Day Sixteen: Broken Bones

Peter was used to heights. He swung from tall building to tall building. He'd perch on tall buildings. He'd casually climb up the walls of tall buildings like a spider. Point was, he was used to being high up. There was a minor fear there but he managed to push that down and work past it.

Yes, he was used to heights.

He wasn't used to falling the way he was. When he fell, or felt like he was about to fall, he used his webs and managed to pull himself to the next building or lower himself safely to the ground. He always did that. There wasn't a time where he failed to help himself from colliding with the ground below.

Today was different.

Peter was distracted and swinging through Queens had been such a routine that he barely paid attention to specific targets anymore. He knew where to go and how far he needed to jump and when was the right time to use his webs.

He thought he had it. He really did. The moment he noticed his foot somehow slip off the edge of the tall building he was perched on, he went to shoot a web out to the next building to swing himself to. But there was nothing in his shooter. It was empty.

Now, Peter was falling thousands of feet down from a skyscraper. He could barely think. He could barely hear anything except his heartbeat and the wind whistling around his ears. His stomach felt empty, almost nonexistent. He saw nothing but the sky and he decided to cheris how beautiful it was today.

Cherishing the beautiful day was the only way for him to ignore the true terror he was feeling. He tried to think of other things as he continued his descent. Anything to get rid of the fear.

He spread his arms out like wings as if that would do something to slow or help the fall. He closed his eyes and waited for impact. If there was noise from down below, he didn't hear it or pay it no mind. He never thought he'd die from falling from a skyscraper. If anything, he thought his death would be more epic if he died as Spider-Man.

What a strange thought that was. He was falling to his death and he complained to himself that it wasn't epic enough. He really was a kid.

He closed his eyes.

The air was knocked out of him when his back collided with something. It wasn't concrete. It was still hard but not concrete hard. Whatever it was, it creaked underneath him and bent under his weight. He must've fallen on something made of steel. He didn't know. All he knew was that he was no longer falling and he felt almost snug and warm in the steel crater he created.

His consciousness was going fast. He opened his mouth as if to call for someone but all that came out was a groan. He tasted blood on his lips. He shut his eyes and tried to imagine Tony Stark's and Aunt May's faces one last time.


"FRIDAY, is this the area?" Tony asked, flying to a street with semi-trucks parked haphazardly.

"Yes, Boss. Peter should be here," his loyal AI answered. "In one of these trucks, I believe, as I don't see blood-"

"Okay, that's enough of that. Thanks, baby," Tony cut her off quickly, not wanting to hear grotesque details.

When FRIDAY notified him that Karen notified her of Peter falling, at first he thought it was a sick joke Peter was playing. The kid didn't fall. If he did, he caught himself. He always did. Tony would be lying if he said he didn't fear that the kid would miss one day.

Ever since Rhodey's fall during the Civil War he put parachutes in the suits, he put as many safety measures as possible to prevent falls. Even so, he felt anxious whenever he heard of Peter's slip-ups. He always tried to remind himself that he'd catch himself no matter what but he knew the kid's luck could be great or terrible.

Tony felt his heart skip a beat when he found the truck he was looking for. A trailer attached to a semi-truck had sunken in. Inside the crater was a broken body that belonged to his precious Peter Parker. Bone stuck out of his arms and legs. His neck, surprisingly enough, looked fine. Not twisted like he thought it would be.

"Peter," Tony called, lowering himself closer. "F-FRIDAY."

"Peter is still alive. Barely. He needs immediate care. I suggest not moving him on your own."

"How-how did…?"

How did the kid not fucking die? He fell from thousands of feet and unlike Rhodey, he wasn't encased in a metal suit.

"It appears the parachute activated sometime during the fall. Something must have caused it to malfunction as it didn't work accordingly," FRIDAY supplied.

Looking closer, Tony did see something below Peter that looked like a blanket. It probably softened his collision. Tony never thought he'd be grateful for a malfunctioned parachute. The next suit he created he was going to make sure it was fool-proof or add in two.

"I've called for Doctor Banner and Cho. They will be here shortly," FRIDAY said.

"Thanks, FRI," Tony barely managed to say.

Tony couldn't stop looking at the broken body in front of him. Peter might also have been saved because of his healing. It probably started to take into effect when he collided with the truck. He didn't want to imagine what was going through the kid's head as he fell. If Rhodey was terrified he didn't doubt that a fifteen-year-old kid would be terrified as well.

Tony wanted nothing more than to reach in and grab his kid and pull him out of there. He wanted to cradle him and tell him everything was going to be okay. It was killing him that he couldn't do that, that he couldn't comfort him.

Then he remembered something.

"FRIDAY, call May."


Peter moaned and tried to shift but found that he couldn't move. His body felt numb like he hadn't moved in hours. His eyelids were heavy but with a lot of effort he opened them. His vision was blurred and filled with spots. The light above him was turned off. He wanted to raise his hand to rub his eyes but still couldn't do so. He couldn't seem to move any limb.

"Hey," he croaked. His throat was dry. "Hey…"

"Hey, Spiderling." A hand stroked through his curly hair gently. "Everything is okay."

"M-Mister Stark," Peter mumbled. He turned his head to the right and saw a very tired Tony Stark sitting on a chair next to his bed. "What happened?"

"Slow down, kiddo. Drink."

Tony reached over and grabbed a cup of water. He helped tilt Peter's head up so he wouldn't choke. When he was done he carefully put Peter back down. Peter sighed in relief with liquid finally in his system. It definitely helped.

"You fell," Tony said after Peter calmed himself. "You have a lot of broken bones, needless to say, but Bruce and Helen took great care of you. Be grateful for your super healing. They said you'd be fu- screwed without it."

"Can...Can I ever move again? Oh god, am I paralyzed? Will I end up like Rhodey? No, no…"

"Calm down, Underoos. I told you that you'll be okay," Tony said, soothingly. "But even with great care and your super healing, you won't be able to move around for a while. You need time, so you'll be staying here at the medbay."

Peter huffed. "I don't wanna be like this."

"Don't start complaining. Be grateful you're alive," Tony scolded. "You scared the shit out of me. You scared the shit out of poor May, too."

Peter's eyes widened. "Oh, Aunt May! Is- how is she holding up?"

"You don't listen, do you?" Tony sighed. He ran a hand down his face. "She's worried but she'll be ecstatic to see you awake. I'll go call her now."

"Tony," Peter called. "Thank you, for coming to get me."

Tony smiled and patted the top of his head. "I'd get you wherever you are."

"Cheesy." Peter stuck his tongue out.

Tony chuckled. "You started it."

"Hey, I'm the patient so you have to treat me like royalty."

Tony chuckled again. Teasingly he said, "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say."


Author's Note: I had a few different ways I wanted to go about this one, especially a much more easy-going one. You know, just Peter having a mishap as Spider-Man and breaking just a leg. Then I decided to go a little more all-out and this happened.

It's kinda a bittersweet ending though, because even if he's alive Tony was kinda lying to Peter. Even with super healing and great care from the doctors, there's no way he wouldn't have lasting damage. So, I'll leave it up to you how intense it'll be. At the very least, he'll be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. At the most, Tony will just build new limbs for him.

Oh and another thing, I know I said this a few chapters ago, but I wanna thank ya'll who've faved/followed/reviewed so far (you know who you are). It may not seem like a lot of reception to some people, but this is a lot for me and I appreciate it. So thank ya'll for hanging around.

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

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki