The Avengers Whump & Bromance Anthology
You're Worth the Pain, Peter
Whumptober 2020
PenPatronus
Peter knew he was being used as bait in a trap to take down Mr. Stark and the Avengers and, somehow, that was worse than the beating he'd taken when he was kidnapped on his way to school. He wanted to be an Avenger, not a burden, and certainly not a pawn. But there he was, trapped in a cell in some backwoods HYDRA base. He listened to the security guards chat as they stood outside the steel prison bars. They kept talking about some new weapon HYDRA had developed – one that could take down an Iron Man suit. Peter almost laughed at the thought. Nothing could take down Iron Man… Right?
Suddenly, the guards went silent mid-chuckle, and Peter heard the two thumps of their bodies landing on the cement floor. Peter rushed to the bars. "Mr. Stark?"
"It's me, Queens," Steve Rogers said. "Where do they keep the keys?"
"Uh, I think it's just a touchpad, Captain. You have to know the code."
"Don't have time for this." Steve rushed to the bars, wrapped his gloved hands around to of them and, to Peter's astonishment, bent the steel bars wide enough for him to slip through. "Let's go, kid."
Peter pointed down at his right leg. "The fracture hasn't healed yet, Sir."
Cap nodded. He put his shield on his back and held his hand out to Peter. "Arm around my shoulders. There you go. Every time you hop, I'll walk us forward, all right?"
"Where's Mr. Stark?" Peter asked as they limped down the hallway.
"Taking out the HYDRA agents with the rest of the team. We'll meet him at the Quinjet."
"Ok. All right." Peter concentrated on his steps, on hurrying, so that he wouldn't put Captain America in danger for much longer. "Thanks, Captain."
"Anytime, kid. A friend of Tony's is a friend of mine. And he seems fond of you."
"Fond?" Peter's heart soared. "Really?"
"Concentrate on your feet, kid," Cap instructed.
"Sorry, it's just, well, I thought I annoyed him."
Cap snorted. "He and I annoy each other every day. That doesn't stop us from being brothers."
A door busted open at the end of the hall. A relieved Peter saw sunlight. "Come on, we gotta go!" Clint Barton rushed to them and pulled Peter's left arm across his shoulders, so that he could be half-carried.
"Barton, what happened to the plan?" Cap demanded.
"Plan's off," Clint said, breathless. He adjusted his bow and quiver as it kept smacking Peter in the back of the head as they walked. "Iron Man's down."
"What?" both Peter and Steve gasped.
"They hit him with something. Acid or something. It ate through the suit like it was cotton candy. Tony got out but some of the acid got on him. Cap… It's bad."
"How bad?"
"Like we need to get him to a hospital NOW bad."
Emotion filled Peter's chest and boiled there. The threesome exited the building into the blinding sunlight where the Quinjet was waiting for them. Clint ran ahead to start the engines, leaving Steve to help Peter up the ramp. The ramp folded upward the second they were on deck. Natasha, Scott, Dr. Strange, and Thor were strapped into their seats while Bruce leaned over a body on the floor.
"Mr. Stark!" Peter cried. He ignored his broken leg and rushed to his mentor's side, collapsing onto both knees on Tony's left. Peter gasped, "Oh my god" when he got a good look at Tony's body. The acid had left behind the ugliest burns, mostly on the right side. Bruce was furiously bandaging up the bloodiest spots. Tony's body was trembling, seizing with pain. His eyes were open but staring blankly at the ceiling. His pupils didn't move at all when Peter entered his line of sight. Peter grabbed Tony's uninjured shoulder and shook it. "Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark!"
A few moments passed, and then Tony finally blinked and looked into Peter's eyes. "Hey, kid." He lifted his hand and took Peter's.
Peter cried fiercely, not caring that he was getting tears and snot down the front of his shirt. "I'm so sorry, Sir. I'm so sorry. I should – I should've tried harder to escape, fought back harder. You shouldn't have com. You should've just left me there."
Tony snorted softly. "Not an option, Pete." His brown hair was soaked with sweat. He looked as pale as Aunt May's china plates. "We take care of each other around here." Tony's back suddenly arched right off the floor. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. What had the acid done to him?
"Easy, Tony," Bruce commanded. Peter had never seen the doctor so worked up and disheveled. "Try to take it easy."
"Can't… I think…" Tony clenched his eyes shut and did a breathing exercise that didn't work. "Steve? You here?"
Cap knelt on one knee. He found a safe spot on Tony's leg and put his hand there. "I'm here, Tony."
"Steve, don't let the kid see me die," Tony begged. "Get him – get him out of here."
Steve sniffed. He stood back up and grasped Peter gently around his elbow. "Come on. Let's get you strapped into a seat."
"No, Sir, no, I don't wanna leave. I wanna stay with you." Peter squeezed Tony's hand harder as if he could glue them together. "Sir, I wanna stay."
Tony's body suddenly stopped seizing. He went so still that a panicky Bruce put the back of his hand to Tony's lips to make sure he was still breathing. "Tony, come on, stay awake!"
"Steve," Tony whispered, "please."
Steve pulled on Peter's arm with a bit more force and, when the kid didn't move, used his strength to yank Peter up onto his feet. Peter fought back. He begged again to stay with Tony. Cap obeyed Tony's wishes.
"Clint! Fly faster!" Bruce called.
Peter sat in the waiting area with a cast on his leg. Steve sat on one side of him and Bruce on the other. The other Avengers were scattered throughout the rest of the room. All of them were waiting for news on Tony. When the word came that they could see him, Peter rushed towards the room only to be nabbed by Steve. "Hold on, Parker," he said, pulling him back by the arm. "Take it easy. Let me talk to him first, all right? Settle down."
Peter didn't want to wait again. He settled for standing right outside the door, where he could hear Steve and Tony talking.
"Hey," Steve said. "Hey, Tony."
Tony's voice sounded like a chimney sweeper's. "Hey, Cap."
"What did the doctors say?"
"There will be some scarring, but I'll recover… Eventually. How's the kid?"
"Anxious to see you. He feels really bad about all this. Blames himself."
Tony chuckled. "Well, he fits right in with us, then, doesn't he?"
Steve chuckled, too. "I'll be right outside if you need me."
"Always seem to need you." A beat passed, and then Tony called, "Pete, you can come in."
Peter suddenly felt shy and anxious. When Steve passed him, he waited for nearly half a minute, gathering himself, gathering courage he didn't realize he needed. Then he entered. "Hey, Mr. Stark."
Tony was one big bandage. He gave Peter a nod and, with his uninjured hand, pointed at the chair beside his bed. "Have a seat."
Peter did. "Mr. Stark, again, Sir, I'm so sorry—"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Peter. Listen to me. Seriously, really listen to this time. Even knowing what I know now, I still would take down a whole HYDRA base to get to you. Do you understand why?"
Peter looked down at the fingers he was tugging on anxiously. "Because I'm a dumbass kid who keeps getting into trouble…"
"Um, well…" said Tony. "It's because we're friends."
Peter's head snapped back up. "We are?"
"Yes, Peter, we're friends." Tony was using the same voice he would use with a fourth grader. "Even though you're a dumbass kid who keeps getting into trouble."
Peter nibbled on his bottom lip. He popped a couple more joints in his fingers and then said, finally making full eye contact with Stark. "Thank you… Tony."
The End
