Peter knew Mr. Stark cared about him, he was just never able to tell how much (it was hard to get a read on the billionaire, especially after the fallout between himself and the Rouge Avengers). In the months following their first meeting at the lab, Peter and Tony had become quite close, to the point that Tony had given Peter a key to the penthouse at Stark Tower. But the story behind that was less than exciting.
Peter was on patrol, but had slowly drifted out of the boroughs of Queens, and was currently perched atop one of the taller residential buildings in Manhattan. While he knew he was cutting it close in terms of returning home (it was 11:35 pm), he couldn't help himself. He was listening intently to the police scanner he and Mr. Stark had managed to integrate into Karen's system, and it seemed as though something big was happening. He peered down at the street, watching several police cars - lights flashing - quickly cut through the traffic and turn left. Peter shot up from where he was sitting, and with a flick of his wrist, he followed closely behind. As he rounded the corner, he spotted several more police cars parked outside of small supermarket. "What the hell?" he murmured, moving closer.
He heard the loud squeal of a megaphone as one of the police officers neared the building. "Aleksei Sytsevich," the officer yelled. "You are under arrest! Please exit the building now!"
Peter watched, listening intently. He spotted someone moving by the windows, and quickly moved closer. Suddenly, the door of the market slid open and a man fired a couple rounds into the hood of a nearby police car. "No! I refuse!" The door slid shut again, and Peter could hear the cop rounding up the others, preparing to make their way in.
"Karen, can I get a heat signature on the building?" Peter asked.
The AI complied, and soon he was able to see the interior. "There are three armed men and seven hostages," Karen replied. "The doors have all been sealed, but the AC unit on the roof of the building is still accessible."
"Map the route," Peter said, before swinging towards the roof. He spotted the large container and quickly tore through the thin gate, and with another flick of his wrist, he shot a web to the top of the unit and began to lower himself into the vents. Karen continued to map out a route to the closest grate, and Peter was able to hear the commotion inside of the market. He could hear the rapid heartbeats of the hostages, who were huddled together by the tills, flanked by two armed men. The third was wandering around at the front of the store, his heavy combat boots dragging across the linoleum. Peter unscrewed the grate and moved it to the side as quietly as he could, before dropping silently to the ground. One of the kids turned to look at him, and his eyes widened. Peter moved a finger to his lips and the kid nodded, looking back at the man near him, whose back was turned to Peter.
Peter tiptoed closer, but heard a large bang and the two men turned to face him. He shot a web out at the two guns the men were holding, and yanked them out of their hands, webbing them to the ceiling. The men stared in shock and Peter quickly webbed one of them up, while punching the other hard enough to knock him out. Peter caught the man and gently laid him on the floor, so as not to alert the third man, before webbing him up as well. He quickly led the group of hostages towards the nearest exit, and broke the lock, letting them all out.
Finally, he moved towards the front of the store, where the third man was still pacing menacingly by the windows, daring the officers to shoot him. Peter waved to the officers, one of which spotted him and alerted the lead cop, who waved back. The man, who was staring at the officers turned, and growled.
"Ah! Spider!" he yelled, grabbing his gun.
"Ah! Thief!" Peter replied, attempting to sound as optimistic as he could. The man fired one shot, which Peter dodged easily as he moved closer, before shooting a web at the man's leg and pulling him down, the large gun in his hand flying off to the right. He shot another web at the man's hand, but heard a loud bang, and felt a searing pain in his left leg. He looked down and spotted the small gunshot wound and the glint of a bullet lodged in his leg. He shot another web at the man, this time pulling the smaller gun (which the man had hidden) out of his hand, and tossed it to the side, before shooting yet another web over the wound on his leg.
"Seriously? I'm gonna be so late for curfew," Peter muttered, as he moved to the front of the market and towards the officers. "It's all good! Bad guys are webbed, and hostages are freed."
"Are you okay, Spider-man?" One of the officers asked, as he drew level with Peter.
"Yeah, yeah. Nothing to a spider like me. I'll leave you guys to it," Peter said, as he shot a web up towards a nearby high-rise and swung out of the way. He could hear the wind whistling around him and as he swung away from the scene, Karen started to ring. "You are losing blood Peter, are you sure you don't want me to alert Mr. Stark?"
"Nah Karen, I'll be able to handle it. The web seems to be holding up fine."
"You have another gunshot wound, Peter, on your stomach," Karen informed him.
"What?" Peter said, looking at his side. Unfortunately, his distraction caused him to whack his left side in to a building, and the impact caused the wound in his leg to flare up again. "Shit!" Peter pulled himself onto a nearby ledge and inspected his abdomen, and spotted another small circular wound, which was slowly oozing blood as well. He shot another stream of web fluid at it, and gasped as it expanded over the wound.
