SURPISE HAPPY EXTRA UPDATE DAY! For no other reason that I wanted to do an extra one and promised people haha, so here it is! I hope you enjoy some quality angst, whump, and Irondad comfort that's coming up 😏

TW/ Flashbacks and anxiety, proceed with caution!

Have fun and stay safe ❤️️ 💛💚💙💜

Chapter Fifteen: Webbin' in a Winter Wonderland

The crushing pressure on his back becomes the weight of unstable rubble. The green reflection of Scorpion's armor in the broken glass becomes the glint of mechanized eyes. The air forced from his lungs prevents him from screaming out for help like he knows he should. The cold seeps through the fabric of his suit and chills him to the bone. This time, the concrete feels heavier. Immovable. Tons and tons and tons of debris. He can feel the jagged edges against his skin, smell the thick dust, taste the metallic blood.

He's there. Here. And he's alone. Again.

I can't move, oh god, I can't move. I have to move. I can't lift it, I can't do it. It hurts too much this is too much I can't do it again I can't do this I can't do this I can't do this I can't do this I can't-

His lungs constrict, refusing to pull in air, and tears sting at his eyes. No one's coming for him, no one can hear him, no one will find him. The warehouse will become his tomb, and there isn't anything he can do about it. He doesn't have any communication with the outside world. This is where he'll die. A distant voice forces its way into his mind.

"How does it feel, Spider? How does it feel to be at the bottom of the food chain?! But don't worry, I'll make your death as painful as possible. I promise." The distorted voice throws him for a loop. I'm alone. Why is there a voice?! Unless, unless Toomes came back to finish me off? No that's not fair I can't move I'm an easy target I can't get away he'll-

The weight vanishes from his shoulders in an instant and he gasps in a breath. He gets onto his elbows and knees, trying to clear his blurred vision. Everything's…out of focus. His brain tries to put it all together, but it's caught between the past and the present.

"-ter?! Can you hear me?! You have to get out of there! Get up, dude!" Ned? No, no Ned can't be here. He could get hurt. Toomes could hurt him and he can't let that happen.

"There is increased activity in his amygdala," a soft tone informs. But that's…K- "Peter, you're having a flashback." A flashback…? But, it feels so- "The worst is over. You've come far and you've gotten through it." Karen shouldn't be here. I'm not wearing the suit. I don't understand. "What you're feeling is in the past. Take a deep breath in, and let it out. Feel the ground beneath you and the suit around you." Her calm words begin to pull Peter's consciousness back to the present. There isn't rubble around him, he isn't trapped, and he's wearing the suit. He isn't there. He's here.

"Are you okay?" Ned asks timidly, almost afraid to hear the answer or nothing at all. At first, Peter just nods.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay," he replies with a shaky voice. Reality is starting to clear up and he's able to discern where he is. The fight quickly comes back to the forefront of his mind. "What happened to Scorpion? Where'd he go?" He looks around, his hazy brain half expecting to be attacked again.

"Tony flew in at, like, mach speed and tackled him off you! It was insane!" As Ned recalls what Peter obviously missed, the hero's eyes land on a gaping hole leading outside. Realizing that the fight is on the move, he doesn't waste time forcing his adrenaline-filled body to swing through the opening. He ignores the damp patch he can feel on his mask and focuses on trying to help Tony fight. As soon as he's outside, his already trembling body is assaulted by the brisk winter air. The wind nips at his skin through the suit and his muscles attempt to lock up, but he puts his heater on max and powers through.

He runs out into the open and vaguely notices how the hard concrete beneath his feet turns into grass as he focuses on the fight above. It's hard to miss the light show of Tony's repulsor beams, even in broad daylight. It's then that the teen realizes he's underneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge; one of New York's many suspension bridges. He knows he can't waste anymore time, so he shoots a web at the underside of the bridge that's easily twenty-two stories above him. He strains his muscles swinging closer and closer to the platform, spending more and more web fluid. This is the first time he's had to get to a bridge from ground level, and it's costing him his webs and his energy.

