So I have a problem, I'm learning that now but the first step is admitting it...

So this little snippet of a story struck me when I was finishing my last long story and so I wrote a bit of it and then tried to put it away. But, as story ideas usually do, it kept tugging at my mind so I figured that I should get it written so I can work on stuff I actually need to be working on because if I don't, I'm just going to end up distracted from other things.

Just a warning, this is shameless Peter whump and worried Tony, partially because its fun to me to write pieces like this but mostly because I'm so not over Endgame and the Far From Home trailers keep coming out, driving home just how not over Endgame I am.

Also, just a quick author's note, this story takes place after "Pain is Only Temporary". You don't need to read that in order for this to make sense but there are a few things you need to know from that: Tony has basically adopted Peter, so its a father/son relationship and they acknowledge that freely; Tony and Pepper had a little boy (I wrote him in before I saw Endgame so it's a little boy), named Morgan; Peter got in to MIT and it's his senior year of high school. I think that's about it.

One more selfish side note, I don't know if anyone who commented on my last story will read this one but if you do, thank you so much for commenting on the last chapter! I went ahead and said my normal individual thank yous below ;)

So without further ado,

Enjoy!

By all accounts, Peter had been having a good night. He was glad to be out again as Spider-Man after he had taken a few weeks off for finals. He had been getting itchy to be back out in the city and it didn't help that for the whole two weeks, his dad repeatedly told him not to worry too much about his tests, that he had already gotten in to college. And once Tony Stark starts bragging about where you're going, it's not like admissions can really pull your acceptance even if you fail all your finals. Still, he was him and he wanted to make sure to end the year on a high note so he had diligently studied most of his subjects and had managed to do pretty well on all his tests. MIT had no reason to pull his acceptance now.

So he was free from high school and summer had officially started. In a few weeks he, Ned, MJ, and Betty were going on a senior trip to Europe so he was pretty excited about that, even though he still felt a little guilty about the way he had gotten the trip. It had been a graduation present from Tony, complete with a pre-paid itinerary and tickets for his friends, all of which happened to be non-refundable. Something his dad knew he couldn't refuse.

He had felt guilty for a few days, unsure how to accept the expensive gift before he talked to Tony about it. He still felt spoiled but he realized Tony had wanted to do something nice for him. And then he told him it was mandatory for all seniors to take trips to "discover who they are" or something like that. But then he had told Peter about what he had done on his senior trip and Peter couldn't help but think that the whole "discovering yourself" thing was really just code for get drunk and do dumb stuff. Not that Peter could ever really do anything that dumb, he had a tracker in everything he owned. Still it didn't matter, Tony had won and they were leaving for Europe in a few weeks. Then it would be back to working on Avengers stuff and planning for college for the rest of the summer.

All in all, Peter was excited.

Plus, it was really nice outside and as he had managed to stop a few small crimes already.

After he had stopped a purse snatching and helped a lost couple find MOMA, he figured it was time for some food.

He perched on a rooftop overlooking the sunset and enjoying the serenity that came with sitting up high as he let his mind wander to his plans for the rest of the night. Maybe he could go to the Compound for the night? May was working a late shift at the hospital and he would just be home by himself if he went to the apartment plus he didn't have school tomorrow since seniors were done and graduation was next week so maybe he could hang out with the rest of his family. It took a decent amount of time for him to swing there but really, that was okay. It was a nice night. Plus, if he swung fast enough, maybe he could break his record. Then he groaned when he realized that if he had Iron Spider, he would definitely be able to beat it but he was testing out one of his own suits. It was lighter than most of the suits his dad designed, so he was faster in it but at the same time, it didn't have the legs or any of the propulsive stuff his heavier suits had. He dropped his shoulders with a sigh as he realized he might not break the record tonight. But then he smirked to himself, he could still try.

It was getting close to eleven when Peter decided that maybe it was time for him to head in. If he headed to the Compound now, someone might still be up. Then he heard a scream and a crash a block or so over. Turning in that direction, he quickly asked, "Karen, what was that?"

