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Peter was at a decathlon practice when he got the text from Happy. He quietly excused himself so he could go to the bathroom to read it.
'Boss needs you for a mission. I'm parked out front.'
Peter immediately got a rush of excitement at the words on his cracked phone screen. A smile appeared on his face and he made his way out of the school. He instantly saw the car waiting for him and he jumped in.
"Hey, Happy! So, what's the mission? Is Mr. Stark at the compound or are we meeting him somewhere else? I have my Spider-Man suit with me, should I go somewhere to put it on now, or-" Peter began asking as many questions as he could think of before the driver cut him off.
"Cool it with the questions, kid. I'm just going to drop you off at the compound. You can get ready with the team there."
Peter was practically jumping in his seat with excitement. It had been so long since he was called in for a mission. He finally had the chance to prove that he was a trustworthy team member and not some unworthy kid.
Before he knew it, he was rushing out of the car and into the compound. He asked FRIDAY where everyone was after getting changed into his Spider-Man suit and joined them all on the landing pad.
"Glad you could join us, Pete." Tony greeted. Once everyone was there, they started walking into the Quinjet where Tony started explaining the plan.
"Some idiots decided it was a good idea to try and replicate my Stark Tech. Obviously, they failed because no one is as awesome as me." That comment earned an eye roll from everyone on the team. "So now their defective drones are flying all over the city and causing massive amounts of damage. it's our job to stop them before anymore casualties take place."
Everyone nodded and murmured before Tony carried on. "Steve, Natasha and Clint. You guys stick to the middle. Thor and I will work on the outskirts and the bridge." He gestured to Bruce, "Bruce, you'll be on standby incase we need the big guy's help, so stay in the jet." He then turned to Peter and Rhodey. "You guys are in charge of evacuating the civilians."
Wait...what?!
Once it was clear that Tony was done talking, everyone dispersed and waited for the jet to land. Peter immediately walked over to Tony.
"Why can't I help with the drones?" He asked, whining a little. Tony sighed, he knew this was coming.
"Because, Peter, you've only been on one mission. Everyone needs to start at the bottom before they make their way up. Besides, evacuating is a very important job. I trust you to do it right, yeah?" Tony left out the part where he gave the job to Peter because he was afraid of him getting hurt. "Besides, you'll still be able to take some drones down if you spot any, okay?"
Peter sighed in defeat. "Yeah, okay."
Tony smiled and patted a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Atta boy."
Peter smiled and decided that it wouldn't be so bad after all. He could still make Mr. Stark proud. It wasn't long until they got to their destination, and Peter could see all the chaos the drones were causing before they even walked out. Not to mention that his spidey senses were screaming at him. Once he finally walked out the jet with the others, all he could see was broken buildings, debris, and civilians screaming and running away. Then there were the drones. They were surprisingly small for something that could cause that much damage to a city. There were also thousands of them. Peter wondered how long these 'idiots' were building the drones before they broke loose.
The team instantly dispersed, fitting into their mission roles. Peter started evacuating everyone where he stood so Rhodey flew over to the other side of the city.
Peter actually liked his job, because he loved helping people. Besides, he was still destroying as many drones as he could with what he was doing. There was actually an instance where this couple was hiding behind a turned over car, trembling and whimpering in fear. Peter quickly swooped in, webbed up the drone, slammed it to the floor so it smashed to pieces, and escorted the couple out of there. He didn't hesitate to run off again to find more people to help.
He didn't know how long it had been, maybe thirty or forty minutes. But he was starting to get bored. That didn't mean he wasn't helping out anymore, because he definitely was. He just wanted to do more.
That was until he heard a blood curling scream. He instantly ran towards the sound until he found a woman, clutching to her bleeding side and sobbing.
"Ma'am! Ma'am, are you alright?" He said, rushing over to her to help her up. "Come on, we need to get you out of here!"
"No! No, my baby!" The woman cried, scrambling away from Spider-Man. "I-I need to find my son!"
Peter cursed under his breath and looked around the area, but didn't see anyone in sight. He turned back to the crying woman.
"Ma'am, you're injured. I'm going to get you to safety, okay? Once I do that, I'll find your son." He compromised. The woman looked like she was about to argue until a flash of pain in her side changed her mind. She nodded her head and clung onto Spider-Man.
