"You know Peter, you've done well tonight." Peter's eyes lit up at the praise from his mentor, "And because of that, I've decided to treat you out!" Peter smiled and shook his curly hair out of his eyes before saying, "Thank you Mr. Stark, but I-"
"It's rude to refuse, Peter," Peter's cheeks quickly turned a deep red, "I-I didn't mean to be rude sir, I just-"
Peter's rambling was cut off by his mentor's chuckles, "I was just messing with you kid, but you don't have a choice. You got the last blow on Doc Ock, so I'm going to treat you to dinner, no arguing,"
"I...ok, thank you," Tony simply chuckled once again and stroked his fingers through Peter's curly hair, allowing the boy to lean into the touch.
Once they were driven to a restaurant, they thanked Happy, who just gave an unhappy grunt and drove off. Peter took in the sight of the small diner, a sign that read "Ophelia's" hung high above the door, with a small neon "OPEN" sign hanging directly below it. Through the slightly grimy window, Peter saw red booth seats lining the walls and some metal tables and chairs that littered the middle of the restaurant. There was a small bar that looked into the kitchen, which was quite large. When they walked in, they noticed that the restaurant itself was quite empty, only people remaining were a couple on a date and a few workers who had taken the night shift.
"Peter? You there? Hello~" Tony said as he playfully knocked on the side of Peter's head which turned into a rough noogie, knocking Peter out of his thoughts, "S-sorry Mr. Stark, I got distracted,"
"I can see, come on. The waitress," Tony whistled, "Told us that we could sit where ever we wanted, so how about there?" Tony nodded over to a red booth that was in the corner of the restaurant but was against the window, giving a good view of the cars zooming by. Peter kept his eyes trained on the checkered floor and his worn-out converses as he and Tony made their way over to the booth. When Peter slid into the seat across from Tony, he felt a slight buzzing in the back of his head. His spidey-sense was going off, but for what? As far as Peter knew, nothing was happening. Quickly scanning his eyes across the diner for a second time, Peter saw nothing wrong. "That's strange," He murmured to himself, catching Tony's attention, "What's the problem kiddo?" Peter quickly shook his head, "My...spideysense is going haywire, but I don't think anything's wrong." Tony just smiled, "Kid, you don't have to be so secretive about it, there's no one here," Tony laughed, a genuine grin painting his face, "Don't be so anxious, we just got out of a fight, I'm sure we're fine,"
"But we aren't fine," Peter wanted to say but knew that he wouldn't get anywhere, only make Tony think he was a weirdo. Deciding to distract himself, Peter flicked his nail under the worn-out red leather of the seat.
"Good evening gentlemen," A young woman holding a small yellow notepad approached their table with a small smile that played on her lips, "May I start you two out with drinks or are you ready to order now?" Peter nodded to Tony and Tony looked to the waitress, flashing his award-winning smile, "I believe we're ready to order," Peter went first, stumbling over his words, the ever-growing buzzing that was in the back of his head distracting him tremendously. When Peter had finished, he averted his gaze out the window, looking over the cars that zoomed by and the ones that were parked among the side of the road. Something was going to happen, but Peter had no idea what, or when. He had no control of the situation that was fast approaching, and that scared him.
The sound of glass clanking against wood brought Peter out of his thoughts. "Thank-" Though he was cut off by a sharp pain in his head, quickly swinging his head towards the window, he saw a car being thrown straight at the window, right towards him, "GET DOWN!" He yelled as he pushed both Tony and the waitress down, though he didn't have enough time to get on the floor himself, the car already breaking through the glass and smashing right into him.
"PETER!" Tony yelled from his spot on the floor, he heard the sickening crack of Peter hitting the blue and white bar, staining it red, and falling to the floor. Tony's body went numb as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. His eyes trailed back to the broken window and saw him, "Doc Oc-" He was cut off by one of Doctor Octopus' tentacles cutting off his airflow and raising him off the ground,
"Where is the Spider?" He asked simply.
"He-I don't know! We aren't that close!" Tony lied, though Doctor Octopus saw through it and squeezed harder, "F-fine! He's at the...tower!" Tony wheezed out another lie, but Doctor Octopus seemed to buy it this time, "Stark if he isn't there, I'll kill you and everyone-"
"Yeah yeah, everyone I love, I get it," Doc Ock dropped Tony, "Might wanna tend to your little whore over there, doesn't seem to be doing so good,"
Tony was fuming, "Don't you dare say that about him!" He yelled as he threw a punch at Doc Ock's face, but his fist was caught. Doc Ock twisted his arm and crushed almost every bone in his hand. Tony let out a pain-filled scream, pleasing the villain before he disappeared into the night. Tony cradled his hand as his attention shifted to Peter, ho was laying under the car. Doctor Octopus was right, he wasn't looking good at all. Tony made his way over to the boy, lifting the car off of him, grunting in immense pain as the task applied pressure on his broken hand. Once the car was off of the boy, he dropped to his knees and shakily checked his pulse, praying to any and every god there was to let the boy live. When he found a faint pulse and saw that the boy was breathing, he let out a breath of his own, one that he had no idea he was holding.
He began to assess the boy's wounds, taking off his black coat and placing it under the boy's head, elevating it in case he had injured his neck or spine. There were many small cuts from glass and he had bruises forming all over his body, but what scared Tony the most at that moment was the gash that ran over his chest and down to his abdomen. Tony quickly stood up and walked into the kitchen, finding a rag that was slightly dirty and quite small, but it'd do. He returned to Peter's side a few seconds later, and applied pressure to the deepest part of the gash, which was over his chest, and applied pressure to it in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
Tony jumped at the gasp above him. He looked up and saw Peter's face scrunched in pain, his eyes still closed, "Hey kid, are you awake?" Peter nodded his head slightly, wincing, and stopping quickly. "Can you open your eyes for me bud?" He said slowly and after a few minutes, which felt like years, Peter's eyes opened. Tony noticed ho glassy his eyes were, "Mr. Stark, please. St-stop," The boy said quietly, shaking his head as he reached a hand up to his chest, trying and failing to swat away Tony's hand, "Sorry kiddo, no can do. I have to try and stop the bleeding before an ambulance arrives." Tony said as he gave the kid a sympathetic smile. Peter frowned but put his hand back down.
No matter what Tony did, the blood wouldn't stop pouring out, "I can't feel...I can't feel anything. It's...numb. Is that bad?" Tony didn't answer, more for his sake than Peter's. The boy wouldn't die, he couldn't. That was Tony's job, to keep him alive, and if he couldn't do that, then it would kill him. Tony was brought out of his thoughts by Peter's coughing, he glanced up, seeing the blood dribbling out of his mouth.
No.
Tony slowly lifted the boy into his arms and sat his back against the bar, cradling the boy as if it would keep him away from the impending fate that he would soon face. He rocked them back and forth murmuring the words, "You're ok," into the boy's hair, convincing himself more than he was convincing Peter.
"You've had worse, you'll be ok," Though after looking into the glassy eyes of the boy he was cradling and the deep red blood surrounding him, he knew it was over.
Peter lifted his head up towards Tony, "Thank you...for being here. I'm glad that I get to-"
"Don't. Don't say it. Kid, I'm so sorry,"
"It's ok," Peter smiled weakly up at his mentor, "I...I love you, Tony. You've always been like a father to me,"
"I...I love you too Peter," Tony's voice cracked as he held the boy. The boy gave Tony one last smile before going limp in his arms. Peter's eyes went dull as they slipped shut for the last time. Tony could practically feel the life drain out of the boy as he cried with no shame.
"And if you die, I feel like that's on me"