WARNING: This chapter contains a description of a graphic injury towards the end. Please read with caution
Everyday for Peter started the same. Waking up to the smell of toaster waffles that May never failed to make for him, throwing on whatever shirt and jeans he found that weren't that dirty, stuffing his Spider-Man suit in the bottom of his backpack, and grabbing the toaster waffles from May on his way out of the small apartment.
Once he got to school was where the day was unpredictable. He never knew what kind of shit he'd have to put up with from Flash, and he never knew what Ned would let slip. He always let something slip, whether it was something huge, or something only Peter would understand.
Getting through the school day as quickly as possible was something Peter nailed to a science. Head down, keep walking. Answer a maximum of 3 questions per class, otherwise Flash assumes Peter is showing off. The less confrontation he gets with Flash, the quicker he can get on patrol, and today he was itching to get on patrol.
Peter was about to crack yet another mystery case the police department were getting nowhere with. And once he catches the culprit, he's sure Tony would offer him an Avengers position.
Someone had been going around the city using highly advanced explosives to break into banks and different stores. It was no wonder the local police department haven't had any luck, after all, they've never dealt with alien tech before. Luckily enough for Peter, he has. And he knew just who had to be behind the explosions.
There was only one problem.
His time frame for striking was between 4am and 5am.
If this was happening before May caught Peter with the suit on, Peter would have no trouble staying out on patrol that late and catching the guy like a piece of cake. But of course Peter didn't get off that easy.
Once May calmed down enough to rationally speak to her nephew about the insane things he'd hid from her, she laid out a few ground rules. Most of them were very simple, like making sure all his homework was finished before he was allowed to go out, coming back home for dinner, and no patrolling on Saturdays. That was their movie night.
But the one rule that Peter dreaded, the one rule that kept him from being able to catch the guy behind the advanced explosions, was his curfew.
May made it very clear to him that he was to be back home in bed no later than 3am. And Peter hadn't been able to work up the courage to say screw it and stay out. She threatened a) for every minute he was late, equated to a day without the suit, and b) to call Tony to track him down and bring him home.
There was no way Peter wanted to risk losing his suit privileges for longer than a day, so he hasn't made any attempt at staying out later. Besides, he really didn't want Tony to scoop him up and forcefully bring him home in the middle of the night.
But tonight was when that changed. He was going to catch the guy for sure.
Last night Peter was doing his usual stakeout from the top of a building when he noticed a figure walking repeatedly around a building, taking notes. As he got closer, and with the help of Karen, he was able to make out the notes.
Target
Pita Hot 0300
Secondary
Queens County SB
Peter managed to snap a picture of the page, and he read over it multiple times, perched above the figure.
It made no sense for the target to be Pita Hot. That was just a small restaurant on the corner. They wouldn't have nearly enough cash in the register for this to be the advanced weapons guy. But, the target time was 3am and it was close enough to the time frame, but just far enough if he was trying to shake the cops.
SB. SB. What the hell does SB mean, Peter pondered. By now, he watched as the suspect fled, not providing him anymore help.
This guy was known for hitting banks and department stores, so why the hell was he hitting a Pita Hot?
"Karen, activate night vision," Peter announced suddenly as he stood up. Karen acknowledged and Peter grinned from ear to ear. He was right.
The suspect was trying to throw the cops off by striking earlier and actually blowing up the restaurant, before hitting the Queens County Savings Bank across the street.
Now, all Peter needed to do was beat him to the restaurant and fool his plans. "This will be easy," he told Karen after explaining his plan to her.
"What about your curfew, Peter?" Karen retorted and Peter scoffed.
"I don't think May will be too mad when she sees I caught the Bank Blaster, as the news refers to him."
The only thing Peter was risking by staying out past curfew was Tony swooping in and taking him home, but Peter had a solution.
He'd just catch the guy before Tony shows up. Then once he does, he'll see what a good job Peter did and he'll have to offer him an avengers spot.
Peter was up and out of the school doors almost as soon as the bell rang. It might only be 3pm, but he had to get some supplies before his stakeout.
