Chapter Text
Peter's vision swarmed with black dots as he tried to desperately put pressure on the deep gash in his side.
“Fuck Fuck…” He mumbled as he took in his surroundings, looking for something that would help him wrap the knife wound he was currently nursing.
Peter was sprawled on the ground of a dimly lit alleyway and he had just been stabbed by a mugger who wanted his wallet. Peter felt sweat rolling down his cheeks as he tried to get his bearings. He had been stabbed before but never as ‘Peter Parker.’ In the past he had always been in his Spider-Man suit when attacked. This time he was the victim of the crimes he normally protected people against. The irony was not lost on him.
His first thought was the call Mr. Stark. Usually, when he got hurt, Karen would automatically call Tony as a part of her protocol. The only problem was he didn't have Karen since he wasn’t in his suit.
Peter's hands felt numb as he fumbled into his pocket to pull out his phone. While he was unlocking it, however, he remembered another problem.
The last time Tony and him had spoken they had fought. Big time.
It’s not that Peter wasn’t above biting down his pride and calling the billionaire for help, oh no it wasn’t that. It was more like Peter didn’t know if he deserved the help after what he said.
—three days ago—
Peter had had, in his defense, a very bad day. It was the end of exam week at school and Peter had pulled an all-nighter on patrol as Spider-Man. He rarely pulled all-nighters anymore after Tony threatened to put a lock on his suit that would make it shut down after midnight; However, last night it had seemed unavoidable. New York was the city that never sleeps for a reason.
Peter felt like hell after not getting any rest and he was pretty sure he hadn’t performed his best on the english exam he had just finished. It really seemed like he was shit out of luck but when Peter realized it was Friday, he perked up slightly. Fridays were the days he spent with Tony in the lab. It was Peter's favorite day of the week. The two always had fun tinkering with tech and bouncing ideas off one another. While working they often lost time and Peter would miss the last bus. On these nights, Peter would stay in his room Tony had set up for him in the penthouse.
Peter had started seeing Tony’s penthouse as a home away from home. He adored each Friday they spent together and often purposefully distracted Tony until the last bus had already left so he could stay the night. Peter could swear that sometimes Tony did the same.
Peter's mood shifted just thinking about that, a warm fuzzy feeling blossoming in his chest. He carried that feeling with him though the rest of the school day and on the train ride to the Avengers Compound.
After arriving, Peter quickly made his way to the lab hoping his lab day with Tony would wash away his bad day.
“Hey Mr. Stark you won't believe the day I’ve had” Peter huffed as he walked in. His mentor was seated at his workbench and turned around with a slight frown when Peter walked in.
Peter knew that face. Something was wrong. Before he had the chance to ask, Tony cleared his throat and spoke. “Kid we need to talk”
Peter mirrored Tony's frown. He had been looking forward to this all day and now Tony was mad at him for some reason. “What is it?” Peter's voice came out a little more pissy than he had intended.
Tony raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on his tone. “You stayed out pretty late last night in your suit. You know even spider-kids need sleep”
Peter rolled his eyes. “I’m not a kid…” He mumbled, feeling a headache forming.
Tony just scoffed at Peter's words, which made the teen frown harder. “Last I checked, sixteen is still a kid” Before Peter could rebuttal, Tony held out a finger and continued. “You remember what I said would happen if you stayed out all night in the suit again?”
Peter’s eyebrows raised “…are you talking about when you said you would install a lock on the suit? You can’t be serious…”
Tony nodded. “I’m dead serious. You can’t stay out that late kid. This morning when I found out, I went online and reprogrammed Karen to lock at midnight but it’s just–”
Before Tony could finish, Peter interjected. “You can't do that!” The teen said, a little louder than he had intended.
Tony raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Kid it’s my suit I can do whatever I want”
“It’s not your suit, it's mine! You gave it to me, you can’t just do things like that without my permission!”
