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Fighting a villain who loves to throw bombs around is a hit-or-miss situation for Peter. No matter what the circumstances. The bombs carelessly launched into the air aren’t much but a barrier for him, another obstacle to avoid. Swinging around to get from one side of the crime scene to another becomes difficult once you take in that the villain keeps throwing the bombs on purpose (what a surprise!) to completely throw you off, among other things.
Then you have the panicked civilians who are most of the time not helpful at all, and all they do is get in the way instead of keeping their distance. A bunch of “we’ve run into a problem” thrown to all the mess and not sticking to the plan.
The comm in Peter’s mask is heavy on his ears, and slowly, he feels like he’s slipping from his body the more he keeps swinging around the villain, looking for an opening. The voices in the comm mush together into one pile of uncomprehending instructions – screams and curses, along with repeated sentences and orders.
His senses get dull over time.
Thus, what are you exactly supposed to do, mid-swing, when a bomb explodes close to you and tackles you down to the ground? Peter wonders because he's uncertain what the bombs are made of, but oh whoa, maybe he can close his eyes for a moment and ignore Tony yelling at him through the comm.
“He’s gonna recover,” Bruce says first things first to Steve and Tony once he steps out of the room with a nurse tailing close behind him. Tony, who has been pacing the whole time since they’ve arrived, shoots him a relieved face. A smile forms on his pale face.
Bruce gives both of them a reassuring glance in hope to lift off the tension. He dismisses the nurse and remains still by the doorframe to the room where Peter is resting. Steve ducks his head to the side, catching a glimpse of Peter lying in the hospital bed, probably sleeping.
Bruce snaps back and continues. “Right, uhm– He’s fine, he’s going to be alright, but his healing factor is slowed. The bombs were filled with a powder, which probably took an effect on him. I’m gonna have a look at them to conclude what they were made of and the effects they leave behind. I reckon mutation slowdown or something that affects the mutated DNA. However, I doubt Peter was hit directly with the powder but most likely by the aftershock of the bomb, as the explosions were pretty intense, so the effects won’t last.”
Steve nods and moves closer to him, together with Tony. Bruce gets the message and moves to let them both in. He follows right after them and watches the worrying faces of the heroes.
Tony huffs, but his face softens when he takes in Peter. Steve takes a chair from the corner of the room and slides it to the edge of the bed and seats himself down.
“Thank you, Bruce,” Steve says, eyes never leaving Peter’s chest, moving up and down. Up and then down steadily. “A big thank you belongs to you.”
Bruce nods. “I know you’ve both got a soft spot for the kid.” He gestures at Peter. “And honestly, it’s wrong to see him like this, but he’s out of the worst. His state wasn’t critical when you brought him here, but... Let’s not think about the what ifs.”
Tony stiffly drums his fingers on his forearm. “I knew we shouldn’t let him go there.”
“Tony, you’re overreacting,” Steve says. He avoids looking down at Peter, though, because partially, he’s afraid he might reconsider Tony’s statement and change his mind.
Then again, he shakes his head to get out any idea that has anything to do with this outcome. “It was an accident, and you know that. This could have happened to anyone out of the team. Stuff like this happens.”
“He could have gotten himself killed,” Tony raises his voice and then shuts his mouth when he spots it disturbing Peter’s sleep. Peter jerks but by no means wakes up. Tony stiffens on the spot and continues just when he makes sure Peter is no longer stirring in his sleep.
“We could have lost him,” he whispers.
“But we didn’t. He’s right here, breathing. And we should be happy that he is.” Steve huffs. His eyes skate over Peter’s body, and his heart clenches at the pure sight of the wrecked state. His left arm is completely covered in bandages, his ribs as well. He has patches all around his face and bruises lingering on his body, and Steve gulps down a wince because the younger looks so wrong – covered in blue and purple.
And to think his healing factor is working slower as an aftereffect from the explosion...
Tony stays silent. He makes no movement at all, makes no comment, and simply stares at Peter and takes in every detail of his injuries just as Steve did seconds ago.
“I’m gonna get myself coffee,” Tony murmurs. “You want some?” Steve declines the offer with a shake of his head. Tony takes a mental note and leaves the room. Steve sees him hesitate when he takes a step out but doesn’t look back behind him and carries on getting himself the desired cup of coffee.
Steve sighs, finally feeling the relief washing over his body, fully, and not just flashing past in his head. He places his hand on Peter’s wrist, and a small smile breaks on his face. He presses a kiss to his forehead, gulping back any possible tears.
