Title: A Helping Hand

Rating: K, for some language!

Summary: Peter finds himself in deep trouble when he tries to stop a bank heist and winds up seriously injured. He needs medical attention, but since everyone watched Spidey get hurt on TV he has no where to go. Help comes in the most unlikely places…Slightly AU Post SM2

Author Note: Slightly AU. Everything happened from the second movie, minus one thing. Mary-Jane and Harry still do not know the identity of Spiderman. Before Harry could get the mask off, Peter escaped and found Ock and Mary-Jane on his own.


A Helping Hand

Chapter 2- The Discovery

Peter crawled through his apartment window, gasping in pain as he did so. He stumbled across the room, taking off his mask and throwing it into a corner as he went. What the hell am I going to do this time? He thought desperately. He had been injured before, burns, bruises, gashes…but nothing, NOTHING this invasive.

"God…it hurts…" His whispered to himself as he collapsed onto his bed. I can't just lay here like this…I need a doctor. What kind of story could he make up though? Surely every hospital would be on alert for a man with a bullet in his chest. Everyone wanted to know who Spiderman was and this was the best opportunity to find out.

Peter felt his vision going blurry with the pain, and he let his mind think back on what had gotten him into this predicament.

He was supposed to meet with MJ, she wanted to talk and he couldn't blame her. It had shocked him when he found out that she ran out on her wedding, but he couldn't have slept better that night because of it.

Before meeting with MJ, he had decided to drop of the cheque the Daily Bugle had given him, another 300$ for yet another picture of Spiderman. Right after depositing it, his spider sense went haywire and two robbers, clad in black, had entered, carrying what looked like hunting rifles. He had just managed to slip into the shadows and change into his outfit before the men started screaming for everyone to get down.

He had observed what was going on first, not wanting them to start firing randomly in panic. After he had assessed the situation, he devised his plan and made his move.

He fought the two inside the bank, distracting them from the hostages. After leading them into the back of the store, he yelled for everyone to run outside. The terrified people ran for their lives, and all of them made it, minus one little girl. Her mother had run out to grab her cheque book right before the men had entered, and she had been alone the entire ordeal.

He swung over the heads of the convicts and grabbed the terrified girl, whispering that as soon as she was on the ground, she had to run towards the police officers. One of the robbers shot at the pair, but missed and ended up shattering a window instead.

As soon as he had the girl outside she ran as fast as her small legs would carry her. The men burst out of the bank less than a minute later, and Peter felt his blood boil when one of them took aim at the running girls back. He was in front of the rifle in an instant. "Pick on somebody your own size!" He growled at the man before grabbing the rifle and throwing the man himself into the brick of the building.

The remaining guy opened fire on him, and when he had gotten out of the way, the bastard had started to shoot at the civilians. It took him half a second to get back down on the ground and distract the madman, putting the attention back on himself. "Hey pal! Over here!"

How do I always get myself in these situations? He had thought as he dodged the bullets being fired at him. He had lifted his fist, preparing to knock this guy into oblivion, ignoring his spider-sense, which had started to go haywire, when he felt it.

A horrible pain, nothing that he had never experienced before coursed through his chest. He groaned as the bullet tore through his suit and flesh. He had a sudden image of his uncle Ben as he lay there…now he new how it felt when his uncle was dying…

When the man had pointed his gun down on him…he did nothing to stop it, the pain and shock preventing him from doing so. Mary-Jane…aunt May…god I can't leave them…

"Good-bye." The man said and Peter could almost see the grin behind the mask.

He would never forget the whooshing sound of the bullet overhead, or the way the man had stiffened and fallen to the ground beside him.

When the sniper had hit his target, he hadn't known what to do and he panicked, desperate to keep his identity a secret. He shot a web and painfully launched himself upwards with a grunt of pain, praying that he would be able to make it home.

Well, he'd made it, and he had no idea what to do next.

