Something was wrong. Even through the pain that was growing worse and worse the more aware of his surroundings he became, Peter knew immediately that something was very different – and that in this case that meant that it was wrong. His spider senses were screaming at him.
"Hold still, and don't panic." The voice in his mind was calm, and reassuring. "You're fine."
"What's going on?" He could feel that he hurt – more every minute, although it was somewhat muted, still – but he couldn't feel a bed, or anything around him. Not even a pillow. "Where am I?"
"Breathe."
He did as Alec told him, and it felt odd.
"I don't –"
"Another breath." Peter obeyed, but opened his eyes to look around, and Alec spoke up, immediately. "Close them, again, for now."
"I don't understand what's going on."
He had a feeling that he should be afraid, though, and the tightness in his chest was the clear beginning of a panic attack, and he knew it
"Close your eyes and take deep breaths. Calm down, Peter. You're going to freak out and worry everyone."
That made him obey more than anything else could have – and of course Alec knew it would. Peter closed his eyes and floated – it was the only way he could describe what he was feeling – and took a few deep breaths, listening to his heartbeat slow down, again.
"Much better," Alec approved. "Now, you remember May telling you that you were hurt, right?"
"Yes."
"This time it's pretty serious, so they brought in Shuri and some serious Wakandan technology. It's an immersion chamber."
"What does it do?" he asked, curiously, always interested in technology that he hadn't heard of before.
"It has you completely immersed in an oxygen rich fluid that is full of nanites. They're programmed to heal the more serious injuries while you're in a medically induced coma."
Peter would have felt a stab of fear at the explanation, but Alec was so calm that it was keeping him calm, too.
"But I'm not in a coma, now?"
"No. I'd guess not. Something snapped you out of it – luckily, I was aware of what was going on before you woke enough to realize it, and I took the knowledge of what's going on from Tony's mind…"
Peter wanted to open his eyes, again.
"Tony's here?"
"Not in the fluid," Alec answered, and Peter felt a gentle amusement that made him relax against the pain and the fear. "Hold very still and go ahead and look around – but for heaven's sake don't panic, okay?"
"Yeah."
Peter didn't turn his head, doing as he was told, but he did open his eyes.
OOOOOOO
It was a soft alarm that woke Tony from a very fitful doze.
He sat upright in the chair with a start, waking Pepper with the motion even as he turned toward the chamber, automatically assuming the worst was happening. Peter was in the same position that he'd been in the last two days, though, so Tony's gaze went to the control panel, where the alarm was originating.
"What is it?" Pepper asked, just as alert, now. "What's wrong?"
Stark went to his feet to get a better look.
"His heart rate is accelerated," he told her. "Vitals are fine, though. Blood pressure is higher, brain activity is elevated."
"What does it mean?" she asked, even as the door to the room opened and Stephen came hurrying in – obviously alerted by the alarm, as well. "Stephen?"
"He's fine," the surgeon said, eyes on the same panel that Tony was looking at.
"He's waking up," the billionaire said.
"He's in a coma, Tony. It doesn't work that way."
Then all three of them saw Peter's eyes open, even in the somewhat opaque fluid in the chamber.
"Jesus." Stephen was quick to react, pressing a hand against the glass surface. "Tony, get me a couple of orderlies. Now." He pressed a part of the panel, allowing the boy to be able to hear him. "Peter… hold very still and take deep breaths. You're fine."
The boy's expression wasn't panicked, though. As Tony had Friday call up a couple of medics, Peter's eyes locked on his for a moment, moved to Pepper's and then Stephen's and then went back to Tony's, where they stayed, watching him; but doing as he'd been told and not moving.
"You're alright, son," Tony told him, also putting his hand on the surface of the chamber. "We're right here. Do as Stephen says. Hold still."
Two medics came charging into the room only a moment later, and Strange started calmly ordering them to prepare blankets and towels and a basin.
"You two need to leave," he said to Tony and Pepper. "We'll get him out and stable, and I'll call you when he's in a bed."
"But we should stay," Pepper protested. "We can keep him from panicking."
"You should go," Stephen replied, already rolling up the sleeves to the dress shirt he was wearing, despite the late hour. "It's unsettling to watch the extraction of the fluids – and Peter would be better off without the distraction. I'll allow you back as soon as possible."
"But I-"
Tony's protest was cut off by the two medics taking the top off the chamber, and Pepper's hand took the billionaire's arm.
"Come on…" she looked at Peter, and tugged Tony away. "We'll be right next door," she added to Strange - and to Peter.
"It'll be as soon as I can," he promised.
He was stepping up to the chamber as he said it, and as Pepper pulled Tony out of the door, they heard the sound of a lot of retching and fluids gushing into the basin.