Running into his usual changing alley, he double checked his surroundings before he pulled his Spider-Man suit out of his backpack and slid it on after he stripped out of his normal clothes.
He really had to give it to Mr. Stark for going above and beyond with this suit. The autofit technology already came in handy more times than Peter would like to admit.
Like usual he webbed his backpack to the dumpster and hoped nobody would steal it. He probably should come up with a better plan considering he has had 5 replacement backpacks this year alone, but hey, he was too excited to get out there on patrol to really care.
Swinging through the city was one of Peter's favorite feelings in the world. He always got such a rush from swinging from building to building. The wind blowing on his face, well mask, and the thrill of falling before getting swooped back up was something he'd never be able to give up.
Carefully Peter lowered himself to the ground in front of a small convenience store. Just as he was about to pull open the glass door, he noticed some motion out of the corner of his eye.
Turning to what the motion was, he couldn't help the smile that formed on his covered face at the sight of the small boy who was waving at him.
Of course, Peter was far from famous, but every once in a while a child recognized him, either from tv news reports, or just seeing him swing through the city, and that recognition alone was enough to motivate him to keep doing what he does- looking out for the little guy.
He waved back to the child and let out a small chuckle when the little boy's face lit up and he immediately started tugging on his mom's shirt.
Even if Peter had a really bad day or night, he always looked forward to making a kid's day. And he knew exactly why.
Because the same thing happened to him back in 2010 at Mr. Stark's Stark Expo. When Iron Man saved him, and it was from that day on he tried his best to be just like his hero.
A small voice from under him drew him from his thoughts and he looked down to see the little boy now standing by his side.
The little boy waved his little hand in a gesture for Spider-Man to bend down, so Peter did just that. He got down on one knee to be at the same height as the small boy.
As soon as Peter was about the same size as the boy, the little leaned closer to whisper where he assumed Spider-Man's ear was. "You're my hero, Spider-Man," he whispered and threw his arms around Peter's neck in a surprise hug.
Peter smiled under his mask and hugged the child back. He heard the click of a camera and assumed the boy's mother took a photo of the interaction.
As Peter pulled away from the hug, his hands lingered on the boy's shoulders. "Thank you, that means a lot to me," Peter told him as he attempted to make eye contact. Truth be told, eye contact with a mask that covers your entire head isn't the easiest thing, but he ignored that fact as he watched the little boy grin from ear to ear.
The little boy finally stepped back giving Peter enough room to stand up. As he did so, Peter ruffled the child's hair, just like Mr. Stark did to his head at the expo.
Peter ignored the rest of the crowd that he now noticed had gathered around him as he pulled the convenience store door open and walked in.
After an unexpected but not unwelcome event, Peter was back on track for tonight.
He just needed to grab a few snacks to get himself through the stake out. Afterall, he was going to be waiting on a rooftop until 3am.
Peter grabbed a small basket and tossed in some various snacks.
After his basket was quite full he glanced down to check out his haul. There were a few bags of Doritos, different types of candies, a 4 pack of Red Bull, and an apple. He had to at least eat one healthy thing tonight.
Dropping the almost overfilled basket on the checkout counter, he pulled his wallet out of an undetectable pocket on his hip, next to his web refill cartridges.
He pulled a $20 bill out of the very battered wallet and handed it to the cashier, who was giving absolutely no reaction to helping a dude in a blue and red spandex suit.
Peter waited patiently as the cashier pressed various buttons on the cash register before putting the bill into the drawer once it popped open, and pulling out smaller bills for change. He reached across the counter and dropped the change into Peter's open hand, and slid the back across the counter for him to take. Finally Peter was on his was to his stakeout location.
He picked a rooftop a couple buildings down from the Pita Hot. He perched on the edge of the roof, looking over the two buildings the Bank Blaster was supposed to hit, and glance at the clock in the corner of his display. It was only 5pm. He thought about going out and doing some small patrol jobs to speed up time, but he didn't want to risk missing anything in case the Bank Blaster's plans changed.
Dropping down to sit more comfortably on the edge, he cracked open his first Red Bull. This was going to be a long night.
