Archive of Our Own

Tony felt like his world was suddenly moving in slow motion.

The team had been called out on a mission further upstate where the next want-to-be supervillain opened a portal that led to the arrival of a group of incredibly irate winged, pterodactyl-esque aliens being unleashed on the surrounding area.

The amount of destruction that followed was enough that every available Avenger was summoned, and much to Tony’s discomfort, that included pulling Peter from school.

Steve and Bucky had apprehended the terrified man while Strange came in to close the portal, but the horde of monsters still remained.

One by one, the heroes picked them off.

They were down to the last handful when a flash of red and blue flew past Tony’s peripheral.

Peter was swinging wildly past him towards a cowering group of three civilians, reporters, that definitely should have evacuated with everyone else when this whole commotion started.

”Oh God. I’m not going to make it to them in time!” Peter’s strained voice came through the comms.

Tony opened his mouth to ask what the kid meant but stopped abruptly when he saw why the youngest hero was so frantic.

One of the aliens had broken off from the group and found an easy target in the people gathered on the demolished sidewalk. Peter was racing to intercept the attack.

The armored Avenger might have not had his mentee’s sixth sense for danger, but something about the situation was wrong. A pit formed in his gut, and he found himself frozen to the spot.

Peter was moving faster than Tony had ever seen him move in his life, but he wasn’t moving upward to attack the creature rocketing toward the ground.

With a delayed sense of horror, he realized that the kid was heading directly toward the civilians. They both knew that he couldn’t stop the alien before any harm came to the people. His only option was to shove them out of the way, effectively putting himself in harm’s way.

“Wait, kid, no!” Tony shouted, reaching out as if he could stop Peter with force of thought alone.

Peter threw himself in front of the three reporters, and nobody could have convinced Tony that the Earth wasn’t ripped out from under his feet as he watched the long, dark talons rip into the teen’s flesh and clamp down on its reward.

The scream of pain that tore from Peter’s throat was seared into Tony’s memory, and he knew he would be hearing it in his nightmares for the rest of his life. The sound was so animalistic that he could almost believe it didn’t come from his sort-of-but-not-really son.

”Tony, status update. What the hell was that?” Steve barked into his ear, unable to see the hero’s life crumbling to pieces in front of him.

He needed to move, needed to help Peter. Why couldn’t he move?

The alien flew upwards, climbing in altitude, Peter still screaming in its grasp, desperately digging at the claws that were lodged into his skin.

”Tony? Are you okay? What’s happening?”

Steve’s voice had an edge of panic creeping into it.

“Peter,” he croaked out, forcing the words past his lips.

”What are you talking about? What’s wrong with Peter?”

Bucky’s voice sounded as tight as Tony’s chest felt.

“He’s- I can’t- Peter-“

He suddenly couldn’t get enough air in his lungs, and he couldn’t force his legs to move. He could only watch as the creature rose higher and higher into the sky.

Peter shot a web into the gnarled mess of feathers and bone that made up the alien’s wings, leaving it unable to fly.

It wrenched its talons out of Peter’s flank in alarm, and if Tony wasn’t having a heart attack watching him go up, he definitely was as he watched him plummet to the ground.

The teen managed land a web on a nearby building and cried another shout of pain as the web was pulled taut, jerking the injury.

The idea would have been flawless in execution if he hadn’t had a mangled side and was capable of gaining control over the sudden directional change. Peter instead, was flung through the glass window and into the building.

Tony was moving before he realized it, flying to the hole Peter’s body just created.

He could vaguely hear the team shouting and questioning him in his earpiece, but he couldn’t have made out the words if he tried. His only focus was on Peter.

The teen was slumped up against the crater in the back wall unmoving, limply cradling his side.

Tony swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat at the sight of the blood pooling around the hero.

He had to be alive. There was no other option. Peter Parker couldn’t die. That wasn’t possible.

“Peter,” he said, ripping the mask off the teen’s head.

He had to see his face. He had to see his eyes open and-

“D-dad?”

Tony could confidently say that he had a heart because the organ in question had just shattered into a million pieces at the sound of Peter’s small voice.

Dad. Dad. He could never be Peter’s dad. What kind of father let this happen to their kid?

“I’m here, cucciolo. I’m here,” he choked out, wiping the sweaty curls from Peter’s forehead.

“Did- did I save them?”

Nausea came back to him in waves. The kid was bleeding out onto the filthy tile floor and he was asking if he saved three idiots that shouldn’t have been where they were in the first place.

“You saved them. You did wonderfully. I’m so proud of you, Pete.”

Tony was going to throw up when FRIDAY wordlessly displayed the teen’s vitals.