With a sigh, Tony ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe we’re arguing about this. Listen Pete, I warned you about what would happen if you kept pulling all nighters, I gave you a warning”
“You have no right to do this!” Peter was fuming as his head throbbed. Something like this normally wouldn’t make him this mad. Usually when Peter made a mistake, Tony would add restrictions on his suit only to take them away after a month or so of good behavior. But this time Peter wasn't thinking rationally. All he was thinking about was his horrible day and how he had been looking forward to his time with Tony in the lab.
“I have every right to do this kid,”
“Don’t call me kid I’m not your fucking son.” Peter’s words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them. They sounded cold and harsh even to his ears. Peter had never cursed at Tony before and his anger immediately drained from him as his cheeks paled. “I–I didn’t…” Peter's voice died as soon as he saw Tony’s face.
The man looked heartbroken. Peter felt like he would vomit if he looked at his mentor's expression any longer so he ran out of the lab as fast as he could.
He ran all the way out of the compound and to the bus stop before he finally stopped to catch his breath. As soon as Peter stood still, hot tears began running down his cheeks.
He had never meant to snap like that, not at Tony. Not at the one person who had taken him in, mentored him, and treated him like family. In many ways Peter saw Tony as his dad, not that he had ever told the billionaire. But now it was all ruined. Whatever fondness Tony had felt for Peter was surely gone now. There would be no more lab nights. No more sleepovers where they binged movies and laughed together. No more hugs and shoulder rubs when Peter had had a long day. No more seeing that fond look in Tony’s eyes wherever Peter rambled about some nonsense.
Peter had lost it all because of his stupidity.
When he got back to the apartment he went straight to his room without talking to Aunt May. Peter sprawled out on his bed, his eyes puffy from crying. When he opened his phone he saw a text from Tony but didn’t have the heart to open the message to see what it said.
It was probably him asking for the suit back or him telling Peter he was an ungrateful brat.
Peter threw his phone to the side and forced himself to sleep.
For the next three days Peter didn’t put on his Spider-man suit at all. He didn’t go on patrol at all and instead focused on his school. Each time his phone buzzed with a text or call from Tony he ignored it. Too scared to face the reality of his situation.
On the fourth day Peter couldn’t sleep so he decided to go on a late night jog. He snuck out of his window, like he would if he were going on patrol, and headed down the streets of Queens.
He had been too distracted to notice a man following him and that was how he ended up with a knife in his side and his wallet gone.
Luckily the perp hadn’t taken his phone so here he was, bleeding out and agonizing over whether he had any right to call Tony for help after their fight. It didn’t help that Peter had been avoiding his mentor's texts and calls for the past three days.
After a second more of deliberation and a sinking feeling of dread at the thought of dying, Peter hit the call button.
The phone rang twice before Tony picked up. It was the middle of the night but it was clear from Tony’s rough, but alert, voice that he hadn’t been sleeping. “Hey kid, I was hoping you would call me back soon”
Peter sucked in a breath as he pushed harder on his wound. “I…I’m sorry” were the first words he blurted out, tears falling down his pale cheeks.
Peter could hear a soft sigh from the other end of the line. “Kid you have nothing to apologize for…your words…hurt but I understand I might have overstepped a little. It’s only because I worry and care about you. It was never my intention to replace your father. If you want me to pull back I understand”
“No!” Peter was quick to reply, his voice cracking a little. “I didn’t mean what I said…I had just had a bad day and…and…” Peter felt light headed, oh right he was bleeding out.
“Pete” Tony’s voice turned grave, picking up that something was wrong. “Is everything ok?”
Peter blinked a few times, trying to chase away the black dots from his vision. “I…I need to finish…” His voice was weak. “I…I don’t want you to pull back. I–I enjoy our time together and…and I do see you as a dad of sorts…I mean if that's ok with you…” Peter’s hand trembled as he spoke.