Two Red Bulls and three bags of chips later, Peter was awoken by the sound of an alarm within his mask. He wasn't sure how long ago he'd nodded off but the message on his display read 15 minutes until curfew.
Peter grinned. 15 minutes until his culprit planned to strike. He climbed off the edge onto the rooftop and attempted to clean up the mess he made.
"Shouldn't you be heading home, Peter?" Karen spoke up as he crushed one of the small tin cans.
"Not tonight, Karen. The Bank Blaster is gonna be here any minute, and I have to catch him," Peter replied, chucking his trash back in the plastic bag.
"You know Tony Stark and May Parker will be notified of your location once 3am hits and you're not home, right?"
Peter rolled his eyes. "Yes, Karen. I'm fully aware. Besides, I want Mr. Stark to know where I am so he can see what I accomplished."
Tires screeching on the street below him caught Peter's attention. "He's here," he whispered to the only other "person" with him.
"Karen, activate enhanced reconnaissance mode."
His AI did as Peter instructed and night vision was activated as well as enhanced audio. Perching back on the building's edge, Peter listened carefully.
"Are you sure we should do this? We've had the cops on our tail for the past week and this is a much bigger hit."
"If all goes to plan we'll be in and out in 10 minutes. Stop being so paranoid."
"But, if all doesn't go to plan, we're screwed… I can't go to jail!"
"It's too late to back out now, so get out of the van and start the set up."
Peter watched as the two figures stepped out of the van and headed towards the back of Pita Hot. His chances at getting both suspects were much better if he would be able to get the leader first. He assumed the man in charge was the one with confidence, aka the Bank Blaster. If he subdued the Bank Blaster first, whoever his partner is would most likely give up as well.
Here goes nothing, he told himself as he dropped from the roof, landing right in front of the two figures.
"Sorry guys, looks like Pita Hot is closed. Why don't you just head home," he suggested in his confident Spider-Man voice as he took a few steps towards the two men.
"I don't think I invited you, Spider-Man," the bigger of the two spoke up, almost growling his name.
Peter put a hand over his chest. "Aw, you know my name. I'm touched," he tried to sound sincere. "How about you tell me yours, so we can really be friends?" The question was worth a shot, even though he knew the Bank Blaster would have to be stupid to actually give up his real name.
"Phineas Mason," he spat out after a moment of consideration.
Peter was shocked. He didn't think he'd actually give up his name that easily.
"But I prefer The Tinkerer. Not the stupid Bank Blaster, as the media dubbed me."
"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Spider-Man. I prefer, well, Spider-Man," Peter joked calmly as he leaned against the brick wall of Pita Hot. "Now how about you tell me why you're out here blowing up banks and soon this Pita Hot. You know that's illegal right?"
Peter seemed to hit a nerve with The Tinkerer. "I didn't have much option after you caught my boss. Left me on the run with whatever tech I had left at the warehouse."
He quirked a brow under his mask. "I'm sorry, you lost me, your boss?"
The Tinkerer smiled. "Adrian Toomes," he paused, and Peter froze.
He sure was glad he was wearing a mask right now, because he definitely had a shocked expression that a superhero should never bear.
"Rings a bell, doesn't it," The Tinkerer continued, and Peter forced himself to reign in his emotions and focus on what he came here for. "Rumor has it he knows just who you are.. Under the mask, that is."
Peter's heart skipped a beat. If this guy knew his identity, he'd spill it to the world if he was captured.
"Too bad he refused to tell me."
A breath of relief was released and Peter calmed down. His secret was safe. "Yeah, well, like you said. It's just a rumor," he stepped away from the wall and faced the two men in front of him. "Hey… That looks important," he mumbled as he quickly reached his hand forward and shot a web out to snatch whatever device was in The Tinkerer's hands.
Peter turned the object over to look at it from all sides. "What even is this?" He questioned as he turned it over and noticed a small red light. He looked up to the The Tinkerer and was confused as to why he hadn't tried to get this back or make a move.
"What does the media refer to me as?" He asked smugly as he reached into his pocket.