Once he makes it to the top level of the bridge, he's instantly overwhelmed by the groups of people abandoning their blocked-in cars to get away from the ensuing fight between Iron Man and a very deranged Scorpion. Tony utilizes his long range attacks whereas Scorpion tries to push himself forward to make use of his tail.

Peter sprints into the fray, hoping to be of some help since everything had gone so awry. This was supposed to be my mission. Mr. Stark wasn't supposed to save me. I wasn't supposed to need saving. How can I help other people if I can't even take care of myself? He's just cleaning up my mess again. He shakes off the self-deprecating thoughts. Now isn't the time. He extends his arm, but doesn't get the chance to shoot a web.

"Peter your-" Karen starts, but his attention is pulled back to the altercation. As Scorpion is forced back by a vibrant stream of energy coming from Tony's arc reactor, he finally seems to recognize just how outmatched he is. He uses his tail to leap away from the attack and hurls a car, trying to hit Tony out of the sky.

Tony is about to slice through the car when he sees the frightened people inside. Peter watches in shock as Tony catches the car instead, but the passenger door flies open. A woman screams bloody murder, gripping the weak, plastic handle with all her might as she dangles two hundred feet above The Narrows.

"Underoos!" Tony yells just as the handle gives out, his mechanized voice tight with stress. Before Peter can even register it, he's moving into action, swinging as fast as he can through the suspension cables and diving straight down. Wind whips past his ears as he tries to make his body as streamline as possible to catch up.

"Please help me!" the woman shrieks, staring up at the hero with wide, terrified eyes.

"You're gonna be okay!" Peter shouts back. He distantly hears voices, but the wind drowns them out. The water approaches menacingly. He isn't falling fast enough. He won't reach her in time. No. This you can't let someone die again. You can do this. He narrows his eyes in determination and desperately fires a web to catch her. A knot loosens in his gut when he's able to pull her to his chest. "I've got you!" he assures as he uses his free hand to shoot a web back to the bridge. But nothing happens. The web-shooter sputters, then quiets. His already pounding heart "No no no no-"

His parachute suddenly deploys, but it's torn to shreds from Scorpion's claws, rendering it useless. This can't be happening. Nothing's working and her life is on the line and I can't let anything happen I'm supposed to be a hero. With nothing else left to do, he cradles the frantic woman close and turns midair…to take the full force of the water's merciless surface instead. And when he hits, it's agony. Pins and needles erupt across his back as his nerves try to catch up and the water wraps them in its icy clutches. The impact instantly forces all the air from his lungs, but the pure shock from how cold the water is almost causes him to gasp. Their momentum pushes them down so far that he can't even tell which way is up. His chest spasms in need of air. He needs to get them out or…

Everything goes eerily still for a brief moment. There's no sound. No movement. Then he kicks his body into gear. The woman begins to thrash, but he keeps a tight hold on her and manages to rapidly hit his suit emblem three times. Almost immediately, the fabric around his chest inflates into an emergency life vest. It pulls them towards the surface, much to his relief, and he makes sure she breaches the surface first. She gasps in a breath as soon as her head is above water and Peter is quick to do the same.

His lungs burn and for the first time he realizes that his ears are ringing. Thank god for the life vest, he distantly thinks, gonna have to thank Mr. Stark. The woman shivers against him, causing him to hold her tighter as he starts to swim them to shore. Man it hurts to move. Feels like my arms are gonna fall off.

"What's going on?! The feed cut out! Peter?!" Ned's screaming is followed by Tony's worried demands.

"Kid! Can you hear me?! You die on me and you're benched for life!" The half-threats are coated with obvious fear, something that's rarely in his voice.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Peter hastily assures as the woman sobs her thanks. Tony audibly lets out a relieved breath. That was way too close. Hearing the splash and Ned's terror-stricken pleads were more than enough to get him panicking. "Hey, you alright?" Peter turns his attention to the terrified woman. She nods her head but there's no way the freezing cold water is good for her, so he swims even faster.

"What the hell happened?!" Tony questions while gently yet swiftly setting the car and its remaining passengers onto the bridge. His instincts tell him to check on Peter, but first he flies around the bridge to look for any sign of Scorpion.

