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Aunt May was totally going to ground him after this. She wasn’t exactly accepting of his superhero identity when she discovered his secret. It took days of Mr. Stark and himself sitting down with her to explain how his new suit offered the best protections against any alien threats, nevermind Queens petty criminals.
May hadn’t been particularly impressed with Mr. Stark after his reaction to the Ferry incident and his instinct to confiscate the Spider-Man suit.
But the past few months were different.
Instead of keeping Happy as his contact, Mr. Stark was now Peter’s go-to person in any emergency, whether it’s him running out of web fluid or a severe injury. Peter tried to convince Mr. Stark that it wasn’t necessary, that he probably has more important matters to deal with, but Peter’s measly excuses were shut down quickly.
Peter had been going to the Tower after school every Wednesday and Friday to work with Mr. Stark in his workshop. Some Friday nights Peter even stayed the night, with Mr. Stark and him, occasionally joined by Ms. Potts, enjoying movie nights.
Peter would never admit it out loud, but he secretly enjoyed Mr. Stark’s worry and parentlike behavior. Peter knows he’s not trying to replace Uncle Ben or his parents, but he viewed Mr. Stark as family.
Despite knowing Mr. Stark would drop everything if he called him, Peter didn’t want to cause any problems or worry. It’s not like this injury was serious or anything… right?
“Peter,” Karen interrupted, “would you like me to call Mr. Stark? It seems you have lost quite a bit of blood from the laceration in your side.”
“No! You can’t call him Karen! He doesn’t need to be worried about this. Everything is fine. I’m fine.”
But Peter was just guessing. Even with all the injuries he accumulated over the past few months, he’d never been stabbed.
“Karen, please call my Guy in the Chair,” Peter gasped out. Swinging while stabbed was not as easy as he initially thought. Hopefully he wasn’t dripping blood over the Queens residents below. He could only imagine what The Daily Bugle would report.
A moment of silence passed before, “Hey Peter! If you’re calling to see if I finished the Spanish homework yet, I’ve got bad news for you,” Ned continued rambling, “but if you want to compare math homework, I’m down.”
“Ned, forget about homework. Open your bedroom window. I’m gonna be there in five. And if you could maybe grab some floss or thread and a needle, that’d be great.”
“Um, yeah I guess. But wait, Peter-”
“You’re the best Ned! Bye.” Peter quickly cut-off the call before Ned asked any questions.
He figured it best to explain in person rather than cause Ned unnecessary panic. Peter may have an incredible healing factor, but he knows it’s unable to heal a stab wound in minutes. The best strategy was to stitch it shut before he experienced too much blood loss.
Seeing an open window ahead, Peter pushed through the pain and swung through his target. He ripped off his mask and tried to calm his breathing.
Before Ned could say anything, Peter held both hands up and said, “Before you worry, everything is fine. I’m fine, okay? I just might need a little help with a small cut I got.”
Looking over the thread and needle in his hands, Ned freaked out, “You want me to do stitches?” Ned shook his head, “Peter, small cuts don’t need stitches. Maybe you should call Mr. Stark.”
“C’mon Ned, Mr. Stark’s probably busy. He doesn’t need me annoying him. You’re my guy in the chair, I believe in you.”
Waving his arms back and forth in a panicked manner, Ned exclaimed, “What? No! Peter, just because I’m the one who’s taken biology doesn’t mean I know how to do stitches-”
“Hey! I’m taking it next year,” Peter interrupted.
“-Biology may be the study of life, but it’s not a medical class. You learn about photosynthesis and punnett squares. Are you a plant? No, you’re not. I barely know how to properly put on a band-aid let alone stitches,” Ned finished his rambling, looking at Peter with wide eyes.
Peter looked over his best friend and noticed Ned’s shaking hands and his trembling voice. Maybe Peter made a mistake. He didn’t want to be the cause of his best friend’s panic, he just didn’t know where to go.
Peter shifted on his feet getting ready to respond when his injured side flared with sharp pain. Peter bent over in pain, putting a hand over his abdomen.
“Peter!” Ned rushed over to his side and tried to look at the still bleeding wound.
Ned must’ve seen enough with that brief glimpse because with no hesitation, he reached for Peter’s mask that lay abandoned on the floor and put it on.
“Karen, please call Mr. Stark. It’s an emergency.”
