Hey everyone,

Yup well, like I said, there would eventually be some little tidbit that would cause me to write something else. It just happened to come significantly earlier than I thought it would. So here's the backstory (for anyone reading) I needed to write something a bit slower, a reflective segment for a character I was working on and I was having a lot of trouble with it. I kept wanting to put in the wrong emotion or something that didn't make sense. As I was working on it, I was thinking about what I would do for other characters I've written for and this story formed.

I'm warning you now, this is more of a character study than a story with action and its not about superhero stuff, its my take on what would happen if something not superhero-y happened.

With that in mind, I ended up with this.

As with all of my stories, this is Irondad/Spideyson so if you don't like that type of relationship, please stop reading now, if you do then feel free to continue on with the story :) And it follows in the timeline I've been working in for my other stories but its completely at the end.

I hope you like it and for anyone who happens to be reading and commented on the last chapter for "The Cost of Bravery" - I said my thank yous at the end :)

Enjoy!

Peter's phone buzzed against the metal table. He had been so focused on what he was doing that the abruptness startled him. He jumped and jarred the delicate work his was doing on his converter. Not to mention burned his finger on the liquid metal left over from the incomplete solder. Sticking his finger into his mouth in an attempt to numb the burn, Peter carefully put down the soldering iron and grabbed his phone, turning it over and looking at the caller id. When he saw Happy's name an aborted note of anxiety shot through his mind, Happy normally didn't call him. Plus, it was late so it had to be important which didn't help his unease. But he shook off the feeling, it was probably nothing and if anything, the call was a good reminder that he should get some sleep so he accepted and pushed the phone into his shoulder as he started to pull his equipment together. He tried to be as casual as possible, answering, "Hey, Happy, what's up?"

"Peter?" The voice at the other end of the line wobbled on his name, thick with tears, and the telltale hiccup of profound distress. And it was definitely not Happy.

Peter froze. His hair pricked up on the back of his neck and the notes of anxiety built in his mind before he answered with trepidation masquerading as composure, "Hey Morgan, what are you still doing up? What's wrong?" He told himself it was just a nightmare, the little boy had called him for that before. Unfortunately that illusion only lasted for a few moments.

"It's daddy…he got hurt really bad…" The younger boy's voice trailed off as sniffles echoed through their connection.

Peter swallowed back the sudden onslaught of confusion and fear as those few discordant anxiety-ridden notes built into a crescendo. He dropped his convertor, missing the cracking noise as the delicate materials were shaken lose beyond repair because his world instantly boiled down to that scant piece of horrible information. Peter somehow forced his voice to be steady when he asked, "What happened, buddy?"

A crackling cut across the connection, like Morgan had wiped his nose with his hand and scrapped it along the microphone before he answered, "A ascident….a c–car t-hit him when he was comin' home."

"When?" Peter started to move, his work forgotten. He could finish his project later, this needed to take precedence. As he ran, he realized his little brother hadn't answered and he quickly repeated, "When Morgan? Please, I need to know."

A choked sob made his heart clench before Morgan whined an answer, "I don't…I don't know, 'm sorry. 'm scared…and I needed ta call you." Then more rustling sputtered through the phone.

Peter pushed himself faster. For Morgan to be this upset, something was really wrong and Peter's anxiety pushed dangerously close to fear as he fought to keep his voice calm, "I know you're scared, Morgan but it's going to be okay. I'm gonna come home and we're gonna figure out what happened and make sure dad's okay together, alright?" Peter heard an answering hum on the end of the line but it was sandwiched between badly held back sobs.

The overwhelming distress forced Peter to squash his own. He knew he needed to get Morgan focused on something else, so he asked, "Where are you?"

As he waited for the answer, his feet pounded up the stairs of his apartment. The thought to slow down and be a little quieter crossed his mind but as immediately as it came, he pushed it away.

While still tearful, Morgan's answer was a little more sure, "'venger's place."

