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Tony hadn’t thought much of it when he picked up the phone, mostly because it was a call from Peter, and as much as Tony liked to tease him about it, he really did enjoy talking to the kid. In hindsight, he should’ve realized something was up right away because when had a call from Peter ever been just a normal chat?
“Mr. Stark-“ The kid’s voice was breathless and pained, pitching much higher than his normal tone.
Yep, there was that awful sinking sensation that Tony knew all too well. “Kid? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“Um, I was trying to- I was fighting this guy, and he- and like, I got him, right? But he-“ Peter cut his own sentence off with a “gah”, and Tony could physically feel his hair turning grey as his mind ran through the possible scenarios.
Tony double-tapped the arc reactor, suiting up to go find his kid. “FRIDAY, link me to Karen, tell me what’s going on.”
It only took a second before he was connected to the AI in Peter’s suit. “Hello, Mr. Stark,” she said cheerily, a habit she must’ve picked up from Peter. “It appears that Peter has been injected with a dangerous unknown substance, which seems to be triggering his brain’s fear response-“
She kept talking, but Tony didn’t hear it because her dissonant voice was buried beneath Peter’s scream. It was a guttural, wrenching sound that pierced Tony’s ears with a sinking dread.
“Peter-“ Tony didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to help his kid. “Karen, tell me where he is. Right now.”
She obliged, and Tony set the coordinates in his suit, all of his attention on Peter’s voice on the other end of the line.
“No, no, no, no, no,” the kid was murmuring to himself now, a low desperation in his voice that was jarring after the high pitched screams. “No, no, no, please no.”
“Kid? Peter? What’s happening, what’s wrong?”
The kid kept talking in a steady stream, as though he couldn’t hear Tony’s voice.
“Please, no, Uncle Ben, you can’t- you have to wake up.”
Tony’s heart filled with an icy horror as he realized what Peter must have been seeing. “Kid,” he started, feeling utterly powerless, “Pete, I’m almost there, just hang on, okay? You’re gonna be alright, kid, I promise.”
The kid was silent for a few minutes, filling Tony with an immeasurable panic. But then he rounded on the rooftop where Peter was, landing hastily in front of him. Peter stared through him, his brown eyes wide with terror.
“Help-“
Tony stepped towards his kid, unsure of what to do.
“Somebody help, please, I’m trapped-“ Peter’s voice was rough, near breaking, stuck somewhere only he could see.
“FRIDAY?”
She answered despite his inability to get a question out. “The best course of action would be to get Mr. Parker back to the compound, Boss. I have already alerted Dr. Cho and her team to the situation. And it is safe to move him.”
Tony nodded, then scooped Peter up as gently as he could, setting a course back to the compound.
“Mr. Stark?”
Tony froze, some small bit of hope clinging in his chest that it was over, that Peter had metabolized whatever awful poison that was playing Peter Parker’s Greatest Hits of trauma like a broken record in his mind.
“I don’t feel so good.”