Archive of Our Own ^beta

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he should have dodged it— but he had to save the kid, anyways it didn’t matter now, it’s not like he could change what happened. As he swung off the buildings every web he shot sent a searing pain up his shoulder blade, “yep something is definitely broken there” he thought. He tried to stay positive but every swung he took his vision was getting spottier. “Just a few more blocks till I’m at medbay— oh wait there is no way I’m telling Mr. Stark about this.”
Peter trembled knowing if he didn’t get there soon Mr. Stark would find out for himself. He must have gotten lost in his thoughts because he felt a searing pain on his back, “how did I get here?” he thought.

His thoughts were interrupted by a seemingly nervous voice— “Peter it seems your vitals are tanking, Now calling Mr. Stark.” Pete almost had a heart attack, “NO!” He whispered loudly. “I’m afraid this request has been denied by the baby monitor protocol” Karen says calmly. Peter practically rips off his mask. He thinks “Maybe if I just get on that building I will be able to get to the apartment” he clearly wasn’t thinking straight because May would freak if she saw him like this.
He shoots a web and pain shoots through him like a bullet, yet, he perseveres, vision getting blurrier. He shoots another web and launches himself up, this time dizzy. He misses. He falls to the ground onto his back. He sits up desperately trying to relieve the pain on his back. He takes his mask off again. This time in a quick motion. He coughs, “oh that’s bad” he thinks, he’s not thinking much now in fact, probably the effects of the concussion. Red spills onto the concrete below a hunched over Peter Parker. He puts his mask on in shame.
The call finally gets put through. “Kid! I’ve been looking for you. I’ll be there in a minute just stay awake for me” That’s the last clear sentence he heard. Next thing he remembers is being shook awake by a frantic Tony Stark who looked like he had a just saw a ghost. He said something close to “Kid, stay with me” I’m not sure. “I’m tired” he thought. “He found me I can rest now right?”

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He woke up— but he couldn’t open his eyes? The first thing he heard was “It seems he has a concussion but we can’t really tell the extent of it until he wakes up” from a familiar voice, “is that Dr. Cho?” He thought. “Wait I am awake I can hear” “I’m right here” he tried to say but nothing would come out of his mouth, he suddenly felt a hand on his and heard Dr. Cho’s footsteps on the way out of the room. “Then who is holding my hand?” his thoughts were interrupted

“Oh kid,” Tony paused “you can tell me next time you know” Peter felt a wave of guilt. He heard more footsteps and the door slide open. “Tony it’s been 2 days, maybe take a shower?” Pepper said in a voice Tony could not argue with. “I’ll sit by him.” She said. “Where is May anyways?” Tony stood up. “She insisted on cooking us dinner for taking care of him, I’m a bit nervous.” Pepper inched closer “Why?” “Peter hasn’t had the best things to say about her lasagne” Pepper laughed “I’m sure we can get takeout” Peter wanted to see if he could move his finger but he didn’t want to stop Mr. Stark from getting up. “Ok, Pete I’m gonna go shower, don’t wake up while I’m gone”

Peter almost giggled. He felt a new hand on his and a shift on his mattress. “Hey kid” Pepper said leaning on the bed. “Please wake up soon you are driving Tony crazy he hasn’t slept since the accident” she said practically begging, this surprised Peter considering they haven’t spoken more than 3 times. He felt a wave of guilt. He almost managed to move but he got distracted by the sound of the door creak, “now who could this be?” He thought. He recognized Rhodey’s sigh. “Still not awake?” He said disappointed. “No, I’m starting to get worried” she continued “Cho said he should wake up within 72 hours but she thinks something may be messing with his healing.” He really wanted to listen more but, Peter drifted off.

He woke to a terrible smell—burnt something—and the sound Tony’s voice muttering under his breath “Told may using the oven was bad idea. Pete, if you don’t wake up soon, I’m gonna need you to save me from save from the lasagna.” Peter wanted to snicker but then he remembered he was confined to his body. He heard the door slide open and could tell by her footsteps that it was May. “Hey May” Tony said embarrassingly. “Stark.” May said monotonously “I’m sorry if I come off rude but I just really miss him.” “It’s ok, it’s my fault anyways” Tony said guiltily, at that point Peter was practically clawing at the outside world, he could not stand the fact that Tony was blaming himself. “No, it isn’t, I just don’t know who I should be mad at because it can’t be Peter right now.” “Who says you can’t be?” Tony sounded like he was about the lecture him. Peter just cringed. “Oh they are going to kill me when I wake up” he thought.

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He gained consciousness when he felt peppers hand on his. “I swear Tony’s been in here every minute for a week and a half, Pete, you planning to wake up soon?” Peter shifted his fingers had it really been that long? He realized shortly after pepper did. “Peter? Are you awake?” Pepper said gently. Peter attempted to open his eyes and saw a blurry figure in front of him. “Li- ghts” Peter said struggling to get the words out. “Friday lights 20%” Pepper said immediately, then she reached for a glass of water and held it to Peter’s mouth. Pete took a sip, “I’m sorry” he chocked out. “Oh Peter, it’s not your fault, I know you were trying to get here.” But he wasn’t and she knew that. “Where-“ Peter didn’t even finish, “Oh! Let me call May and Tony” Peter thought to himself That is one thing Tony must love about her, she always was 10 steps ahead. Peter groaned. She could tell he felt guilty. She knew he could sense a lecture from the both of them. May practically walked in on queue and Peter just looked at her glassy eyed.

