Notes: This is a continuation of chapter 8 Dark State of Mind so the tags are pretty much the same.TRIGGER WARNING!Tags: suicide (I wanted to say attempted suicide but Peter wasn't meaning to actually kill himself), mention of blood, and mention of coma.

When FRIDAY had alerted Tony to Peter's behaviour that day he'd immediately known something was wrong and silently cursed himself for not thinking of Peter being alone at the tower. He tried not to worry, hoping that Peter would call if his thought got bad or if he had a grey day.

He should have known that it wouldn't be Peter who called.

Loving and fighting

Accusing, denying

I can't imagine a world with you gone

The joy and the chaos, the demons we're made of

I'd be so lost if you left me alone

You locked yourself in the bathroom

Lying on the floor when I break through

I pull you in to feel your heartbeat

Can you hear me screaming "Please don't leave me"

He knew in his heart what had happened the second that FRIDAY called him during his meeting. He had his suit formed around him and was already out the window, Beijing a fading blur behind him.

He had increased all of his suits flight capabilities so that they were faster than even Shield's quinjets. He ordered FRIDAY to revert all the power that she could to the thrusters.

It still didn't feel fast enough.

Suddenly he saw the outline of the tower in front of him. He shot through one of the windows that he had FRIDAY open, not bothering with the landing pad. He wouldn't waste any more of the time he had. He pushed aside the thought of 'You're too late.' Instead focusing on getting to his kid.

The closed bathroom door was in front of him. A dull, foreboding colour. He froze in fear of what he would find on the other side.

He shook it off and rammed against the door with his shoulder, cursing the fact that he had all of the doors reinforced.

He broke through after resorting to his repulsors, the door in fragments and splinters at his feet.

There wasn't even a flinch from the nearly unconscious boy on the floor. The floor painted in red.

"Fuck! No please no!" He cried out. Terror bleeding from his every pore.

Tony collapsed to his knees next to Peter, grabbing a towel and pressing it against the sluggishly bleeding wounds. "Don't do this to me, Peter! Don't leave me, Kid!" He couldn't stop the tears from falling.

He discarded the towel to the side and lifted the too pale form into his arms. He was on his feet and on the way to the med bay as soon as he had a secure grip on the unresponsive boy. The man felt a chill go up his spine when he saw Peter's glassy eyes as his head fell limply against his chest, face illuminated in the blue glow from the reactor he kept his suit in. The blue glow making the glassy eyes look even more haunting.

The seconds it took for the elevator to get to the med bay level felt like an eternity.

"Please stay awake. Don't close your eyes. C'mon, Pete, please!" Tony begged when Peter's eyes started slipping closed. He was almost running now, thankful that Peter was so lightweight after the bite.

The elevator doors opened and he was running again. He looked down at the boy in his arms just before he reached the doctors also running towards him.

Peter's eyes were closed.

They took you away on a table

I pace back and forth as you lay still

They pull you in to feel your heartbeat

Can you hear me screaming, "Please don't leave me"

Tony paced in the waiting room, ignoring the whispers and looks from those with him. May and Pepper had arrived at almost the same time, both women looked frazzled but okay, having calmed each other already. Rhodey arrived ten minutes after them.

Tony's head shot up as Cho walked through the doors. He tried to ignore the red stains on her scrubs.

Cho let out a breath. "I'm going to be honest here," she said, looking at all of them. "Peter lost a lot of blood. If he wasn't enhanced he would be dead right now. We were able to stop the bleeding and stabilise him so he should be fine." She hesitated slightly.

Tony immediately jumped to speak. "You hesitated and said 'should'. What don't you want to tell us?" He said desperately.

"We're not sure if he's going to wake up. All of his brain functions are normal and he has no other injuries or anything wrong, he just isn't waking up. We've run all of the scans, done the tests we could, even had FRIDAY double-check it all for us. I'm sorry, I wish I could tell you why or when he could wake up but we just don't know."