"Well, they call you that Bank-" Peter's words stopped in his mouth as he watched as The Tinkerer hit a small button on a remote, causing the red light to blink rapidly.
Peter's first reaction was to drop the bomb on the ground and run as far away as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for him, as soon as the small device hit the ground, it exploded.
The momentum of the explosion behind him threw Peter further into the dark alley. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he was flung through the air.
His leg connected first with a dumpster, a sickening crack sure would've been heard if Peter's ears weren't ringing and if his head wasn't pounding already.
Almost as soon as his leg hit the corner of the dumpster, so did the rest of his body.
His back connected next and the metal warped underneath him, presumably creating a Peter sized dent in the thick metal.
Finally the force of the explosion snapped his head back into the other corner of the dumpster. Pain flared throughout his body immediately and Peter didn't bother fighting the urge to give into unconsciousness as his body came to a stop on the cold pavement of the dark alley.
Tony groaned and rolled over in his bed as an alarm blared throughout his bedroom. "FRIDAY turn that the hell off. Can't you see I'm sleeping?" He rasped as he shoved his face in his pillow in an attempt to block out the loud noise.
"Sir, it's 3am," his AI insisted and tony fought the urge to grab his phone and manually power her down for the remainder of the night. This was the first night in quite a while he had been able to fall asleep and stay asleep. That was until now.
"Thanks for the time update FRIDAY, but I'd like to get back to my surprisingly peaceful slumber. If you don't mind."
There was a beat of silence and Tony thought he'd finally gotten through to his AI and he'd get the rest he deserved.
That short moment of peace fled when she spoke up again.
"Sir, it's Peter's curfew alarm. He has yet to enter his apartment. My protocol is to notify you and May Parker."
Tony audibly groaned again. Of course the kid is still out attempting to fight crime. Hopefully a phone call from a tired, and very angry Tony Stark would knock some sense into him. "Call him," he ordered FRIDAY as he rolled over to lie on his back and stare up at the ceiling as he waited for Peter to pick up.
A few more beats of silence passed and Tony's anger was growing with every second the kid was ignoring his call for.
"Sir, there was no response."
"Dammit, Peter," he mumbled under his breath before pausing. "FRIDAY, where is he?"
Tony quirked a brow at the silence that followed his question. It wasn't like his AI to outright ignore him. Something was wrong and he was starting to get an uneasy feeling in his stomach. "FRIDAY?"
"Sir.. It appears as if Peter's tracking system was knocked offline. The last ping was 20 minutes ago around the corner of 76th & Main Street."
Tony crumbled his bedsheet in his fist in an attempt to control his anger. He thought he got through to the kid about disabling software in his suit. Especially when that software could be very vital to his safety.
Vital…
Peter promised he wouldn't disable the tracking system. He knew better. He knew it was important and could get him into even more trouble. Something had to be wrong.
"FRIDAY, give me his vitals," he asked and held his breath as he laid in eerie silence waiting for a response.
"It appears the vital system was knocked offline was well, sir. The last registered vital check, appeared to place Peter in a state of extreme distress."
"Shit!" Tony yelled and literally jumped out of his bed.
He was out of his bedroom and almost into his lab before he finally gave in and took another breath. "FRIDAY, I need his last known location," he paused as he jumped into the closest suit to him. "Now!"
Pain radiated everywhere.
From the tip of his toes to the top of his head.
Not only was he in pain, he was cold. Freezing even. His teeth chattered once he registered just how cold he was.
Peter blinked his eyes open and saw nothing. It was complete blackness. Not even the slight illumination from the moon. It was like he was blind.
And then the panic set in. He couldn't be blind. How could Spider-Man get around if he was blind?
Wait. Spider-Man.
He was in his suit.
He's not blind. His mask is on.
He let out a shaky breath of relief and slowly attempted to wiggle his fingers. Baby steps, he told himself.
He was relieved that he still had control over his fingers, and he carefully lifted his arm off the cold asphalt and reached up to pull his mask off his head.
Peter dropped the mask to the ground and let his arm follow. He was exhausted from that slight movement.
After taking a few moments to collect his breathing, he glanced around his surroundings. He didn't dare move, the pain from lying here was enough.
