Day Eight: "Hey, hey, this is no time to sleep."

"It's a shame you can't come over this weekend," Ned said as he and Peter walked out of school. "I got a new Lego set. The Hogwarts building."

"You should've told me sooner, dude," Peter said, smiling. "But it's alright. Monday after school and after I'm done doing...you know. I'll come by and we can start building it."

Ned smiled and then he and Peter proceeded to do their friendship handshake. As they parted ways, Ned called out.

"Have fun on your vacation with Mister Stark!"

Peter waved. "Yeah! You have a good weekend too, man."

With that Peter hopped into the Audi where Happy was waiting for him to drive him to the Tower. Peter had already packed his suitcases the other night and had them sent to the Tower. Tony didn't say where they were going. All he said was that they had to use a plane to get there. Peter could only assume they were going somewhere tropical.

"Good day, kid?" Happy asked from the front.

"Yeah! I passed some tests and Flash didn't bother me for once," Peter said. He left out the fact that Flash wasn't in school that day.

"Flash...That's the bully, right?"

"You didn't tell Mister Stark about him, did you? You said you wouldn't."

"No, I didn't and be grateful."

"It's just that I know Mister Stark would cause trouble if he took care of it," Peter sighed. Then he smiled and shrugged. "But who cares about that? I want to know where we're going!"

"Don't ask me, kid. Tony didn't tell me."

"He did too. I know he did."

"Nope."

Peter groaned but stayed silent after that. He was going to know soon enough. When they got to the Tower, he was practically bouncing on his way up and cheerfully greeted FRIDAY. Tony was waiting for him in the kitchen where he was drinking a mug of coffee. Instead of wearing one of his fancy suits, he was wearing an AC/DC shirt and jeans. He looked so normal yet there was still an air of confidence around him.

"You seem excited, kid," Tony pointed out, smirking.

"Of course I am. I've been waiting forever for this," Peter said.

"You've been waiting since Wednesday."

Peter waved his hand lazily. "Whatever. Just tell me where we're going."

"No, not yet. Not until we're on the plane."

"Mister Starrrk," Peter whined.

Tony took one last long chug of his coffee and let out a content sigh. He put the mug in the sink and wiped his hands.

"Alright. Let's head out before you pass out from excitement."

"I don't think that's possible, Mister Stark."

"I think anything is possible with you, Underoos."

Happy drove the two of them to the airport and much to Peter's surprise, they weren't going on a private plane, one of Tony's planes. It was one that held more citizens. Peter didn't fail to notice they dressed fancy, though, so they were still riding in style. Peter couldn't help but feel suspicious that they were taking a public plane.

"You have your own planes, Mister Stark," Peter said. "Why are we using a public one?"

"Now, Peter, I can't spoil you all the time," Tony said, waving a finger. "You have to ride casually from time to time."

Peter looked at him strangely. "That...doesn't sound like you, Mister Stark. What's your ulterior motive?"

"There is none," Tony said, putting his shades on.

They found their seats and Tony took the window seat before Peter had the chance to protest, not that he minded that much. He sat and fastened his seatbelt as did Tony. He had been so distracted talking to Tony he forgot about where they were going.

"You still didn't-"

"Flight to Bora Bora, Tahiti is now underway."

"Whoa! Bora Bora?" Peter looked at Tony, eyes wide.

"You bet. I figured you could use a good vacation. Bora Bora is one of the best," Tony said with a smirk.

"Thank you, Mister Stark," Peter said, smiling wide. "I can't wait to tell Ned and Aunt May and take pictures and do all the tourist things and go swimming and-"

"Slow down and breathe, kiddo. You'll pass out," Tony teased, smiling. "It's going to be a pretty long flight. Try to be patient."

"Aren't I always patient?"

"This is coming from the kid who whined about waiting forever to go on this vacation."

"I...uh...touché."

Tony ruffled his hair and Peter leaned away from him. He had no idea how he was going to pay Tony back for this. He'd find a way eventually. Maybe being patient and not being on the edge of his seat in excitement would be satisfying enough.

Thanks to his enhanced hearing, Peter overheard some interesting conversations. He didn't particularly like to eavesdrop, but it wasn't his fault he couldn't lower or turn off his hearing. He wasn't a machine. He ended up listening to a sweet story about a family having a new child. Tony called him out on eavesdropping and Peter blushed.