“Oh, good. I think I’m gonna take a nap now,” Peter said, his voice tapering off into a whisper.

“No. No, no, no. No naps, kid. We’re getting you an express flight back to the compound pronto.”

He had to push back the panic that was threatening to consume him.

Tony reached for the teen and winced.

“I’m sorry, bambino, but this is going to hurt a little.”

He gathered Peter into his arms and pretended the whimper of pain he heard didn’t rip his soul in two.

“Friday, get every medical staff we have on payroll at the compound and ready for Peter. Inform the others and disconnect me from the comms while you’re at it.”

Tony was on autopilot, and he knew it. He didn’t have the time for a freak out. That time would come when Peter was in the hands of some of the best doctors in the world.

&

Flash, like the rest of his class, was on the edge of his seat as they watched the Avengers fight the winged aliens on the TV.

He thanked every deity he could think of when Mrs. Warren agreed watch the battle once she realized that there was no changed the subject with her students.

The heroes all looked so cool, effortlessly taking down monster after monster.

He idly wondered how the cameramen had managed to stay in the area to film all of this so up close. They seemed to be relatively safe, so he considered the fact that maybe they had special permission.

The camera suddenly turned to show an alien coming straight toward them, and Flash felt himself go tense.

The Avengers weren’t close enough. Those people were going to die.

Flash felt like he was going to be sick, and from the shouts and gasps of his classmates, he knew they felt the same way.

That’s when the impossible happened.

Out of nowhere, Spiderman rushed in and intercepted the attack, but he realized immediately that something was wrong.

The camera was turned onto the masked face, the eyes of his suit wider than Flash had ever seen them, and the hero let loose a bone-chilling scream.

They could barely see it, but it was enough. The alien had dug its claws into Spiderman and was started to take him away.

“No!” Leeds yelled from somewhere behind him.

Flash didn’t have it in him to care. Every ounce of his attention was on the TV screen.

The camera panned over to where Iron Man was standing on the ground below unmoving and staring at the sky, and Flash couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t he trying to save Spiderman? Where was everyone else?

They kept flying higher until suddenly, both Spiderman and the alien were falling, but he couldn’t see what caused them to start the rapid descent.

Spiderman shot a web at the nearby building, but he was falling to fast.

There was another scream, and Flash heard Ned choke on the air in his lungs.

It sounded like he was on the verge of tears, but Flash didn’t want to look away, afraid to miss anything.

Spiderman crashed through the building and Iron Man finally moved, flying in after them.

The camera stayed trained to the spot where they both went in, but neither could be seen.

The classroom was completely silent, and the seconds felt like hours.

“Come on, Spiderman. Come on, Spiderman,” Leeds muttered.

Flash really wanted him to shut up.

After what felt like an eternity, there was a flash of red, gold, and blue, moving so fast that the camera barely picked up on it.

That must have been Iron Man carrying Spiderman out. Not good.

Mrs. Warren cut the TV off and cleared her throat. The silence was suffocating.

“I believe that’s enough excitement for the afternoon. Let’s move on with today’s material,” he said uncomfortably.

Leeds flung himself out of his desk, causing Flash and half the class to jump in surprise.

He watched as the boy stumbled out of the classroom, practically hyperventilating, and for once, Flash almost couldn’t blame him.

&

Flash almost wished that Parker had showed his face at school the next day so he could rub it in his face that they all got to watch a live broadcast of one of the coolest fights he’d seen.

Never mind the fact that Spiderman could possibly be dead considering there was no official word. He refused to believe that an Avenger would be dead, especially one like Spiderman.

The other thing was that Parker hadn’t been there the day after, or the next day, or even the next day. He had meant to ask his two loser friends, but he realized that they hadn’t been there either.

Weird.

He hoped there wasn’t some sort of stomach bug going around.

Three days after the Avengers fought the flying aliens, Flash walked into his first period class to see Jones and Leeds huddled in the back corner of the room.

They looked worse than he had ever seen them. Their eyes were unfocused and glassy, and they were whispering hurriedly to each other.

His mind wandered back to Parker. Maybe the teen really was sick.

Flash curled his lip in disgust. He knew that Parker would find some way to make it about his fake internship so he could get the attention he so desperately craved.

He toyed with the idea of following the other two after school to see if he could listen in and find out the truth. Then he could rub it into Parker’s face when he tried lying to everyone.

He glanced over at Jones and Leeds once more before smirking. That’s exactly what he would do.

&

Once the final dismissal bell rang, Flash shot a quick text to his nanny, telling her that he was going to be late, claiming that he wanted to work on a school project before coming home, and gathered his belongings in just enough time to slip of out the door to follow Leeds.