"I'm not sure, Peter. Would you like to check it out?"

How could he say no? That was definitely a scream, so he quickly answered, "Yah of course, can you pinpoint where it came from?"

Karen was quiet for a moment before a guiding line appeared on his HUD. He couldn't help but smile and call out, "Sweet, thanks!" Then he took off in the direction she had calculated.

He crawled up to the edge of the building, careful to get a look at what was going on before he just showed up. What he saw made his heart jump into his throat. There was a small family clustered together, their backs to the alley wall while four men advanced on them. Peter could make out two kids hiding behind their parents legs, clutching tight to their pants and crying. This was not allowed to get any worse. Decision made, Peter jumped off the building ledge and dropped between the family and the men threatening them. Holding his hands out in front of him, he analyzed exactly what he would need now that he was on the ground and he talked to cover it, "Woo woo…hey guys, I don't think you really want to do this. How about we all just go our separate ways and pretend this didn't happen?" He knew what the answer would be but he was trying to keep the attention on him.

One of the men growled at him and then barked his answer, "I think we'll pass on that Spider-Man, see we were here first so we're gonna just go ahead and finish what we started."

"If you say so," Peter glanced back over his shoulder for a second at the family, making sure he knew exactly where they were and how much space he had to work with. Then he rushed forward. Immediately, he webbed up one of the guys, dropping him quickly before he turned to the other three. Two more went down just as easily and then he heard yelling from behind him.

Thinking there had been another threat he, for some reason, hadn't seen, he turned in time to see one of the little kids running toward the street, his back pressed along the alley wall. He must have wiggled free from his mom's arms. Peter's attention was torn for just a moment but it gave the fourth guy a chance to cut the webs on the hands of two of his friends before he lunged at Peter.

Peter's spidey senses tingled and he was forced to turn away from the little boy as he managed to get a forearm up to block the knife, the fabric doing its job and keeping the blade from slicing through. But the other two had closed in as well. One stabbed low, catching the suit in just the right place to drive his blade up to the handle in Peter's side before he dragged it across Peter's stomach and pulled it free. Peter groaned and bent momentarily against the tearing agony as the pain made him stumble.

The third guy tried to take advantage of the distracted Spider-Man and stabbed out with his blade too. Peter ducked just out of the knife's path and the blade glanced off the top of his shoulder. He punched out blindly and caught one of the men in the should. The man impacted the wall behind him and was pinned there by a web. One of two left dove forward again and caught Peter higher on his chest, the blade biting through his suit's fabric, although it wasn't nearly as bad. Peter shoved him away. As the man stumbled and fell, Peter fired a web and he, too, was out of the fight.

That just left one more guy.

Peter's stomach was burning and the pain was starting to make his eyes water. This needed to end, so he quickly kicked the guy back, careful to pull his kick so he didn't crush the man's chest, before he webbed him where he tumbled back on his butt.

Then as quickly as it had begun, everything stopped. The quiet, comfortable night blanketed the alley again and the soft sounds of cars passing on the street was only broken by the occasional honk of a horn, Peter's heavy breathing, and quiet sobbing.

Needing to take stock of the situation, Peter partially turned and saw the family huddled in a different spot. Apparently they had caught the little boy and all four of them were clinging tightly to each other, pressed into the wall partially hidden behind a few boxes. Peter pressed his hand to the burning wound on his stomach and took a second to calm his breathing before he turned to fully face the family. His voice wavered a bit when he addressed them but he felt like he hid the pain pretty well as he kept his tone mostly even, "I think you should probably leave now. I'll make sure the police get here. You'll have to go talk to them tomorrow but I think it'll be okay if you go home tonight."

There was no immediate response from the family but the mother stood up and stepped forward, her hands held out in front of her like she was working with a scared animal. Her gaze was fixed on his side and her kind voice wobbled as she spoke, "Spider-Man, I think you need to get that looked at."

