Exhaustion was nothing new to Peter, but he hadn't felt it to this extent since before he became Spider-Man.

Here at the tower infirmary, Tony has been strictly enforcing new rules, including keeping Peter on bed rest. Bed rest was definitely the worst punishment he'd ever been given. He had nothing to do all day besides lying in bed hoping Ned or May would come visit him.

Neither of them have visited in a couple days. The accident was about a week ago now, and since Peter was healing so well, they decided to get back to their actual lives since there wasn't anything to worry about. Peter was annoyed, sure. His only source of entertainment besides the TV across the room, had stopped. But he knew in the grand scheme of things they had things they needed to be doing instead of sitting by his bedside.

Peter really had to give it up to Dr. Banner for helping him through his recovery. Only about a week since the explosion and Peter was almost 100%.

His memory was still a work in progress, but for the most part it had returned. There were still some small details that were really fuzzy to Peter, mainly the last bit of the conversation he had before the actual explosion. But, as Dr. Banner assured him, he would have his memory back completely within the next couple days or so.

Peter's advanced healing was what was causing him to be so exhausted all the time. He might be complaining to Tony about being stuck on bed rest, but truth be told, he didn't have the energy to get out of bed if he had the chance.

His body had never had to work as hard to repair itself before now, and it was like he has been working double shifts for the past week.

Most, if not all, of the smaller cuts and bruises were already healed and all his body was working on now was his leg.

His leg was by far the worst injury he had. Probably ever. After being slammed into the dumpster back in that alley, he sustained an open fracture midway down his shin.

Peter won't ever forget the yelling that occured when Tony reached the tower, carrying Peter in his arms.

"Moving someone with an open fracture is not only dangerous, it's downright stupid, Tony! You should've called and waited for me to get to you!" Bruce yelled as he rolled one of the slim hospital-esque bed over to where Tony just landed, to place the injured boy on.

Tony carefully lowered Peter down, thankful Bruce was acting quickly. Peter stared up at him in confusion, having woken up not long before Tony reached the tower.

"Open.. fracture?" Peter questioned quietly from below the two men. He never learned the full state of his leg injury.

Tony and Bruce ignored him, opting to get right to work.

"Listen," Tony started. "I couldn't just wait there, Bruce. I was already panicking and I didn't want to risk a panic attack with him unconscious and bleeding, okay? I just couldn't."

Bruce paused for a second to look at Tony. "I'm sorry, Tony. I didn't mean to yell." He apologized as he continued placing an IV into Peter's arm.

"It's fine. Just fix him."

Now his leg was stuck in a boring white cast, with an exception of the few names he had scribbled across the plaster from his friends, for another week until his bones fully heal.

And don't get him started on his head. Concussions are not fun. He constantly feels like his head is a drum at a rock concert.

Worst of all, the concussion seemed to worsen his nightmares. As if his brain was trying to push the pain somewhere else, and it all got dumped right into his dreams.

He suffered from nightmares ever since his uncle Ben was killed. Back then they were manageable, and he got them under control once he finally caught the killer.

Then he started being Spider-Man more, and they got worse.

Ever since Toomes dropped that building on him a few months ago, it was incorporated in a nightmare almost every single time.

Just thinking about being back in that rubble, struggling to breathe, water soaked through his clothes causing him to shiver, the fear of never being found, was enough to send a chill down Peter's spine.

Sometimes it wasn't him under the rubble.

Sometimes it was Tony. And Peter couldn't help him in time.

Sometimes it was Tony realizing he was making a mistake trying to mentor Peter.

But, easily, the worst of all, was one that combined all of his past nightmares into one, and it had been playing on repeat since he'd been in recovery.

Peter dropped himself down into the alleyway below, startling the two men he had been watching.

"Ah. Spider-Man. Good to see you," the shorter of the two spoke up with a sickening smile.

Peter squinted. "I'm sorry?"

"I said, good to see you. We've been waiting for you."

"You've been waiting for me? Okay, I'm confused. I'm supposed to be the one waiting for you. Not the other way around," Peter explained.

"You know, I'd expect someone of your age to understand what's going on here."