Peter stirs once again and shivers. Steve leans back, but his hand never leaves Peter’s arm. He keeps on shivering until a small gasp leaves his mouth, and slowly, he begins waking up. He scrunches his nose and opens his eyes. He winces when the scorching light above his head hits his still sensitive eyes.
“Wade..?” Peter mutters and brings his hands to dig them in his eyes and lets out a pained whine.
“Hey, hey kid. It’s me, Steve,” Steve tells Peter.
Peter sobs, and Steve is unsure whether it’s because of the absence of the mercenary or because he’s bothered by the light. “Pete, hey, it’s okay, hey. Should I turn off the lights?”
Peter nods. “Please.”
“JARVIS, turn off the lights here, could you?” Steve requests, and soon enough, the room is set in a much darker setting. Not completely dark, but the lights are dim, enough for Steve to see Peter’s face, but not to hurt his eyes. The blinds cover the big glass windows, so less sunlight coming from the outside seeps into the hospital room.
Peter hums at the pleasant change. He lets his hands move down until they are resting on his belly and blinks away the exhaustion. He observes his surroundings, and his eyebrows arch together. “Where’s Wade?”
Steve huffs out a low chuckle because, of course, that’s the first thing on Peter’s mind. “You want me to call him?”
“You would?” Peter asks, voice hopeful. “Tony’s gonna–”
“Throw a tantrum? He’ll live.”
Peter remembers vividly when Steve had walked in on Peter kissing Wade, and he is grateful that they were just kissing because he would never live down the secondhand embarrassment from whatever would happen afterwards. Though Steve didn’t make a big deal out of it anyway. He may have questioned Wade’s past, but once Peter swore that he was on better terms, Steve dropped the topic and admitted he was happy for them.
It was harder to break it down to Tony, however. A sole reason why Peter wanted to keep his relationship with Wade a top secret.
See, Peter considers the older man, together with Steve, somewhat his parents – especially after May’s sudden death. He felt lonely, and what gap Wade couldn’t fill out, Tony and Steve made sure to make an excellent replacement for the missing part in his heart.
Somehow more naturally than one would believe, Steve and Tony make sure to fulfill the parental roles to their full potential – Steve being the gentle parent and giving Peter a free hand, trust in place ( “He’s nineteen, Tony, he’s not stupid!”), and Tony being the overprotective of a cliché father ( “Steve, I was also nineteen once. Don’t eat up his every lie. His eyes are misleading you.”). And Peter guesses it will be a matter of time before he actually starts calling them his “dads.”
So, once Peter gathered enough courage to come off clear, Tony did get a near heart attack, proceeded to yell at Peter, and then somehow apologized when Steve told him to get it together and not make a big deal out of it. The scoff could be heard in the whole of New York, Peter remembers. Basically, Wade has left the room with a couple of threats made on his person, but at least he had all of his limbs attached to his body.
Steve smiles down at Peter and presses another kiss to his forehead. He lingers for a moment, and Peter feels the relief washing over his body. “I was worried about you. You scared us a bunch. For a moment...” He gulps. For a moment we thought we had lost you, but Steve doesn’t dare to say it out loud. “It looked ugly.”
Peter presses his lips together. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault. Nobody’s actually. I’m just– I’m glad you’re alright. I’d beat myself if anything happened to you. Tony too, and I know you know, but, uhm, yeah. You’re here now, no? That’s what matters the most. We’re all here – happy and doing well. You breathe, and that counts.”
Peter nods hard and takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh air. Steve taps his arm before he picks himself up from the chair. When he notices the big eyes on Peter’s face, he tastes the question sooner than Peter has it prepared. “I’ll be right back. Gotta make the call, yeah?”
“Okay.” And then shortly after. “Thank you.”
“Baby boy, baby, Petey-pie, hey, hi.”
Wade’s voice is like a redemption.
“Sweettums, what happened? Jesus on a shtick, what happened? Oh fuck.” Wade curses when he takes in all the bandages spent on Peter and the bruises and the injuries and– Yeah. The picture’s not pretty. Peter looks wrecked, and that’s for having a bomb explode in his vicinity and slamming on the ground, hard.
Steve gives a sharp look at Wade when another wave of curses hurls out of his mouth, but Wade shuts up quickly, getting the message. He gives Steve a panicked, slightly anxious smile.
Peter’s skin burns, his eyes water at a single micromovement, and his lungs feel tight because of his broken ribs.
However, a simple glance at Wade, and he’s not hurting anymore.