"What's your name?" He asked her, trying to walk as quick as he could without causing her too much pain.
"M-Madeline." She gasped out.
Peter nodded. "Okay, Madeline. You're going to be okay. What's your son's name?"
Madeline let out another sob at the mention of her son. "Isaac. Isaac Shore. He's only seven. He's - He's such a sweet boy." She let out another sad sob. "He's got...blonde hair a-and he's wearing a red sweater." She explained.
"Okay, okay. I'll find him for you, I promise." Peter prayed he wouldn't break that promise. He quickly put Madeline with the rest of the rescued civilians.
"Stay here, they're going to help you with your wound and you'll be good as new. I'll be back with your son, okay?" He said in a hurry. She quickly nodded and whimpered out a 'thank you'.
Peter nodded and swung off with a new mission in mind. He searched down every street and every corner for a blonde boy in a red sweater, calling out the boy's name in the process.
Before he knew it, he was in the town center, right where Mr. Stark didn't want Peter to be. But he couldn't care less, he needed to find Isaac. He promised Madeline that he would.
"Isaac! Isaac, are you here?" He yelled over the noise of the few drones that were left.
"Spidey, what are you doing here?" Hawkeye said once he spotted Peter.
"I'm trying to find someone." Was all he said before swinging off again. He jumped down into an alleyway before he finally spotted a boy hiding behind a trash can, hugging his knees. He smiled in relief and ran over to him.
"Hi there, buddy. Is your name Isaac?" He asked as he crouched down next to him. The little boy looked up in fear and nodded his head.
"I-I'm lost. I lost my mom." Isaac said, tears falling down his face.
"That's okay, I can get you to her." Peter said softly.
Isaac smiled. "Really?"
"Of course! But you need to cling on tight, okay?" Peter said, picking up the boy and wrapping him around his front. Isaac nodded into his shoulder and wrapped his arms around Peter's neck. Once he was secured, Peter started swinging back to Madeline as fast as he could. He dodged as many drones as he could, fighting the urge to fight them off. That was until one flew directly in front of Isaac. Peter's spidey senses screamed at him, and he immediately turned himself around just as the bullet was shot.
It pierced through Peter's skin and he bit back a yell. He didn't want to startle the boy he was holding. The bullet hurt more than Peter expected it would. He had super strength, after all. He continued to swing to Madeline, no matter how much he was bleeding and no matter how much his muscles were screaming at him to stop.
He saw the way Madeline's face lit up as soon as she saw her son. Peter dropped in front of her, biting back another yell of pain and handed Isaac over to her. She clung onto him in a tight hug and kissed his head.
"Oh, my baby. Oh my God." She whimpered into his shoulder as Isaac buried his head in her chest. She looked up at Peter with a smile. "Thank you so much."
Peter shrugged. "It's what I do." He swung off before instantly dropping into an alleyway. He curled into himself, whimpering and gritting his teeth in pain. What bullets were in those drones? Because Peter swore they hurt 100x worse than normal ones. He started sweating and hyperventilating, as much as he didn't want to. He tried to control his breathing, but then his vision started blurring, along with his hearing. He vaguely felt his spidey senses when another bullet him in the arm. He let out another yell and collapsed to the floor.
"Spider-Man? Oh my God!" A voice shouted. He felt someone crouch down beside him.
"What? What happened to Spidey?!" Another voice asked through the comms.
"He's been hit. Quite a few times." The voice next to him said. A few times? Maybe that's why it hurt so much.
"Shit." The voice in the comms cursed. "Steve, get him back to the jet. We'll handle the last of the drones."
Huh, so it must be Steve that found him, then.
"Got it." Steve said before grabbing Peter's shoulders and moving him into a sitting position. He was about to lean the boy against the wall when he let out a whimper.
"N-No! There's a...a...bullet i-in my back." He sobbed out. This time, Steve was the one to curse under his breath.
"Alright...okay. Take a deep breath for me, Spidey." He instructed. Peter did so, and Steve instantly scooped him up in his arms. Peter let out a yell in pain and clung onto Steve with his non-injured arm.