Rhodey quickly grabbed Tony before he completely collapsed. Pepper held May as she let out a sob.

"Can we see him?" Rhodey asked quietly and Tony was torn between the need to see his child and wanting to run ten miles away. He didn't want to see the usually energetic boy lying so still. He knew he had to though, knew he had to be there for Peter.

"Yes, you can see him." Cho said. "I know there will be at least one of you with him at a time so I had him put in the personalised room with the extra bed and couch. FRIDAY will alert me if there are any changes to his vitals. I'm sorry that I can't do more." She gave a final sad smile before leaving them in silence.

Hold on, I still want you

Come back, I still need you

Let me take your hand, I'll make it right

I swear to love you all my life

Hold on, I still need you

I don't wanna let go

I know I'm not that strong

I just wanna hear you

Saying baby, let's go home

Let's go home

Yeah, I just wanna take you home

Tony sat in an armchair at Peter's side, fighting against sleep. He had the younger hero's hand in his, holding to it like it was a lifeline. On Peter's other side May did the same. She had finally fallen asleep, silvery tear tracks still visible on her cheeks.

Pepper and Rhodey had gone upstairs saying that Peter needed May and Tony more than them and that they had to sort out a few things after rushing off. As they left Tony had heard Rhodey tell Pepper that he would get the bathroom sorted out. She told him to just throw everything out and she would get it replaced.

Tony glanced at Peter and decided that he would get the entire bathroom remodelled.

He gave a tired sighed. "I should have been here, Kid." his eyes burned from exhaustion. "I'm so sorry." He murmured tiredly.

He shifted in his seat, getting into a more comfortable position. He made sure that he was still gripping Peter's hand and that he wasn't pulling the boy's arm in any funny directions.

Content that the boy was as comfortable as he could be considering the situation, he let himself succumb to the call of sleep.

The following days were spent in a grief-filled suspense. All of them desperate for a change in Peter's condition that just wasn't happening.

Tony and May spent as many hours as they could with him. Eventually, May couldn't put off going back to work and Tony just brought the projects and paperwork he could with him to Peter's room.

Tony tossed aside a contract he'd been trying in vain to concentrate on. He rubbed a hand over his face and looked next to him at Peter. Tony knew that there wasn't anything medically wrong with the boy, he'd just retreated into the depths of his mind to keep himself safe. It was up to Peter to come back. He rested a hand over the boy's curls.

"Please don't give up, Pete," Tony heard himself say quietly, "Please fight. I can't promise that you'll miraculously be okay and happy, even if I wish I could, I can't promise that it won't be fucking hard to get past this… but I can promise that I'll be here, that we al will. I want you back. I want to hear your rambling and your movie rants. I want to laugh at your science puns and jokes. I want to have lab days and movie nights. I just wantyou. I miss you, Peter."

He gave a sad smile before continuing. "I miss you but it doesn't change anything. If you can't bring yourself to come back. If you need to rest and be happy… it's ok. I understand and I'm proud of you. If what you need is to fall away peacefully then I want you to know that it's alright. We will all miss you but we'll be okay. I just want you to know that I'm here, sweetheart and that I love you." He brushed a hand over Peter's curls before he pulled his hand away. He settled into a better position and glanced at his kid another time.

Tony picked up his papers, the steady beeping of the heart monitor comforting him.

He missed Peter and wanted him home but he would wait for as long as it took.

Hold on, I still want you

Come back, I still need you

A steady beeping, as well as a buzzing in his ears, are the first things that registered to Peter.

He felt a weight on his hands and managed to crack his eyes open slightly.

There were hands lightly holding his own. He followed them up and saw that they belonged to May and Tony.

He knew that he had a long road ahead of him, knew that this wasn't suddenly some turn around to his problems. Not calling someone would always be one of his biggest regrets.

He looked to his aunt andmentordad and let a smile cross his face. He had so much to live for.

He let himself fall back asleep, comforted by the knowledge that they would be there when he woke.