May just stared at him for a few seconds, still; like she was frozen in time. “Peter” she said timidly. She moved closer and hugged him like she would never let go again. She probably wouldn’t have if she could. She cried for a while. Peter comforted her. She calmed down after a bit. She scooted a chair close to him. “When did he wake up?” May asked “A few minutes before you came in” Pepper said taking a brief pause, “Should I call Tony in here?” She didn’t want to invade. “Of course, he is just as much Peter’s guardian as I am.” This made Peter smile. “Do I have a say in this?” Peter said jokingly. “Nope” May said quickly.

The phone rang. “Hey Pep, the kid still asleep?” Pepper paused “Actually, that is what I called you about.” She heard clanging some clanging and panting followed by quick footsteps coming from down the hall. Tony was out of breath, but stopped in his tracks at the door. “Mr. Stark!!” Peter said excitedly. Tony went straight in for a hug. “Kid, don’t you ever scare me like that again.” He said voice cracking. “No promises” Peter replied. Tony took a step back to take it all in, they just stared for at each other for a minute. “You’ll never guess what we were missing on the web fluid” Tony broke the silence. “Wait was it the ester-to-carbonate ratio?” Tony pulled out a hologram. “I think that’s my queue to leave ” Pepper said jokingly. May said “You guys look like two kids on Christmas morning” as she got up. “Oh, Peter, do you want to try my lasagna?” May said persistently. Pepper signaled him from behind her. She mouthed “Don’t do it” Peter smiled “You know I just woke up I don’t think it would be a good idea to eat solids right now don’t you think?” May grinned suspiciously “Of course, you can try it tomorrow” Peter’s smiled awkwardly.

Pepper went to check on them later. Peter was asleep with a web shooter on his wrist. Tony had his hand on it and was knocked out hunched over on the bed. Pepper giggled and grabbed Tony’s blanket from the couch on the other side of the room and placed it on his back. She tiptoed out but turned when she heard shuffling on the bed. Peter turned his head and slowly opened his eyes. “Do you think I can take the web shooter off?” Peter said quietly “He’s a deep sleeper, you’ll be fine” Pepper walked over to him and held Tony’s hand up, “Thank you” Peter said a little louder. He fell asleep shortly after that, and as for pepper, she just watched from the glass door outside.

“Aren’t they so alike?” May said to Pepper. “Oh, they could be father and son.” Pepper replied. They looked at each other, “You know I don’t think I say it enough but I really appreciate you and Peter.” Pepper continued “He has really changed Tony for the better and you did such a great job raising him, May.” May turned in Peppers direction “I am so grateful that Peter has a mentor that cares for him—our two boys, they really are just inseparable aren’t they?”

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Two weeks later

Peters POV: I finally healed from the thing we are deeming the “accident.” Tony and May know I’m not messy with my work, so I had to tell them I was sleep deprived, I told them I would get more sleep, but I couldn’t promise anything. To be honest, I tried to sleep more but I keep having this recurring dream, like something is going to happen to Tony, I’ve tried going on more missions with him, but I’m starting to think he is realizing that I’m acting a little weird. I hope he doesn’t do any solo missions anytime soon because I don’t think I could ever forgive myself If I wasn’t there while something happened. He tries to tell me that I am his responsibility but Its starting to feel reciprocated.

No one’s POV: “The kid’s been acting a bit weird lately” Tony said quietly, aware of Peter sleeping in the room over “What do you mean?” Pepper practically whispered, Tony continued “Ever since the accident, he’s wanted to go on every mission” Pepper replied “Maybe he just missed going on them?” Tony continued, “No, he’s definitely acting weird because normally, we split up, but it’s like he’s been following me for the past week.” Pepper advocated, “Well he has been out for 2 weeks Tony maybe he’s just trying to get back into the practice of being Spider-Man” Tony sighed “He was already swinging and beating bad guys on day 2, it just seems like he’s trying to protect something” Pepper said suddenly “Maybe he’s trying to protect someone?” Tony answered, “Are you saying–“ Pepper interrupted, “Look, you know he’s been having nightmares right? And he’s following you everywhere, if he’s already doing well from his injuries, who else would he be protecting?” Tony said honestly “Wait, wait, wait, he’s been having nightmares?” Pepper paused, “He, hadn’t told you yet?” She sounded shocked, “He told you? Why didn’t he just tell me in the first place?” Pepper said in a quieter tone “Maybe he was embarrassed of them, like someone I know.” She continued, “Tony if you don’t know how he is feeling right now, you need to talk to him about it.” She looked at him sincerely, he held her hands and kept eye contact “Okay.”

Tony walked into the hallway. He pushed Peter’s door open slightly. “Pete, you up?” Tony took a few more steps inside his room. Peter woke up “Oh, hey Mr. Stark” he said, voice crackling, “I’m gonna sit here, so you move the leg.” Peter adjusted, “Did I do something?” Tony sighed, “No kid, I’m just worried. Ever since you—“ he paused “since the accident, you’ve been acting a little weird, It seems like you never want to leave my side, and, um, Pepper told me that you’ve been having nightmares.” His voice cracked a bit. “You know you can tell me anything right?” At this point Peter’s eyes were fixed on the ground. “I— well,” Peter debated whether he should tell him. “um, I keep having this nightmare where you get hurt and I’m not there. I just don’t want to lose—“ he stopped “Pete, I know this won’t make you feel better but I was in dangerous situations before you were born. If something happened to me that is my responsibility. You shouldn’t have to feel like you have to protect me. In fact, I should be the one protecting you.”