Peter just stared. What the hell was going on?

"Anyway, I'll save you some brain power and cut to the chase," he paused, likely for dramatic effect. Peter rolled his eyes. "You remember my boss, Adrian Toomes, right?"

Peter quirked a brow. "Toomes was your boss? What, did he not pay you enough so you had to go around robbing banks?"

Surprisingly the Bank Blaster let out a laugh. "Good one, but no," he stepped towards Peter, "He told me who you are."

Peter froze. He was bluffing. Surely if Toomes let his identity out, he would've had more people coming after him. Right?

The Bank Blaster took another step towards him, and looked Peter up and down. "Peter Parker. Sophomore at Midtown. Spotted quite often with Tony Stark. Is that where you got your suit? Did Stark make it for you?"

Shit. Toomes did release his identity. If Peter didn't silence this guy now, there was no telling who he'd tell.

Peter shook himself from his thoughts. He needed to focus. Taking this guy out was what he needed to do, and he won't stop until he does just that. He can't risk his identity getting out even more. "Do you have an obsession with Tony? Is that why you're doing this? In hopes that he'll come out and try to stop you?"

"No, no. Quite the opposite in fact. I'm carrying out Toomes' last mission. And to do that, I needed to get you away from Stark."

"What do you want with him? And why do you need me away from him?" Peter asked, a little too angry for his liking. He was getting tired of this. Why couldn't bad guys learn to just get to the point instead of wasting time being confusing? "

"I want him dead. Why else do you think I'd be standing here talking to you? It's called a diversion, kid."

Peter's first reaction was to step back, mostly in fear. He was having trouble processing this. Karen's calm voice filled his ears and he calmed down for a second until he processed what she actually said.

"There's been an explosion at the tower, Peter. It's Tony's floor."

Not another word escaped Peter's mouth as he turned to web sling his way out of the dark alley.

When the tower came into view, Peter cursed. The top two floors were filled with smoke, the fire had probably already been put out by some of F.R.I.D.A.Y's software.

Nonetheless Peter didn't hesitate to swing himself through one of the windows, much like he did at the Washington monument.

Peter crashed into the building feet first, landing in the living room. The amount of smoke was worrying to Peter. He could barely see five feet in front of his face, partially due to the amount of useless widgets on his masks display. He yanked the fabric off his head and tossed it to the side, not caring where it landed.

Immediately smoke filled his lungs and he did his best to cough it out, and breathe in as little as possible. "Mr. Stark? Where are you?" He yelled through a cough and waited for a response as he checked through the room he was currently in.

This room was empty, and there wasn't a response to his question. Peter started to panic.

"Mr. Stark, please! Where are you?"

Then he heard it.

It was faint, but it was clear as day.

A soft "Pete?" rang out from Tony's bedroom.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Peter yelled to him and he sprinted to the room.

He had to avoid a few small flames and some chunks of ceiling that fell as he ran under, but after coming to a halt in Tony's bedroom, Peter gasped.

The living room was nothing compared to the condition of Tony's bedroom.

The amount of smoke seemed to have doubled, the explosion was probably worse in this room, and almost the entire ceiling had collapsed. If it wasn't for the dim blue glow of Tony's arc reactor, Peter wouldn't know where to start looking.

"Mr. Stark! I'm here! Don't move, okay? I have to lift this up," he explained as he moved into a position to lift the chunk of ceiling that was currently crushing Tony's legs.

"Why didn't you see it coming, Peter?"

Peter was taken aback and paused what he was saying. He couldn't have heard right. Tony would never say something like that to Peter. He didn't mean it. Did he? As Peter continued to stare down at the man who was looking up at him, he let out a shaky breath. Maybe he hit his head and doesn't understand what he's saying. "What?"

"This is your fault," Tony deadpanned without hesitation as he held his eye contact. "I'm going to die here because of you."

Peter didn't know what to do. Why was Tony suddenly saying these things? This wasn't like him. He was injured. He'd be okay after he got out, right? "You're not gonna die. I just have to move this, and you'll be fine, Mr. Stark," tears started to collect at the corners of his eyes at the sight of Tony's emotionless face.

