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Peter’s head pounded. He’d been dealing with the headache all day. It had been there when he’d woken up at his and May’s apartment. It had been there when he’d been at school, through all of his classes, and through lunch break. It had been there through after-school detention, which he’d gotten for being late to class. Again. It was still there now he was sitting in the back of Happy’s car, heading to the tower for a lab day.
He was glad to see Tony, but truly he didn’t know if he could work in the lab. What, with all the noise and loud music, it wasn’t exactly headache heaven. Luckily there were good painkillers at Tony’s. The ones that Tony and Bruce had synthesised to work with his metabolism, rather than the useless Advil he’d been popping all day. He’d just go up to his room before going down to the lab and he would take some from the cupboard in his ensuite bathroom. Bam, the problem would be fixed. Hopefully.
“Hey, Kid,” Happy interrupted his thoughts. “We’re here.”
Peter groaned and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder, and opened the car door. “Bye Happy!” he said as he closed the door behind him. The man offered him a wave and then drove off. What he did in his spare time, Peter had no idea.
Peter walked to the entrance of the tower, using a private access that FRIDAY let him into to avoid the busy front lobby. He got into the private elevator, and instead of clicking the lab floor he clicked the living area floor where Tony and Pepper lived, and where his bedroom was.
“Good afternoon, Peter,” FRIDAY chimed as the elevator started moving smoothly upwards.
“Hey, FRI,” Peter muttered quietly, headache hurting too much for him to speak louder. “Tell Mr Stark I have a headache and I’m going to get some painkillers before I come down, ‘kay.”
FRIDAY affirmed, and a few seconds later the elevator door slid open to reveal the living area. Peter plopped his bag down on the couch — he would get it later — and moved down the hall to where the bedrooms were. His bedroom was the closest to the kitchen, so he quickly arrived and ducked inside and into the ensuite. He opened the bathroom cupboard and sighed at the sight of his proper painkillers. They kicked in in less than a minute, and were perfect for his throbbing headache.
He grabbed the bottle and tipped his regular dose — two pills — out. He didn’t even bother with water, just swallowed them back dry. He decided not to go down to Tony yet, to wait until they kicked in. After about thirty seconds, they did. But though they numbed his headache, they didn’t remove it. Peter stared at the bottle in his hand. A double dose wouldn’t hurt, right? He’d taken over a full bottle of Advil during the day and was fine. He’d be fine. He tipped out another two pills and downed them, before walking out of his bedroom and back to the lift.
As he got in the lift, he noticed he was feeling a bit dizzy. He brushed it off, though thought that maybe him taking a double dose of his painkillers might’ve been the cause. Nah. It was fine. The elevator floors dinged open on the lab floor, and Peter heard Tony say: “Hey kid, what’s up!” quieter than usual, before his vision turned to spots, the floor became closer, and everything faded to black.
“Peter would like me to inform you that he will be getting painkillers for a headache before coming down to the lab, Boss,” FRIDAY pinged from the ceiling.
“Thanks FRI!” Tony shouted over his music, before shouting: “Turn the music off, then!”
Tony started preparing some quiet work to do. If the kid had a headache, he wasn’t going to make it worse. He decided they were going to work on making the kid’s suit fire proof. Peter had been in a few burning buildings lately, and the paranoia was getting to Tony.
As he finished setting up, the elevator door pinged open. Peter was standing there, looking quite out of it, though Tony suspected that was because of his headache and opioid painkillers that he’d taken.
“Hey, kid, what’s up!” Tony said, careful to keep his tone quiet. The kid didn’t answer, only staring for a few seconds, and then beginning to tilt over, collapsing on the elevator floor. “Oh shit,” Tony gasped, rushing over to his protegee. “FRI, get Steve here, now.”
Tony dragged Peter from the elevator, feeling his pulse, and relaxed when it thumped beneath his fingers. Peter was cold and clammy though, and Tony noticed his lips looked tinged blue. “If I may,” FRIDAY pinged, “Peter appears to have taken more than his usual dose of painkillers. I do not have jurisdiction in the bathrooms though, so I am unable to accurately know how much he has taken.”
Too much… Peter had overdosed? Tony wasn’t a religious man in the slightest, but he prayed to some non-existent higher power that it was accidental. That Peter had accidentally poured one too many with his headache-addled brain power. Tony knew one of the pills was strong enough to kill a non-enhanced person, and had told Peter many times that taking more than two pills, which was his usual dose if he needed it stronger, could harm him. If Peter had taken too many on purpose… Tony didn’t know what he would do.
The elevator doors pinged open again and Steve rushed out. “Tony? What happened? FRIDAY said–”
“You need to carry him to medbay,” Tony gasped out, his breaths coming quickly. Oh god his kid might be suicidal. Oh god oh god oh god.
“Shit,” Captain ‘Language’ Rogers swore, reaching down and scooping Peter’s body up into his arms. “You coming, Tones?” he asked, and Tony nodded, getting up and standing numbly in the elevator next to Cap and his lifeless kid.
The elevator doors pinged closed, and their journey started downwards.
Peter blinked his eyes open. He was confused. Where was he? As soon as his eyes fully opened he recognised it. Medbay. He was in medbay. He didn’t know why until he remembered… he’d double dosed on his meds. Tony had told him that could be fatal but he’d done it anyway. His stupid, pain addled brain.
“Hey Pete,” Tony — who Peter now noticed sitting right next to his bedside — started. “How’s it going?”
His mentor sounded way too soft for such an idiot thing Peter had done. “Uh… you aren’t mad?” he questioned.
Tony shook his head no. “I love you Pete, I just… I need to know. Did you, uh…” Tony trailed off awkwardly. “Did you take too many on purpose? ‘Cause you know we love you, right?”
Peter’s eyes widened, and he shook his head frantically. “Oh my god, no Mr Stark, I was just in a lot of pain and the first dose didn’t do much so I took another.”
Tony visibly relaxed. “So you’re just an idiot, got it. How many times have I told you those pills are dangerous, kiddo.”
“I know,” Peter sighed. “I wouldn’t normally do it, I was just in a lot of pain I guess.”
His mentor winced in sympathy. “I get pretty bad headaches too. We should probably look into a way of managing them properly.”
Peter nodded enthusiastically. “That would be really great Mr Stark.”
“Well, just so you know those pills are no longer going to be easy for you to access. You have to come to me to get them now, ‘kay. Shouldn’t have let you in the first place, to be honest…”
“Yeah,” Peter agreed. “That was probably irresponsible of you. Did you um… did you call May.”
“I left her a voicemail,” Tony explained. “She wouldn’t pick up.”
Peter was used to this. May, as a nurse, worked long hours. “Okay. Well, um. Just so you know. I don’t wanna die… so um, you don’t have to worry about that.”
“I know.” Tony smiled. “I was just unsure. I never want you to hurt kiddo. Never.”
“I love you Mr Stark,” Peter murmured, gratefulness clear in his voice.
“I love you, too, kiddo,” Tony replied, ruffling Peter’s hair. “Always will.”