Watching the sun start to set inside a plane was beautiful. He felt so relaxed. Tony looked relaxed too, which Peter was happy about. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately, despite him saying otherwise, so it was nice to see his mentor (and so much more) relax. Tony took his glasses off and handed them to Peter.

Peter leaned against Tony's shoulder by the time it got darker and closed his eyes. He wanted to be awake when they landed but he also wanted to be well rested and energized too. A quick nap wouldn't hurt. Tony didn't seem to mind either as he also leaned against Peter.

Peter's body jerked and his Spidey-Sense went crazy. His eyes flew open in a panic and now that he was conscious, his hearing was overwhelmed by shrieks and screams and name calling. He looked around frantically. There was smoke coming from somewhere and the plane was starting to go down. It was going down fast.

He felt his stomach flip and his heartbeat picked up so fast it felt ready to burst. Although he was enjoying the plane ride before, there was still a thought in the back of his mind that his parents also died in a plane crash. Now he was in a plane that was plummeting towards the dark waters below.

His hands shook profusely as he tried to pry his seatbelt off. There was no much noise and it was getting hotter and he needed out out out-

"Kiddo, Peter-"

Tony! Thank god, Tony!

"He-help me, Mister Stark!" Peter pleaded. "I can't breathe, I can't-"

"It'll be okay, kiddo. Shh-..."

Peter could see them closing in on the water and his panic got worse. Tears brimmed in the corners of his eyes and his breathing became uneven. Tony wasted no time wrapping his arms around Peter's shaking form and prepared themselves.

"I'm sorry, Peter, I'm so sorry…"

Peter felt minute comfort knowing he wasn't going to die alone.

Tony's consciousness came back to him slowly at first and then everything hit him. He was in the middle of the ocean with other people surrounded by plane parts. Some people were frozen in the water, dead. Others were managing to swim. Others struggled to swim. There was so much panic. Some people managed to cling to floating parts of the plane.

Peter.

Tony looked around, trying to spot the kid. He started swimming the best he could in his dizzy and lightheaded state. His limbs were heavy and he felt so sore. He didn't give up.

"PETER!" he shouted. "PETER!"

It was so damn cold. Peter would be freezing probably worse than anyone.

"M...Mister Stark…! Mister…"

Tony followed the weak voice until he found a small body struggling to stay afloat. He swam faster and pushed away stray plane parts. It was dark as all hell but Tony could still see how outrageously pale Peter was and see how bad his body was shaking. Tony pulled the kid into his arms and kissed the top of his head.

"S-so c...cold…"

"I know, kiddo," Tony whispered.

He looked around hoping to find something to warm the kid up. There was absolutely nothing and how could there be? They were in the middle of the ocean. All they could do was hope a rescue team was coming soon. He saw a broken plane wing nearby.

"C'mon, Itsy Bitsy." He pulled Peter half onto his back and swam to the wing. He helped Peter on top of it and the kid gripped onto it. "You just hang onto that."

"An-and you?" Peter said through chattering teeth.

"Don't worry about the adult," Tony said, trying to keep his voice steady. He didn't want Peter to know that he was freezing. He rubbed the top of the kid's head. "My job is to look after you."

"How-how many people-?"

Tony looked around. The panicked voices had stopped, everyone probably too exhausted to call for help anymore. Some had the same idea as Tony with hanging onto big enough plane parts to stay out of the water. Not many were moving, though. Just a small handful of them.

"Don't worry about it." It was hard to keep the waver out of his voice. Peter held onto his hand tightly. "Ev-everything will be alright. A rescue team will be here soon."

He hoped. He knew for a fact FRIDAY contacted someone the moment the mayhem started. Now he wished there was something he could do to warm up the poor kid. There was nothing.

"Th-this reminds me of the scene in Titanic," Peter said abruptly. "B-but you better not end up like-like Jack."

Tony chuckled despite himself. "P-please. I'm Iron Man. A plane crash won't k-kill me. Neither will the water."

If anything, it'd be the other way around. Peter may've been out of the water but he had no thermoregulation since the bite. He was more screwed than Tony was. But Tony would do anything to keep him alive. So, he gently rubbed both of Peter's arms, a poor attempt to get them warm.