He noticed with mild irritation that the teen wasn’t going to stop at his locker, choosing instead to rush out of the exit doors and to the back parking lot.

Flash followed him at a reasonable distance, making sure to stay out of the line of sight should Leeds turn around.

Moments later, Leeds met up with Jones who looked equally as frantic. It was the most expression Flash had ever seen her show.

“Where did he want us to meet?” Leeds asked, craning his neck to look around.

He? Were they talking about Parker?

“Around the far side of the gym. There’s usually not a lot of foot traffic that way. Come on, or we’re going to be late. It was bad enough getting him to leave Peter’s side long enough to come get us. He’s not going to wait a second longer than he has to,” Jones said, grabbing the other boy by the wrist to drag him along.

Flash blinked back in surprise. If it wasn’t Parker they were meeting, then who was it?

He thought for a moment longer and crinkled his nose. He couldn’t figure out who wouldn’t want to run screaming from Parker’s side at the first chance.

The two were moving fast, and Flash was barely able to keep up while still maintaining his cover.

He thankfully didn’t lose them as he approached the back of the gym, ducking behind an air conditioning unit to hide.

“There y’all are. I was wondering when you would show up,” a new voice drawled.

It was one Flash had never heard before. He poked his head over just enough to put a face to the voice.

The man was tall and broad shouldered with wavy blonde hair and blue eyes. He was dressed casually in a t-shirt and jeans, but there was a look of dishevelment to him.

Taking a closer look, he could see just how unruly the waves were and dark circles under his eyes.

For a moment, Flash considered that there was something seriously wrong with Parker.

“Sorry, Harley. It took us a minute to meet up and get out here,” Jones said, adjusting the backpack on her shoulder.

The man, Harley, only nodded in understanding, shifting uncomfortably on his feet.

Flash realized that Jones and Leeds didn’t know Harley incredibly well if the awkward silence was anything to go by.

“How’s Peter?” Leeds blurted suddenly, piquing Flash’s attention.

A look of grief flickered across Harley’s face with such intensity that it made Flash’s gut twist painfully.

“He’s- he’s,” Harley took a deep breath, “I don’t know. Dr. Cho said that he’s stable enough to extubate him and take him off of his immune and metabolic suppressors. Once they do that, they think his body is going to go haywire to compensate. If all goes to plan, his healing factor will kick in and he’ll be up and moving before the weekend is out.”

“And if things don’t go to plan?” Jones asked.

The answering silence was deafening.

Flash’s brain felt like it had short circuited. If what he heard was correct, Parker was in the hospital from a potentially life-threatening event. He didn’t understand what Harley had meant by healing factor, but just chalked it up to his lack of knowledge of anything related to healthcare.

“Our real concern is titrating his pain meds once he’s off his suppressors. Right now, he’s on the average dose because he can’t metabolize it like he normally does. We don’t know exactly how long it’ll take for his biology to kick back in, and we can’t give him his normal dose until it does. They’re concerning about accidentally OD’ing him.”

Flash noted that Harley didn’t answer Jones’ question.

Leeds went to say something, but a female voice cut him off.

“Apologies for the interruption, but my sensors have detected another person is in the area.”

Flash tensed and ducked his head down sharply, feeling his heart drop to his feet. Maybe whatever that was didn’t mean him. Maybe there was someone that was about to walk around the corner instead.

“What’s their location?” Harley asked, his voice hard.

“Appears to be behind the air conditioning unit over to your left, sir.”

Of course, he wouldn’t be that lucky.

Flash debated his options. He could run, play dumb, or face the rapidly approaching footsteps.

Within seconds, he was face-to-face with an irate looking man.

Flash winced under the gaze and did his best to meet Harley eyes.

The look of recognition that melted into rage did nothing to calm the teen’s nerves.

“You,” Harley snarled.

“Me?” Flash asked, refusing to believe the squeak that he heard came from his mouth.

Suddenly, he was being picked up by the front of his shirt, and his back was slammed against the brick wall.

“Flash?” Leeds and Jones asked in unison.

“How much did you hear?” Harley questioned, crowded into Flash’s space.

He had never been more scared in his life, not even when Spiderman saved them from the elevator.

“I- uh- well-“

“Spit it out,” the blonde snapped.

“Everything.”

Flash winced when he was met with silence, only interrupted by ragged breaths.

There was a noise that he had only heard through the safety of a television screen, and his eyes widened when he instinctively looked down to see the Iron Man gauntlet form around Harley’s empty fist, stopping at his elbow.