Peter breathed a little easier, at least he wasn't at some random hospital, "Good. Morgan, listen to me, I'm coming home right now, but I'm still at school so its going to take me a little time, okay?" Peter swallowed hard before he lied with everything he had, "It's gonna be okay, everything's going to be okay. I'll be there as soon as I can." Then he thought of something else as he dug the key out of his pocket, "Where's your mom?"

Morgan stuttered his answer, "Sh…she's comin' home soon. She was in Japan for neg…oc…a'ions."

Peter cursed as he pushed into his room, he had forgotten she was there this week. Praying that someone else was with him, Peter asked, "Is Happy there?"

"Ya…yah."

Peter let out a whine of relief, at least someone else was there and he made sure to emphasize that, "Okay, you stay with Happy and I'll be there as soon as I can, I promise, okay Morgan?"

"Yah…" Morgan whined again.

Peter pressed end on the call.

Once silence slipped around him, Peter stumbled. His heart was pounding in his chest and he had to put his hand on the wall to steady himself as a few tears escaped. He worked hard to catch his breath before reminding himself that he couldn't do this right now, he needed to get home. Steeling his resolve, he sucked in an unsteady breath and hiccupped it back out as Morgan's fear echoed around his skull. He pressed away from the wall and stumbled to his closet.

He needed to go home.

Swallowing back everything Morgan's tearfulness had dredged up, Peter slipped his webshooters on and as the nanotech crawled around him, he was thankful he had brought his upgraded suit. Once he was set, he slipped out the window. Laying his head against the cool brick wall, Peter took a deep breath before he leapt into the air and told his suit to create a booster, like what he had seen his dad use a thousand times. It was the first time he had used it outside the practice area and it still felt incredibly weird. It had been Tony's idea after his mishap with the knife and honestly, Peter hated using it. But that didn't matter right now, all that mattered was getting home as fast as possible. He corrected his horizons and his voice wavered as he ordered, "Karen, plot a course home."

Ever positive, Karen answered back immediately, "Of course, Peter." Before she had even finished her statement, a red guiding line appeared on his display.

Peter let the reassuring voice ground him and as soon as he felt secure in his course, he added, "Karen, please call Morgan back."

It took him about forty-five minutes to make it home.

He started running as soon as he touched down, his suit melting away as he moved. He knew the way to the med bay a little too well by this point and it wasn't hard to find it on autopilot. Morgan had cried most of the time they had been on the phone. Peter had tried to distract him, asking him about preschool and stuff he had been doing with his parents while he had been at school but it only seemed to help Morgan's mood a little. For Peter, it had been exhausting.

Still, he ran.

The rooms and various conveniences of the Compound flew passed him as he sprinted and he only slowed once he made it to the wing he was looking for.

Peter jogged down the hallway before he skid around the corner, the waiting room opening up before him. Straightaway, he caught sight of Happy sitting in one of the chairs but awkwardly leaned to the side. Without question Peter knew why and he was hit by the overwhelming urge to see his brother, yelling, "Morgan!" Peter watched the little brown head shoot out from beside Happy before he threw himself off the chair. Peter took a stuttered step forward before he jogged the few feet he needed to get close enough for Morgan to launch himself into his arms.

Peter caught him easily, wrapping his arms around him while Morgan wrapped his arms and his legs tight, burying his head in Peter's shoulder. Peter rubbed his hand up and down his back a few times as the hiccupping sobs he had heard on the way over started again. Only this time, Peter didn't have the distraction of the flight to keep him preoccupied and his eyes welled up. He wrapped his arms a little tighter around his brother and hunched his shoulders, instinctively trying everything he could to shield him from…some threat. Unfortunately, that just made Morgan cry harder, which made it more difficult for Peter to continue to swallow back his own tears. It was taking most of his considerable ability to do that, which left Peter awkwardly standing in the middle of the waiting room, clutching Morgan and staring at the ceiling. Thankfully, Happy seemed to realize what was going on because Peter unexpectedly felt hands on his shoulders steering him toward the chairs. Peter had the fleeting thought that he had wanted to ask what had happened or what they knew but he couldn't. And at this point, his full attention needed to be on Morgan anyway.