Wade immediately climbs on the bed, despite the nurse’s objections, but Steve tells her to let them be, and eventually, she gives up once she figures that she will be ignored anyway.
Wade pays close attention to Peter’s injuries when he cradles him against his chest. Peter hisses although Wade is but gentle, and he feels the older man tense up. “Wade, I’m not fragile. I just,” he murmurs. “It’s just, just hurts, yeah? I’m fine.”
Wade throws his head back in frustration. “Pete, I would take you seriously if you weren’t lying here, all patched up and looking fucked up. Though, you are still my pretty fucked up.” He glances at Steve for approval. He gets a shake of the head instead. “Alright, well... I rushed here the moment Captain second-best Booty called me to get here. And I think I’m stealing your powers, you know? I felt something was wrong way before I got the call. Like, I got chills down my spine, and I couldn’t help myself to think about you first. Crazy intuition you passed on to me.”
Wade rests his arm over Peter’s waist, circling his thumb. He puts a little pressure on his skin, mostly to ground Peter and affirm his presence than anything. It seems to help when the younger relaxes.
Peter hums idly and throws his arm over Wade’s middle, pulling himself closer to the emitting heat. Steve watches them interact in total peace and counts seconds before Tony will appear in the doorway, cup of coffee in his hand (which will shatter the moment Tony realizes what’s going on) and gapes.
Wade traces his fingers over Peter’s revealed back, avoiding pressing hard against the delicate skin (or bandages), afraid he’ll add another harsh mark on his already marked-up body.
“I was scared,” Peter admits, and almost, just almost, Wade doesn’t catch it. But the tone of Peter’s voice – low, raspy, wavering – sends him a sign to pay close attention. Not every day does Peter Parker, Spider-Man, admit he’s afraid. Which is a completely valid emotion.
Despite that, Wade’s hand stops.
“Just before I blacked out, I felt something was wrong, and I was scared to not see you again. Because if you were there, I’d be safe, you know? You’d– You would take a bullet for me,” Peter explains and lets out a pained chuckle. “So, when I realized there was nobody in my vicinity to take the shot for me, I was helpless. I didn’t realize that until that very moment when I got hit with the bomb, and I felt surreal...”
Peter is trembling, Wade notices and doubts it’s from the cold. His eyes seem to be distant, as if Peter is so deep in the memory that only his voice is the only thing connecting the reality with the close past. His mouth opens, then closes before it opens again, voice trembling as well, and a pathetic noise falls from between the chapped lips.
“Sweetcheeks...”
Peter shrugs but sobs. Tears steadily gather at his doe eyes. Wade’s quick to wipe them before they spill down his delicate face.
Beside them, Steve tenses.
“Is it bad?” Peter whispers. Wade looks questioningly at his boyfriend. “Is, is it– Does dying hurt?”
Wade runs his thumb over Peter’s cheekbone, smoothing the pain pictured on his face. “Don’t worry about that, m’kay? No questions, alright? Don’t worry your smart head about that. Because I promise you, I’ll be there to catch you when you fall down. I won’t let you discover anything from where you can’t return. You’re safe,” Wade states firmly.
Peter smiles. “Because you’re here.”
“Yeah,” Wade says. He laughs lowly. “Because I’m here. Because you’re here. With me. Together, baby boy. That’s great, no? That’s totally great-ish, I bet. So, if, I hope the fuck not, another idiot runs around with bombs, Deadpool will be there to shield his Spider-Man with his muscular body and save the day. And I mean every single word. There’s no way they’ll get to you when I’ll be there.”
Wade completely blocks the fact that Steve is literally sitting by the bed and watches them interact, but anything to keep Peter from bursting into tears. A distressed spidey is not really necessary in this situation, so it’s best to keep it in check – with profound promises and sappy words.
He leans and connects their lips together in a slow and gentle kiss. Peter smiles into it, which Wade marks as a success. They break the kiss, but not before giving him another peck on his chapped lips. Peter places his head against Wade’s firm chest, and Wade envelops him in a tight embrace.
The pleasant silence could be cut in the room.
“Who let Wilson in?!”
“You must be kidding.” Steve sighs meanwhile, Wade’s head shoots up to see a slightly ( read: about to kill somebody) furious Tony standing by the door with a cup of coffee.
“Money Man, watch out so you won’t blacken the whole room with the smoke coming from your head,” Wade says as a greeting, which drags a fit of giggles from Peter’s broken form. Worth it. “Your son here is not doing exactly the best.”
“Well, you’re here, so I’m not surprised.”
Peter frowns.