"Sorry, but I gotta get you back to the jet."
"'S okay." Peter slurred. Steve cursed again and started running. Before he knew it, Peter was being laid on his stomach on a gurney in the Quinjet. Luckily, Bruce was still in there.
"He's been shot. I don't know how many bullets went all the way through, but I know the one in his back is still in." Captain America quickly explained to Bruce. The doctor nodded and got the first aid kit. Steve rushed back out of the jet to get the job done quickly, knowing they had a severely injured team member. A few minutes passed before Peter vaguely heard heavy steps walk into the jet.
"Tony, why aren't you out there?" Bruce asked.
"There's only like, ten drones left. They can handle that without me." Tony said, stepping out of his suit and rushing over to Peter.
"Pete, how you hanging in there?" He asked, placing a gentle hand on the kid's shoulder who groaned in response. Tony winced in sympathy, not being able to help the panicked feeling settling in his chest.
"Let's get this mask off you, it's probably not helping you out here." He said, pulling off Peter's mask. He immediately took notice of the tears running down the boy's face, and the blood forming in his mouth.
"Shit. Bruce! How's it going with that first aid kit?" Tony yelled out as he brushed Peter's tears away.
"Mis'er s'ark?" Peter slurred, eyes drooping. The panicked feeling in the man's chest spread through his body. Did Peter not know he had been there the whole time?
"Yeah, kid. It's me." He said softly, running his hand through the boy's curls.
"I think...I think I got shot."
Tony chuckled. "You think?"
Peter groaned, shifting around slightly. "How...how bad 's it?" Tony examined the bullet holes in Peter's suit, all of which were bleeding profusely. He let out a shaky breath and turned back to face the kid.
"They're...they're fixable, okay?" He said, just as Bruce came rushing over. He handed Tony a wipe to clear the blood out of Peter's mouth, which he did.
"Okay, Peter. I'm just going to get the bullets out of you before you heal around them. I'm gonna make it quick, okay?" Bruce said, getting ready to pull the one out in his back.
"What, you're not giving him any sedatives?" Tony asked in shock.
"They won't work with his metabolism. We didn't have enough time to get his special made ones before we left." Bruce explained quickly. Peter whimpered into his pillow at Bruce's words, breaking Tony's heart a little.
"Okay, just...make it quick." Tony sighed, holding onto Peter's hand.
"N-No...no. I-I'll...I'll break your hand." Peter gasped out. Tony cursed and pulled away, realizing that he can put on his metal gauntlet. He quickly did so and returned back to Peter, holding his hand again. He nodded to Bruce.
Bruce dug into Peter's back wound, digging for the bullet as quickly as he could. Peter yelled and cried during the process, squeezing onto Tony's hand, feeling guilty for damaging his Iron Man gauntlet. Bruce finally got the bullet out, and Peter let out a loud gasp, beads of sweat running down his face.
"Only two more, Peter. You're doing really well. The other bullet wounds went all the way through so we only have to clean those." Bruce said before digging into another one of Peter's wounds for a bullet.
Peter squirmed and yelled a little more than the last one. Tony immediately comforted Peter by carding his hand through the boy's hair.
"Sh, it's okay. You're almost there."
Bruce got out the bullet. As he was getting out the next one, the other Avengers walked back into the jet.
"We destroyed all the drones. City needs clearing up." Natasha said. Tony didn't answer, all of his attention was directed on comforting Peter.
Peter let out another gasp as Bruce got out the last bullet, choking on tears.
"There you go, Pete. It's all done. You did really well." Tony said with a smile, running his hand up and down the boy's upper back.
"Is he okay?" Clint asked, stepping over to them.
"Back off Barton, give him some space." Tony barked. He knew that Clint was only trying to be nice, but he couldn't help the wave of protectiveness that washed over him.
"Mis'er S'ark?" Peter said with a timid voice. Tony instantly turned back to the boy. "I'm...I'm tired."
"That's okay, you can sleep, kid. You'll feel much better when you wake up." Tony said as Bruce started cleaning Peter's wounds. His face scrunched up in pain, but it wasn't as bad as before. He closed his eyes and let himself sleep.
At least he saved a lot of lives. That's all that mattered.