He bent back into position and started to lift, but was stopped once again when Tony continued on his rant.

"Don't you get it? I wasted my time with you," he paused and a tear slipped down Peter's cheek. "You're a failure."

That was the breaking point for Peter. Tears fell from his eyes and he was at a loss for words. "What? No.. You don't mean that. Stop it," he tried telling his mentor.

It made no sense. The man he looked up to for years, the man who made his legacy on not giving up, the man who didn't give up on him, was now giving up and blaming Peter for it.

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now."

Peter was getting angry now. Who the hell did he think he was, saying these hurtful things to him, after all they'd been through in the few short months of knowing each other. Tears continued to roll down Peter's face, and it was getting harder to take a full breath.

"S-stop.. Stop saying," he paused to try and take a deep breath, but ended up getting stuck in a sob, "that, Mr. Stark. You don't.. Don't mean it."

But Tony didn't reply.

"Mr. Stark?"

Peter frantically raised a dirty hand to his face and wiped the tears from his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision so he could look down and see what was wrong. He dropped his hand as he looked to see Tony's head to the side with his eyes shut, and his arc reactor dimming.

"No!" peter yelled, his voice cracking. "Mr. Stark, no! Wake up!" Peter's tears had collected again and he was struggling to see now. "Please, Mr. Stark! I need you.."

A loud crack rang out above him and Peter glanced up to see another chunk of ceiling rocking back and forth, about to fall on the pair.

He dropped the chunk he'd been attempting to lift this whole time and crawled over to Tony's side. He reached and grabbed fistfulls of Tony's shirt, in a last effort to pull him out. He was gonna be okay. They'd get out of here on time and he'd be fine. He just needed to get him out of here. "Come on, please. Just wake up!" he pleaded again as he pulled his mentor.

It was no use. He was too stuck. The white shirt Tony was wearing ripped in Peter's grip and he dropped back to the floor with a thud.

The only way to move him was to lift the chunk pinning him to the ground. Peter looked back up to keep an eye on the piece that was ready to fall at any moment.

He watched in horror as the piece finally came loose, and cascaded down towards him.

Peter let out a yell.

Peter shot up in his bed as his yell faded. He glanced at his surroundings to be sure he wasn't in that building anymore.

Like he suspected, he was in the infirmary of the tower. It was just another nightmare. Tony was fine.

Tony. Shit.

Peter quickly pulled his blanket up to his face and wiped away his tears. Tony was probably coming any minute. That yell was pretty loud.

As if on cue, the door to his room was thrown open and a panicked Tony ran in. "What? What is it? Are you okay?"

Peter glanced down at his lap in shame. Dream-Tony's words fresh on his mind. "I'm fine," he mumbled, barely audible.

"Are you sure? I thought I heard a yell." Tony was trying to question him, get something out of him. He wasn't dumb. He knew about the nightmares. May had told him about them before Peter stayed at the tower for the first time. But he didn't want the kid to know he knew, so he kept his distance.

Peter still avoided looking at Tony. He couldn't get the image of his face so emotionless out of his head. "Yes, I'm fine. Can I just go back to sleep now?"

Tony watched as he fiddled with the edge of his blanket. He sighed in defeat. "Yeah sure, kid. Whatever you want."

Without taking his eyes off Peter, Toby his the light switch and pulled the door shut behind him.

After what felt like the longest week in Peter's life, he was finally off his bed rest restriction and moving back into his own room in the tower.

Bruce scheduled for his leg cast to be taken off tomorrow, and Peter was ecstatic. He was sick off the link of plaster weighing him down everywhere he went.

As for his head, he no longer felt like he was being used for a punching dummy, and his entire memory finally made its return. Unfortunately for his nightmares, his full memory only made them worse.

He hadn't had any bad ones lately to the point where Tony was aware of what was going on, except for the one in the infirmary but Peter tried to play that one off as best he could, and he wanted to keep it that way.

This was something he could deal with on his own. He didn't need to bother Tony with his problems. He was Spider-Man after all. Why should he let some dreams get to him?