Eventually, the little boy cried himself into exhaustion. He wasn't asleep but he had shoved his thumb in his mouth and was dozing against Peter's chest. Peter knew it had taken Pepper and Tony ages to break him of that habit and he knew he shouldn't let him do it but he figured just this once, it would be okay. As his tears slowly dried, the room lapsed into silence. It was significantly more calming than the tears, but it left Peter to finally consider what the hell was going on. And he was still terrified to ask. A part of him wanted to hide from whatever had happened and just wait to see his dad but the larger part of his mind reminded him that was the cowardly way to go about it. If he was going to help, he needed to be informed. When he finally won his argument against himself and looked up, Happy was watching him with a miserable, knowing frown. That pushed Peter over the edge and he summoned all the courage he had left, "What happened?"

Happy's frown deepened before he explained, "Tony was at the tech conference at NYU this week and tonight he was coming back from dinner with a few of the organizers when a drunk driver ran a red…Tony didn't see him coming."

Peter closed his eyes tightly before he asked, "Do they…do they know if he's gonna be alright?" Peter could hear the fear in his voice and knew Happy recognized it too.

Happy's voice was apologetic but firm, "They don't, Peter. He was in bad shape when they finally got to him and no one has been able to give us a straight answer about what they're expecting."

Peter nodded his acceptance but without any real answers a terrifying chunk of that information just raised more questions he wasn't even sure how to ask. The only thing he could comprehend was the fact that the man who had taken on the most dangerous being in the universe was fighting for his life because of a drunk driver. That thought spiraled around his head, knocking against the sides of his skull until it hurt and all he could do was lay his cheek on Morgan's head where it was tucked into his neck. He could feel the tears pressing at the back of his eyes, dangerously close to falling and his voice broke when he finally flicked his eyes back up to Happy, "What do you think?"

Happy watched him for a moment before he looked at the wall across him and answered, "I think your dad is always willing to fight and I know he wants more than anything to be here for his family, so I think he's going to be okay."

Peter appreciated that assessment more than he could say and he closed his eyes for a long minute before he eventually whispered, "What happened to the guy who hit him?"

Happy frowned and fixed him with a look of suspicion, "Peter, I don't kn…"

But Peter's eyes snapped open and he cut him off, something he rarely did, his voice a demand wreathed in civility, "Happy, please, just tell me."

Happy sighed but gave him the truth, "He walked away. He needed some stitches and he was limping but he walked away."

Peter felt sudden, intense anger, bordering on rage, twist in his gut. The immediate response shook him to his core and he tried to bury it because it was the wrong reaction and he knew it. Still, he wasn't able to hide all of it when he ground out, "Was he arrested?"

Happy answered quickly, "Not right away but only because he needed to go to the hospital himself, he'll be under police guard while he's there. No one's going to let the man who hit an Avenger walk away."

Peter's anger eased a bit when he heard that but not enough to keep the acidic bite out of the back of his throat. Still, he knew that wasn't right and he suppressed it, buried the urge to think about the man who had done this. Instead, he let his mind wander to the events of the last few hours. As he played them over, he kept coming back to Morgan's response and the more he thought about it, he couldn't help but be a little surprised by the sheer intensity of it. It didn't seem like that should have been the response from a five-year old. So breaking the tense silence, Peter quietly asked, "What got him so worked up?"

Happy frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Peter elaborated, "Morgan's really upset, a lot more upset than he probably should be given how little we actually know about what's going on. So what does he know that's got him so upset?"

Happy sighed as he understood what Peter meant and he explained, "He had a nightmare last night. He called Tony to talk and they were on the phone when Tony got hit. Morgan heard some of the crash before the phone cut out." Happy glanced down at the younger Stark before he continued, "I don't think he understood what happened but he kept trying to call back and it wouldn't go through. It scared him and there wasn't much I could do to calm him down. He kept saying you would know how to talk to Tony but by that point I was trying to coordinate with the police and EMS and he got sick of waiting so he took my personal phone before I could let you know what was going on." He looked down at him with a fond expression, "He gets more and more like Tony every day." Happy glanced back up at Peter before he explained, "I brought him here because he knows its where people go when they get hurt and he wouldn't go back to his room."