He belatedly realized that it wasn’t exactly the Iron Man gauntlet. Instead of the classic red and gold, the armor was red and silver, and the palm repulsor was glowing yellow instead of white-blue.

“Harley, no!” Jones shouted as both her and Leeds ran over.

For once, he actually agreed with the girl.

“You might not know me, Thompson, but I know everything about you. You have tormented Peter from day one, and because he is the sweetest and most caring person I have ever met, he would never let anyone step in to help him, and do you know why?” Harley growled, pressing Flash further into the unforgiving wall.

Flash could only shake his head in horror. There was so much hate and rage in Harley’s eyes that he was beginning to fear for his life.

“He thought that if you went after him, then you would leave everyone else alone, that you wouldn’t go after someone that couldn’t handle it. He was taking the brunt of the abuse so no one else would get hurt, and here you are, stalking his friends in hopes to do what? Get something to rub in his face? Something else to hurt him with?” Venom dripped from every word that left Harley’s lips. “Peter is laying in a hospital bed right now because he almost died. He still might die, and- and- fuck.”

Harley let go of Flash’s collar and let him fall to the ground, pain licking up his back and rear from the impact.

The blonde hung his head, and Flash watched in confusion and terror as tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. It was like all of the fight had been washed out of the man in front of him.

The gauntlet disengaged moments later, disappearing into a Stark Watch on his wrist.

He was still trying to wrap his head around what was happening. Parker knew someone that had access to Iron Man’s technology, this person apparently liked him a lot, and Parker was basically dying from some unknown incident.

“Harley, we should go,” Leeds said quietly.

Harley took a steadying breath and lifted his head to look Flash in the eye again. Even though his eyes were glassy with unshed tears, they still managed to look cold and unforgiving.

“Yeah, you’re right. This one is coming with us though.”

Flash forgot how to breathe.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jones said warily.

“No, it’s not, and Peter is going to kill me if- when he wakes up, but this asshat need to see who Peter really is and the type of love he’s surrounded by because there appears to be a misunderstanding there.”

“What about the- the you know?” Leeds asked.

“Like I said, Pete can kill me when he wakes up. Besides, I think between myself and the others, we can keep convince him to keep a secret.”

Flash felt like he was watching a weird triangular tennis match, looking from person to person. It was like they were speaking in code.

Before Flash could say anything, Harley was dragging him to his feet and over to a nondescript black town car and none-to-gently shoved him into the passenger seat.

For a moment he considered the fact that maybe he was being kidnapped.

“Friday, be a dear and let Tony know that we’re on our way back, but we have an unexpected visitor.”

“On it, Mr. Keener.”

Tony? As in Tony Stark? There was no way.

“The one and only,” Harley said.

Flash realized that he had said that out loud.

“Why the hell are we going to see Tony Stark?”

“We’re going to see Peter, but Tony and I have been at his side since he got to the hospital. This is actually the first time I’ve left that room for any longer than 10 minutes.”

He was dreaming or hallucinating. There was no way that what was happening was real.

“So- so Parker wasn’t lying about the internship?”

Jones snorted from the backseat.

“No, dumbass,” she deadpanned.

Flash felt rage spike up in him sharply before it was washed out just as quickly when he realized the implications of Harley’s words.

Tony Stark had been at Parker’s bedside since his injury. That seemed a little more serious than a regular internship.

Part of him still wanted to believe it was a lie, but the other part of him was deeply curious as to how Parker ended up on death’s door in the first place.

“What- erm- what happened? To Parker I mean?”

He watched as Harley tensed, knuckles turning white on the wheel.

“Might as well tell him. As stupid as he is, he’s going to piece together the fact that all of the Avengers are going to be crammed around Peter’s hospital bed. You said it yourself, he’s going to kill you anyway,” Jones said dryly.

All of the Avengers?

His mind flashed back to the broadcast they watched three days ago in class, and the gears started turning.

The sporadic absences, the times where Parker would just leave at random hours of the day, the correlation of days where his two nerd friends would be jumpier than usual, the convenient disappearances when Spiderman would suddenly show up, the way Leeds reacted in class when they watched Spiderman get impaled by alien talons and thrown through a building. Each and every coincidence started to add up into a sickening picture.

It was like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on Flash’s head.

Parker couldn’t be Spiderman. That wasn’t possible.

Spiderman was an untouchable, mysterious superhero, and Parker was just Parker.

“Something tells me that he’s just figured it out,” Harley drawled.

“No way. That’s not possible,” Flash breathed, his mind running circles in his skull.

He was having a hard time differentiating one thought from the next.

“I hate to burst your bubble, but it’s real. Peter is, and has always been, Spiderman.”

Flash blanched.

