Tony still didn't understand. "Not Spiderman?" He asked again. By now, they were in the infirmary. Peter had been checked with every possible test that Bruce could think of. He didn't have a head injury. He had no internal injuries. Besides the scrape and the bruise on his face, he had no other external injuries. He had lost weight.
But he was still out cold. And Tony didn't understand.
"It appears that whatever was injected into Peter is doing two things - it's blocking his Spiderman abilities, and preventing him from waking up. It's like a medically induced coma on steroids - he's not getting the drugs currently, but they are still in his body. And his body isn't able to fight them off, he's not able to heal himself right now."
"Can't you try flushing the drugs out of his system?" Steve asked, desperately.
Bruce shook his head. "Its not as simple as it sounds. Those meds are supposed to enter into the bloodstream through an IV. Not through the muscle. I've tried, but it isn't currently working."
"So what do we do?" Tony sounded like he was trying very hard to stay calm. "There has to be something we can do."
"I will be working on this constantly, Tony." Bruce said wearily. "I won't be working on anything else until I find a way to reverse this. But right now…" Bruce trailed off with a deep sigh, his eyes weary and sad. "Right now, there isn't anything else I can try."
Tony collapsed into the seat by Peter's bed, laying his head on the bed, mirroring Steve who was already doing the same thing on the other side. He couldn't argue with the fact that the man just didn't know.
And Bruce did work day in and day out on Peter. Peter was on an IV, though his metabolism wasn't that of Spiderman anymore, so they didn't have to do overkill on the nutrients he was getting to keep him healthy. Steve and Tony barely spoke to anyone. Eventually, Bruce would make one of them leave at night, telling them they needed to sleep in their own beds. So Steve would go to the gym and work out until he couldn't feel his limbs. And Tony would go to his lab, where he would work until he couldn't think.
Peter had been in the infirmary, with no changes and no hope, for a month, when Nick Fury showed up at the compound.
"We have some leads on who took Peter." He told them. The last Tony and Steve knew, they had been trying to break the men who had kidnapped Peter - but their focus had been solely on their son, assuming that if there was any information they needed, they would be told.
Fury proceeded to explain to them about Gene Richard.
"Richard?" Tony growled. "The computer genius?"
"You've heard of him?" Fury asked mildly.
"I've gotten threats from him. He's the one who kidnapped Peter?"
"We believe in conjunction with Hydra." Fury sighed. "Why was he threatening you?"
"His son was killed by Stark Technology in the war." Tony explained. "He'd always desired revenge. And I've heard he's the best computer hacker in the world."
"He is." Fury confirmed. "That's how he got into your computers. That's how he knew all about Peter, his secret identity, and his technology."
"My system didn't pick up on it?" Tony asked, baffled. Steve reached over and squeezed his hand.
"He's that good." Fury confirmed. "But he doesn't know anything about what the injection did to Peter. In that, he was just following orders. He was told that there was a possibility that Peter would be able to fight it, or that you would think so, and he wanted you to live with that uncertainty since he spent months not knowing whether his son was dead or alive. Apparently, the drug was experimental, however, and they wanted to try it on a mutant. The effects are unknown."
"So where do we go from here?" Steve asked, trying to be the voice of reason.
"I've arranged for a mission-"
"A mission?" Tony snarled so viciously, it took everything in Fury not to flinch. "You want us to leave our son, who is in a coma, for a mission? You think now is the time to ask?"
"Nat and Clint have agreed. I only need one of you." Fury tried.
"I swear to God-" Tony started, but Fury cut him off.
"It's to track down the people that made the serum."
"The serum?" Steve asked, much calmer than Tony.
"The serum that is the reason your son is lying there."
Both took a quick breath. "Do you think… you think it could help us to find an antidote?"
Fury nodded. "I think it's our best shot of finding an antidote."
"I'll go." Steve said immediately.
"Steve-" Tony started, but Steve shook his head.
"No, Tony. You at least can continue the research you've been doing, you can work with Bruce. I'm useless here right now. This- this is something I can do. Something that could help Peter."
"The team is going to be completely cut off from us." Fury said cautiously. "It's too dangerous for you to go in there with phones or devices. It's reconnaissance and potentially some deep cover."
"What if we figure it out on our end? Or if Peter-" Tony couldn't even say the words. "Or if Peter gets worse." He finished. "You're telling me we can't pull them out?"
"We will have a failsafe to pull them out early if its necessary." Fury told them.
"Tony, I have to do this." Steve turned to his husband, taking his hands in his. "I have to do this for Peter."
Tony nodded. "I know, Capsicle." He whispered. "Doesn't mean I have to like it." He turned back to Fury. "When do they leave?"