"You are losing a lot of blood Peter. I'd advise you to go to a hospital. The nearest one is -"
"No Karen. I can't go to the hospital."
"Should I call Mr. Stark?" Karen asked once again.
Peter paused. He knew Mr. Stark's lab had enough tools to help him clean and stitch up the wounds. And he knew how to do that from his days of superhero-ing before Stark. "No Karen. Map a course to Mr. Stark's"
"Are you sure you don't want me to call him?" Karen asked with concern. She'd become more human and as a result, more sympathetic in her time working with Peter.
"Yes, I'll be fine" Peter replied, as he headed off again, taking great care not to bodycheck himself into another building. He made his way towards Stark Tower, and spotted the tall skyscraper in the distance. As he swung, he felt a slight tingle on his side, and could feel blood trickling down his side. He continued to swing and soon landed on the side of the building. "Are any windows open?"
"The balcony by the lab is open," Karen replied shortly, causing Peter to sigh. He never thought AI's could get mad, but he knew Karen was annoyed by her tone and short response.
He climbed up as fast as he could, his vision becoming slightly spotty. As he clambered over the rail of the balcony, he began to heave and his breath became short and ragged. He tugged at the door, and it slid open slightly. Not having the strength to pull more, Peter simply shimmied his way in, and began to walk to the lab before tripping over something on the floor. He slammed into the ground and quickly passed out.
Tony was a light sleeper - if he managed to get any sleep. With Pepper out of town, he didn't really have anyone to remind him when he'd been in the lab for too long. While he wasn't running Stark Industries, he was in charge of the R & D department, which was, in Pepper's words, both a blessing and a curse. While he came out with all sorts of technology to enhance and expand SI, he practically lived in the lab.
Tony was currently sat at his work station, tinkering away on the thrusters for his suit. Peter, on his last visit, had given Tony the idea to create a second level of wiring within the suit, in case the first was tampered with. Midway through his project, FRIDAY beeped loudly.
"Mr. Stark, Mr. Parker has just entered the penthouse," FRIDAY announced coolly.
Tony glanced down at the clock on the screen beside him, which read 12:07 am. Tony felt a slight drop in the pit of his stomach. "What's he doing out so late? The kid's supposed to be home by 12." Tony quickly stood up, and the muscles along his spine cracked, having been hunched over in the same position for several hours. Tony slowly made his way over to the door, slightly annoyed at having to yell at the kid. He hated yelling at Peter, but he knew if the kid didn't think Tony was mad, he'd continue to bend the rules, and he did NOT need a repeat of the Vulture incident.
As he headed up the stairs, he heard a loud bang. "FRIDAY?" Tony asked, his voice wavering slightly,
"It seems as though Mr. Parker has collapsed due to severe blood loss from multiple gunshot wounds," FRIDAY replied tonelessly.
Tony quickly took the steps two at a time and barged through the doors to the penthouse. He glanced around and spotted a red and blue figure lying on the rug behind the sofa. "Shit!" Tony ran over, bending down and pulling the mask off of Peter's face. The kid looked paler than usual and a thin layer of sweat covered his brow. He quickly put a finger on the kid's neck and could feel a pulse, albeit a very faint one. Tossing the mask to the side, he scooped Peter up, and headed towards the elevator. "Medbay, now!"
He tried to ignore how quickly his shirt was becoming wet with blood, and gave Peter a slight shake. "Kid! Peter! You gotta give me something here!" The doors ot the elevator slid open and Tony headed to the nearest bed. He tapped the spider emblem on the suit, and tugged it off the kid, looking down at the bullet lodged in his leg and then the other in his stomach. Tony was hit with a wave of nausea and was glad he hadn't eaten anything in the past few hours.
Immediately, he grabbed the first aid kit and pulled out a pair of large tweezers. With a small tug, he was able to pull the bullet out of Peter's leg. "FRIDAY, do a scan of his abdomen, and let me know if the bullet is safe to remove."
FRIDAY complied and a moment later announced the all clear. Tony quickly cleaned the wound on Peter's leg with some alcohol before wrapping it tightly with gauze. He then moved to Peter's side, and gently pulled the bullet out, keeping one eye on Peter's vitals and the other on the bullet. It was lodged further in, making it harder to remove. Tony couldn't even breathe until he dropped the bullet on the tray next to him. He then grabbed the needle and thread, and began to suture the wound, as he'd seen Bruce do several times before. A minute or two later, he looked down at his handiwork and silently thanked God for Peter's speed healing, because the stitches looked haphazard at best. He wrapped up that wound as well, and told FRIDAY to leave May a message saying Peter stopped by the tower and was going to stay the night.