OOOOOO
By the time Strange walked into the little side room, there was a crowd of people waiting for him. Steve, Clint and Natasha had been pretending to play cards with Carol while they waited, and Pepper and Tony were pacing, too worked up to pretend to do anything but worry. Fury was there, holding Nutmeg to keep him out of the way, along with T'Challa and Shuri. The Wakandan princess had come earlier, only a few minutes after Pepper and Tony had been removed from the room to give Stephen and the medics room to work with Peter and she'd been summarily dismissed to the waiting room, as well, to preserve as much of Peter's modesty as they could.
Especially since he was awake and somewhat lucid.
She wasn't happy about it, but she didn't protest, and had joined her brother, talking to Fury one moment, watching the Avengers play cards the next, but like all of them, always aware of the door and waiting for it to open.
"Stephen?"
Tony, of course, was the first to reach him, with Pepper right beside him.
"He's out of the chamber."
"Is he alright?" Natasha asked.
"He's stable. We've cleared his lungs of most of the fluid and put him into bed. He's exhausted – not surprisingly – but the fever that he went into the chamber with is well within manageable ranges."
"And his hand?" Steve asked.
The doctor wondered if anyone else had noticed that Rogers had taken hold of Carol's hand when they'd stood up from the table.
"It isn't as healed as I was hoping we'd get it before he came out, but the damage is well on the way to being repaired. We'll finish it ourselves, with a lot of bandages and some physical therapy once the last of the burns heal. Peter's resilient. There shouldn't be much – if any – loss of use."
"Can we see him?" Pepper asked.
"Yes. But only you and Tony – for now," he added when the others looked like they were going to protest. "The rest of you can check on him in the morning. Right now, what he needs is a lot of rest and some quiet."
"We can wait," Fury said, before anyone else could say anything. "Tony, if you need anything, let us know. I'm going back to bed."
He handed Nutmeg to Natasha and left without protest. His agreement cut off any complaint that the others could make, but when everyone else filed out of the room, Shuri and Natasha held back.
"I would like to see my patient," the princess said, ignoring the way her brother rolled his eyes from where he was waiting at the doorway.
He was always concerned about her, and even though she was safe in the compound, he planned to walk her back to her rooms.
"Moms and dads, only," Strange told her, not cowed by the imperious way she made the request. "Princesses and friends, tomorrow." He allowed his expression to soften. "You probably saved his life, Shuri," he told her. "Coming here with the chamber was brilliant. But now that he's out, he's my patient, and you need to let him get some rest before you two start in on driving Tony and T'Challa crazy."
She frowned, but didn't argue.
"You will call me if anything changes?"
"Yes. Get some sleep. I'm sure he'll want some younger company, later."
She left, too, then, but not before Pepper wrapped her arms around the girl and hugged her tightly, reminding her just how much they appreciated what she'd done for them – and making Shuri smile, cheerfully, at the embrace.
When she was gone, Strange looked at Tony and Pepper.
"His lungs are somewhat compromised, right now, just because of the fluid that was in them. It's expected, and we're not worried about it, but I've already told him I don't want him speaking, tonight, and I'll remind you the same, so you don't try to carry on any lengthy conversations. Got it?"
"Yes."
"Go spend some time with your son, then," he ordered, shooing them out of the room. They left, immediately, and Natasha slid into his arms, silently demanding to be held. "He's fine, Natasha…" he assured her, ignoring Nutmeg's low growl of annoyance at being pressed between the two of them. "At least, he will be."
"You didn't expect him to wake up until you brought him out of the goop, though?"
"No. And I can't imagine why he didn't panic and do serious injury to himself when he woke and found himself submerged. Anyone else would have, I'm sure, and with his strength, he could have broken out of the chamber, easily."
"Maybe Alec had something to do with it…"
"That's all I can think of," Strange agreed. "You're leaving?"
"Yes. We just wanted to wait until he was awake before we left."
"But you don't know what's going on with Bruce?"
She shook her head, and brushed a kiss against his cheek before stepping back, out of his embrace and handing him Peter's kitten.
"He just said that he needed us to come get him."
Which made Stephen just as curious as he had been the first time that he'd heard Bruce had finally contacted Natasha, asking for transportation home, rather than take a commercial flight.
"I could portal you," he offered.
"If we need you, I'll take you up on that," she assured him. "Let me and Clint see what's going on, and we'll let you know."
"Fly safe."
She smiled.
"I always do. It's Clint that needs to be reminded."
She gave him a confident smirk – one that he loved so much – and she was gone.
Strange looked down at the slightly ruffled kitten he was holding, but since no one else was in the room to see it, he let himself bury his face in the soft fur for a moment, smiling when Nutmeg purred at the contact.
"You don't get to see him until later, either," he told the kitten.