Peter was sitting on the edge of his bed texting Ned about all the crazy stuff he couldn't wait to catch up on when he heard a gently knock on his door. He picked his head up to see Tony peaking in.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" Peter questioned as he dropped his phone to his lap to give the man his full attention.

At this point Tony has stepped completely into the room and leaned his shoulder against the door frame. "I was just checking in on you. You had an exciting day moving out of the infirmary and getting up to speed with your friends. I figured you'd be asleep by now."

Peter smiled at the gesture. Ever since the accident, Toby tried not to let Peter leave his sight for too long. He was probably afraid he'd hurt himself again. "I'm fine, Mr. Stark," Peter ensured him for probably the 10th time today.

"Well if you need anything, I'll be in the lounge," Tony told him and looked towards the floor. He seemed like he wanted to say more, but felt like he wasn't in the position to.

Peter opened his mouth to reply when a quiet ding from his lap pulled his attention down to his phone. By the time he looked back up, Tony was gone.

He looked back down to his phone and let out a small laugh at the message Ned had sent him.

He was surprised when his laugh turned into a yawn. He hadn't felt sleepy until after Tony mentioned it. And he really didn't want to let himself get lost in his own mind.

Leaning back into a half sitting, half lying down position, Peter continued to text back and forth with Ned.

A few more yawns made themselves present and Peter frowned. He hated how easy he'd been tired out these past few days, but Bruce assures him he'd be back to normal in no time.

Letting himself close his eyes for only a few moments was a mistake. It didn't take long for his body to give in, and he fell asleep.

Tony dropped himself down onto the couch in the lounge with a sigh.

"Still worries about the kid, huh?" Bruce suddenly spoke up, and surprisingly made Tony jump. "Sorry," he mumbled at the reaction.

Tony turned to look at him and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "I just.. i don't know, Bruce. He's only 15 and he's been through nearly as much shit as I have, if not more."

"It's obvious you really care for him. You can't protect him from everything. As much as every parent wants to wrap their kids in bubble wrap and protect them from the world, it doesn't look like that."

"I'm not a parent," Tony countered almost instantly.

"You're pretty close to one. And the closest that kid has to a father figure. Deny it all you want, but why do you think he looks up to you so much?"

Tony seemed to process what Bruce was saying. He always considered Peter as his kid, but he never thought about Peter thinking of him as his father figure.

"He doesn't deserve all he's been through, but you can't change what's already happened to him. You just have to be there now, to prevent worse stuff from happening."

Tony muttered a curse and rubbed at his temples. "How am I supposed to be there for him with everything that's going on with the new accords? I can't get Ross off my back long enough to pay attention to Peter."

"Ross can suck it, okay, Tony? Me, Pepper, and the rest of us will do all we can to get him off your back."

Tony nodded his head, signaling his thanks. "I just… How do I get Peter to talk to me? He doesn't tell me what he gets up to when he goes on patrol and he ends up like this," he gestured to Peter's room around the corner. "He refuses to talk about his nightmares, and he's afraid to sleep. I recognized the fear in his eyes," he slumped forward and dropped his head into his hands.

Bruce didn't respond right away, and Tony listened to some shuffling coming from his direction, until the couch dipped next to him and an arm was draped over his shoulder in comfort. "Tony. You can't expect him to talk to you about everything. Like you said, he's 15. All teenagers are stubborn. He might even be as stubborn as you are now," he said with a slight laugh. "Just show him that you're there for him, and will be no matter what. He'll come to you eventually."

Tony nodded in understanding. He just wished Peter would come to him sooner rather than later. He'd like to avoid another situation like this.

"Thanks, Bruce."

"Of course, Tony. Just like you'll be there for Peter, I'll be here for you." He paused to let go of Tony and reclaim his position in the chair next to the couch. "Now what do you say we continue that show we started earlier. What's it called?"

"Game of Thrones," Tony supplied the answer as he picked the remote up off the coffee table and hit resume.

Tony wasn't sure how many episodes he made it through before he drifted off. What he was sure of now was FRIDAY attempting to wake him up.

"Why do you always bother me when I'm sleeping?" He muttered and shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Sir, it appears Peter is having another nightmare."

