Yep, it's Saturday, and yep, I updated yesterday, but you all truly blew me away with the response to the last chapter, and I couldn't wait to post again. I've got so much of Story V written that updates won't be slowed by this double update.

Rjcarreno77 pre-read this chapter because she's a superstar, and Snarkymuch was also a massive help.

Chapter Thirteen

While Peter was gone, Tony found himself gravitating more towards the common room and other inhabitants of the compound compared to before.

Morgan was happy, as she loved being around everyone else, and it made her less fretful about Peter's absence. Pepper was sympathetic to Tony's plight and didn't protest the change in Morgan's routine. She knew they both needed this. After Peter's abrupt departure, Tony had gone to find Morgan playing with Spider-Albert, who she said Peter had left in her care, and she'd asked, "Is Peter going to have a good vacation or a bad one this time?"

Puzzled, Tony had sat down beside her, pulled her onto his lap and stroked her hair, and said, "What do you mean?"

Morgan bit her lip. "He had two vacations. When he went on one, he came back sad, tired, and ill, and he needed my magic to make him better. Is that going to happen again? Will I need to be magic?"

"No," Tony said quickly. "Peter is doing something very important while he's away, something with his magic which will help lots of people, but it won't make him ill again."

Though that was not something he could promise.

"Is a bad man coming?" she asked. "Are you and Momma going to have to go away, too?"

"No," Tony said confidently. "This is something Peter needs to do alone. Me and Momma are going to stay here with you." He seized on something to cheer her up. "And it's good that he's gone away because it gives you lots of time to prepare his birthday party. I think we should make this the best party ever to make Peter extra happy when he gets home, so we've got lots of decisions to make. What colors should the balloons be?"

Morgan brightened at once. "Red and blue. They have to be his Spider-Peter colors and his special face on the balloons. Can we do that?"

Tony nodded, cheered by her happiness. "We can. If they don't make them already, which they might, I'll have someone make them specially. Let's get to work. Friday, start making a shopping list."

"What would you like on this list, Boss?" she asked.

"Balloons," Morgan said quickly. "And banners with his name. And we need a Spider-Peter cake—with his special suit—which needs to be really big because lots of people are coming."

"Are they?" Tony asked.

She nodded. "All the people Peter knows, all his friends and the people that were heroes with him. The green lady that came when you had to do the boring talking on the stage and the bug lady because they were nice."

Tony grinned. He didn't think he'd be able to get everyone out of Wakanda that had fought with them, the Dora Milaje, as there probably wasn't room, but they could invite all the people that Peter had known. Thor could come, and his friend Valkyrie again—he'd probably want to bring Loki, but Tony didn't think Peter would mind that.

"And we need a bounce house and ball pit."

"You getting all this down, Fri?" Tony asked.

"Yes, Boss. Do you have anything to add?"

Tony buried his face in Morgan's hair and said, "Yeah, I want Peter's bedroom filled with balloons, packed to the ceiling."

Morgan giggled. "Yeah!"

That had been two weeks ago, and Morgan's enthusiasm for planning hadn't ebbed. It felt like each day she had a new idea. Tony thought this party was going to be a combination of nightclub rave and a five-year-old's birthday extravaganza.

Peter was going to love it.

Two days after Peter left, Rhodey returned to the compound, having blown Ellis off without hesitation, leaving Steve to handle the responsibility, which he'd done out of reluctant duty to the Returned. They all felt they needed to be together while they waited for news, and Sam kept in regular contact with them. Tony had not alerted Wanda and Vision to what was happening, knowing Peter would want them to continue their travels together more than he'd want them there when he came home.

Bucky didn't seem to be handling the waiting for news well, which Tony thought was because he had the least distractions. Rhodey could lose time with Morgan, but Bucky didn't even have Steve. He distanced himself a lot of the time, running the track outside and spending long hours walking in the forest. Tony wished he had a way to help him, but he was just as worried—the difference was that he had to hide it for Morgan.

Pepper set down the tablet she'd been checking her email on and said, "Coffee, anyone?"

"Yeah," Happy said, and Tony and Rhodey added their own requests. Bucky shook his head without speaking, his eyes distant.