"MJ is going to be mad…I'm late…again…" Peter said to himself, laughing lightly. He wondered vaguely if he would ever see the beautiful red head ever again.

Get up Peter Parker. You are going to die on this bed if you don't get help, you're healing powers can't fix this one, a tiny voice in his head whispered.

Peter looked down the length of his body; his suit was turning a darker shade of red as blood flowed from the wound. Get the suit off, you have to get it off and hide it. Then call for help, say that you were mugged…something, anything! He growled to himself.

He forced himself to stand, knowing that it was his spider healing powers that were keeping him from passing out. If he did not have them the likelihood that he would be dead right now was very high. Peter began to peel of the top part of the suit, biting his lip so that he didn't scream in pain.

He managed to get it off, and hid it under his bed. The blood from his chest wound was bleeding more freely now, and he felt lightheaded. Peter tried to lean down to get the pants off, but he couldn't, the pain was just to overwhelming now, and he could barely breathe.

Peter took one step to the phone, knowing that MJ would find a way to help him. Her finding out his identity was inevitable at this point. However, he never made it to his phone. The extent of his injury took over his body, and he fell to the ground as he passed out, not knowing that a certain red head was pounding up the stairs as he lay there, bleeding to death.

Outside Peter's Apartment

Mary-Jane was panting by the time she reached the outside of Peter's door; she had run the whole way without pausing for a breath. She knocked on the door loudly, calling his name.

"Peter? It's MJ, let me in!"

No answer.

She pounded louder, now yelling his name. She didn't know nor care if her racket was disturbing the owners of the small building. Luckily, they were out for the night, not that it really mattered to her anyways.

No answer, again.

She tried the handle, it was locked. Frowning, she observed the door and came to the conclusion that she should be able to kick it down; it was old and worn anyhow. She backed up, lifted her leg, and pushed it forward with all the strength she could muster.

The door groaned and burst open immediately. Mary-Jane stepped inside and turned on the light. "Peter? Are you here?" She called again, looking around carefully. As she walked inside more, she noticed something red smudged on the bed…blood.

She felt her heart plummet and her pulse began to race. She slowly walked around the bed frame and froze in horror at what she saw.

"PETER!" She screamed, falling to her knees to get a better look at her best friend.

He was crumpled on his side, a wound in his chest bleeding profusely. He was bare chested, wearing only red and blue tights…

"God, you are Spiderman…" She whispered, feeling lightheaded.

Now is not the time to feel faint, girl! She thought to herself angrily, Peter needs help, but first we need to get these pants off and give him some normal clothes…

Mary-Jane fumbled around in her handbag, she kept a small pair of scissors in it, mostly for when her clothes had loose threads that needed to be cut. Finally she pulled them out and positioned them between Peter's skin and the suit.

Her hands began to tremble as she began to cut the fabric off, starting from his ankle and working her way up. She had never exactly pictured her best friend in nothing but boxers; in fact, she hadn't even seen him shirtless before. If it weren't for the situation at hand, she would have been very impressed by his toned and muscular body, a body that he hid under layers of clothes.

Mary-Jane quickly went over to his closet and picked out a pair of pants, loose ones that would be easy to get on. She also grabbed a loose t-shirt and dressed him as quickly as possible, careful not to upset his injury further. What now? She thought desperately, knowing that every second wasted put Peter's survival chance significantly lower. It was a wonder that he wasn't already dead.

Suddenly she got an idea, and pulled out her cell phone. While she dialed the number, she prayed that her lying skills were as good as her acting ones.

"Hello?" Came the tired voice on the other end, after the third ring.

"Harry? It's MJ, I need you're help." She replied.

TBC


Bet you never thought she'd ask Harry for help eh? Lol, it's just a good thing he doesn't know Peter's identity! Oh, I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, we had a major thunderstorm on Monday and my entire street lost power until this morning (Thursday)…let me tell you...it sucked!

Thanks to all who left me a review, I love the advice and compliments!

Ashley ¤