Tony's eyes flew open and he jumped into a standing position. "Is he still asleep?"

"Yes."

Maybe this was his chance. If he was able to wake Peter up from the nightmare, the kid couldn't deny he had one.

Slowly Tony pushed the bedroom door open and frowned at the sight in front of him. Peter was tossing and turning in his bed, mumbling, with visible tears down his cheeks.

Tony crosses the distance from the door to the bed and gently knelt down so he was at Peter's level.

As he reached forward to shake the poor boy's shoulders he was surprised to hear a very quiet, "Mr. Stark, please… no.." Those four words broke his heart. He was the one Peter was having nightmares about? He was the one causing him distress? Of course he didn't want to come to him for help.

A small son broke Tony from his thoughts and he finally gripped Peter's shoulder. With a gentle shake, he tried to wake him from his dream.

"Pete? Hey, wake up. It's just a dream. I'm right here," he repeatedly whispered as he shook his shoulder until Peter's eyes flew open with a gasp.

He looked around the room frantically, and Tony grappled his other shoulder to ground him. "Hey, look at me. It's over now. You're awake."

Immediately as Peter realized he'd been woken up sobbing, from a nightmare, by the very man in said nightmare, he turned his head and wiped his tears away. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. I didn't mean to wake you."

"What?" Toby questioned louder than he wanted to and cursed when Peter flinched. "You have nothing to apologize for, Peter." Tony gently used his thumb to turn Peter to face him.

"Listen, Peter. Nightmares aren't anything to be ashamed about, okay? I get them too, and they suck, and as much as I hate to admit it, talking about them does help them go away." He paused to noticed Peter was doing his best to look anywhere but Tony's eyes.

"Please, Pete. Just talk to me. I know this is hurting you, and it hurts me to see you like this."

Peter fiddled with his hands as he considered his options. Talk to Tony and hopefully get some relief, or suffer in silence for the rest of his life. He really didn't like the idea of admitting to Tony that he was afraid of failing him, but he couldn't live on no sleep forever.

"They're.. They're stupid," he broke the silence without looking at Tony. "It's usually you, or may, instead of me trapped under the building and I can't save you in time. Or.. Or it's me under the rubble and.. and.. and you t-think I'm a failure," he was forced to take a deep breath of air with the realization he was now sobbing. Again. In front of Tony Stark.

"But this time… It was.. It was you who got.. Blown up. And when I tried— tried to save you, you kept calling me a failure and that.. and that you made a mistake taking me in.. But I- I still tried to save you because.. 'cause I knew you didn't mean it. And you.. you.. y-you," he trailed off in tears. He couldn't bring himself to admit it.

Tony understood. The kid was young and afraid of losing another person, his mentor — his hero. Tony just brought Peter into his chest to comfort him and give him time to let it out. "It's okay, Pete. I'm not going anywhere."

He rubbed small circles into his bed, and found his other hand running through his hair, similar to what his mom used to do for him as a child.

Neither of the two spoke for another 10 minutes as Peter finally calmed down and was starting to drift again. "Feel better?" Tony whispered without moving.

A small nod was Peter's only response as he melted further into Tony's grip, clearly exhausted.

"Come on, let's lay you down," Tony mumbled as he cradled Peter's head and gently shifted to place Peter in his bed. Tony continued to massage the boys head as he pulled the covers back up. "Sleep tight."

Slowly Tony pulled his hand from the mess of curls Peter calls hair, and was surprised when Peter reached out to grab his wrist. "Please, stay," he almost whined.

Tony grimaced as he looked at the small bed. He'd definitely need to upgrade it to a queen, at least. But of course he couldn't just leave Peter after he finally managed to break through his tough outer shell.

"Okay, but only if you promise to talk to me about this stuff from now on," he bargained with the teen as he was already crawling over Peter to the other side of the bed where he squished himself against the wall in a half sitting, half laying, and definitely not friendly to his body position.

Peter burrowed himself under the covers with a gain "mhm" until only his curls stuck out.

Tony carefully reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to take a picture.

He couldn't help the smile that formed on his face as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of Peter's head. "Goodnight, kid."