Chapter Text
Peter was drifting, he could hear voices. Some were muffled, some clear, yet he couldn’t hold on to the words. He tried to bring himself to the surface, trying and failing, too exhausted to open his eyes.
It was bright, Peter squinted as his eyes adjusted, first noticing the bandages wrapped around almost every part of his body. He looked down at his body, covered by a thin blanket. It was smaller, thinner then he remembered. He then looked to the side of his small hospital bed, eyes landing on his mentor snoring quietly in the classically uncomfortable hospital chair.
Immediately, Peter’s eyes started to water as his mind caught up to what he was seeing, finally seeing his father figure after- how long had it been?
“M-Mister stark?” His voice was shaky, but it was enough to get his mentor’s attention, immediately sitting up in the chair, wiping his eyes a few times before landing on the small body in the bed.
“Peter?” His voice was almost as quiet at the teenager’s, a mixture of grief, disbelief and fear in his tone.
Peter nodded quickly, reaching his hand out towards the man, tears falling down his face. Tony stood up quickly, moving closer to the bed and taking the hand offered to him, he brought Peter into an awkward hug as they both sobbed. They stayed like that for a few minutes, holding each other, before they pulled away, wiping their eyes.
“Jesus, kid. Are you- in pain or anything? Do you need me to call bruce?” Tony looked over his kid, checking for injuries.
“N-no I’m okay- just” Peter looked at his mentor, almost breaking down again, trying to form the words, “How long has it been?” His voice was quiet, matching the tone of the room, his mentor froze.
“It’s been about four months, Pete” His voice sounded apologetic, filled with sadness.
Peter froze, staring at the blankets in his lap, he didn’t realise it had been that long- or maybe he did- but he didn’t fully register it. He nodded slowly, reaching out for his mentor’s hand again.
“What happened?” At Tony’s startled face, he rushed to correct himself, “I mean- what happened while i was gone?”
Tony looked reluctant to answer, but he did anyway.
“We knew you were missing after a few hous- they sent a video, not saying anything- i called ateve to come help, he brought sam, scott and Natasha- they’re still here,” he paused for a second, “we got another video a couple days later, god- there were so many videos-” He sobbed, trying to ward off the memories.
“Mister Stark-” Tony looked up at him, a broken look on his face, eyes brimming with tears.
“I thought you were dead” the tears were falling freely now, “they- I saw you die. There was a- a stream and-” He choked on a sob, and Peter tugged on his hand, pulling him closer. Tony quickly got the hint and climbed onto the small hospital bed, bringing Peter closer.
“It’s okay” Tony let out a watery laugh.
“Kid, I’m supposed to be the one telling you that”
“I know- but it’s okay, you found me” Tony rested his head on the pillow, staring at the ceiling- this kid- his kid was hurt, he was hurting for months, and yet, he felt the need to reassure Tony.
“I love you, kid”
“I love you too, Tony” He relaxed into Tony’s arms, slowly falling asleep again, “I knew you’d find me”