The gala was exactly what Peter expected. He had seen the type of fancy parties Tony and Pepper went to on TV and this one wasn't any different. Simplistic classical music blared down from the speakers, hundreds of super important people that he didn't recognize filled the room, stilted conversations assaulted his ears, and cameramen lurked in the corners of the room. The only bright side was that the all the big shots in the room wanted to talk to Tony and Pepper, not their mildly interesting intern. All Peter had to do was stand behind them and try not to look too bored.

"Peter," Pepper said gently.

Peter looked up and sighed as he realized Tony and Pepper had started walking away and he hadn't even noticed. He caught up to them and turned his head so he wouldn't have to see their worried gazes.

"You shouldn't have come. I mean, after yesterday-" Pepper fretted.

"I'm fine," Peter said, cutting her off. "I zoned out. It happens."

"Are you sure, kid? No one but the reporters will mind if you leave early. Pepper and I may be stuck here, but you're not," Tony said.

Peter had to admit, he wanted nothing more than to go back to his comfy bed in the Facility and get the deep sleep he desperately needed, but he couldn't. He could tell Tony was just saying he could leave because he felt bad for Peter, not because no one would notice. Peter was here to improve his image to the public eye. He'd mess everything up if he left now. Besides, the gala was a good distraction. The less he thought about yesterday, the better.

"I'm fine here," Peter said.

Tony scrutinized him. "You better not be saying this to make us feel better. We're going to worry about you either way."

"I swear, I'm fine. I just zoned out," Peter insisted.

Tony nodded, but still looked skeptical. Pepper was frowning too, but she knew better than to push. Peter was remarkably stubborn when he was determined. The Starks continued on their way over to their table, Peter right behind them. Peter noticed Happy had stationed himself near their table and waved at the man. Happy gave him a nearly imperceptible nod in return.

"No one should bother us for a few minutes. Basic etiquette," Pepper said and took a hearty sip of wine. Peter could tell by how her eyes were constantly moving and her faint frown that she was stressed out. He wished he knew how to assure her that everything was going smoothly so that she'd calm down, but Peter was out of his depth.

Tony pulled out his phone again. "Sam texted. Their mission is expected to go long. If it exceeds a day, they want Barton and Romanoff to join them."

"What are they even doing?" Peter asked. He had been napping on Tony's lap when they explained the details of their mission.

"Something about weapons dealers in China that tried to break into a S.H.I.E.L.D. base," Tony said. "Dear God, Rogers is probably getting shot at right now but he still made Sam ask how you're doing."

"What are you going to say?" Peter asked.

"I'll decide when the gala is over. A lot can change in that time," Tony said, a far off look in his eyes.

"Tony, can you go get me some water?" Pepper asked.

"Of course, honey," he said and of to do her bidding. Pepper had him wrapped around her little finger.

Pepper turned to Peter, her expression dead serious. "He won't talk about it, but the reason he's so on edge at these kinds of events is about what happened with Obadiah. It was at a party like this that a person he thought he could trust betrayed him. If you notice that he starts acting odd, come up with an excuse to get him away from people."

"Do you need to do that a lot?"

"Often enough that it's generally better to leave Tony at home and deal with the press backlash," Pepper said grimly. "It probably won't happen tonight because he wants to hold it together for your sake, but I thought I should warn you."

"Thanks. I'll try to watch for that," Peter said.

Pepper and Peter laughed as they saw that Tony was stuck at the drink bar. An enthusiastic man, probably an entrepreneur or CEO of some kind, had cornered him and was rambling. He was obviously thrilled that he had met Iron Man and was not wasting a second during which he could be talking.

"I see why Tony hates leaving the Facility now," Peter commented. "It's hard to believe he used to like going to fancy stuff like this."

"You're lucky you didn't see him during his partying days. The man you know and the man he was back then are two entirely different people," Pepper said, watching Tony with a soft smile. "The Avengers helped him more than you could ever know."

They had also hurt him more than anyone else, Peter thought to himself. He couldn't say that to her, though. She wasn't there during the Civil War. She didn't hear Tony's voice tremble as he pleaded with the people he considered family to turn themselves in for their own good. She didn't know how much Tony had hated himself for dragging a fifteen-year-old into battle with the world's deadliest fighters. She had only witnessed the aftermath. Tony had regained a purpose when he began advocating to abolish the Sokovia Accords. That was when he reunited with Pepper and actually began connecting with Peter.