“So, what you’re telling me is that I- I bullied Spiderman?”

Harley scoffed and cast him a glare.

“You see what I mean when I said Peter is the sweetest person to ever walk the planet? He can lift 10 tons without breaking a sweat, and he’s never lost a sparring session to another Avenger. He could have laid you out before you even knew what happened. Hell, if he lost control of his strength, he could kill you, but that’s the thing about him. He would never do that, not in a million years.”

“He thinks it isn’t fair,” Jones added, looking at Flash with an expression that he couldn’t decipher. “If it’s something that he couldn’t have done before he became Spiderman, then he won’t do it now. It’s the same reason he won’t play sports or fight you or your loser friends.”

Some part of Flash was offended at the dig, but it was overruled by the rest of him that was tail spinning out of control.

Peter Parker was Spiderman. Peter Parker was Spiderman.

“I know you probably have questions, but I’m not going to be the one to answer them, and neither will no one else. That’s Pete’s story to tell, not ours, and honestly, right now, I’d rather you not say anything at all. My patience has been thin these past few days. I’m still about three minutes from blasting you into next week, and your voice is making the time tick by just that much faster,” Harley snapped.

It was a testament to how stunned Flash was that he couldn’t come up with a decent comeback if he tried. He wasn’t even sure if he could come up with any words at all.

&

The rest of the ride to the compound was completely silent. Not even Harley said another word until they rolled to a stop in the garage of the massive building.

Flash suddenly felt like hyperventilating. The fact that he was at the Avenger’s Compound was starting to sink in.

“Alright, all three of you, listen up. Not only is this one of the highest security buildings in the world, it’s a home. It goes without saying that I expect you all to treat it as such. Stay with me, don’t wander off, and don’t touch anything. You’re going to see the Avengers, but considering the circumstances, forgive them if they aren’t exactly friendly,” Harley explained, turning the ignition off and stepping out of the car.

He didn’t give them time to say anything, and Flash almost had to jog to keep up with the fast-paced stride. With a look over his shoulder, he saw that Jones and Leeds were valiantly trying to not get left behind as well.

Harley led them to an elevator where they all piled on.

Flash saw the shake in the blonde’s hands, the way he couldn’t stand still anymore.

“Take us to Peter, Friday.”

The elevator started its ascent upward, and Flash’s anxiety spiked. He wanted to attribute it to the other’s energy in the cramped space, but he was finding it harder and harder to lie to himself as the day went on.

The nausea came back in full force when the metal doors slid open to reveal what appeared to be a hospital wing.

His feet were moving of their own accord because his brain was currently miles away, still stuck somewhere in the New York traffic.

They came up on a room with a plain wooden door. It looked harmless from the exterior, but Flash knew what lay beyond it.

He considered the fact that he might actually pass out.

Without hesitation, Harley pushed the door open and went inside. Jones and Leeds elbowed their way past him, nearly frantic to get in and see Parker.

He took a few calming breaths and reluctantly stepped in.

Flash wasn’t sure what part of the scenario in front of him he should focus on first.

Harley wasn’t joking when he said that the Avengers would be at Parker’s bedside. He just didn’t expect them to look so human.

He had only ever seen them on TV in their suits, but now, they were lounging around in chairs scattered around the room dressed in sweatpants, old shirts, and ratty jeans. They looked exhausted, and the tension in the room was palpable.

He was in the same room as Black Widow, Falcon, Hawkeye, Dr. Banner, Iron Man, Captain America, the Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, and War Machine.

And Spiderman.

Parker was laying on the hospital bed looking paler and smaller than Flash had ever seen him. He had a tube going down his nose and one going down his throat. A monitor over his head was displaying numbers that Flash didn’t understand, and there were three different IV poles running six solutions in total through lines that disappeared under the mass of blankets that covered the teen. His face was littered with cuts and bruises.

Harley’s entire body language had changed. Instead of closed off and calloused like he had been, he perched himself on the cot that was pulled to one side of Parker’s bed and held the teens hand in one of his own, his other was carding gently through his hair.

On the other side of the bed sat Tony Stark looking more exhausted and disheveled than he had ever been seen in the media. Captain America stood to the side of him with a hand on the genius’s shoulder, looking just as worse for wear as the rest of them.

Flash wondered if anyone had realized that he was there until Iron Man’s brown eyes met his, widening a fraction before narrowing.

“Keener, when you said that you were bringing an ‘unexpected visitor,’ this was the last person I was thinking of,” Stark ground out, his voice hoarse.

Flash swallowed and watched as Captain America squeezed his shoulder.