Peter smiled at her concern and pressed his hand a little harder to his side, taking a step back to make sure she didn't touch him, before he assured her, "I'll be alright. Can't just go to the hospital like everyone else." He shrugged halfheartedly before he continued, "I've got backup though, don't worry. But you should get going." Then the pain spiked again and he hunched a bit to cover it before he realized how right she was, he really needed help. Hurriedly calling out, "Have a good night!" Peter fired a web to one of the buildings and climbed onto the roof, out of sight. Once he was hidden, he gave in to the pain and weakly asked, "Call…dad…please, Karen?" Peter pressed hard on the wound on his side as he tried to stay on his wavering feet. The sound of grinding gravel was excruciatingly loud but he couldn't keep from shifting because he couldn't find his balance. Then he forced himself to focus on Karen's voice when she kept talking beyond her confirmation.

"Of course, Peter." While the call rang, Karen's quiet voice cut through the other sounds that were becoming increasingly obnoxious, "Peter, I think you need to sit down. You are losing blood at too quick a rate, I would suggest using a compression web."

"Oh, tha…that'sa good idea…" Peter commented before he fell back on his butt with a grunt. Taking a second to remember what he was doing, he lifted his arm and awkwardly pointed it at his side, thankful that Karen could choose the settings for him. The web released and as soon as it hit his side it constricted tight to close up the wound. He fired two more just to be sure and winced as they also tightened, pulling the torn flesh together and stemming the bleeding. Job done, Peter fell onto his back and breathed as deeply as he could, trying to calm his racing heart. He was okay, he could do this. Then he realized the call was still ringing. That was weird. Tony never ignored his calls, especially not when he was out on patrol. Peter distinctly knew that Tony had answered during Board of Directors meetings multiple times, much to Pepper's chagrin. A voice in his head told him what that could mean but he refused to acknowledge it, nothing was wrong, Tony just hadn't hear his phone. "Karen…can you…call my dad again?" Peter closed his eyes while he waited for the call to connect and he felt himself finding a bit more of an equilibrium. The webs were working, he was okay.

"Peter, I think there might be something wrong with Mr. Stark's phone. He is not answering."

Immediately, that sinister voice got louder. If his dad wasn't answering it meant something terrible had to be happening and he needed to get to the Compound. His panic spiked and he tried again, "Karen, try the Compound and FRIDAY, keep calling until you get through."

"I cannot do that Peter. Remember, the communications are down until early this morning."

"Dammit." He knew that, he had helped Tony write the coding for the new software. It was going to be the only time the Compound would go dark because the program took time to reset all the systems. It had been the reason Tony had tried to talk Peter out of patrolling tonight and it had to be why Tony wasn't answering. Most of his communications were tied into FRIDAY and if she couldn't get the calls, he wasn't going to answer. And chances were he didn't have his phone on him since it was after Morgan's bedtime.

With that knowledge, Peter's paranoia eased, his family wasn't in danger, they just were back in the twentieth century. But that still left him in a precarious position. He still needed help. Peter rolled through his choices. The Compound was pretty far away but there was no one at his apartment and his side was really starting to hurt again. It was the pain that propelled him on, spiking the fear that had been roiling under the surface. He would just have to risk it. He stood slowly and tested his balance, finding it a little easier to stand upright now that the blood was not freely flowing. He poked at the compression webs just to make sure they were tight. The web fluid he used for medical webs was stronger and lasted longer than most of his other webbing, that had been Tony's idea. He had a good forty-ish minutes before it wore away. He could make it. Steeling himself, Peter took a deep breath and a running leap off the building, he would just have to get himself home, his dad could help him from there.

He just wanted to go home.

There was a loud thump on their balcony and both Pepper and Tony sat up. It was Tony who spoke in a rushed whisper, "FRIDAY, what the hell was that?" They had just gotten the baby down and he was selfishly terrified that anything was going to wake him back up.