Steve stands up from his seat and moves to Tony. “Before you go on with your talk, give Peter rest. He’s not doing great, so it’s normal for him to want Wade here, and no, you can’t throw him out of the window, we discussed that.”
“You’re being irrational.”
“You’re overreacting,” Steve says and takes the cup from Tony’s hand. “Again. Stop with that.”
“Hey, that’s mine!” Tony says and snatches the cup back from Steve’s hands.
“Yeah, well, that’s how Peter here feels when you make Wade leave. You need coffee to function, Peter needs Wade to lift his spirits up,” Steve fights off.
Peter turns his head to face the bickering couple and chuckles whenever one of them says something mildly funny. It brings peace into the situation, and Wade’s glad to see Peter smile more.
When he entered the room, he saw a ghost looming over Pete’s body, and he would do anything to follow him even into the world from which he is supposedly banned.
Wade nuzzles Peter’s temple, arms still secured around Peter’s beaten form.
“Steve, oh please. You want him to stay here with Pete? Alone? Are you out of your mind?” Tony raises his voice once again, and okay, he might seem to be on the edge of throwing a big tantrum.
Wade cackles and sits up.
“What?” Peter asks and turns his attention to Wade.
“I feel as if I was a bad guy who fell in love with a prince, and the king is not happy about it, but our love is true and irreplaceable,” Wade explains. “And you’re stubborn because you wanna be with me so bad, and he’s losing his mind when you go against him and his orders.”
“More like a prince from an opposing kingdom,” Peter says. He slowly sits up. Wade places a hand on his lower back to support him and helps him sit up properly. Peter kisses Wade’s cheek. The latter hums.
Tony points at them. “See, Steve? This–”
“They are dating, Tony. Get it into your big head, that no, you can’t possibly keep Peter under a lock, and no, nobody is having a big talk later, because there’s nothing to talk about,” Steve counters with, and Peter is genuinely surprised to see Steve so dedicated to justifying Wade’s presence. It fills his heart with adoration. “We’ve talked about this several times. For once, could you live this down? He’s not a kid anymore.”
Tony turns to Wade and points at him. “Wilson, I swear if you do anything to Peter here, you will regret it for the rest of your godforsaken life.” He pauses. “Must he stay all night? I don’t need to remind you what they will do if we leave them alone. For the whole. Night.”
“Tony,” Steve warns.
“I’m just asking!”
Peter pipes in, “How can you be worried about me having sex when I can’t even sit up? I’m happy I can breathe without my ribs going crazy.”
Tony narrows his eyes at him.
Peter winces.
“Nobody is having the “s” word with anyone. And don’t say that,” Tony says.
Steve sighs. “You told me I was being irrational? Look at you!”
“He’s but a kid.”
“He’s nineteen, going on twenty,” Steve says just as Peter whisper-yells. “I’m nearly twenty!”
Tony looks away, probably reconsidering his options. He must have found the needed answer because all he does is sigh. He takes a sip from his coffee and shrugs.
“This once,” Tony concludes. “Just once.”
Peter smiles. “Thanks, dad.”
Tony clicks his tongue. “You know damn well what to tell me when you need to get me on your side.” He pretends to roll his eyes, but the action is completely insincere. He comes up to Peter and ruffles his hair. “But gosh, don’t scare us that much ever again.”
Peter nods and smiles sheepishly. He gets himself comfortable in Wade’s hold while the latter brings a blanket over both of them, ready to call it a day. Wade keeps talking to Peter in a hushed manner once the room settles into silence.
He talks about his day, how much he has missed him, how generous the lady in his favorite mexican restaurant was to him, and how happy she was to see him, because it had been a long time since she had last seen him. How he bounced back home, excited to see him, but was sad once he found that their apartment was empty but cheered when he found out he went to help out the Avengers.
He talked about everything and nothing as Peter was slowly slipping into the dreamland.
“I’m so proud of you, you know? Gosh, baby boy, you’re the best thing to ever happen to me, I don’t deserve you.” Peter, despite being nearly asleep, shakes his head. Wade giggles, but the sound dies out quickly. “And to think I could have... I love you, Petey-pie. Like to the Moon and back kinda much.”
Wade kisses Peter’s forehead.
That is the moment when Steve and Tony decide that it’s better to leave them alone.
“You can’t admit they aren’t sweet,” Steve says as he closes the door behind them. “Saw the way Peter completely relaxed? He’s deeply in love with him, and you can’t go and pretend that they aren’t adorable.”
Tony shrugs. “Whatever.” But he can’t bring himself to hide the smile.