Tony disposed of everything and grabbed a pair of SI sweatpants and a shirt to give to the kid when he woke up. He left them on the bed beside him and continued to watch the kid with mild relief. He's gonna be the death of me.
Peter woke up to the rhythmic beeps of a heart monitor. He opened his eyes gently, and was greeted with the all white-layout of the med bay. He could hear someone's heartbeat and turned to his left, where he spotted Tony sitting on a stool, the upper half of his body lying on Peter's bed. "M'str Stark?" Peter asked, immediately cringing at how raspy his voice sounded.
Tony's head jerked up and he blinked rapidly. "Are you okay?" He asked quickly, turning to face the monitor.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Peter replied, still sounding out of breath. "What happened?"
"That's what I'd like to know," Tony grumbled, as he checked Peter's bandages.
"How'd I get here?" Peter asked.
Tony leant back in his chair, comfortable now that he knew Peter was alright. "Well, I was working in the lab, when FRIDAY told me a little spiderling had just climbed up the water spout." Peter rolled his eyes at this, earning a smirk from the man. "I went to check on said spiderling, when she told me you collapsed due to blood loss." Tony raised an eyebrow, "so I brought you here, fixed you up, and hoped you'd do me the favour of filling in the prequel to my story."
Now it was Peter's turn to smirk. "Well, I was following the police scanners, and there was a hostage situation, and I thought I had enough time to help. So I went, and I managed to get everyone out. But I got a little banged up and I thought it'd be quicker to get here than go back to Queens."
Tony nodded, "uh-huh. But here's where I'm a little lost. Karen is supposed to tell me when you're injured. The suit is designed such that if you get a papercut, I'm alerted. So how two gunshot wounds got past me is a little concerning, don't you think Mr. Parker?"
Peter groaned, "Did you just Mr. Parker me?"
"I did," Tony replied. "So, why'd you tell Karen not to alert me?"
Tony watched as Peter ruffled his hair like he usually did when he was nervous. "Well, I didn't to worry you, Mr. Stark."
Tony nodded, "because showing up here bleeding all over my carpet completely unresponsive doesn't worry me at all," he replied sarcastically.
"I just don't want to be a problem for you," Peter replied, the words falling out so quickly it sounded like one. He paused, "I don't want to feel like I'm always asking you for help, 'cause you're Mr. Stark, y'know? You're a busy guy, and you don't need a problem like me."
Tony started at him for a minute. "Peter. Kid. You're not a 'problem.' In fact, you're the opposite."
Peter turned red, "what d'you mean?"
Tony sighed. "Did I ever tell you how I became an Avenger?"
Peter nodded his head, "Yeah. The New York incident."
Tony shook his head. "No kid. Before that. Back when SHEILD was a thing, I got assessed by Natasha Romanoff-"
"Wait-wait- Black Widow Natasha Romanoff?" Peter asked, his voice increasing in pitch as it usually did when he was excited. "No way."
"Way," Tony replied with a wink. "She said that Iron Man was approved for the Avengers Initiative. But I wasn't."
Peter furrowed his brow, "that makes no sense. You are Iron Man."
"That's what I said!" Tony replied, clapping his hands together, before realizing that wasn't the point of his story. "But that's besides the point. The reason why I wasn't recommended was because I was so worried about everything else, I wasn't taking care of myself." Peter looked at Tony questioningly, not getting it. "Look kid, I've never been the best at being - emotional - and honest with those around me, because I didn't want to worry them. I had it in my head that I was a superhero, and I couldn't be weak, because superheroes aren't weak. And that became the root of my problems, because I wouldn't lean on others when I needed to. I'd wait till things got really bad, and then I would ask for help, and that's - it's not a good thing." He paused in the middle of his speech and said quietly, "what I'm trying to say is that its okay to ask for help. It doesn't make you weak. It's actually the opposite - it makes you stronger."
"Really?" Peter said, looking at his mentor curiously.
Tony nodded. "No one is going to respect you until you learn to respect yourself."
Peter whistled, "Damn. That's a mood."
Tony raised an eyebrow, "what?"
Peter shook his head, "I get what you mean."
Tony nodded. "Good," he stood up and patted Peter on the shoulder. "I already told May you're here. I didn't tell her about this whole thing," here he motioned to Peter's leg and stomach. "I thought it best to leave that to you." Peter nodded and said thanks. "So, I'll go grab us some food and pick up your keys."
"My keys?" Peter asked.
Tony nodded. "Yeah. I think you need a set. You can't always be climbing in through the balcony." The man turned on his heel and was at the door before Peter stopped him.
"Mr. Stark?"
Tony turned back to the kid, "yeah?"
"Thank you."
Tony grinned and headed out the door. "Not a problem kiddo."