“No problem Ned. Calling Irondad,” Karen’s concerned voice rang out over the sounds of Peter’s labored breath.
A few seconds passed before, “Hey kiddo,” Mr. Stark cheerfully greeted, “any lost little old ladies tonight or-” but before he went any further Ned interjected.
“Mr. Stark, it’s Peter’s friend Ned. Peter has what looks like a deep stab wound in his side, and I don't know what to do. We’re currently at my apartment.”
On the other end, Tony’s breathing stops for a few seconds. Why did the kid not call him immediately? How deep is it? Did the knife nick any organs?
“Okay, Ned here’s what’s going to happen. I will be there in a couple of minutes, but I need you to get some cloth, an old t-shirt or a towel, and put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. Just stay calm, I’ll be there soon.”
Mr. Stark hung up, leaving Ned feeling better that someone more equipped was coming but worried about how he was in charge of Peter’s wellbeing until then.
Ned quickly ushered Peter to his bed and mindlessly grabbed a worn out Star Wars shirt, anxiously following Mr. Stark’s orders.
Peter had just been trying to not burden Mr. Stark because Spider-Man should be able to take care of a few criminals on his own. But now, the only thing running through Peter’s mind was Mr. Stark’s harsh voice repeating one phrase, 'And if you died, I feel like that’s on me.’
On the flight over, Tony’s thoughts were a flurry of chaotic and panicked thoughts.
He thought him and Peter grew closer over the past few months. Despite a rocky start with the Rogue Avengers and Tony’s mistakes throughout the Vulture fiasco, Tony believed Peter trusted him to help with problems, Spider-Man related or not.
Tony looked forward to the weekly lab bonding sessions that included ridiculous conversations about new TikTok dances, whether BB-8 or R2-D2 was the better droid, or what to watch for the next Friday movie night.
That was another thing. Peter occasionally slept over. Tony ended up converting an empty bedroom on his and Pepper’s floor in the Tower for the teenager. But it wasn’t just a normal guest room the teenager crashed in. Tony decked it out with plenty of Lego sets and Avengers and Star Wars merchandise. It screamed Peter Parker.
Peter quickly became one of the select few that Tony trusted and considered family. Because despite everything Tony did to put distance between himself and the spider kid in an effort to not screw him up, Tony never stood a chance.
Which made this unfortunate night even more tragic. Because Tony was under the assumption that Peter trusted Tony to be there for him, that Peter forgave him for abandoning him during the Vulture incident and thought Tony to be an ally of Spider-Man.
Kid, you better be alive when I get there because it seems we need to talk.
Peter and Ned heard Mr. Stark before they saw him. To Ned, this meant an adult, someone with the knowledge on how to save his friend. But to Peter, Mr. Stark's arrival only brought dread. He didn’t mean to disappoint Mr. Stark again.
The two boys noticed the Iron Man suit hover in front of the open window for a second before crawling into the bedroom. The faceplate lifted up and revealed Tony’s distressed expression.
“Peter,” Tony whispered out as he took in the kid’s pale complexion and the blood over Ned’s hands.
“Mr. Stark,” Peter gasped. His hands twitched as he suppressed the need to reach out to his mentor and breakdown. Peter’s vision went black and his body completely limp in Ned’s arms.
Without wasting another moment, Tony found himself by the two teenagers and reached out for Peter’s body.
“Take care of him,” is the only goodbye Ned gave as Iron Man flew out of the room carrying Spider-Man.
“Friday, alert Dr. Cho about an incoming Underoos that will need her immediate attention. Stab wound in the abdomen of unknown length and depth.” After that the only thing echoing in Tony’s mind was to save the kid.
It wasn’t the sharp smell of antiseptic or the incessant beeping or the dull ache from his stomach that first registered in Peter’s mind. No, it was the comforting sensation of someone rubbing their thumb back and forth on the back of Peter’s hand.
Against his initial desire to go back to sleep, Peter carefully opened his eyes expecting painfully bright lights of a hospital room. To his surprise, it was perfectly dimmed to Peter’s delicate sense.
Slowly twisting his head, Peter spotted Mr. Stark hunched over on the side of the hospital bed. If it weren’t for the moving thumb, Peter would have thought Mr. Stark to be asleep.
“Misser Star’,” Peter slurs, “are you okay?”
