Snow swirled around Danny hypnotically, easing some tension in his chest that he was just barely aware of. A small smile settled onto his face as he looked around the endless expanse of snow and ice, all of it a pure white that made him ache with longing. He shivered slightly at the cool breeze, and sucked in a sharp breath at the chill. The cold made his throat burn, and the smell of chemicals filled him with anxiety. He looked around, hoping to let the ice and snow calm him, but instead all he saw was white walls.

Footsteps approached him and Danny swung his head in their direction. Out of the darkness Ajax emerged, that same grin stretching his face wide. Danny reeled back away from him, but something caught on his legs and stopped him from moving. Ajax laughed.

"Oh, no need to struggle. You can't get away from me." Ajax's eyes glowed red as he reached out a clawed hand and plunged it into Danny's chest, gripping his core and squeezing until his chest felt like it was going to burst. "After all, I'm right here with you." Danny screamed as Ajax pulled his core from his chest.

Bright white light burned his eyes as he threw himself backwards, away from Ajax, the hold on his legs giving away as he went intangible. Ajax continued to grin at him, crushing the green dripping core in his hands and Danny threw himself through the nearest wall. The floor dropped out beneath him and he fell. A short, surprised, yelp pulled itself from his mouth as he fell, and the impact with the ground startled him into consciousness.

Danny stared up at the sky and pulled in several deep breaths as his heart calmed from it's staccato beat into a more even rhythm. Once his heart was calm enough he sat up and looked around him. Gravel crunched under him as he moved, and the steadying hand that he set on the ground for balance was in a puddle of dubious origins. He was in an alley.

Danny breathed in deeply again, wrinkling his nose at the sharp scent of pee and garbage. He lifted his hand out of the puddle and wiped it on his pants. He didn't even want to know what it might be, if it wasn't water. He stood on unsteady feet and started walking. As bad as the alley smelled, he supposed it wasn't as bad as the chemical smell of the medical room that he'd been staying in.

Danny couldn't stay there anymore, even if Stark, Tony, was trying to help him. The man was infuriating, and continued to insist that Danny couldn't leave the med room until his chest was healed. Beyond that, the information that Danny was from another dimension caused a fascination in the man that made Danny uncomfortable.

It didn't take much walking before Danny was confronted with a wall. Wonderful, he thought a dead end, just what I needed. He turned around and walked back in the other direction, grumbling to himself under his breath. The other end of the alley opened up to a busy street, and he stepped onto it tentatively, only to immediately collide with a man that wasn't looking where he was going. They both stumbled back, and the man dropped his phone. Danny looked up and cringed as he was met with Tony's wide eyes.

Danny froze, and then forced what he hoped was a convincingly innocent smile. Tony scowled at him.

"I thought I told you to stay in bed?" Tony was the first to speak, and Danny flinched back a little at the hard tone.

"In my defense, I didn't mean to?" it came out more questioning then he wanted it to. He toed the ground with his bare foot, eyes catching on the bandages, which were starting to stick to his chest. Tony sighed, and Danny's head snapped back up at the sound.

"Alright, kid, let's get you back in bed." Tony reached for his arm, probably to help him into the building, and panic flared in Danny's chest.

"No!" Danny smacked Tony's hand away from him and stumbled back. Tony's eyebrows shot up. "I… I mean… I... I don't have to do what you tell me, you're not my dad!"

"Kid, you're still injured, you should really be in bed right now."

Danny could feel his eyes burn green as panic bubbled in his chest. He couldn't go back there! Not to the white room and the chemicals. Despite the panic he grit his teeth and snarled at Tony, who took a shocked step back.

"You can't make me go back there!" his voice wavered as he spoke, and Tony flinched.

"Okay, okay!" Tony held his hands up placatingly. "We won't go back to the med bay," Danny felt some of the panic bleed away, and he knew his eyes had faded back to blue. He continued to glare. "How about we get you some shoes and a shirt instead, and I'll find you a better place to stay. Does that sound good?"

Danny thought about it for a moment. Tony was safe, he didn't feel like Wade would have left him alone with the man so long if he wasn't. Danny nodded sharply, and Tony breathed a sigh of relief.


May Parker breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed behind her after a very long day at work. She enjoyed being a nurse, really she did, but some days were harder than others, no matter your job. Peter wasn't back from Neds yet, though, so she had the house to herself and fully intended to take advantage of that quiet time.

May grabbed a snack from the kitchen as she set the kettle on it's base to boil, and then she dug out her stash of bath bombs from the linen closet. It wasn't often that she would indulge herself like this, but today she felt she needed it. She set out her bath stuff on the bathroom counter and headed back into the kitchen to make her tea. Just as she finished pouring the water into her mug there was a knock on the door. She sighed. Hopefully that was just old Ms. London from down the hall to borrow another cup of sugar. Of course, that old Parker luck ensured that it wasn't.

When May looked through the peephole she saw Tony Stark standing there, sunglasses, smarmy grin and all. She grit her teeth. First Peter had been off all week, and now Tony Stark was at her door. If she was lucky, this wouldn't take long and she could go take her bath in peace.

May opened the door just as Stark was raising his hand to knock again, fully ready to chew him out for interrupting her day. She froze when she saw the teenager standing next to him in a baggy sweatshirt, pajama pants and flip-flops. The kid looked dead on his feet, bags under his eyes, skin pale and sweaty, black hair greasy and hanging in his face, and shivering subtly. She could have strangled Stark when he spoke.

"I have a favor to ask." He said. May sighed through gritted teeth. It looked like she wasn't getting that relaxing afternoon after all.

"Come in." she said. "Would you like something to drink? I've just boiled some water if you would like some tea."