Harley just huffed.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t plan on it. I caught him eavesdropping on me, MJ, and Ned. I couldn’t exactly leave him to speculate, now could I?”

“You and I both know that’s not the only reason you brought him here, Harley,” the Winter Solider said from his place on the wall.

Flash realized that was the first time he had ever heard the ex-assassin speak.

“Is that-?” Captain America asked, looking down at Stark.

The billionaire just nodded, never breaking his gaze from Flash.

Terrifyingly, it occurred to him that the Avengers might know that he bullied a member of their team.

Hardened, icy blue eyes caught his own. He understood that this was not the same Captain America that was on their PSAs at school.

He watched as other heads turned to look at him silently. They definitely knew.

“I’m-“

He wasn’t even sure what he was going to say, but the Winter Soldier’s resounding growl made his mouth snap shut so fast that his teeth clacked painfully together.

“Zip it,” Stark snarled, the tone so hateful that Flash jumped. “I’m sure Harley has already drilled this into your brain, and considering how much he loves Peter, I’m surprised you’re even still walking, but let me remind you that you seriously fucked up. Even if Peter wasn’t Spiderman, you still harassed my kid, our kid. He may be my son in every way except blood, but he’s family to everyone else in this room. If it were up to us, you at the very least would never get into any accredited college in the country, but because Peter is a golden retriever in human form, he wouldn’t let us do anything. So, we got to stand on the sidelines and watch you use him as your verbal and physical punching bag.”

“I- I’m sorry. I-“

“We’re not the ones you should be apologizing to,” Captain America said, his expression flat.

Flash just winced.

The genius turned his gaze back toward Parker, and his eyes softened.

“He’s going to change the world one day.”

The affection in the man’s tone made Flash’s heart twist painfully. He had really thought that Parker had no one but his aunt and two friends, that he was just some nobody from Queens.

God, he had never been more wrong about anything in his life.

A woman clad in a white coat, who Flash could only assume was the doctor, came barging in the room with a handful of people in scrubs pushing carts filtering in behind her.

“Afternoon, everyone. It’s time to wake our favorite superhero up,” he said with a blinding smile.

Everyone in the room shifted nervously.

“You think this’ll turn out okay?” Hawkeye asked rising to his feet and folding his arms across his chest.

The doctor looked at Parker for a moment before nodding.

“Yes. While we aren’t exactly out of the woods yet, the odds are in our favor. When you brought him to us, he was in a severe state of hypovolemic shock. He lost too much blood, and because of his biology, he was actually making it worse on himself. We couldn’t get the bleeding under control, and we couldn’t get any sort of blood products or fluids back in him. His body kept rejecting them. The last thing we needed was a large-scale hemolytic transfusion reaction, so I thought it best to suppress his immune system and metabolic system to something like the average human’s. That being said, I also suppressed his healing factor. Normally, he would be well on his way to recovery by now, but we had to get him stable before we could let his enhancements work their magic.”

Flash was convinced she was speaking another language.

“So, you think he’s ready to come off of his suppressors?” Captain America asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

“We think this is the optimal time. His volume is under control, and his body should be able to handle the rest from here. We’re going to stop the suppressor transfusions. What we’re hoping to happen is he’ll start to metabolize the sedative in his system and start to wake up. He’s going to be in a lot of pain very fast so we’re going to quickly try and increase the dosages as safely as possible. If everything goes to plan, we can keep him calm and stable enough to extubate him.”

There were a few nods of understanding, and Harley reluctantly stepped away from the bed but not before pressing a kiss to Parker’s forehead.

“Listen here, darlin’, you better behave and let Dr. Cho and the nurses do their job. Don’t give them any trouble alright?”

Flash realized that the love that Tony Stark mentioned Harley had for Parker might not be strictly friendly.

The others in the room chuckled lightly, Jones and Leeds included.

“Hell will freeze over before he goes easy on the doctors,” the Winter Soldier said with a snort.

“Don’t I know it,” the doctor, Cho, said with a laugh.

The tension that had lifted momentarily came back in full force when one of the nurses started to turn off an IV pump that was running two different solutions.

Minutes passed in terse silence before a few of the numbers on the monitor started spiking. Flash could only guess one was Parker’s heart rate.

He watched as Parker’s eyes started to flutter open.

The nurses and Dr. Cho jumped into action.

“Mr. Parker, you’re in the hospital at the compound. You sustained some serious injuries, and we had to intubate you. I know it may be difficult, but we need you to calm down so we can take it out, okay?”

The doctors comforting tone seemed to do nothing. Parker’s eyes were wide and terrified as he frantically looked around. His hands started twitching like he wanted to start pulling that the things that were inside him.