Peter's spider sense, a sharp pain to his gut, flared up. Peter tackled Pepper under the table as he shouted, "Everybody, get down!"

And then the world exploded.

Peter's eyes fluttered open, his vision completely out of focus. His ears were ringing worse than they ever had before, enough so that he couldn't hear the screams of the people running for their lives around him. His mouth and nose burned as smoke filled them, causing him to cough feebly as he came to. The oddest thing was that Peter was laying on something soft. As his eyesight improved, Peter realized he was lying on the unconscious Pepper Stark.

Peter immediately scrambled off her and checked for a pulse, his hands clumsy and a bit bloody from the explosion. He nearly fell back in relief as he felt her fluttering pulse. He don't know what he would have done if she was okay, or, more importantly, what Tony would have done.

Peter looked around as he cast of his blazer and ripped off his shirt, revealing his suit underneath. The guests were blocking his view, but judging by how they were all running past him, he could deduce where the assailants were at. Strategically, their made the most sense. They were blocking the only exit. His ears were still ringing painfully, but his eyes had healed enough to see the bright flashes of light caused by Tony's repulsors.

Before Peter could join the fight, he had to get the injured out of there. He couldn't risk them getting injured in the fight. Peter pulled on his mask and gloves as quickly as he could before scooping up Pepper bridal style and running to the giant walls of glass. The guests were pounding against it, trying to break the glass and get away from the attackers. He shoved his way through the crowd and kicked the glass as hard as he could. It gave way, and soon he had kicked enough of it away to create an opening wide enough for two people at a time.

"Quick, get out of here!" Peter yelled, as he let people head out the crude opening. "Run as far away from here as possible! Help the injured get out of here, too!"

"Is that Spider-Man?"

"How'd he get here so fast?"

Peter was glad his hearing had returned enough to hear the crowd's exclamations. It probably was only because of the suit's modifications, but it was better than the ringing. Peter stopped a guard who was trying to flee with the crowd.

"Take her and know that if anything happens to her, I'll come after you myself. Do you understand?" Peter asked, his cold voice leaving no room for an argument.

The petrified guard nodded and accepted Pepper. Peter watched for a moment to make sure that the man didn't drop her once he was outside. When Peter was satisfied that she was safe, he crawled up the tall window to get a better view of the fight. Dozens of men dressed head to toe in black and wielding high tech guns were shooting at the crowd, but mostly at Tony. He had already summoned his suit and was doing his best to protect the crowd, which meant letting the bullets hit his suit. As impressive as Tony's masterpiece was, it wasn't meant to take heavy fire for long.

Peter swung down and pinned one of the men with his webs before landing in a crouch beneath where Tony was hovering.

"Where's Pepper?" Tony asked, firing away.

"She's out of the building. Have you contacted the rest of the team?" Peter asked as he swung around madly, trying to dodge the bullets while also defending the crowd.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. sent out the distress call to the Avengers. Steve, Sam, and Barnes are busy in Europe, but Wanda, Vision, Natasha, Rhodey, and Clint are on their way here. They'll be here within the hour," Tony said. "Focus on pinning them down or taking their weapons. I'll protect the crowd."

"Got it," Peter said.

Tony flew back to the opening Peter had created and with a quick shot from his repulsor, widened it even further. Peter swung up to the indoor overlook where several of the men were setting up in sniper position. He trusted Tony to take care of the men down there with the crowd.

Peter kicked the closest man in the chest, knocking him over. He swore and rolled behind an overturned table as the others opened fire.

"Karen, what do you got?" Peter asked, ducking down further as the bullets hit the table.

"Due to your mental state, I recommend that you avoid engaging the assailants directly. Web grenade would be an effective alternative-" Karen said.

"Screw my mental state, there are lives at stake!" Peter shouted, firing a taser web at one of the men who had circled around to shoot at him.

"Peter, Mr. Stark programmed me to consider your well-being above all else," Karen said.

"I don't care. Either tell me what to do or I'm shutting you down," Peter threatened.

"If you can pull the guns away from them, it would be easy for you to take them out in hand to hand combat. That would eliminate the biggest threat in the room. They won't see an attack coming from above," Karen said, changing his web settings to get ready for his attack.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Peter whirled around and kicked the table right into the midst of the shooters. As they all shouted and ran out of the way, Peter lashed out with his webs. He pulled two of the furthest guns out of their hands first and flung them off the overlook. The closest man began shooting at Peter, so he roundhouse kicked the gun and punched the man in the chest. Peter rolled away as the man toppled over.