“Peter, where are you?” Tony sounded urgent. “What happened? Kid please tell me”
“I–I got hurt…just a little…” the teens eyes roved over the alleyway which was now covered in a pool of blood. When had he bled so much? Was all of that blood really his? Peter let out a soft whine. “Dad, I'm scared…”
Peter heard Tony curse and shout something at F.R.I.D.A.Y. about tracking. He sounded desperate, more desperate than Peter had ever heard his mentor sound. Peter wasn’t able to hear the AI’s reply, too focused on how cold his body currently felt.
“Am I dying?” Peter mumbled to himself but apparently Tony heard.
“No. No. No. No you are not. Don’t even joke like that Pete, not ever.” Tony sounded mad and terrified at the same time.
“I’m sorry” Peter hummed in response, letting his phone fall from his hand as his body slumped over in the alleyway. He was really tired all of a sudden and he finally felt like he could finally rest after apologizing to Tony.
Peter distantly heard his mentor shouting through the phone but he couldn’t make out what he was saying.
As Peter closed his eyes he thought about the nights him and Tony spent on the couch together after a long session in the lab. For a moment he felt like he was there again, right next to Tony. Maybe he really was. Maybe this had all just been a bad dream.
“I’m sorry Mr. Stark…I shouldn’t have said I wasn’t your son.”
Tony hummed, one hand in Peter's hair as the two sat sprawled side by side on the couch. “I love you Pete” He replied, a small smile creasing the crows feet around his eyes.
Peter felt so light, as if he was floating though the air instead of grounded on the couch with Tony. “I love you too dad” Peter's voice sounded muffled, even to his own ears like he was underwater.
The room surrounding the two began to vibrate softly. Peter glanced around in confusion but before he could question it Tony spoke. “Kid no more games, it's time to wake up”
Peter was even more bewildered but he could no longer open his mouth to voice a reply.
The room around them began to shake more violently as the walls closed in.
“I said wake up Kid! Come on, I need you! don’t do this please!” Tony continued speaking, his voice growing more distressed and less coherent as Peter’s side began shooting with pain.
The teen gasped and closed his eyes but when he opened them again he was no longer on the couch with Tony but instead staring up at a white ceiling.
Peter sucked in a strangled gasp as he turned his head every which way to figure out where he was. His eyes quickly landed on Tony, who was by his bedside looking older than he ever had before.
“Pete! Hey kid, stop moving, you'll aggravate your wound!” Tony scolded as Peter's memory began to kick in. He had been stabbed and passed out on the phone with Tony.
Peter groaned, raising a hand to rub his eyes. “Where am I Mr. Stark?”
Tony sighed softly in relief when Peter spoke. “The compound medical bay…I had F.R.I. track your phone and found you nearly…” Tony swallowed, averting his eyes from Peter, “nearly dead in the alleyway. I brought you back here and they patched you up”
Peter nods and winces slightly at the pain in his side. “Are you mad at me?”
“Mad at you–” Tony scoffed. “Pete, I'm furious! Who the hell calls someone when they're bleeding out and tries to apologize for an argument! It’s messed up kid!”
Peter frowns. “I know…I just…I just had to apologize…I really regret what I said and wish I could take it back”
Tony's expression softened, marginally. “Peter, your safety comes first. I don’t care what's happened between us. If you're hurt or need help I will always come. You can always apologize to me later as long as you’re still breathing but if not you can’t. Don’t do this to me again Pete, I care about you too much”
Peter pushed back tears. Tony had never been so upfront with his emotions and it was emboldening Peter. “I…I really am sorry…what I said on the phone was true. I really do see you as my dad. I just never told you because I was scared you wouldn't feel the same”
Tony sighs and reaches over to run his fingers through Peter's hair. “You’ve been my son for a while kid…I’ve had trouble expressing that to you because I’m a coward but tonight made me realize what I could lose. I can’t stand the idea of losing you, especially not when I’m a call away”
Peter's tears finally spill over and Tony clears his throat softly as if to muffle his own.
“I love you…” Peter finally said.
“...I love you too kid” Tony huffed, eyes red around the edges.