He could only see in front of him. And all he could see was a couple dumpsters and the dim light of a street light at the end of the alley.
Why am I in an alley? More importantly, why am I in so much pain?
Then it hit him. Karen. He could just ask her.
"Karen?" He croaked out, and winced at how frail he sounded.
He waited a few seconds. No response.
Karen always responds. Something wasn't right.
First his mask was completely dark, and now his AI wasn't answering him.
He took a deep breath in preparation before lifting his arm once again to get a better look at his mask.
Shit.
Just like he thought. Whatever the hell happened to him knocked out his suit.
He was alone.
Alone in a dark alley. With no clue where he was, or what happened.
He had no way to contact anyone. He didn't even know what time it was.
Alone, in pain.
All this thinking was making his head pound, sharp and heavy. Between the pain bouncing around in his head, his leg was the source of the second most pain. And it felt like he was on fire below his knee.
He wanted to sit up and get a better look, but even the slightest movement threatened his head.
He felt stuck.
He couldn't move in fear of causing himself more pain, and he couldn't even completely see where he was.
It was the building all over again.
Flashes of him trapped under the rubble, struggling for air, fear of dying alone without anyone knowing, played out in his head.
He never told Mr. Stark about that. He couldn't bring himself to. And now he never would.
He didn't realize tears were falling from his eyes until he tried to take a breath and found himself sobbing, but he didn't bother wiping them off or trying to "man up". This was it.
Tony came to a hovering halt once his suit beeped.
The closest to a location FRIDAY could give was a half mile radius from Peter's last suit ping. He could be anywhere within the small blue circle that was shown in the bottom corner of Tony's display.
"Sir, hovering here isn't going to help. Every second counts." FRIDAY suddenly announced and drew him from his thoughts.
Right. FRIDAY was right. Without knowing exactly where Peter was or what condition he was in, he couldn't afford to waste anymore time.
Without hesitating, Tony headed towards the center of the circle, where Peter's last location was pinged at. Maybe he'd get lucky and Peter was smart enough to not move very far.
As Tony passed over rooftops, he came to another halt when some of Peter's webbing caught his eye.
He circled back around to inspect the webbing. It looked like Peter has webbed something to the wall, like he used to do with his backpacks. Even though Tony instructed him not to.
Tony reached forward and pulled the webbing off the wall and freed the contents from beneath it. He stepped back as trash made its way out of a plastic bag. "What the hell..?" he questioned as he picked up two crushed cans of Red Bull.
What could the kid have possibly gotten himself involved in that required two Red Bull's, when Peter shouldn't be drinking any extra caffeine, period.
Based on the rest of the contents it seemed as it Peter was on some sort of a stake out. If Peter had common sense, which Tony kind of doubted sometimes, he would've picked his stake out location based on where whatever event was supposed to go down.
Tony stepped to the edge of the building and took a glance at his surroundings. The street corner was littered with various restaurants and what looked like a small bank..
Shit.
It hit Tony like a truck.
Peter was going after the so called Bank Blaster.
Of course he was. And it wasn't surprising how he failed to mention any of his plans. Such a Peter move.
Tony carefully lowered himself down to the street below and looked around.
The bank looked unharmed. If the Bank Blaster has been here, there would've been a huge hole in the side of the building. Unless Peter succeeded in stopping him. But if that's the case, he wouldn't be missing right now. Something had to have gone terribly wrong.
"Peter? Are you out there?" He yelled, hoping for a response.
Silence followed and Tony's panic was catching up with him. "Peter! Where are you!"
Tony looked at all the dark alleyways Peter could be down. The thought of Peter alone, possibly injured, in a dark alley sent shivers down his spine.
"Sir," FRIDAY spoke up and Tony jumped. "Would you like me to activate your new thermal imaging software? It's still in beta, but it should work."
Tony almost face-palmed. He completely forgot about that. This situation was causing him so much panic he forgot about something that would be very useful right now.
"Yes, FRIDAY." He answered softly. "Thank you."
The only answer his AI gave him was a quiet click before the software turned on and Tony saw everything based on their heat signature.