"Boss, Peter is…" But the AI wasn't able to finish her statement as the doors opened and Peter stumbled into the room, his hand pressed to his side. Pain was clear in his voice when he begged, "Dad…help…"

Tony tore out of bed. He was at Peter's side in an instant, slipping under the hand his son had clutched to his side, and replacing it with his own as Peter stumbled forward. It didn't take Tony long before he started talking, "It's alright, I gotcha. You're okay." Tony tipped his hand away from the wound before he cursed under his breath and pressed a little harder. That was when he realized Peter was talking.

"Da…dad, I have ta sit…need ta sit…" His voice was breathy, like he had just run an all out sprint for as long as he could.

"Okay, Pete…okay…I gotcha…come on…" He steered Peter toward the bed. But Peter didn't quite make it and Tony was forced to take his son's weight when he collapsed a few feet away. Tony levered him onto the mattress as soon as he could before he carefully peeled back the hand he had pressed hard against Peter's side and swore again as the jagged tear that had nearly opened his son's abdomen stared back at him. Tony shifted his hand to cover more of the wound and forced himself to take a deep breath. His vision fixated on Peter, taking in every horrible piece of what was happening. He felt the sickening pulse of sluggish, sticky blood under his hand, heard the panicked gasps Peter was taking, watched the frantic way Peter was looking for ways to escape the pain. Tony needed to handle this. He ran his free hand through Peter's hair just once before he left it lay on Peter's cheek, giving him something else to focus on. Then he called up to the ceiling, "FRIDAY, tell whoever is on call tonight that we need an emergency team now, bypass all normal protocols. And have Karen keep them informed." Then he looked toward Pepper and, taking in the fear in her eyes, he added, "Can you take Morgan into the other room?"

"Got it boss."

Tony watched as Pepper nodded before she scrambled out of bed and bundled the sleeping baby out of the room. He couldn't help but wince as Morgan's unhappy cries echoed out the door and into the living room. Still, he couldn't pay attention to that right now. He turned his attention back to Peter, his voice was compassionate but demanding, "Pete, I need you to look at me." He waited until Peter forced his eyes to meet his. Then he continued talking, "That's it, Pete." Tony soothed, giving him a smile, "'m right here, 'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna stay with you until the med team gets here so you just hold on alright. Just hold on." Tony could hear the beginning of begging building in the back of his throat but he couldn't show Peter that fear. Couldn't focus on the pulsing blood that still hadn't stopped or the complete lack of help he could give without any of his equipment.

Peter saw the fear in his dad's eyes and it made him sad. He didn't want to scare Tony, he had tried not to but now that's all he was doing. Then his dad pressed down harder on the wound and reflexively Peter whimpered and ground out, "It hurts, dad." But a small part of his mind realized that it didn't hurt nearly as much as it had before. It had gone from a searing agony to more of a dull ache, even when Tony pressed on it.

Tony could hear the thickness of his son's voice as the tears built in his eyes. Tony felt his own tears threatening, "I know, Peter. I know." He leaned down, pressed a kiss to his forehead, and combed his hand back through his son's hair, regaining eye contact, "But you're strong and you're going to keep fighting and we're going to get you on some good pain meds."

Peter tried to listen, he really did but it felt kind of like he was starting to float away. Kind of like he had when Thanos had snapped but this wasn't as scary as that had been. This just kind of felt like going to sleep. Everything below his stomach just kind of…was…it didn't hurt anymore. It actually felt nice. But the longer he floated, the colder he started to get; it wasn't nice anymore and for as much focus as he was trying to give his dad, he could feel his eyes wandering away but he couldn't tell what they were wandering to. Then his body tried to make up for the coldness and he started to shiver. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Peter realized that the motion should probably hurt too but it really didn't. It did force his wandering attention back to the one person who could probably make him warm again and he whispered, "'m cold." Message delivered, Peter let his eyes wander blankly to where they were before.

That singular idea caused fear to shoot through Tony's mind, that was not a good thing. He grabbed ahold of the blankets, tearing them up from the corners of the bed and wrapping them tightly around his shivering son. Then he forced the fear down, "Is that better, Pete?" He couldn't help but press down a little harder on the wound under his hand as he used his other hand to rub his arm up and down the blanket, trying to warm him up even a little more. Peter whimpered again but didn't say anything else. "I know, Pete. I'm sorry. Please just keep fighting." But then Tony lost his gaze. He cursed quietly and called, "FRIDAY, where are they?"

