"-give him the 'dad talk'". Toomes smiled.
Peter watched uncomfortable as Liz got out of the car and shut the door behind her.
"Let's take a quick ride, shall we, Pete?" Toomes smiled.
Peter brought up his hand to the back of his head, "I actually have to get inside-"
Toomes moved forwards and opened the dashboard, pulling out his gun and leaning his arm where Peter could see.
Peter froze - his heart was thudding against his chest in fear and he felt like he couldn't breathe.
"Shall we, Pete?" Toomes smirked, staring at Peter, who was looking back in pure fear as his heart raced. "I said, shall we?" He repeated with slight anger in his tone.
Peter felt chills run down his spine, "yeah-yes." He stammered quietly as he looked back at the gun and then out the window as he watched Liz enter the building.
Toomes chuckled humourlessly, "who would've guessed Spider-Man would just come to me, just like that?"
Peter watched as Toomes drove out of the area. They weren't taking a 'ride', he was going to kill him. "I'm-I don't know what you're talking about." Peter attempted, even though it was more than obvious.
"Don't play games with me, Pete, I'm not twelve." Toomes groaned. "I'm not-understand when I say that I admire what you're doing." He continued, taking a left down an empty road surrounded by trees after driving for five minutes.
"I'm not doing anything." Peter said, determined to not give himself up.
Toomes glanced back at him and grinned, "you're trying to take down the big baddies. You should've stuck to store thieves and whatnot."
They drove another ten minutes and Peter was getting ready to kick the door down and jump out into the road from the moving car, but it came to a stop.
"One of the quietest areas in the city." Toomes said, turning around to Peter, who had pushed himself as close to the door as he could.
"I'll leave you alone." Peter whispered as his breathing paced.
"You do me that honour? You won't have to." Toomes grabbed the gun from the front seat and before he could pull it at Peter, Peter kicked down the opposite door with both feet and slid out.
Toomes swore and pointed the gun out of the window, but lost him. He looked down the road and scowled, getting out after him.
Peter stumbled straight into the trees. It was dark and it was nighttime, which meant there was the lowest chance that Toomes could see him.
He ran as fast as he could away from the car. "Run. Just run." He told himself, considering it was his life on the line here.
He stopped five minutes in. It may not have seemed like much, but it had to be quite far from the road considering his speed.
He leaned against one of the trees and panted, bending down and putting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He searched his pockets with shaking hands. He could barely hold his phone when he found it.
First he called Happy's number, but if was busy. "No, come on!" He whispered as loud he could, and called Tony next. It rang for a few seconds before he heard the crunching of leaves behind him. He ended the call immediately and pressed the phone against his chest as he tried to stop himself from breathing so loud.
"I have these glasses, Pete - made them myself. I'll see you - wherever you are." Toomes' voice echoed in the forest, as Peter stood frozen in his position,breathing shakily.
No one made a sound for another minute, and the rustling of leaves that Peter was sure was from Toomes was getting further and further away. He waited and heard the man mumbling something in the back, and then moved east in the opposite direction.
The phone that was still pressed against his chest vibrated, and Peter slowly lifted it off, lowing the brightness to minimum before calling again.
"Parker, I hope you're not calling to get the suit-"
"I'm in-I need help-" Peter interrupted, suppressing a cough from the cold and then freezing again when he heard something blast meters from where he was standing.
"What the-what was that? Where are you?" Tony bellowed in the phone, but it was more like angry shouts than questions.
Peter looked back and crouched down next to a wide stump, "I don't know-he knows who I am-he's seen my face!" Peter whispered in a panic.
"Who knows?" Tony waited for a reply but didn't get one. "Peter!"
The steps got closer, and Peter pressed the phone against his chest again, leaning his head against the stump and trying his hardest not to breathe too loud. He could hear the phone and hastily pressed down on the volume switches to stop it from echoing off his chest.
When he thought he hadn't heard anything for a while, he started climbing the tree. The thought that it would be much faster if he had his webs kept running through his head. He reached as far up as he could and then tried to focus around him. He could see small bits and pieces, but no Toomes.
"Hello?" He said in a barely audible tone as he took out his phone again
There was a murmur in the back before Tony answered, "what was that?" He repeated his earlier question.
