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Peter wakes to the sound of water dripping, droplets hitting his forehead and soaking into the fabric of his mask. He slowly blinks his heavy eyes open, meeting darkness. That’s when he realizes he’s pinned to the ground by a giant slab of concrete under a mountain of debris.
There’s a building on top of him.
Panic flows through Peter at the sudden realization as the memories come back to him. It happened so fast. He wasn’t able to get out of the building in time before it collapsed. And judging by the way his head is pounding, something must have hit him on the head and knocked him out. That explains why his thoughts are so foggy.
He tries to take a deep, grounding breath, only to realize that he can’t with the concrete pushing down on his chest, threatening to squash him like the bug he is.
A wave of panic washes over him as the memories of Homecoming night flash through his mind. He hasn’t been good with tight spaces since then, let alone the dark, and now he has to face two of his greatest fears at the same time.
Peter grabs at the concrete and ties to move it, but it’s too heavy for him to lift on his own. His arms shake and burn from the effort, feeling something painfully shift in his chest, probably a broken rib or two.
He lets out a desperate, choked gasp. “H-Help! S-Someone please help me!” He hoarsely screams.
He jumps a bit at the sudden, familiar voice in his ears. “Peter, you appear to be in distress.”
“K-Karen?”
“I’m here, Peter.“
Peter blinks, feeling his tears soak further into his mask as he lets out a sob. “I-I’m stuck. I-I can’t move.”
“You’re going to be alright, Peter. I’ve contacted Mr. Stark and gave him your location. He’s on his way with the team.” Karen says in a calm tone.
Peter sucks in a breath, only to break out in a round of harsh coughs, tasting a thick layer of dust. He tries to take in a breath, only to find that he can’t.
He can’t breathe .
Peter’s eyes widen as a fresh wave of panic comes over him. “I-I can’t breathe,” he gasps out. “K-Karen, I-I c’nt-”
“The team's on the way, Peter. Try to stay calm.”
Peter shakes his head and lets out a choked gasp, starting to weakly push at the concrete weighing down on his chest. He has to get out of here. He needs air, like right now.
“Peter?” A new voice says and Peter instantly recognizes it.
“T-Tony?” He whispers.
“I’m right here, kiddo. You’re gonna be okay.”
“I-I can’t breathe. I-I can’t m-move. T-Tony h-help.” Peter cries, breaking out into a gasping sob.
“You gotta listen to me, bud. You’re gonna be okay. We’re trying to get you out of there, but it’s going to take a bit of time, so you have to try to calm down. Okay? Do you think you can do that for me?”
Peter shakily nods, even though Tony can’t see him. “Y-Yeah.”
“Good. You’re gonna be alright, kiddo. I promise. Okay? And after this, we can go back to the cabin and watch the new season of the Mandalorian and have whatever you want for dinner. How’s that sound?”
“Y-Yeah but t-that doesn’t come out until the end of the month.”
“Well, you know me. I know people in high places and I managed to convince them into giving us an early screening since I have a pretty big Star Wars fan at home.” Tony says and Peter can almost picture the grin on his face.
Peter breathes out a small laugh. “Y-You know me s-so well.”
“You betcha I do,” Tony says fondly.
Peter drops his arms and rests his head against the ground, feeling like he can at least breathe a little easier now that he feels a little more at ease. The fear and panic are still there, but he feels better knowing that Tony and the team were working on getting him out.
…
What feels like an hour passes by and Tony is still on the phone with Peter, filling the time with telling him about the shenanigans Gerald has been getting into around the cabin, like stealing a fresh batch of carrots and turnips Pepper grew in the garden outback. But as the minutes go by, Peter feels more distant and floaty (the lack of clean oxygen probably to blame). His headache has also gotten worse with a persistent throbbing behind his eyes. It doesn’t help that he’s been feeling pretty nauseous now .
Tony lets out a chuckle. “Happy didn’t even see it coming. He was just in there for five minutes and he walked out with half of his shirt gone because Gerald decided to take a bite out of it-"
“T’ny,” Peter mumbles, cutting him off. “I don’ feel so good...”
“What do you mean? Are you in pain anywhere?”
“Mhmm… head hurts. F-Feel sick.”
“I’m sorry, kiddo. We’re almost to you, okay? Just try to hang in there for a few more minutes. Think you can do that for me?”
“I’ll try,” Peter says, even though it feels like he’s going to lose the battle against the nausea at any moment with how badly his stomach is churning.
He can hear movement in the debris from somewhere around him, as well as the faint murmuring of voices. It’s been getting closer over the past half hour, which hopefully meant he’d be out of here soon.
Peter closes his eyes and tries to ignore the water droplets falling on his masked face, which is now soaking wet from how long he’s been down here (mixed with his tears too).
Tony goes silent on the other end for a few minutes, and Peter can hear voices in the background but he can’t understand what they’re saying.
They’ve almost hit the two-hour mark when the nausea seems to kick it up a few notches. Peter swallows hard as he shuts his eyes tightly, trying to keep the contents of his stomach where they are for the time being. The last thing he needs is to throw up all over himself.