Pepper got to her feet and headed into the kitchen, then stopped as Friday said, "Mrs. Stark, there is something in your living quarters that requires the attention of you and Miss Stark."

Pepper frowned. "What is it?"

Tony was just as confused. He could think of nothing that Pepper and Morgan could need to do in their apartment, but he had a feeling there was something important happening. He got to his feet, said, "Maguna, go with Momma and see what's going on. Maybe your plushies are having a party without you?"

Unconvinced but obedient for a change, Morgan took Pepper's hand, and they walked together out of the room. The moment they were gone, Friday said, her voice urgent now, "Boss, you are needed in Peter's room. I have alerted Helen Cho and the med team already."

Without stopping to think, Tony sprinted out of the room, down the halls into Peter's bedroom, where horror was waiting for him.

Peter was lying on the carpet, a pool of blood under his head, and his arms at awkward angles, which could only come from broken bones. His face was turned to the side, and there was blood on his chin and dripping from his parted lips. He was starkly white, and his lips had a sick blue tinge.

Tony dropped down beside him, ignoring the other people rushing in behind him, their shocked voices speaking Peter's name and questions of what had happened.

Tony touched Peter's face, which was cooler than it should be, and said his name. Peter gave no response, and Tony touched his fingers to his throat, feeling a rapid and thready pulse.

"Pete, wake up," he said, receiving not even a twitch in response. "Look at me. Friday, where's the med team?"

"One minute out," she replied. "They're crossing the compound now."

"What happened?" Tony asked.

"Peter returned in this state moments ago," Friday reported. "He asked me to get you but to keep Morgan away before he lost consciousness."

"Of course, he did," Tony said bitterly.

He was glad of it, he didn't want Morgan to share the trauma he was suffering at seeing Peter like this, but he couldn't help but resent the seconds that had been lost between his return and Tony being summoned because of it.

"How's he looking?" he asked.

"He has multiple internal and external injuries, and many fractures. His breathing is shallow and his pulse erratic. He requires immediate medical assistance."

"I can see that!" Tony spat.

He noticed another hand appear in his line of sight, a shaking one that cupped Peter's face, and he heard Bucky say, "Wake up, Bud. Tell us what happened?"

"Please," Tony added. "Come on, Pete."

Unexpectedly, but bringing exquisite relief, Peter's eyes flickered open, and his bloody lips parted. Tony leaned close to his, stroking the hair back from his forehead, and said, "Pete, we're here. Help Is coming. What happened to you?"

Peter's bloodshot eyes fixed on him and his face creased with pain. "Ego," he whispered. "She's back. Nemesis. I have to…" He coughed, and blood spattered down his chin, then his eyes fell closed.

"Did he just say Nemesis?" Rhodey asked behind him.

Tony nodded but growled, "It doesn't matter. We'll deal with that later." He placed a hand on Peter's feebly rising and falling chest. "We're going to fix Peter up first, then we'll get answers."

"Give us space," an urgent voice said behind him, and a woman in the green scrubs of the med team appeared in his view.

Hating it, his own needs and Peter's battling within him, Tony got to his feet and moved back, allowing the experts access to Peter.

They moved with swift and professional movements, cutting away Peter's suit and placing pads on his chest, attached to a heart monitor, clamping an oxygen sats sensor to his finger, and placing a mask over his face.

Bruises were blossoming on Peter's skin already, and his stomach was distended, which Tony knew meant nothing good.

A backboard was laid in the carpet beside him, and they placed a collar around Peter's neck, rolled him carefully to the side, slipped the board under him, strapped him to it, and then lifted it onto a stretcher which was turned and rolled towards the door.

Tony rushed after it, falling into step at Peter's side and taking his hand, then dropping it quickly as his arm angled awkwardly at a break. Sickened, Tony placed his hand on Peter's chest instead, connecting himself to his son, and rushed along with them.

He cursed the fact he'd put the living areas so far from the med bay as it was taking too long to get Peter there, to the equipment and supplies he needed.

Bucky was on Peter's other side, but a little back to allow the medics access. His face was set with unrestrained fear, and Tony was sure his own mirrored it.

When they reached the med bay, Peter was wheeled into a trauma room and transferred on the backboard to a bed.