"They're on their way, boss. About three more minutes."

Tony cursed again and continued rubbing Peter's arms while pressing just a little harder on the wound on his side. Then Tony heard a strange gurgling sound followed by a choked sob and he couldn't help but ask, "Pete? What is it? What's wrong?" When his son didn't answer, fear solidified in his throat and he leaned farther over Peter so he could see his face under the heavy covers. Unconsciously, Tony knew his son wasn't breathing and if in confirmation of that, Tony realized that the heaving breaths Peter had been taking had stilled under his hand. He panicked, his voice rising as the reality set in, "Pete? Pete, come on, kid, you gotta answer me." Tony leaned down over his mouth, praying that he was just missing something. But when there was no puff of breath on his cheek, Tony lost the little control he had and he started speaking quickly, demanding, "No, no, Peter come on, breathe! You have to breathe!" Without taking his eyes off his son, Tony screamed, "Pepper! Help!" He turned back to Peter as he waited, "Peter please, I need you to take a breath. You have to breathe. You can't leave…I can't…"

Pepper heard Tony's panicked yell and bolted into their room. She dropped down next to his side, her tone hurried when she asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"He's not breathing." Tony answered with urgency. He looked up at her, determination warring with desperation in his eyes before he ground out, "You have to do something Pepper. Right now."

Without comment, Pepper shifted a bit before she leaned forward and started rescue breathing. Carefully counting the timing between the breaths and ensuring that Peter's chest rose and fell with the effort. She couldn't help but whisper, "Come on Peter, come on." On a whim, she pressed her fingers into the side of Peter's throat and when she didn't feel the pressure of a heartbeat, she pressed a little harder. Surely Tony would have noticed that. But when still no pulse pressed back, Pepper realized it was worse than Tony thought and that instance of fear threatened to strangle her as she forced the information passed her closing throat, "Tony, it's not just his breathing…he…he doesn't have a pulse. His heart's not beating."

"What?" Tony's world screeched to a halt for an agonizing few heartbeats as he saw the wild fear in Pepper's face. But they were heartbeats his son didn't have. He swallowed the utter panic and he made a decision, snapping, "We need to get him on the floor. Now." He dug into the comforter, roughly snatching up Peter's limp arms as he attempted to tip his son off the bed. He ordered, "Pepper, grab his legs, we have to get him lying flat."

It only took them a handful of seconds to maneuver him off the bed and Tony handed a shirt over to Pepper and instructed, "Press that to his side as hard as you can, that wound is deep and we have to keep him from losing any more blood." Then he started compressions. He tried to imagine it was the dummy he had practiced on but as Peter's ribs cracked under the pressure, as his chest rhythmically collapsed under Tony's desperate attempts to keep his heart beating, he realized he couldn't do that. As he frantically forced the blood to continue to circulate, Tony reminded himself Peter needed to breath too. He tipped Peter's head back, pinched his nose, and breathed deeply. Once. Twice. And then he started the process over, straightening his arms and compressing Peter's unresponsive chest. Tony didn't realize that in between breaths, he was begging.

Pepper's eyes welled up as she watched in dismay as Tony repeatedly slammed the flats of his hands down into Peter's chest. The muffled snap and pop of bone was horrifying but precious little was worse than watching Tony beg. She couldn't help but wrap one of her hands around Peter's limp wrist and press her fingers into the pulse point under his thumb. She felt the heartbeat pulse half a moment behind Tony's frantic motions but when he stopped to breathe, Pepper felt her tears fall as the beats stopped too. For a moment, she couldn't help the fleeting thought that she would lose Tony if Peter died. But then a pulse started again as Tony slammed his hands back into Peter's chest, the rhythm unrelentingly steady. Her tears started to fall unabated as Tony begged Peter to come back to him, to wake up.