"Ran out of web fluid. Took a swim," Peter explains between labored breaths. Swimming is a lot harder when your muscles are too stiff to cooperate. Actually, he's somewhat envious of the woman's ability to shiver. He'd take any form of biological heat generation over spider powers at this point. "But the, the vest thing is cool," he chuckles lightly. Tony's demeanor softens ever so slightly and he takes a steadying breath.

"You can't scare us like that, man!" Ned joins in. "Do you know how scary it is to watch my entire screen go black?!" The rest of his words deteriorate into incomprehensible scoldings.

"Sorry, kinda had to focus on, y'know, not drowning," Peter responds honestly. Finally, he's able to find his footing and walk the rest of the way up to shore. He stumbles out of the water with weak knees and does his utmost to keep a hold on the woman.

"Gargan's gone," Tony grits out with palpable frustration. "Sit tight, kid. I'm on my way." Peter nods to himself and helps lower the woman onto the sand to catch her breath. As soon as she's sitting, he allows himself to drop to his knees. He can feel the cold painfully inching its way into his body, making his muscles ache. His fingers cramp into fists, so he tries to warm them up by tucking them underneath his arms. It's like he isn't even wearing a suit. The frigid wind cuts through his defenses to further numb his already ice-cold skin. Despite the adrenaline overwhelming his system, he can feel his heart beating sluggishly. On top of it all, his back stings with a vengeance, as if retaliating against his decision to plummet from a bridge.

"How do you feel?" Karen inquires gently. She's well aware of the answer, but asks regardless. Peter gives a breathless laugh as he lies on his back.

"Oh, great. Fantastic. How do I look?" he returns conversationally.

"You're experiencing something called cold shock response as well as early signs of hypothermia. I'm gradually increasing the suit's temperature so as to not shock your body further," Karen worriedly divulges. Oh, May talked about cold shock response once. So that's why my heart's beating slow… Peter puts together.

"That, that makes sense," he then says aloud. The echoes of thrusters get louder until Tony lands between the two lying on the shore. A quiet "oh my god, it's Iron Man" can be heard from the woman before his glowing eyes pin Peter down. Peter's heart almost stops, thinking Tony is angry as he rushes over. Shit, he looks pissed. Just like the ferry. He's gonna freak out and take the suit again 'cause you weren't careful- But then Tony's worried eyes are revealed and frantically look him over.

"How are you holding up?" Tony asks seriously, scanning the teen in hopes of gauging his condition. His worry for Peter completely clouded the fact that another hypothermic human is in need of medical attention. Without having to say a command, his suit deconstructs and flies over to check on the woman. Peter gives him a shaky thumbs up.

"The life vest is great, thanks. Real nifty," he commends, his voice unexpectedly even. The last thing he wants to do is worry Tony, so he gets to his feet with his remaining strength. Nevertheless, Tony holds out his arms to make sure the kid doesn't topple over.

"Can't have you trying to drown on me twice," Tony teases with a short-lived smile. "You sure you're good?" His eyes search for any injuries, but still come up empty.

"Yeah, I've had worse," Peter assures, then pauses when Tony shoots him a bemused look. "Sorry, that sounded funnier in my head." He rubs the back of his head nervously before peaking over at the woman. "You gotta get her to a hospital or she's gonna freeze." Tony's eyebrows come together in apprehension and he crosses his arms.

"And what about you?" he presses.

"I'll swing to the tower and wait for you. No sweat!" Peter smiles encouragingly, momentarily forgetting that it can't be seen through his mask. Tony maintains his strong, unwavering gaze. The internal battle of whether to put the civilian first or make sure his kid is okay shouldn't be this much of a dilemma. Clenching his teeth, he gives in.

"Fine. But you go straight to the Tower. No arguments. Got it?" At Peter's nod, he's able to let some of the tension leak from his shoulders. Without stalling more, he turns to be enveloped in the suit again and carries the woman towards the nearest hospital. Peter takes a steadying breath and starts…walking. Because he forgot he's out of web fluid. Maybe he didn't think this through.