“Kid!” Tony shot his head up, his bloodshot eyes frantically roaming over Peter’s face as if not believing he woke up. “Only you would have a stab wound and ask if I’m okay.” Tony sighed. “Underoos, what were you thinking going to Ned? I have a fully functional medical wing with doctors capable of fixing superhumans.”
Peter didn’t say anything in response. He shifted his eyes down to the hospital bed. All he wanted was to avoid causing Mr. Stark problems, but it seems Peter couldn't even do that right.
“C’mon Peter. I know I’ve told you to call me in any emergency, especially in injured Spider-Man situations. Do-do you not trust me?” Mr. Stark hesitated on the last question, unsure if he wanted to know the truth.
“What? No! Of course I trust you Mr. Stark! I trust you just as much as Aunt May.”
“Then why didn’t you get Karen to call me?”
“Because-” Peter stopped. He trusted Mr. Stark. He trusts Mr. Stark will ask him if he’s hungry as soon as steps into the lab. He trusts Mr. Stark to joke about throwing out Peter’s Lego sets every time Mr. Stark steps on a stray piece. He trusts Mr. Stark to act as Peter’s pseudo parent.
But does he trust Mr. Stark with Spider-Man?
“Because I didn’t want to trouble you in case you were busy. I know that you still have plenty of SI matters to deal with even if Ms. Potts is CEO. It doesn’t matter anyways. I’m fine.”
“Peter, you’re not fine. Despite being lucky that the knife didn’t nick any of your internal organs, you still suffered from extreme blood loss and needed stitches.”
“I just-look, I didn’t want to bother you. Spider-Man is my problem, not yours.”
Tony shook his head and argued back, “Peter, it is my problem. You can’t do this on your own. We’re in this together. When I gave you the suit-”
Before Tony continued, Peter’s frustration took over and he burst out, “But you took it away! Like it was nothing, didn’t you Mr. Stark? It didn’t even take you a second thought before you decided Spider-Man wasn’t your problem and sent me on my way home!”
“So now, I can’t let you know of any of Spider-Man’s mistakes. Because I don’t know how you’re going to react. Don’t you see, Peter Parker and Tony Stark can be a team but not Spider-Man and Iron Man.” Peter took a deep breath and noticed the tears forming in eyes. He hadn’t realized how his trust in Mr. Stark to properly handle Spider-Man was fractured until this moment.
Tony just sat there in shock. Tony regretted his outburst that day. It was that afternoon when Tony looked in the mirror he saw Howard looking back. What a poor excuse of trying to break the cycle of abuse Howard started.
Peter did everything right in the position he was put in. The position that Tony put him in when he sent Peter off on his own after Germany and kept his distance from the super powered teenager. He put Happy in charge of Spider-Man affairs expecting him to help Peter when half the time Happy barely cooperates with Tony.
“You’re right, Peter. My actions after the Ferry incident were hurtful and unfair to you. I was selfish. I thought I was doing the right thing, which clearly I wasn’t and should have listened to you. Kid, you’re better than all of us, and I didn’t want to be the one to mess you up. Didn’t really work,” Tony mutters to himself.
“I’ll continue to apologize for my behavior and try to show you that I won’t make the same mistake again. I’ll prove to you that you can trust me with Spider-Man business until that trust is restored. No matter how long it takes. Whatever it takes.”
Tony looked into Peter’s eyes and said, “Underoos, you’ve become my family, my kid. I’m sorry to have failed you, but I’ll be better. I promise.”
Peter took in Tony’s final words and knew then that his trust in Mr. Stark wasn’t completely broken, just slightly cracked. It would take time for Peter to believe Mr. Stark’s sentiments..
But Peter already knew Mr. Stark changed from a few months ago to today. So he felt confident when he responded with, “I know.”
Peter raised his arms up in the universal sign of wanting a hug, and Mr. Stark immediately had Peter in his embrace. Peter rested his head on Mr. Stark’s shoulders and smiled.
“Mr. Stark,” Peter whispered, “can we watch A New Hope tonight?”
“What? Again?” Tony whispered back in mock annoyance. In a softer tone, “Anything you want, kid.”
Months later, Peter was once again stabbed while out on patrol. Coincidentally, it happened in the same alleyway as the original injury.
Without hesitation, Peter requested, “Karen, call Mr. Stark.”