Before Peter could say something, there was a shuffle on the ground. "Liz tells me you live with your aunt." Toomes stated, and Peter could hear the scraping of his weapon against the trees as the man walked right under him. "I don't usually do this type of thing. It's just not what I do." He said in a tone that made him sound like he was the victim here.
Peter was as still as possible, which he knew was unnecessary, since Toomes wasn't the one with enhanced hearing, but who knewx
"I've never had to. What I do, Pete, it isn't-it hardly ever turns into something big." He justified, sighing so loud that even Peter could hear. "But now it has. Only because of you. You should've stayed in school. Focused on that-what does she do-Decathlon. That's it."
Peter could see a head bobbing up and down as Toomes strolled under him. How useful the suit would've been right here-
The branch he was on snapped. No, it didn't snap, it was shot at from under him. Peter scrambled and tried sticking onto the tree, but not only was it really dark, but he was in such a panic that he didn't see it coming, and landed on the floor.
"A bright red blob really stands out." Toomes pointed out. Before he could finish saying that, Peter was running in the opposite direction, smacking twigs and branches out of his way as a ray of targeted shots followed him closely behind.
The phone. He could hardly breathe because he was running so fast, but the idea that he'd just dropped the phone back there was eating away in his mind, because other than that, he had no idea of knowing where he was or how to get out.
He only noticed the stabbing pain a few minutes into the run. Stitches. He always got stitches in Gym, which was why he was always last. Well, with MJ and Ned. But no, that was before the bite. Now that was a memory. He used the fact that he had to be at least a hundred feet ahead of him to quickly touch his side. It was bleeding.
He got unlucky, because the next bang was followed by a shooting pain in his shoulder. He yelled out loud and staggered, nearly tripping over the leaves flying under his feet. He felt himself slow down and there were a million more things on his mind, which is why he didn't notice the ground disappear under his feet.
It only took a few seconds, maybe more, to tumble down the edge. The last thing he saw was the lit up city ahead of him. Then he was gasping, closing his eyes tightly as twigs hit his face one after the other without a break.
"Peter?" A voice shouted less than a minute later.
He could hardly breathe, but he could make out the cautious shouts from up the cliff. No way the old man would jump to check, he thought. He continued to wheeze, laying facing down on damp soil before finding the urge to roll over on his back. He brought up his hand to his shoulder and groaned, coughing up dirt.
He stopped focusing on himself and listened for the shouts, which had now stopped, and then stared at the sky. It took another minute to snap out of that, and then he pressed down on his shoulder with his right hand, trying to get on his knees. He patted down on his pockets. No phone.
Someone would notice he wasn't there. He kept thinking it, but then there was Liz. Her dad. Her dad, who would call her and say something like 'oh, he wasn't feeling well so I dropped him off, don't worry.' He scowled at the thought. He'd called Mr Stark, but how would they find him? No. They'd find him.
He was felt the blood pulse under his hand and cried out, tightening his grasp to stop the pain.
"You sure this is the place?" Rhodey said, walking around the creeping trees.
Tony scanned the area, "one hundred percent. Friday, where's the phone?"
Before his AI could answer, he started moving towards something popping on his screen. He looked around and stepped out of the suit.
"You think that's a smart idea?" Rhodey called as soon as he saw.
"You got my back, right?" Tony replied jokingly, bending down and picking up the small, smashed device.
Rhodey got closer, keeping a close lookout. "That the phone?"
Tony frowned, "it was the phone." The screen was now frozen on a dimly lit white screen, with blood smudged across it. He looked up from his position and felt a pang of panic.
"Maybe he got out. He's a smart kid." Rhodey said hopefully.
"He didn't get out." Tony said almost instantly, getting back up and into his suit. "Scan the whole place." He flew upwards without waiting for a reply, hovering over the deathly jungle. "Any heat-" he saw a small red dot to his south and dive down, landing on his feet as he stumbled forwards.
He heard Rhodey land just a second after him, and they both closed down on the outline of the body they could see.
"Friday?" Tony asked, and this time he waited for an answer.
"There seems to be bullet wound to the shoulder, and an artificial injury to the stomach. Figure is unconscious." Friday replied.
Tony got much closer before he stepped out of the suit. The light from the arc reactor was more than enough for him to make out that it was definitely Peter.
"Peter?" Tony asked, bending down and looking him over. He could make out cuts on his face, but more importantly, the blood on his white shirt. He was wearing a suit.
"Shit." Rhodey gasped, standing on the other side of Tony.
