#sider-man

"SPIDER-MAN DOWN, HAS YET TO GET BACK UP."

"Fri, 90 percent to thrusters." Tony called as he and the suit took off, barely avoiding breaking through the window the A.I had opened for him.

Hearing a familiar high pitched whine, Tony's straight flight path faltered slightly as Pepper appeared in the air next to him, her own suits thrusters burning a hot trail from the blue alloy of her boots.

"Contact Helen, get her team here. Tell her that we don't know the extent of Peter's injuries because the sensors in his suit are too damaged and glitching." The robotic lilt to Pepper's voice still surprised Tony since he had still hadn’t gotten used to hearing it.

"Let Happy know what's going on. Get him and May over to the Compound as fast as you can, too." Tony added as they sped closer to Peter's destination.

"Yes, Bosses."

Hold on, Peter. We're coming.

---

Tony didn't know that he would ever be able to forget the sight of Peter laying crumpled on the concrete floor in front of the building he had been slammed against. The red and blue form that slumped too still and unnaturally would haunt his thoughts for the rest of Tony's life. 

Landing as close as they could to Peter, warnings from FRIDAY that their landing force could disturb and worsen Peter's injuries clear on their minds.

Vaguely Tony could hear Pepper speaking to FRIDAY, saw a glance of the blue of her suit from the corner of his eye before his attention was drawn to Peter's form as he heaved a pained breath. Quickly and as carefully as he could, Tony knelt next to Peter's side, retracting one of his gauntlets and resting a hand just barely against Peter's head. His hand was shaking.

As carefully as he could, Yony pulled Peter's torn and tattered mask from his head, mindful of hiding him from the crowd kept away with police barricades just yards away.

Pain clouded eyes struggled open and Tony wanted to cry at the blank yet conscious fear and agony swirling in Peter's eyes. He desperately tried to ignore the blood coating Peter's lips, the obvious pain as he drew in wheezing breaths. Tony's child was hurting and he felt more helpless than he had ever felt in his life. He was a genius, an inventor, he had PhDs and doctorates, he had certificates and achievements. None of them were any good for him in this moment.

Tony was only human and his child lay broken before him.

After what seemed like years but was only minutes, a stabilizing medical suit arrived and the nanites shifted to form carefully around Peter. For a moment it hovered just above the ground before it took off again, Peter cradled inside of it.

---

For hours they waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. The tension and fear in the room was stifling, Tony pacing back and forth while May waited restlessly in one of the chairs against the wall. Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy watched helplessly as the two agonized and worried for the teenager laying in the operating room just through the doors of the next room. 

Together they watched and they waited. They could only relax when Dr. Cho stepped through the doors of the operating room. The woman gave them a tired but happy smile.

"He'll be okay." She said, knowing all too well that it was what they all had needed to hear before she went forward with the medical aspects. "His left ankle was broken but it was fairly clean so it should heal straight without us needing to re-break it. His other injuries are fairly minor, a mild concussion and sprained wrist."

"The one that caused the biggest concern was his ribs. Two were fractured, and one was broken. I originally had a slight fear that it had pierced his lung due to the breathlessness and blood that Friday reported in her scan but there wasn't anything to worry about. The breathlessness was from aforementioned fractures and the blood was a bitten cheek." Cho watched as they all relaxed fully at her words.

Tony looked at her and she could see the remnants of his fear and panic still lingering. "But he's fine, right? We can go sit with him?"

Cho nodded, knowing it was useless to try and keep them away from the young vigilante. "Yes, you can see him."

Tony and May were already through the doors but Pepper turned to look at Cho as she followed at a much calmer pace. "Thank you." There was gratitude shining vividly in her eyes.

"It's no problem."

---

Tony's eyes followed the steady rise and fall of Peter's chest, vaguely seeing the bandages wrapped around his chest and ribs.

The proof of his breathing, of the heartbeat still strumming strong in Peter's chest, was soothing to Tony. It comforted him just as he knew it did for May sitting on the opposite side of Peter's bed in a mirror to Tony.