Peter felt tears well up in his eyes again as he pulled Morgan a little closer, horrified by the idea that his little brother had to hear that. And suddenly, his own mind flashed back to Ben laying bloody and gasping on the street. As the realization and the memory meshed, Peter felt his tears finally track down his cheeks, slipping into Morgan's hair. No one should ever have to have that knowledge and Peter knew the pain that was associated with it. He was floored by that insight and he didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. He didn't trust himself to.

Happy watched Tony's sons with profound sadness. It would have been a strange thing ten years ago to imagine Tony with kids and now he couldn't imagine ever seeing Tony without them. But that also made their pain markedly harder to watch. Happy sent up a silent prayer for his friend, reminding whoever was listening that neither one of these two deserved to lose their father. But as that reflective thought slipped through Happy's mind, something more practical ultimately took its place. He turned to Peter and asked, "Did you tell anyone at school you were leaving?"

Peter stared at him for a moment, trying to remember the details of leaving. Then he finally shook his head before he mumbled, "I didn't even finish putting away my semester project…I'm not totally sure if I locked my door. I went out the window."

Happy stood and laid his hand on Peter's shoulder, "I'm going to send someone to take care of that, then I'm going to go call and get you excused for however long its going to take for Tony to wake up. I don't think it's going to be an issue once I mention his name." He paused as he thought of something else, "I'll get your work for the rest of the semester too, that way you could maybe stay relatively on track."

Peter appreciated the positivity and the offer to deal with the things he hadn't wanted to consider and he whispered, "Thanks, Happy."

Happy brushed it off, "No problem, kid. Keep your brother company, will yah?"
Peter tucked Morgan in a little more securely to his chest before he easily answered, "Sure."

Happy gave him another sad smile before he pulled out his phone and stepped out of the waiting room.

For a moment, as soon as Happy left, Peter felt terrifyingly alone.

But the longer he sat there, he realized it wasn't as bad as he thought and honestly, it gave him a chance to take a breath. It was shallow and painful and it made his heart constrict in agony but it reminded him that as long as he was sitting here, his dad was alive. And that meant everything. It gave him something to focus on. Something to start building his walls with. Because he could feel the torrent knocking at the edges of his mind and at some point throughout this incredibly fast two hours, he had unconsciously decided that he was going to have to make sure he was a rock for his brother, which meant he was going to have to be stronger than he had ever been before. And that meant no one could know how frightened he actually was. He would have to take this a day at a time.

And he could do that.

He could do one day at a time.

Hell, if it meant Morgan would feel safe and his dad would survive, he would do it agonizing minute by agonizing minute until this was over.

So there you have it!

What happens next? You'll just have to tune in and see :) Feel free to tell me what you thought in the reviews.

And as promised, I want to say thank you to:

- the amazing Proud Hollander, Thank you so much! And I understand that completely! I have significantly more unfinished stories on my computer than I really want to admit, it's hard to post stuff sometimes. But in my totally throwaway opinion, you should think about posting them. That's so awesome that you've already planned to see it three times and happy birthday to your brother :) I totally get that and I'm sorry :( the good thing about school is that it ends (and I'm really glad you put the jk in there because I was getting worried reading that!). Thank you so much for commenting and being so awesome, you're totally amazing and I hope you enjoy (enjoyed? - I'm not sure of the time difference) Far From Home!

- the awesome Guest, Thanks so much!

- the fantastic n8163, I'm so glad you enjoyed the characters and the story kept you hooked. I have been having a good break too - thank you for saying that :)

- the wonderful JohnGilbertVampirehunter, Thanks :) I'm glad you liked that ending!

- the spectacular lotravengersninjago15, Thank you for taking the time to comment on it, I'm glad that you appreciated the bit with Michelle, I was actually really proud of myself for that one so I'm happy it worked. I really like her character and I'm hoping they explore it a bit more in Far From Home (I'm seeing it on Saturday!)

Well that's it for now!

I hope you all have a wonderful day/night and stay creative!

-Lily