"Guess we-" Peter broke into a hoarse coughing fit. "-we aren't goin' to B-Bora Bora."

"Guess not," Tony agreed.

Tony was sure that besides the freezing water they had some other injuries. He felt sore enough. It was probably because of the cold water that made it easy to ignore whatever injuries they may have. He gently ran his fingers through Peter's wet, already frosting, hair.

"Ho-how can it be this cold in-in spring?" Peter whined.

"It's midnight. We're in the middle of- of the ocean," Tony said. "T-take a guess."

Peter huffed and Tony could see his breath. None of this was good. He just wanted to wrap the kid up in warm blankets and put him to bed. When this was over, he'd do just that and also give him hot chocolate. As much as Peter wanted.

"U-uhm...In case something happens-"

"No. No, we aren't g-going there, kid."

Peter frowned. "I want you to know-"

"We aren't going there," Tony repeated, shaking his head. "N-no way. We'll get out of this."

They just needed to hold on a little longer for rescue. People have survived these kinds of crashes before. It was Tony and Peter's turn to do so. They had to. Tony didn't take the kid on this trip for him to die.

"T-Tony…"

"Shh, Spider-baby." Tony placed a shaking finger on Peter's lips. "I-it's okay."

Peter kept his mouth shut after that. Tony watched him closely to make sure his body was still moving up and down. Unlike Peter, he didn't have enhanced hearing so he couldn't hear his heartbeat. He probably didn't want to hear it anyway, scared to hear it slow down and possibly stop.

Peter's eyelids slid shut. Tony ran a hand through his hair again.

"H-hey, hey," he said. "This is no time to sl-sleep."

If he slept now there was a chance he wouldn't wake up again. A good chance.

Peter moaned. "Tired…"

"I-I know. But now isn't the time."

"T-Tony…" Peter whined, weakly.

Tony couldn't blame him. He, himself, wanted to sleep. But he had someone to take care of and he was going to take care of him the best he could in these circumstances.

"Un-Underoos, did I ev-ever tell you about that time Rhodey actually m-managed to beat me in a fight? E-even if it was a play-fight?"

Peter shook his head. "Wh-what happened?"

Good, he got the kid's attention.

"Y-you see…"

Tony moaned and tried to turn over in his...bed? He struggled to open his eyes and damn if it didn't take a lot of effort. He was almost blinded and he shut his eyes again. What the holy hell. As he was brought back to reality, he finally noticed how warm he was. He was warm and comfortable and it felt heavenly.

"Oh, thank god." He knew that voice.

He kept his eyes closed, not wanting his eyes to get burned from the light. "Rh-Rhodey?"

"Hey, man," Rhodey said and Tony imagined him smiling. "How are you feeling?"

"A hell of a lot warmer than hours ago...Assuming it's been hours."

"Uh, yeah. Eight."

"Holy shit."

He carefully opened his eyes again but this time used his hand to block out the bright light. He looked to his right where Rhodey sat. He was smiling though there was an air of worry around him.

"Where am I? Heaven?" Tony teased.

"Very funny," Rhodey scoffed, rolling his eyes but keeping his smile. "You're back in New York. You're at the hospital."

"I'll be damned."

"You were so still we thought you were dead."

"I probably should be…" Tony sighed. "The kid...Where...How-?"

"Calm down, Tones." Rhodey raised his hand in a placating manner. "I don't know what you did but he hung on."

"Thank god...I don't think I could…"

Rhodey nodded. "I know. He's fine and in another room with his aunt. He hasn't woken up yet but he's not going to die."

Tony smiled. "Good. What a trooper."

"He probably gets that stubbornness from you."

"That kid's always been stubborn," Tony laughed. He yawned. "I'm freaking tired."

"Go to sleep," Rhodey said. "Trust me when I say, you'll know when Peter's up and at 'em."

"Thanks, Honey-bear."

Tony closed his eyes and welcomed sleep. He was looking forward to seeing his kid again.

Author's Note: I've been looking forward to sharing this day~ What did ya'll think of the Titanic reference?

Now as for why Tony took a public plane instead of one of his, it was mostly because I doubted that a Stark plane of all things would malfunction and crash. So...pretty much just for plot, haha. I also wanted a little more tragedy in there with other passengers. But I will say that some others did survive, not just Tony and Peter!

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki