The end begins with this. SWAT, FBI, Military shutting down the tower. No one is getting in, and no one is getting out. Tony doesn't e-mail his employees, because the fact that the people that have Peter have him in the basement means they had access to the system. He makes sure there are cameras in the air watching the roof, and he makes sure that the perimeter is surrounded. Cho and her team are standing by for Peter because there is a very little chance that Peter wasn't injured.

He makes sure these people won't get away.

He has his stealth suit on. All dark colors that made him frown the first time he put it on because the black and gray are so different from the red and gold he's associated with.

"All teams check in," Rhodey orders into his com. All the team leaders, Tony, Pepper, Happy, and every other person on perimeter have one. One by one Tony listens as the teams check in- say they're in position. That they're ready, but Tony wonders if they really were.

"All teams accounted for. Begin retrieval process," Rhodey says in his military-commander-voice. He looks over at Tony, nods in determination (or is it reassurance?), and then his face plate slides down.

'Team Beta in position for retrieval process.' Tony hears over the com.

"Team Alpha, where are you on being on position?" Rhodey asks.

There's only static as an answer. Tony turns his gaze to his friend as he speaks into his own com sternly, "Team Alpha, are you in position?"

'Sorry, seemed we went into a blind spot. Team Alpha, in position.'

Tony glanced at Rhodey, and he could tell the other man was looking at him too. Tony knew that tower never had a spot that caused a lack of connection. Hell, he had free WiFi and a whole room set up for high school and college students to use.

Rhodey types something in a holographic message. It's directed to Team Gamma, and the genius knows that he's telling them to go in behind where Team Alpha would be.

If Team Alpha was actually Team Alpha.

"Heading in in three, two…" Rhodey looked over at Tony in confirmation, only continuing when Tony nodded in confirmation, "One!"

•••

Turns out, Team Alpha has been taken down by Bellum's men on the way to the location. Most of Team Gamma had been injured or killed by Bellum's men, and another team had split off to get them medical help.

The fight was quick compared to others. It helped that it was in an enclosed space, and no one had to worry about the building crashing down because there was no way Tony would let that happen. There were so many safety measures built in, Pepper once joked about him building another Titanic.

(He'll never admit to pulling an all nighter planning that out.)

"FRIDAY, have you located Peter yet?" Tony asked, aiming his repulsor at a few people that were ganging up on a couple people from his own side.

'Just did, Boss. Follow this line,' FRIDAY responded. Tony blinked and a line the color of his arc reactor led the path to his kid.

"Thanks, Baby Girl," Tony replies, and started to work his way down the line. To Peter. "Send that over to Rhodey please?"

'Already done, Boss.'

Tony would have thanked her, but he got distracted by a dude literally throwing himself at the inventor.

It was a solid five minutes later when Tony got to the door. Another minute until Rhodey joined him, watching his back while he pressed in the code to get into the room he used as a private lab back when he needed a place to store top-secret projects that doubled as an emergency safety bunker.

It's ten seconds later (ten seconds that feel more like an eternity) that both men slip into the room. It's a tiny room, and Tony only has to take three more steps to another room that needed another code.

Tony turned to Rhodey, "Ready?"

At Rhodey's nod, Tony quickly entered the code, and the two stormed into the room. "Nobody move!" Rhodey commanded.

The sight that Tony was met with made him growl,

horror taking root in his very being.

A man that Tony faintly remembered, who must have been the leader, was holding Peter up by the boy's curls- a gun pointing at the kids heart. Peter was pale. His shirt was gone revealing a multitude of bruises that crawled up his neck and to his face. Scars were littered over his wrists and torso, making Tony wonder if what the kid's back looked like. His eye were half lidded, and the parts of the eye Tony could see, were glazed and spaced out. A clear sign of Peter being drugged.

"Put him down," Tony hissed, aiming his repulsor at the man, "Now."

"Alright-" The man chuckled, pulling on Peter's hair even harder causing a quiet whine to emit from Peter- "We already got what we wanted from him anyways."