"Peter, how's it going?" Tony asked.

"Focus on your own fight, I'm fine," Peter snapped, pulling another gun away with his webs. "Actually, Karen, cut comms."

"Peter, wait-" Tony said as Karen did as requested.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Karen asked.

"I'm busy," he said, flinging one man into another. They both went down hard, but he couldn't worry about that now. More men were climbing up the stairs.

"Web grenade," Peter ordered, aiming at the stairwell. The thick webs covered the entire doorway. He checked to make sure they couldn't get through before leaping off the edge. He rolled on impact with the floor.

"Why did you cut the comms?" Karen asked, as persistent as ever.

"The guests are in way more danger than me."

Peter sprinted out of the room and towards the stairwell, ignoring Tony's shouts. The men he had trapped in there were starting to pour out of the bottom. Peter launched another web grenade, trapping most of the men. Only one managed to get out and he began firing. Peter rolled behind a post at the bottom of the grand staircase.

"Why the hell are you here?" The man shouted, still firing at the post Peter was stuck behind.

"What?" Peter asked, flabbergasted. "What do you mean why am I here? You're trying to kill innocent people! Did you think I was going to let you?"

"No one has seen Spider-Man for weeks!"

"Are you seriously trying to have a conversation right now?" Peter demanded.

"No. Just stalling," he said.

Peter's spider sense went crazy as a small, metallic object rolled down the stairs. Peter made a mad dash back towards the ballroom, but it was too late. The bomb went off and Peter's vision went black.

"That's the last of them," Wanda said as she slammed a man against a wall with her mind. "I'll call Laura and Bruce. They should know that we handled it."

Wanda pulled out her phone and headed to the far corner of the room where there were less bodies. Natasha kept her pistols out and watched the unconscious men. Peter's method of knocking his enemies out was morally correct, but a nuisance in the aftermath. Vision and Clint had already left the building to go find and assist the guests who had fled the gala. Happy had already called them. He had found Pepper and taken her back to the Facility for medical treatment. She had hit her head pretty hard during the initial explosion despite Peter's efforts to shield her.

"The fire department, paramedics, and police should be here any second," Natasha said. "Not to mention the reporters that are undoubtedly pulling up right now. Wait, Stark, where are you going?"

Tony had stepped out of his suit clumsily, still stunned from the battle, and wandered towards the demolished foyer.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., sentry mode," Tony ordered. He turned to Natasha. "Peter went that way."

"What? Why didn't you say so?" Natasha demanded, rushing after him.

"I was a little busy getting shot at," Tony said, pushing aside the smoldering doors. "Besides, he turned off his comms."

"Why would he do that?"

"Ask him when we find him."

The once grand foyer was nothing more than a dusty, dangerous wreck. Half of the ceiling had caved in, covering the majority of the grand staircase. The windows at the front of the building had shattered, casting sharp shards of glass all throughout the room.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., scan the room for life," Tony said, holding up his wrist repulsor.

"In the right corner, past the staircase," she replied.

Natasha and Tony ran to where she had indicted, stumbling over the debris and raising clouds of dust. They found the body of one of the attackers first. Tony had to resist the urge to spit on him. They pushed forward and had nearly given up when they caught some red and blue peeking through the gray dust that coated the foyer. Tony let out a choked sound and dropped to his knees next to Peter.

"Wanda, get over here. We may need you to help, Peter was hurt. We don't know how bad yet," Natasha hurried to say into the comms. "Do you know if the ambulances are here yet?"

"Karen, talk to me," Tony said, pushing some chunks of marble off of Peter. Once they were off, Tony tugged off his mask. Peter's face was bruised and bloody, but he was breathing and that was all that mattered.

"Peter's breathing, but the damage is significant. A concussion, two broken ribs, three breaks in his right leg, his left foot was crushed, multiple cuts and serious bruising all over his body, no internal bleeding, but there is a worrisome wound on his lower abdomen. You need to staunch the bleeding there," Karen instructed. "There's not much else you can do without the proper equipment."

"I got it," Natasha murmured, applying pressure to the bloody hole in his side.

"How did this happen?" Tony asked, choking back tears.

"There was a bomb. There was nothing Peter could do. There was nothing you could do either, Mr. Stark," Karen added. "Peter was determined to fight on his own."

"Did he ever panic?" The words slipped out before he could think about them.

"No. You would have been proud of him."

"I always am."