"Karen, can you remind me to add feet-rocket things to the suit like Mr. Stark has?" he borderline pouts.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Karen assures with a soft laugh.

"Uh, Peter? How are you going to get there?" Ned voices all of their concerns. As Peter walks, they weigh their options, which ultimately leads to Spider-Man riding the public subway. He sits with his elbows on his knees as the other passengers eye him curiously. Due to the hero's obviously drenched suit, only half open lenses, and sand-covered feet, they keep their distance. It's a good thing too since Peter can hardly focus on his own thoughts, let alone a conversation. His brain is still trying to process everything that happened, which is easier said than done. It feels as if he's detached. Not to mention beyond exhausted. After about fifteen minutes of trying to stay awake, a contact name pops up on his HUD.

"I'll call you later, Ned." With that, Karen maneuvers the calls for him. "Hey, Mr. Stark," he greets monotonously. The usual clatter from the subway and mild chatter tunes out his voice. This might be the first time he's felt this exhausted after Spider-Manning that didn't involve almost dying. Then again, he did jump off a bridge. It could've been worse.

"Where are you? I told you to come straight here," Tony practically interrogates, anxiously pacing.

"I'm out of web fluid, remember? I'm taking the subway instead," Peter mutters as he rests his cheek on his palm. Tony stills. He had not, in fact, remembered. He was so worried about making sure the kid was okay, and then racing home to double check, that he completely forgot.

"Get off at the next stop. I'll come pick you up," he sighs, internally berating himself.

Peter does as he's told, for once, and waits outside on the corner of Carroll St Station. He vainly attempts to warm up by rubbing his arms, but it does little to penetrate his water-logged suit. Actually, he isn't sure if he can even feel the cold anymore. He just feels…out of it. If he could have anything, he'd choose a hot tub. He's not that cold anymore, though. Then again, he might just be numb. Both are plausible. Suddenly the concrete sidewalk doesn't seem that uninviting.

A honk pulls him from his thoughts and he looks up just in time to see Tony roll down the passenger window.

"Hop in!" he calls and gestures the teen over. It doesn't take any other convincing for Peter to gratefully slide into the warmth of the car. He sighs in content and holds his hands up to the vents spewing warm air. "Fri, dim the windows for us." At Tony's command, the windows of the Audi blacken, allowing Peter to slip off his soggy mask. Damp curls stick to his forehead and jut out at odd angles that seem to defy gravity.

"Thanks, Mr. Stark." Tony is about to respond when he sees Peter's blue-tinted lips, pale skin, and bloodied forehead.

"Holy- Fri, crank up the heat to max and put it on full blast," he orders tightly. Peter looks at him oddly, but the man is too focussed on grabbing his jacket from the back seat while driving to notice it. He tosses it to the kid while scolding him. "Why didn't you say anything? You're frozen, Peter! I know you have an unhealthy obsession with Cap, but cryogenics isn't the way to go. C'mon, warm up." Tony Stark rarely rambles, but seeing Peter half frozen to death is one of those causes.

"I'm fine, I swear. I'm just a bit cold," Peter undermines, completely missing the light hearted jab, but puts on the jacket nonetheless. It's black with white embroidery of a caffeine molecule on the right shoulder. "Do I get to make fun of your nerdy jacket?" He weakly chuckles before tipping to his left. Tony's eyes widen and he manages to stabilize him with one arm, making the car swerve slightly in the process.

"Pete?! Kid!" He lightly shakes Peter, his eyes darting between him and the road. Peter's eyelids lower, then raise, then lower again.

"I'm just tired," he assures in a mumble, but even he can tell something is wrong. The exhaustion isn't the same as typical fatigue, but his muddled brain can't figure out why.

"Damnit," Tony murmurs. He finds a place to pull over so he can give Peter his full attention without causing an accident. "Let's get you warm. Eyes up, no sleeping. Tell me what Maxwell's equations are." His gentle orders contrast his rising anxiety. He can't let anything happen to this kid.