Tony only had to do a few rounds before the pounding feet of the med team was audible in their living room. Morgan's wailing cry echoed their approach. Then the door behind them was thrown open and a trained team with a gurney came in. Rationally, Tony knew he should move away from Peter but as he continued the compressions unabated, he also realized he could not physically handle losing even this horrible connection to his son. Instead, the medics made the decision, one of them physically pulling Tony out of the way without a second glance. Pepper caught him as he fell back, everyone's attention, rightfully, on Peter.

Tony fell back as he watched them take over, one of the medics continuing Tony's compressions while still others yelled random acronyms, and the soft whine of a defibrillator charged in the background. He could feel his own heart constricting as he watched them fight to bring Peter back. They pulled and cut his suit, sliding it down enough to put the pads on his skin, allowing the terrible sound of a flatline to join the discord of the room.

While one group focused on getting Peter's heart beating, the other was working on the shredded tear on his abdomen. All sat back though when the machine called its readiness and Tony watched with bated breath as the charge was released. Peter's back arched in response to the electrical charge and there was a brief pause in the flurry of activity before one of the medics close to Peter's head, the one bagging, called for another attempt. Tony felt his lungs start to burn as he held his breath, waiting for Peter to breathe. Only to watch, appalled as one of the medics leaned forward, his arms straight lines as he methodically pressed down hard on Peter's chest, while the machine whined back up to full power. Tony's own chest tightened incrementally the longer the blaring flatline sharply cut through everything else and reminded Tony his son was dead.

Again.

As the machine signaled its second charge, they all were called off a moment before the electricity discharged. Again Peter's back arched, his limp limbs twitching just a half a second behind as his back struck the unrelenting floor. Still, there was no positive response from the med team. Tony felt Pepper's hand on his shoulder, her worried voice mixing in with the cacophony but he couldn't pick out what she was saying. He could feel his vision greying at the edges as he tried to breathe but he couldn't get air into his lungs. Twice more, they forced electricity through Peter before his body finally responded. Before his heart struggled into a slow, uneven rhythm, somewhere closer in the realm of normal, and the blaring sound finally stopped. A few moments after he heard the rhythm, Tony managed to suck in a ragged breath. He heard the medics announce Peter was back and as if it gave permission, the black spots that had been dancing in the corners of Tony's vision and narrowing his gaze took over as he slumped sideways. But it was only after they got Peter on a gurney that Tony's body gave in. He heard Pepper call his name as his shoulder connected with the floor before his head did the same. The last thing he saw were two medics coming toward him as the gurney was wheeled out of the room. Tony tried to wave the them off and in his head he was telling them to go with Peter, that he was fine but he was not sure how much of that actually got through because instead of doing what he said, they dropped to their knees in front of him. That was all Tony knew before he passed out.

So there you have it! I told you, shameless Peter whump (and I guess Tony's emotions) :) But there you go, that's what happens when its summer time I guess.

Feel free to tell me what you think in the reviews!

Also because it was tradition in my other story, I want to make sure I give specific shout outs to my Pain is Only Temporary reviewers so thank you to:

- the wonderful baby-kitsune9, Thank you so much for saying that, I'm really glad you liked it and thank you for commenting :)

- the awesome JOJX, Thanks! It felt really good to finish it so I appreciate you saying that :)

- the fantabulous Randomness47, Thanks so much and I know, it was one of those stories that kind of just kept rolling out but I'm glad at the way it turned out.

- the amazing MayaTanner18, I'm so glad to hear that about the second showing! Thanks for saying that about my last story, I really appreciated it!

- the superb Ancalime8301, I love happy endings and since the MCU seems intent on denying them to us, I'll write them for myself lol

- the excellent JohnGilberyVampirehunter, I'm glad you liked the argument :) and thank you so much!

- the lovely skydancer121, I'm so thankful to you because you did stick with it to the end, so I'm glad it was worth it! Keep being awesome!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day/night and stay creative!

-Lily