"You need to move back, Mr. Stark," a medic said.

"You might need me," Tony said. "He can do something that'll make it hard for you to help him if he doesn't feel safe."

"We need access," she said. "Stay by his head."

Tony obeyed, stroking back the curls from Peter's forehead as they worked around him. A machine was wheeled towards him with a hood that was positioned over Peter's chest.

Tony leaned to Peter's ear and said, "Pete, you've got to let them help. I know you're in pain, and you're scared, but you can't blow this up." He bit his lip and added, "I don't know which one of you is listening, if any of you are, but Peter needs this, so don't go blowing anything up, understand?"

Though he had not expected a response, he wasn't truly surprised as Peter's voice replied in his head, stilted and formal as he'd heard twice before and now knew it was Mind speaking. "We won't. Peter will not either. He knows what he has to do. You told him."

"He can hear me?" Tony asked.

"He can. He's reaching for you. You're helping him."

Tony felt a sob bubble up his throat, and he leaned down and kissed Peter's temple. "I'm here, kid, and I got you. We're going to fix you up. I…" He swallowed hard. "I love you, Pete."

"We need you to stand back, Mr. Stark," a medic said. "We need to run the scan."

Tony stroked Peter's cheek and moved back.

They ran the scanner from Peter's chest to head and then back down to his feet. As the results appeared on the screen beside the bed, their movements became more urgent, and a medic called, "Prepare the OR. Page the anesthesiologist and ortho."

"Surgery?" Tony asked weakly. "He needs surgery."

One medic dashed out of the room and another fixed her attention on Tony. "Mr. Parker has multiple abdominal bleeds. He is actually bleeding out right now, though the amount of visible blood is minor. He has a head injury that needs to be attended to immediately."

"He needs special anesthesia," Tony said. "He's enhanced. Regular stuff won't work on him."

"We have a supply," she replied. "Doctor Banner helped us synthesize what he will need. We need to take him now."

Tony kissed Peter once more and then nodded. "Take him."

"Mr. Stark, I need to warn you," she said. "His injuries are extreme. We're going to do all we can, but you need to prepare yourself…"

Tony held up a hand. "This kid cannot die." When she opened her mouth to answer, he spoke over her. "I'm not saying you can't let him die; I am saying he cannot possibly die. He's protected. You just do whatever you've got to do to fix him. He's going to be fine."

A new man rushed into the room and said, "Ortho. I hear we've got a spinal fracture."

Tony's legs buckled, and he fell forward, propping himself up with his hands on either side of Peter's head. "He's got what?"

"No time," the medic said as Peter's heart rate sped even faster on the monitor. "Mr. Stark. We will bring you news as soon as we have it."

Feeling a sick tearing in his chest, as if Peter was taking a piece of him away with him, the wheels of Peter's bed were unlocked, and he was wheeled away. Tony staggered back and slid down the wall and brought his knees to his chest. His head bowed, and his chest heaved with sobs of pain.

He couldn't believe this was happening. Peter was supposed to be protected. How could this have happened to him? Tony had worried when he'd gone after Kaecilius, wished he could have gone to support him, but he'd never imagined Peter could come back like this.

Peter had protected Rhodey from a bomb exploding in his hand, so why hadn't he protected himself from this?

He heard movement at the door, and a hand fell on his shoulder. He raised his face and saw Pepper kneeling beside him, her face pale and eyes wet.

"Morgan?" he rasped.

"Happy is with her. She doesn't know. Friday told me what happened."

"It's bad, Pep," he said. "It's really bad. If not for the Stones…"

"He's alive," she said forcefully. "And he is going to stay alive. He cannot die, Tony, no matter what. We'll get him through whatever else happens."

Tony nodded and wiped at his tear-streaked face. They'd get him through, but Peter had fractured his spine. Was that something his healing was going to be able to fix? Would the Stones be able to help?

How could this have happened to his son?

So… How much do you hate me right now? Poor Peter is being whumped on again by this cruel, cruel writer. I know things look dark right now—with good cause—but we've got Story V coming soon, and I promise it's got a lighter feel. You've stuck with me this far, so stick with me a little longer. Please.

Until next time…

Jadey xxx