“Peter,” Leeds said.

Flash looked over to see tears spilling over his eyes. He was so out of his element here.

Dr. Cho locked eyes with Stark, and the man was on his feet in an instant and at Parker’s side.

“I’m right here, cucciolo. Everyone is here. I know you’re in pain, and I know your senses must be going haywire right now, and I promise that we’ll fix it as soon as we get this nasty tube out of your throat, okay? You’ve got to trust me, Petey.”

It was so surreal seeing a normally stoic businessman running his fingers through someone’s hair with such gentleness and speak with such rapt fondness.

This man loved Parker.

“Increase the morphine by 40 milligrams,” Dr. Cho said to a nurse on the other side of the bed.

The woman nodded and went to one of the carts they had rolled in.

Flash’s view was largely obscured but he could make out quiet phrases here and there throughout the process.

“Get the nasal cannula ready. Run it at 5 liters.”

Dr. Cho had her stethoscope pressed to the side of Parker’s neck, and she removed the plunger she had attached to one of the ports in the tube.

“Okay, Mr. Parker, I need you take a deep breath for me and hold it. I’m going to pull the tube out in one go, alright?”

Parker must have nodded because the next second, Dr. Cho was pulling the tube out swiftly, leaving Parker coughing violently.

She brought another tube to his lips.

“Excellent job, Peter. Close your mouth around this for a second so we can get rid of some of these secretions.”

There was another pause, and then he heard the sound of wet suctioning, making his skin crawl.

One of the nurses put another tube around his head and set it just below his nose, squeezing one side of the plastic prongs around the tube that was going down one nostril.

Flash was starting to lose track of what tubes went where.

Dr. Cho placed her stethoscope right back at the side of Parker’s neck and listened for a few moments.

“No inspiratory stridor,” she said with a smile. “You did perfect.”

A laugh bubbled out of Stark’s throat. He hadn’t left Parker’s side the entire time.

“Mi’ser S’ark?” Parker croaked.

His voice sounded soft and painful.

“Easy, bambino. What happened to calling me ‘dad’ by the way? Is that only exclusive to when you’re dying in my arms?”

Flash knew it was a joke, but he could hear the twinge of pain in his tone.

“Where’s Harley?”

The genius snorted.

“Well, we can clearly see who the favorite is.”

Harley was immediately stumbling toward Parker, placing a hand on the teen’s cheek.

“’M right here, baby,” he murmured.

“T’as good. ‘S Cap here?”

“We’re all here, son. Nat, Buck, Rhodey, Sam, Clint, Bruce, Ned, and MJ,” the hero said warmly, stepping toward the bed as well.

Flash wasn’t sure if he was grateful or offended that his name wasn’t mentioned.

Parker hummed in response. He looked like he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

“’S’at mean if I’m callin’ him dad, I’m callin’ you pops too?”

This drug up a few real laughs from people.

Tony Stark and Captain America’s smile was blinding.

“You can call me whatever you want, Pete.”

“Mm’kay. I think I’m gonna take a nap now. Love you guys,” he murmured.

Seconds later his eyes closed again, and his breathing evened out.

“I’d expect him to be sleeping a lot for the next day or so. His body has a lot to catch up, but he’ll make a full recovery. We’re going to leave the NG tube in for a while. At least until we can confirm a gag reflex and he can stay awake long enough to eat and drink. His caloric intake will be much higher than normal. Your average shock patients require a minimum of three thousand calories per day, but he needs at least ten thousand on a lazy day if that puts things into perspective. That being said, we need to go finish some charting. If you need anything, give us a call.”

Just like that, the doctor and nurse left the room, leaving another uncomfortable silence in their wake.

The Winter Solider pushed himself off the wall and made his way toward the hospital bed, his footsteps near silent. He stared at Parker for a moment, before ruffling his hair gently, a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“This punk is going to give us all a heart condition one day.”

“How do you think I feel?” Stark deadpanned.

Black Widow uncurled her legs from under her and rose to her feet. She strode over to the sleeping teen and pressed a kiss to the top of his head and whispered something that Flash belatedly recognized as Russian.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I need to stretch my legs and get something to eat,” she said.

There were a few noises of agreement.

“I think Steve and I will stay here for a little longer and let the kids hang out too. I’m sure Ned and MJ want to see him for a minute. We’ll be up later,” Stark said.

One by one, all of the Avengers except for two left the room.

“You guys okay?” the captain asked, addressing Leeds and Jones.

“Yeah. We’re alright. Just a little shaken up. I’m just glad he’s okay,” Leeds said with a jerky nod.