"They're, they're four partial differential equations that sum up the, uh, the electromagnetic field. You can use them with the Lorentz force law to understand electromagnetism and, and electrical circuits." Peter's brain isn't exactly firing on all cylinders, but at least he can still sift through it to get information. Good thing he has Tony to focus on and he tries stretching out his stiff limbs. Meanwhile, Tony pulls his winter coat up front and wraps him in it. If the kid is alert enough to recite that, then this reaction most likely isn't due to a concussion. Still, he starts to clean the head wound with water and a nearby napkin.

"Nice job, Brainiac. What's the Lorentz force law?" Peter knows that Tony is trying to keep him aware of his surroundings, and he's grateful for it.

"It's the electric and magnetic forces on a, uh, y'know. A point of charge. It's caused by magnetic fields," he explains the physics law to the best of his current abilities. Tony, on the other hand, is less calm. Seeing that Peter isn't immediately reacting to the heat isn't helping his alarm. Frankly, it's unnerving to see the kid so still. His skin is ice-cold, shouldn't he at least be shivering? Against his better judgement, he keeps the thought to himself and concentrates. Peter resists the urge to give into sleep, even though it would be so easy. It feels like every muscle in his body is tightening all at once. In other words: everything kind of sucks.

After a good half hour of paraphrased physics laws, he finally has color back in his face and seems more awake.

"So, now that your cheeks are all rosy, want to explain what just happened?" Tony hesitantly probes. He leaves the question up in the air, letting Peter choose whether or not he wants to answer it. Peter, however, doesn't see that much to explain. He fell into a river, in winter, and he can't shiver. Wait, have I told him I don't shiver? May knows, but…oops.

"I kinda sorta don't thermoregulate? At all? But it isn't that bad!" Peter is quick to reassure when Tony's eyes widen in disbelief.

"I kinda sorta don't give a shit. 'Not that bad'? Why didn't you tell me?" He tries to remain patient, but his words are curt and to the point. However, Peter doesn't hesitate to defend himself.

"It wasn't a need-to-know thing!" Even he sounds only half convinced of his retort. "Yet!"

"Jesus Harold Christ on rubber crutches," Tony mutters, running a stressed hand through his hair. "Anything that could possibly kill you or send you into a coma is a need-to-know thing!" he shouts, causing Peter to flinch. Seeing the kid's reaction, he reels his anger back in and takes a breath. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I just got…scared. Worried." The reluctant admission is surprisingly out of character and Peter is caught off guard for a second, but then smiles softly.

"It's okay, May does that kinda thing all the time," he admits. "I'm sorry I didn't keep you updated." Tony pats his shoulder and squeezes it, which seems to have become a sort of habit.

"Speaking of your aunt…" Tony draws out, hoping for Peter to take the initiative. Peter catches his drift and nods in agreement.

"Yeah…we should probably tell her what happened. I'm never leaving her out of the loop ever again." He shivers at the memory of when they didn't tell her about the warehouse. Sure, he got a fancy suit out of it and she got flowers, but he doesn't want to see that look of betrayal and disappointment on her face again. It's obvious that Tony shares his sentiments.

"Gonna have to agree with you there. Let her know that I'll send Happy." They both know May will want to see Peter once she knows something happened. "Oh, I'll have him pick up Ned, too," Tony adds as an afterthought. Ned would destroy Peter if he were left out of going to the Tower, so he nods in agreement.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark." When Tony gives him a confused look and a raised eyebrow, he elaborates. "For helping me out when things got rough. I appreciate it. It's nice having another hero to help out." He looks down at his lap and fiddles with the mask in his hands. Tony smiles fondly, then ruffles the teen's hair.

"No problem, kiddo."

Seeeee isn't it so nice that you only have to wait until Saturday for the next chapter now :') A little sneak piece for next time...

"You say stuff like 'Muhammad must go to the mountain' and you don't understand this?"

"At least people say that. I guarantee that no one else says your weird ass saying."

"It's just a fact. You say 'tomato,' I say 'solanum lycopersicum.' Simple. Gosh, Mr. Stark, you call yourself a genius?"

Thank you for reading! ❤️️ 💛💚💙💜

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