"Now." Fury said. "Nat and Clint will be here any minute."
Tony's felt like his heart was stopping. "Now? As in now now?"
"Tony, it's okay." Steve pulled him into a searing kiss, pouring all of his love for his husband into it. When the pulled back, they leaned their foreheads together, looking into each other's eyes. "I'm going to be okay. If Pete wakes up before I get back or-" Steve swallowed and changed the direction of his statement. "I need you to make sure he knows that there is no other mission that I would have possibly left his side for."
"He knows that," Tony cupped Steve's face and kissed him again. "Peter knows that. And if he doubts it, I'll make sure to remind him."
"And I love you. So much, Tony." Steve looked like he was trying not to cry, so Tony forced a confident expression onto his face.
"I love you too." Tony whispered. "Stay safe. You do whatever you have to do to bring yourself back to us."
Steve's response was to press his lips to Tony's again. "I'll do whatever it takes." He promised.
And then he was gone. Tony held it together long enough to make sure that they had left before he broke down, falling asleep, as he almost always did now, by Peter's bedside.
The following two weeks dragged on for Tony. He didn't hear anything about the mission. He knew that the mission didn't have a time frame, but the time alone was wearing on him.
He got himself into a semi-regular routine - He would spend all day on his laptop in the infirmary, taking minimal breaks to sleep in a bed that Bruce had forced him into - stating that he couldn't keep sleeping bent over on Peter's bed or he'd never be able to straighten his back again.
At night, he would go down to his lab. He was doing his own research on the drugs that were in Peter's system.
Tony was dragged out of his tenuous routine by FRIDAY. "Boss, your presence is requested in the infirmary." the AI's voice was jolting in the silence.
Tony's eyes immediately searched for the time, determining it was almost 3AM.
"What's wrong?" Tony asked, standing up and already making for the door.
"Your presence is requested in the infirmary."
Tony huffed out a frustrated breath and he started sprinting to the infirmary. He had specifically given instructions to the AI not to give out medical information of people in Medbay and the infirmary to protect their privacy. But he was hating himself for it now and was debating rewriting it as his heart hammered in his chest, dreading what he would find.
If he had been called to the Medbay, it would probably mean something was wrong with Steve - or maybe another Avenger seeking assistance at the compound. But the infirmary implied that it was something with Peter, and Tony could barely make himself breathe.
He burst through the door, and he couldn't quite make sense of the scene in front of him.
Peter was sitting up in bed, his legs over the side, but his hands were covering his eyes, and his face was scrunched up in pain.
"Petey?" Tony said quietly, approaching the boy. Peter flinched at the noise and his hands twitched, as if he was debating between covering his eyes or his ears.
It took Tony longer than it should have to figure out what was wrong, but he was relieved to determine that he was actually prepared to deal with this problem.
He approached Peter as quietly as he could and pulled the case with Peter's repaired earplugs and contacts out of his pocket. He had kept them on him, just in case, since the day he had finished fixing them - with some adjustments, of course.
"Easy, Pete." He breathed out as quietly as possible, taking one and pushing it into his ear, careful to touch Peter as little as possible, before repeating the process on the other side.
"Is that better?" Tony asked him in a whisper. Peter nodded immediately.
"Okay, lights to 5%, FRIDAY." Tony commanded. When the light in the room dimmed to almost dark, Tony spoke to Peter. "Okay, Pete. The lights are almost completely off. Do you need me to help you put your contacts in?"
"No," Peter croaked, his voice coarse from lack of use. "I think I can get them." Tony handed them over, feeling his heart beat easier at the sound of his son's voice - a sound he had been starting to doubt he would ever hear again.
Peter's eyes squinted open and then slowly opened all the way. He took the contacts and expertly placed them in his eyes before running his fingers through his hair and looking around, dazed.
"Dad?" He asked. "Am I dreaming?"
"Hey bambino." Tony crouched in front of his son. "You aren't dreaming. You're in the infirmary."
"You saved me?" His voice broke, and Tony's heart did with it at the vulnerability and fear he heard in his son's voice. Tony desperately wanted to hug him, but he didn't want to overwhelm his son, who had already been fully overstimulated when he had arrived.
"Of course we did, baby." Tony reached out and tentatively put a hand on Peter's shoulder, and that broke the dam.
Peter launched himself forward, into Tony's arms, almost knocking his Dad over, as he sobbed, his body shaking.
Tony just held his son tight, rocking him back and forth, allowing him to cry it out.
"I was so scared." Peter whispered finally, his tears calming. "I woke up and nobody was here."