Tony knew what was about to happen a second before it did. He roared, shooting his repulser at the man, but even that noise wasn't enough to stop the ringing of a gunshot from reaching his ears. Time seemed to slow down as Tony watched Peter collapse to the floor. He landed on his stomach, and Tony's breath stuttered when he saw the blood coming from his chest.

Against better thinking, and Tony knew that he'd be getting a mouthful from Rhodey for this later, Tony exited his suit, and sprinted over to Peter. "No- kid!" He fell to his knees, gently turning Peter onto his back so he could put pressure onto the gunshot wound. It had hit about an inch below his heart.

"We need medical on sight, immediately!" Tony heard Rhodey say into his coms, but it sounded like his friend was under water.

"Peter, please, please- stay with me, kid. You're not allowed to leave me, not so soon, not ever. Peter, please," Tony begged, pressing harder to the wound. Peter met Tony's eyes, and Tony felt his heart skip a beat. They were still glassy, but Peter's eyes, his wide Bambi eyes, always held so much emotion in them normally. A whirlwind of pain (And was that a hint of remorse? What did Peter have to be sorry for?) were stormed behind the glossiness of Peter's brown eyes.

"Please, Peter."

His eyes closed just as the paramedics rushed into the room.

•••

Two hours. That's how long it had been since Peter had gone into surgery. Tony had insisted on watching from the theatre. He wasn't about to let Peter out of his sight again for a long, long, time. Rhodey, Happy, and Pepper had joined. May was out of state for work, and couldn't get out of it. The woman had made Tony swear that he would update her on Peter's condition every half hour.

Tony stared at the wall just below the glass, not looking away except the times he would flicker his eyes up to make sure Peter was still there. He couldn't get the image of Peter out of his head. Weak, held in the hands of a man who had shot him. Falling, on the ground with blood pooling around him.

Rhodey had forced him to take a shower before going to watch over the surgery. In the back of Tony's mind, he appreciated what his best friend had done. Peter's blood wasn't on his hands anymore (but Tony could still feel it. He knew the blood would never be washed off completely), nor was there any blood on Tony's clothing.

Tony was reaching into his pocket so he could pull ou his phone in order to update May on the situation when the worst sound that he'd ever heard reached his ears.

A flatline.

Tony snapped his head up. "No…" He whispered, standing up to get a better view, even though that was the last thing he wanted/needed at the moment (He just needed to be on the couch watching a movie with Peter, with his son), "No, no, no, no-"

"Tony," Pepper gently consoled, reaching a hand out to rest on her fiancé's shoulder.

Tony just shook his head, and watched as the doctors and nurses rushed to rescue Peter from falling into a place where he shouldn't ever be going to. "Peter, No!" He yelled, pulling away from Pepper to stand right up against the glass.

That was Peter. That was Tony's kid. His kid that shouldn't be having to fight to survive. To breath, or pump blood, or open his eyes. The kid who pretended to be Thor in the mirror, and helped people find where they needed to go on patrol. His kid that was full of life. Running, walking, climbing, and laughing at dumb puns.

That was Peter.

And he had just flatlined.

Peter wasn't supposed to flat line. He wasn't supposed to go before Tony. Before May. He wasn't supposed to go, period.

"Tony, I'm so sorry," Rhodey voiced from behind.

Tony closed his eyes, ducking his head as ears fell down his cheeks even though he felt numbness sweep over him. This wasn't meant to happen. It just couldn't be happening.

Then, just as Tony turned away from the glass, planning on stepping out in the hallway to call May, because God that women was strong, but Tony didn't know how she was going to take this, he heard something that made him stop in his tracks.

"Tony-" Pepper gasped, and grabbed his wrist.

Tony turned around, looking back into the operation. He let out a disbelieving chuckle. He was an idiot to think that Peter would lose this fight. Not when he had a fighting chance.

Because Peter's heart was beating again.

And that's all that mattered.

AN: This marks the end of this tiny plot line. Up next: Day Six: Torture.

Thanks for reading! Please remember to review, favorite, follow, and all that fun stuff. Until next time!

(Come scream at me on my Tumblr! peterneedsahugparker)