Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is a bit short! I was swamped this week. Please leave a review if you enjoy it!

I should have noticed earlier. The drumming of my fingers on my lap tapped out the words, a repeating mantra in my head. I should have noticed earlier. My Spidey always went patrolling, but he never stayed out so late. I should have noticed earlier. This was my fault. Peter is hurt, and it's all my fault. Oh my gosh, what if he dies?! Peter is hurt, and it's all my fault.

3 hours earlier—

I was angrily tinkering in my lab, working on a project Dad had approved. It was a boring chemistry problem sheet that I knew all the answers to already, but I did the experiments for fun anyway. On a normal Saturday, I'd help Dad with some SI stuff and go eat dinner with the Parker, but I was grounded. Being grounded by Iron Man was the worst. He could be so overprotective. I wasn't even allowed to leave the tower today, on a Saturday. Peter would be out on patrol right about now; he wasn't grounded anymore. Pete always patrolled for longer on Saturdays, and Ned was sick today, so Spidey would probably be out all day.

I was mixing and mixing. The minutes felt like hours, but soon enough, it was 6:30. We'd be eating dinner soon. Only then did I notice the alert. My earpiece could only be activated by my dad, but this alert wasn't from him.

Karen was offline.

Oh, God. The alert mentioned him taking a blast with the suit. He could be dead. "Track Karen's last-known location," I said my throat closing. But of course, Alex was turned off. So instead, I called Dad.

The phone rang. Once, twice, three times. My fingers traced my collarbone. I did that when I was nervous, like Dad tracing his arc reactor when his anxiety acted up.

"Kate. What's up? Before you ask, no you may not leave the house," Dad replied, sounding bored with his meetings.

"Have you seen the alert?!" my voice was high with panic. "The suit took a blast. He's offline. Code pest control." Yes, the name was a bit funny, but you never knew who was listening in.

I heard a sharp intake of breath. "I'm leaving right now. You stay there."

"Absolutely not!" I screamed back. You could almost hear him wince from my outburst. "Dad, I've- I've already lost him too. Just, let me come. Please," I begged, my voice dropping to a whisper.

"Fine. I'm activating Alex."

"Should I- "Alex began.

"Yeah, suit up A," I said. Instantly, the suit began to materialize. It fell over me like a blanket. My thrusters activated, and I started off towards Peter.

-o-

As I flew, I imagined every possible thing that could go wrong. It was a miracle I didn't crash; I couldn't control anything right about now. Once I landed at the site, however, it was nothing I had thought of.

There was an explosion. That much was obvious. I found a broken sign on the ground that read "Bank of Queens". Tracking the marks left by the bomb, the purpose became clear. Someone blew up the safe entrance. But I was still confused. Peter's suit should be able to withstand a blast three times this size. What turned Karen off? My racing heartbeat made it hard to focus, and I was crying.

I decided not to worry about the bad guys. This was an emergency, and I wasn't fighting crime. Just using my suit to help me in a dangerous situation, right? Dad would be proud. I tried to focus. Find Peter, I thought. Oh, what if he's hurt?! I couldn't think; I couldn't breathe. I was supposed to keep him safe. Dad flew in behind me, but I hardly noticed him. I couldn't focus on anything but my Peter. When I finally got to the back of the bank (or is it crime scene now?), I saw Peter. He was lying approximately twelve feet from the center of the explosion, enough to seriously harm or kill a normal guy. Who knew what that could do to him. He was unconscious, and his mask was partially up. I quickly pulled it back over his head, wrapped my arms around him, and started to head back to the tower.

A voice broke my focus. "Honey, we need to take him to Bruce," Dad said, stepping toward me cautiously. Realizing he was right, I powered up my thrusters, and we took off with Peter in tow. Alex activated autopilot, which was a good ideal Flying at top speed is a bit hard when you can't see past the tears in your eyes and your hurt boyfriend in your arms.

-o-

When I arrived at the compound, Uncle Bruce and Dr. Strange were both waiting outside. They almost sprinted to my side.

"Are you alright Tony? Why were you not in your meeting? I thought you were hurt…" Bruce sputtered, trailing off into his own thoughts.

"We're f-f-fine," I struggled to reply through my sobs. "But Peter, oh Dad!" I cried, falling into his chest and hugging him. Uncle Bruce took Peter, and Strange and he raced inside. "It's all my fault. I should have checked up on him sooner, but his suit must have malfunctioned. It was off, so I didn't know! I should have known; it's all my fault," I mumbled, more to myself than him. Dad went stiff, and I realized I made him uncomfortable with my hug. I started to pull away, but he wrapped his arms around me into an even tighter hug.

"Don't say that. Ever again. I can't stand it. This wasn't your fault; in fact, I have something to tell you," he said, gently guiding me inside. We sat down, and he opened a hologram. "Honey," he started, nervously showing me the data. "The suit didn't fail, see here?" The screen read all the dates the suit was turned on and off. The latest entry read '5:30, manual shut down'.

"He turned it off? Why?" I asked, confusion falling over me like a cloud. The suit didn't break down?

"Well, while I can't say exactly, you have to remember I've been in similar situations. Knowing Peter, I uh…. I think he turned it off, so you wouldn't be notified," he paused, letting it sink in. "Of course, you were notified anyway, but he, most likely, didn't want you to worry or blame yourself," Dad said softly. He looked almost as hurt as I did. His eyes were puffy and red and adorned with bags beneath them. For the first time today, I actually looked at him, pulling my eyes off of the screen. He was shaking slightly and gripping his left arm. Normally, I would offer him some reassurance, but I had none to give. It was my fault, and Peter didn't want me to know.

After a little while, we heard a small voice from the hall. "Um, would you like to hear our diagnosis?" Bruce's voice rang out.

"Yes, for heaven's sake, get in here Banner," Dad called.

Bruce walked in, looking like a deer in headlights. He thought he was intruding, that much was obvious. "Well, Peter is still unconscious, but he will survive. He has a leg broken in three places, and it was partially healed when we found him," my fault, I thought. "But we re-broke it, and it's healing properly now. Strange found no sign of brain damage, but he has a major concussion. Obviously, his heightened senses didn't help with this. Too much input. He also has some internal bleeding," he said, and Dad took in a shaky breath. Siberia and Afghanistan, my dad had had his fair share of internal bleeding. I think he could go his whole life without ever bleeding again, and it still would be too much. "But yeah, he'll survive. He should be up in an hour or so. Would you like to see him?" He asked.

I'm sure any sane person would want to see their hurt boyfriend, but I was not that person, nor was I sane now. I ran into my lab and blocked everyone's access. My heart was pounding. I fell to the floor, sobbing. My hands were shaking, and I clenched my jaw tight. Everything was moving too fast; the room was spinning. My breaths came in staggers to match the racing pulse of my heartbeat. Alex's voice rang out over the room, but I barely heard it.

"Ma'am, you are suffering a severe panic attack. It may be guilt-induced," she said, sounding worried. Or maybe that was me, worried. I pulled my knees to my chest and rocked back and forth. This was too much. She said something else about notifying someone, but I didn't pay any attention.

Peter was hurt, and it was all my fault.