“You and me both, kid. Thompson, I’ve got a driver coming to get you. He’ll be up here any minute now. It goes without saying that everything you saw here stays between us. If I find out that any of this slipped out, not only will I make sure that no one will ever believe you, I’ll ruin your life. Got it?” Stark snapped.

“Tony,” Captain America said in warning.

He turned to look at Flash.

“Son, I hope you understand how much Peter means to us. Believe it or not, he’s the backbone of this team. He’s the reason we became a team, a family, again. There is nothing on this planet or the next that we wouldn’t do for him, and I speak for everyone when I say that, even the ones that aren’t here. I think it’s past time you clean up your act.”

Flash could only nod. He still wasn’t sure how he was going to process all of the day’s information. The only thing he knew was that he felt well and truly scolded, like he was a little kid again.

“Boss, Mr. Thompson’s driver is waiting outside,” a voice from the ceiling said quietly, it was the same voice from Harley’s watch.

“That’s your cue to leave,” Stark said without looking back at him.

&

It was three days later that Parker returned to school.

In between those three days, Flash had been avoiding Leeds and Jones like the plague. He just wanted to pretend that his trip to the Avengers Compound didn’t happen.

Parker apparently had other ideas.

The teen approached him, and Flash realized that he looked perfectly normal. Every scrape and bruise were gone, and he had his usual complexion.

His mind flashed back to the image of Parker small and pale in the hospital bed.

“Flash,” Parker said in greeting, his hands stuffed into his front pockets.

Habit told him to lash out and say something nasty, but nothing came out.

“Parker,” he replied tersely.

“Listen, I know what happened. Ned, MJ, and Harley told me everything.”

“So?” he snapped.

Parker just rolled his eyes.

“So, I’m asking for a truce.”

“A- a truce?”

“To be honest, I almost didn’t believe them until dad and pops backed them up. Thinking back, it made sense because I could hear your heartbeat. I was too drugged up to realize why I was hearing it at the time though.”

Flash’s brain came to a screeching halt.

“You could hear my heartbeat?”

Parker nodded.

“Yeah. I can hear everyone’s heartbeat. They all sound different,” he sighed, seemingly contemplating his next words. “We need to talk.”

Flash shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want to talk about any of it.

“I let you do what you did because I didn’t want anyone else getting hurt. I could have put a stop to it at any point. I think it’s safe to assume that you won’t be shoving me around anymore, but I’m also not going to stand by and let you shove anyone else around either.”

Anger curled up in his chest.

“Are you threatening me?”

“No, you idiot. Did you forget the part where I said I wanted a truce? All I’m asking is that you don’t be an asshole anymore.”

“Are you asking as Peter Parker or as Spiderman?”

Parker winced and looked around as the mostly empty hall.

“Say that little louder next time, will you?” Another sigh. “We’re not two different people, you know. There’s not Peter Parker and Spiderman. It’s just me. I’m asking you as someone that would like you be your friend one day.”

Flash was getting really tired of having his life flipped upside down over and over again. He was starting to get dizzy from it.

“Your friend?”

Parker shrugged.

“Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I don’t think either of us get anything out of you just being an all-around jerk.”

Flash recoiled slightly. Sure, Parker wasn’t wrong, but what he did came so naturally. It had been ingrained in him from the start that he was better than those around him and life should be treated as such.

Then again, Parker had always been one to prove him wrong.

“I harassed you for years. Why would you want to be my friend?”

It was an honest question.

“Most of my life is filled with fighting other people. A lot of them want to kill me. Maybe it’s a ‘pick your battles’ kind of ordeal, but I think we would have more fun if we just got along.”

Parker’s eyes were so genuine that Flash felt like he was going to throw up. He eyed Parker up and down, looking for any sign of dishonesty or malice. There was none.

How could someone be so nice?

He recalled Harley’s words earlier in the week, and he actually understood them now.

“Fine,” he said hesitantly. “I’ll bite, Parker. Just don’t expect us to be all buddy-buddy and have sleepovers every weekend.”

He couldn’t just roll over and show his belly. He didn’t care if Parker was Spiderman or not.

Parker threw his head back and laughed.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

The hero started to turn and walk away but hesitated.

“It’s Peter, by the way.”

“What?”

“My name. It’s Peter. You don’t have to call me Parker all the time.”

Flash scoffed, but there was no real heat behind it. He tried to pretend that a ghost of a smile wasn’t twitching at his lips.

“Whatever.”

“See ya around, Flash,” he said, finally leaving him alone in the hallway with his head still spinning.

Massive secrets aside, maybe there was more to Parker, Peter, than he knew.

“God, my life is weird,” Flash said to himself, shaking his head and shouldering his backpack.