This day just keeps getting better and better.
“T’ny,” Peter says thickly, stopping to swallow again. “I r’lly don’t f-feel good.”
“I know, bud. We’re almost to you, okay?”
Peter slowly shakes his head as he feels something warm creeping up his throat.
This is going to suck .
Peter’s hand flies up to his mask and he manages to rip it up to his nose just in time before he lets out a harsh gag, bile immediately shooting up his throat. He turns his head to the side, managing to not fully throw up on himself. The feeling of something warm seeping into his suit has him gagging again.
“Peter?” He faintly hears Tony yell worriedly in the background over his retching.
It feels like forever before it stops, leaving Peter coughing and gasping like a fish out of water. His ears fill with static as the pounding in his head intensifies, blocking out all sounds for a few long seconds.
“Peter?” He hears Tony’s concerned voice as his hearing comes back.
Peter groans. “Feel s’ gross.”
“I know, bud. I’m sorry,” Tony says sympathetically as the concrete on top of Peter shifts slightly, causing him to flinch in surprise. “We’ve almost got you, alright? Just… one more… second…”
Dust and pebbles rain down on Peter before he sees a small sliver of light from above. The light grows as the debris above him shift, dust falling around him. He can see someone above him, a dark silhouette against the sun.
It’s Steve.
“I found him! He’s over here!” Steve yells over his shoulder as he starts pulling away more chunks of debris until there’s a decent size hole above Peter.
Steve jumps in and lands gracefully before kneeling at Peter’s side, inspecting the giant slab of concrete on him before his eyes settle on Peter’s. “How’re you holding up, Pete?” He asks, offering a small, sympathetic smile.
“Not s’ good,” Peter says, his words slurring a little. “Threw up.”
Steve places a hand on his arm, gently squeezing. “I’m sorry. We’ll get you out of here in no time.” He says before looking up when someone else is above them.
Peter squints in the harsh sunlight, seeing Iron Man standing there, his helmet rolling away, only to reveal Tony’s wide-eyed, panicked face. A wave of relief flows over Peter at the sight of him, wanting nothing more than to be in his Tony’s arms.
“Oh my God,” Tony exclaims as he carefully crawls down to them, kneeling on the ground on Peter’s other side, carefully cupping the back of Peter’s head in his metal hand. “How about we get you our here, kiddo?”
Peter offers him a tired smile. “S-S’nds good.”
“Thor,” Steve says, looking up when Thor stands at the top of the hole. “We have to get this off of him so let’s carefully lift it and Tony will get him out.”
Thor nods in agreement. “Right.”
Steve reaches over Peter, avoiding the puke all over him, and braces his hands against the concrete. “On three. One… two… three!”
As soon as they move the chunk of concrete, Peter feels it painfully press further down on his chest, cutting off what little air he has left. Peter lets out a choked cry, too weak to lift his arms to try to push it off himself.
“Stop! It’s crushing him!” Tony yells as he reaches forward and grabs the concrete, the nanotech rolling back out to form his helmet once again. “FRIDAY, help me out here!”
Peter misses her answer because his ears are ringing, his lungs screaming for air as black dots dance around in his vision. The last thing he sees is the two eye slits of the Iron Man mask before his ears fill with static and he blacks out.
…
Sounds return to him first, hearing faint beeping around him. Peter slowly opens his heavy eyes, finding that he’s in a dimly lit room on a comfy bed with an oxygen mask over his face. He reaches a shaky hand up to take it off, only for someone to gently grab his hand.
“You need to keep that on, kiddo.” A voice says softly.
Peter rolls his head to the right, his eyes landing on Tony, who’s sitting in a chair beside the bed with a relieved look on his face.
“How’re you feeling?” Tony asks.
Peter takes a second to take stock of himself—his head hurts a little, as well as his chest but he feels okay for the most part.
“Better,” Peter breathes out, sluggishly blinking.
Tony gives him a small smile as he reaches a hand out and brushes a stray curl away from Peter’s forehead. “That’s good. You gave us all a scare.”
“S’rry,” Peter mumbles guiltily.
“It’s alright, kiddo but let’s stop making this a habit, okay? You almost gave Capcicle a heart-attack and you’re going to make me go grey.” Tony says, jokingly.
The memories of being trapped under the debris flood back to Peter. “How’d you get me out?”
Tony’s smile falls at the question. “I had to use a laser to cut away most of the concrete and Steve and Thor managed to lift it off you. I dragged you out... but you were passed out by then.”
“M’ sorry.” Peter murmurs.
Tony shakes his head as he starts to card his fingers through Peter’s curls, just the way Peter likes it. “It’s not your fault, bud. You didn’t know the building was going to come down—none of us did until it was too late. The important thing is that you’re okay, just a little banged up.”
Peter smiles as he blinks slowly, feeling his eyes growing heavy.
Tony seems to notice. “How about you get some more sleep? I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
“M’kay…” Peter murmurs, closing his eyes, feeling Tony’s hand run through his hair soothingly, lulling him into a peaceful slumber.