approximately 8-inch blade. He also sustained 2 bruised ribs and a fractured nose. He has various bruising and small slashes across his arms and face, none concerning. He is healing well already.”
Everybody just gapes at Peter, clearly disbelieving that he hadn’t even realized the state of his nose and ribs. Now that FRIDAY’s mentioned it, they start hurting with a dull throb. Thanks, FRIDAY.
Tony just sighs and gives Peter a look that guarantees a lecture once they get down to the Medbay. He turns around to face the class again, and looks very apologetic from what Peter can see.
“I’m so sorry about what happened today. These types of incidents do not happen normally, in fact this is the first break-in all year. I’ll call up the head of security to bring you all downstairs to the entrance, as obviously the tour cannot continue. Pepper will also be down there, waiting to configure compensation. Not to spark any extra hope, but that might ensure some grants and scholarships in the future.”
That worked well for raising the moods of everybody, even the teachers. They all spoke much louder now, various cheers and laughter replacing the quiet speculations from earlier. Peter was happy for them, but mostly just glad that the attention was off him.
“Oh and, Clara,” Tony added, not-so-subtly glancing at her ID for her name, “You’ll be getting the next week off and a bonus. You deserve it for helping the kids through this.”
She practically radiated sunshine as she beamed and profusely stated her thanks. With everybody soothed and distracted from the incident, Tony finally turned back to Peter and scooped him up from the floor with ease. Or, he pretended to do it with ease, Peter didn’t miss the slight stumble backwards and straining of his arms. He decided to not mention it.
”Alright Mr. Harrington, I think it’s safe to say I need to bring this guy down to my medical floor to get him on some medication.” Tony said, with a tone that tried to convey no-questions-asked.
Unfortunately for him, Mr. Harrington was never good with social cues, and turned to him with a befuddled face. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, but Peter would need to be signed out by a registered guardian to leave. We can call an ambulance to escort him to a typical hospital.” Of course he was bringing up the hospitals again. Did he not believe Peter?
”I think you’re mistaken then, as I’m one of Peter’s registered guardians and can take him out whenever is necessary, especially when we have a proper hospital only a few floors below us. If you need to check the papers, I’ll have FRIDAY pull them up. You can do that, right, Fri?”
Friday complied with a “Yes, boss” and projected a hologram of documents. Indeed, there were the papers with Tony’s signature on them sprawled clear as day. Mr. Harrington’s face reddened in embarrassment, and he just nodded dumbly, purposefully avoiding Peter’s eyes. Peter just smirked in return.
The elevator doors opened to reveal Happy Hogan, a particularly pained expression on his face when he saw Peter being held bridal-style with a makeshift tourniquet on his leg. But he schooled his features quickly and began to address the class.
As Tony turned to leave, Peter grinned at Ned and MJ and gave his class a delirious wave goodbye. They chorused their own goodbyes and thank you’s, but sleep was quick to threaten Peter again. The doors closed, and Peter quickly succumbed to the tiredness as he listened to Tony’s heartbeat relaxing.