"Peter, wake up." Tony said calmly. There was a heartbeat - he wasn't dead. "We have to get him out."
Rhodey frowned. "I already contacted the medics-"
Tony nudged him with his hand, and Peter gasped awake, clenching his fists with dirt and dead leaves. He grabbed the cold metal pressing against his chest and tried his hardest to push it off.
"It's me!" A metallic nvoice said in response, but that didn't do a lot for Peter, who cried out and tried shifting backwards.
"Hey, little guy, we got you,," Rhodey said in a firm tone. Peter squirmed under their hold, clawing around the metal hand that was on his shoulder.
Rhodey glanced at Tony, "you sure that's not hurting him?"
Tony looked down at his hand, "I'm stopping the bleeding." He justified in a confused tone.
Peter was hyperventilating, and Tony and Rhodey got ready to move. "Breathe, you have to breathe," Tony said, focused on the injury.
"I can't." Peter finally said, his face scrunching up in evident pain.
"You can, just-"
Peter's breathing slowed and his grip on Tony's hand weakened, his hand falling to one side.
"Peter. I need you to stay awake!" Tony said in a scolding tone. "Rhodey-"
"Medics are too far out."
"Then we take him."
Rhodey contemplated the idea and then nodded, bending down next to Tony.
"It went clean-through."
"Okay, and the-" he waved his hands vaguely around his stomach.
"That didn't do him much harm, it was a small cut."
Tony nodded, "so he's, what, fine now?"
The doctor shook her head, "He'll live. There is a lot of bruising on the face, but I'm hopeful that'll clear up quickly with his healing factor." She said, giving him a small smile before making her way down the corridor.
He waited a few seconds, after the doctor was definitely out of sight, then headed in. It was strange. He'd never seen Peter like that. Granted, they didn't spend a lot of time together, but seeing him injured shook him up.
"Poor face." A voice said, and he turned around to see Maria.
Tony frowned, he hadn't seen her in forever. He looked her up and down, "interns. Always falling down stairs." He said like matter-of-fact.
"Yeah? Your interns get shot falling down stairs?"
"What do you want? Where did you come from?" Tony cut to it, cocking his head.
Maria nodded, "how'd you find him?"
"It's not hard when you know what you're looking for."
"That doesn't really answer my question."
"You didn't answer mine. What do you want?"
"I'm not here to sell him out, if that's what you're thinking."
"Who said I was thinking that?"
"I came here for a reason. I joined you for a reason. I'd never do that." She reassured him, handing him a file. "Unrelated matter." She added quickly in response to a suspicious stare.
She turned to leave and Tony sighed, "what do you know, exactly?" He asked, glancing to Peter to signal what he was talking about.
She looked at Peter, "that a teenager has a billionaire looking out for him." She smirked, and he smiled, watching her make her way out.
He was about to turn back to Peter when Pepper walked in, also carrying a confused look as she looked down the corridor.
"I haven't seen her in a while."
Tony rolled his eyes, "people just can't seem to stop being at the wrong place at the wrong time." He remarked, looking at Pepper now.
"You okay?" She asked, grimacing a little when she took a look at Peter. "Is he okay?"
"Apparently." Tony said, not sounding totally convinced.
Pepper smiled, "well, perks of being a superhero, huh." She said quietly, setting down her file on the table next to the door.
Tony shook his head, "he shouldn't have been there."
Pepper looked up, "why? Where was he?"
"In some for-it doesn't matter. The point is, he shouldn't have been there." He repeated, running his hand over his face. "And he should be healed by now." He looked back at Peter's bruised face. There were tiny plasters and bandages nearly all over him.
"You know who did this?" She said, her tone instantly switching to serious and worried.
"I have an idea." He replied, looking Peter over again. "I ignored the first call." He admitted, saying it like it was a terrible confession.
"His call?"
"I took the suit and I assumed he'd ask for it again so I let it go, and then he called again. If I hadn't-"
"But you did, so stop being like that." She patted his shoulder, "he'll be up and running in no time."
Peter woke up hazily, his eyes staring at the wall for at least minute before he moved himself. The left side of his body felt numb, and he felt small shooting pains in his face when he winced.
He sighed and rolled over, to his side, pulling out some of the tubes sticking to his arm. It made him feel sick. He sat up, feet dangling off the bed.