He turned to face the first alleyway of many. A quick glimpse down and he was greeted with a few rats, but no Peter. He wasn't sure if that should be relieving or worrying.
He approached the next alley and prepared himself for the worst. He glanced into the dark, and froze.
There, on the ground halfway into the alley, was a Peter sized heat signature. He looked motionless. "Fuck." He muttered as opened the suit and jumped out.
FRIDAY turned his arc reactor into a makeshift light so he could see, even slightly, and he was grateful.
The moment the light hit the blue and red of the suit Tony designed, his heart rate skyrocketed. "Peter?" he asked cautiously as he approached.
No response.
Tony knelt down next to the still boy and held his breath. "Kid? Please say something."
Silence.
Slowly Tony reached out and carefully turned Peter's head to face him. "Kid?" He whispered again as he took in his appearance.
Tear tracks were clear on his face from where they swept up the dirt from his cheeks. Tony didn't even want to think about the different reasons Peter could've been crying.
Pulse. Check for a pulse, he reminded himself and reached forward with a shaky hand and gently rested his fingers on the small boy's neck.
A heavy breath of relief was released at the recognition of the small heart beat beneath his fingertips. "Kid, you gotta wake up," he pleaded as he pushed Peter's matted hair off his forehead.
"Come on, Pete. I know you're strong. Show me."
A long moment of silence followed before anything happened. Before Peter's eyes slowly fluttered open. "Thank god," Tony mumbled with a smile as Peter's vision adjusted.
"Mr-mr. Stark?" Peter rasped as he looked up in confusion. The small movement sent stabbing pain throughout his head and he scrunched his eyes shut tight.
"Peter? Are you alright?"
Peter fought the urge to shake his head in response, which is what he wanted to do instead of speaking. Speaking also hurt. "My.. My head… Everything.. It all.. hurts."
Tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes again, but he couldn't help it. This was the most pain he'd ever felt.
Tony looked up at the dumpster Peter was lying next to. "Based on the head shaped dent in this dumpster, I think you have a concussion."
"A dent? I don't- I don't remember hitting it."
"That's not surprising. Let's just be glad you're conscious right now." Tony glanced back down and sighed. He had to get him back to the tower. "Can you stand? I have to get you out of here."
"I-I think so." Peter replied as he reached up slowly to put his arms around Tony's neck to help him up.
Slowly Tony started to help pull Peter up off the ground.
He froze the second a chilling yell was ripped from Peter's mouth. "What? What's wrong?" Tony asked, panic setting in.
"My-my leg.!" Peter moaned and was back to his original position on the ground with his eyes shut tight.
Tony turned to get a better look at the kid's legs. He sucked in his breath at the unpleasant sight. Peter's left leg was bent at an awkward angle between his ankle and his knee.
And that's when he noticed the blood.
Blood stained the area on the suit right near the break. His bone must've broken the skin.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter spoke up and Tony turned back to face him immediately.
"Yes?"
"My leg... Is it bad?"
Tony pauses and glanced back at it, a small pool of blood forming on the ground.
"No. It's not. Just a small break. You're alright." He spoke gently to the poor boy and cursed himself mentally for lying, but he could barely stomach the injury. That wasn't something a 15 year old needed to see or know about.
"Oh. That's good." Peter said again and relaxed. Not even 5 seconds later Peter spoke up again. "Mr. Stark?"
"What, Peter?" Tony asked a little too harshly as he was trying to figure out the best way to get Peter out of there.
Peter didn't reply.
Tony turned to see Peter's head had lolled to the side and his eyes were relaxed.
"Shit."
He'd passed out. It was now or never to move him. Tony didn't want to leave Peter lying on the ground any longer, but he had to get back into his suit.
FRIDAY seemed to know what he was thinking and as Tony turned, his suit was already right behind him. "Thanks," he whispered as he stepped back in.
Once he was back in the suit, Tony reached under Peter's knees and arms to carry him back to the tower.
"You'll be okay. I promise," he whispered more to himself than Peter, and quickly stood before taking off.
"FRIDAY, call Bruce. Now."