"I'm so sorry, baby." Tony expertly maneuvered Peter so that they were both on Peter's bed, with Tony holding him close and running his fingers through his son's hair. "I - We didn't mean to scare you. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."
"What happened?" Peter asked. "The last thing I remember is them injecting me with something, and I guess I passed out. And then I was waking up here."
"We found you." Tony said quietly, "We believe not long after they injected you. Whatever they injected you with was… hard on your body. It blocked your Spiderman abilities, and it forced you into a coma."
Peter's head shot up. "A coma? For how long?"
"Forty-three days." Tony breathed out.
"Oh." Peter sighed. "That makes more sense." He seemed to relax with that information, confusing Tony greatly.
"What?"
"Well, I didn't think you and Papa would leave me alone in the infirmary - you never have before - and when I woke up and neither of you were here, I thought - I thought that maybe something happened to you or something." Tony could tell there was more to the 'or something' that Peter wasn't sharing, but he didn't have time to press it because Peter asked a more pressing question that completely derailed Tony's train of thought. "Where's Papa? Is he okay? Is he angry?"
"Angry? Why would Papa be angry?" Tony asked, and realized this is what Peter really feared when he woke up. "Hey." He tilted Peter's head up to look at him. "You didn't do anything wrong. Not one thing. Okay?"
Peter seemed to relax. "Okay. I thought - I thought maybe you would think I had ran again, and I wouldn't! I would never do that again! But I have before, so it would make sense for you guys to think that-"
Tony hushed him. "Pete, your Papa was absolutely sure from the start that you didn't run. He's not angry."
"Did you think I did?"
"Honestly?" Tony asked, sighing. "I didn't think you did, but I hoped you did." He admitted. "In my mind, it was better if you ran than if you were kidnapped."
"Oh." Peter considered that. "I can't fault you for that." He admitted. "So where is Papa? Is he hurt?"
"Papa's on a mission." Tony said quietly. Peter tensed, and Tony saw a look of hurt flash across his face, though it disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.
"For what?"
"To track down the makers of the injection that you received. He's trying to find an antidote."
Peter relaxed fully, "Oh. So he can come home now? Since I'm awake?"
"I - I don't know, Peter. It's a no contact mission."
Peter's eyes widened, he knew what that meant. Tony and Steve had tried to avoid those for Peter's sake, and they refused to both go on one at the same time, but they had both had to do so periodically.
"Fury has a way to pull him out. Let me get Bruce down here to check you out and then I'll call Fury, okay?"
"Yeah." Peter said. Tony asked Friday to get Bruce, and then Peter asked another question. "Is he by himself?"
Tony shook his head. "He's got Nat and Clint with him."
"Oh, good." Peter burrowed into Tony's side, as if he couldn't get close enough. "They'll keep him safe."
"Peter - you know Papa would have never gone on a mission while you were injured if it was for literally anything else, right? The only reason he agreed was to help you."
"Uh - yeah, I know that." Peter looked a little guilty. "I was a little angry at first, until you told me why he went. But I understand why now."
Tony kissed the top of his head. "He specifically told me when he left to make sure that you knew that there is no other mission that he would leave your side for."
Peter nodded next to Tony, but didn't respond verbally, just relaxed more into Tony.
Bruce came rushing into the infirmary then, squinting to see the pair on the bed.
"FRIDAY, lights to 60%." Tony commanded, automatically checking that Peter was okay. He didn't even flinch when the lights changed.
"Peter?" Bruce asked, walking over to them. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine." Peter shrugged.
"Can you sit up so I can check you out?" He asked gently.
Peter nodded, sitting up. Tony got off the bed and squeezed Peter's shoulder. "I'm going to step out and make that call, okay Pete?"
Peter nodded, and Tony stepped out in the hallway, keeping an eye on the two in the infirmary.
"Stark, what can I do for you?"
Fury sounded off. "My son's awake, and he has his abilities back." Tony told him, cutting to the chase. "Can you pull the plug on the mission?" Fury was silent, and Tony felt his heart sink. "What happened?"
"Don't panic, Tony." Fury commanded. "They missed their weekly check-in."
"When was the check in supposed to be?"
"Thirty-six hours ago."
"And you don't want me to panic? Use the extraction. Get them out now." Fury didn't respond. "Fury?"
"I tried, Tony. Protocol is that if they are 6 hours late for a check in, we extract them. But we've lost all contact, I don't know where they are."
AN: I hope you all like this chapter! Honestly, with these kinds of stories, plot is a means to the angst/comfort that I want to write, so it's not as detailed as maybe y'all would like.
Also, I think I have COVID, so depending on how that progresses will determine when I can update again - last night I couldn't even look at my phone my head hurt so badly.