No windows, he noticed, trying to ignore the face of Liz's dad that kept popping up in the back of his thoughts. He noticed the scratches on his arm when his hoodie sleeve pulled up. He pushed it down and put his head in his hands, feeling a headache coming on. This wasn't his hoodie, why was he wearing it?
He hopped off and his face scrunched up at the pain. His shoes were under a chair next to the bed, and he quickly put them on, pulling up the overly long sweatpants. He made his way out as soon as he tied the laces.
Two corridors. No signs. He looked left and right, then went with right, walking and turning and ending up facing a huge living room. Someone was watching TV, someone else was staring through the window, unnervingly still, and there was a lady on the phone in the back.
He stepped backwards and didn't turn until he was sure they wouldn't see. He turned, running into something and jumping back instantly.
"Busy day?" Tony asked sarcastically, bringing up a hand in mid-air to say no harm.
Peter was surprised, and opened his mouth to speak-
"Come on." Tony gestured with his index finger and started walking towards the room.
Peter awkwardly followed. He didn't want to go in there in front of all those people, but followed.
The lady glanced up and went back to talking on the phone, and the man watching TV, who he was sure was the War Machine, also took a glance and made a face at Tony, who dismissed it.
"Glad to see you are well."
Peter nearly yelled, feeling his heart skip a beat.
"Vision. I'm not having this conversation again." Tony scolded, and the human-robot nodded, stepping backwards.
"My apologies. Hello, Peter. How are you?" Vision asked.
Peter stared dumbfounded. "Uh-yeah-I'm good." He said, continuing to walk behind Tony who had left him seconds ago.
They reached his workshop and he walked in first as Peter slowly dragged behind, standing closely behind Tony, who was now seated and staring and messing with Peter's suit.
"Added a few things." Tony said, looking to his right for Peter, who wasn't there. He turned quickly and sighed in relief when he saw him standing in front of the huge mirrors.
Peter assumed it was there to check out Tony's new suits, since every time he saw it on TV, the suit looked broken. He wondered how many suits his mentor had made. But those were all thoughts at the back of his mind.
All he could see at that moment was himself. His face. Small cuts all over his face. He blinked and his frown got deeper.
Tony noticed, looking at him for a few seconds in guilt before speaking up, "it'll heal."
Peter broke out of his thoughts and nodded, "yeah."
"Peter, listen." Tony started, and Peter turned. "The guy who did this-"
Then Peter moved back in realisation, "you got him?" He interrupted, listening to his own heart thud louder and louder against his chest.
Tony looked away, "no, but-"
"He's seen me!" Peter yelled in a high-pitched tone that Tony frowned at.
"I know that." He said, "there's a police search out for him, he won't be lurking around here any time soon."
Peter looked at him with a mix of fear and anger, "what did you do?"
"Nothing involving you personally." He waited for confirmation and continued only when Peter thought about it for nearly a minute and then nodded. "I'm not gonna lecture you on leaving the hospital room after being shot." He said, and Peter brought up a hand to his shoulder. He'd forgotten too many things.
"I was just trying to-"
"I don't care. I do care about what happened tragically last night."
"Tragically? No one died." Peter shrugged, blinking at the headache and walking to sit opposite Tony.
Tony looked at him incredulously, "no one died? You almost did." Tony said harshly and loudly at Peter, who wasn't looking at him anymore.
"Did you tell May?" He asked quietly.
"No. They said you'd be fine and I figured that would be up to you."
"I'm not telling her." Peter said, because he felt the need to.
"Good. Because if you did, I'd be the one who looked like a-for not telling her that her nephew nearly died. Anyway, why didn't you have your webby things?"
Peter sighed, "because it was homecoming. I was gonna take a night off and just…go to homecoming, because people don't try and just kill you like that, and then I saw her dad and-" He scrunched up his fists and stopped himself from rambling.
"It's not your-"
"Fault, I know, I'm not the one going around killing people." Peter remarked, and Tony made a face, because Peter was starting to talk like him.
"No you're not." He smiled, "how about you go down and catch a movie?"
"I need to call May."
"I called her already. Tell Vision to come with you, he never understands what's happening so that should be fun." Tony shooed, and Peter hopped off the stool.
"Thanks, Mr Stark." He said before leaving, and Tony nodded.
Long wait! Anyway, if you're interested, you can re-read the first chapter, I updated it (like completely changed it), because it kinda wasn't that good.
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