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Peter wondered if there should be a calendar for villains. Maybe a shared Google Doc where they could plan their attacks out, so they didn’t interlap so close to one another. Especially bad guys who didn’t even come from earth – no skipping the que, everyone gets their fair shot at taking over the world and nobody gets their toes stepped on. That way it would give the heroes a chance to heal whatever injuries they had and some quality down time before taking on the next bad guy. That was reasonable, wasn’t it?
It's probably too much to ask, Peter thought as he dodged a seriously hideous looking alien that was currently wreaking havoc on New York City. The attack had come not even twenty-four hours after some closet genius had the brilliant idea of trying to attempt genetic splicing and let some feral genetic hybrids loose on the city. Peter had swung himself into the fray and while they had managed to round up the hybrids and the scientist behind it, Peter had been injured in the process. A few cracked ribs and a nice little stab wound from where the hybrid had pierced him with its barbed tail (and had it not hurt as much as it did Peter would have thought it awesome).
Usually, he would eat his weight and food and sleep it off with Tony usually not far away, keeping an eye on him. But the alarm for another attack had gone up and Peter found himself experiencing a sense of Déjà vu. While the team was burnt out, they had rallied together quickly, fresh adrenalin pumping through their bodies.
“Who are these guys?” Peter grunted as he smashed an alien that was coming at him. He webbed him? Her? Did they even have a gender? Down to the ground before swinging towards a woman who was screaming in terror.
“Their scouts,” Doctor Stephen Strange’s voice came over Peter’s comms. “Looking for weakness to report back to whoever sent them.”
Peter grabbed the screaming woman around the waist, swinging her out of harm’s way and setting her gently on the ground. “Go take cover!”
The woman had promptly turned and run into the nearest building, leaving Peter to focus back on the battle before him. He caught sight of Iron Man in the sky, a heard of aliens on his tail. They were soon taken care off in a large blast, Iron Man shooting off in another direction. Peter grinned at the awesome display. He would never tire of working alongside Tony Stark.
Peter shot a web at the nearest building, launching into the sky when a tingle warning ran down his spine. He barely had enough time to turn his head.
The breath was knocked out of Peter as he was slammed to the side. He released the web as he started to fall rapidly. He hit the ground hard, pain spreading through his body. Gravity was a bitch. The wound he had gotten from the hybrid flared painfully and gritted his teeth in pain. He had no time to think about it though because there was an alien roaring in his face.
“Get off me,” Peter grunted, shoving the alien with all his strength.
The alien suddenly went flying off him and Peter blinked at the sudden loss of weight.
“Uhhh – thank you?” Peter blinked up at the sky.
“You good, Queens?”
Peter turned to see Captain America standing over him, his shield tucked close against him, a smear of alien left behind on the scuffed surface. He offered a small smirk down at Peter.
“Great,” Peter replied, heaving himself up. Pain rippled down his side and Peter was glad that his mask covered his expression. He could feel something warm and sticky running down his side and he swallowed around the feeling.
“Let’s go,” Steve said, turning his back on Peter as he surveyed the area.
Peter was glad that he did because a quick glance down at his side showed that he was starting to bleed through his suit. Peter quickly shot a web at the wound, creating a temporary bandage. Not wanting to get benched during such an important mission, Peter shot a web at the building and swung back into the fight. As he did, he caught sight of Clint perched up on a building shooting arrows and Doctor Strange flash by with his cloak, shooting spells as he went.
I can’t leave them, Peter thought as he gritted his teeth against the pain. I can’t leave the team.
“Kid, group of civilians about to become dinner for these assholes,” Tony’s voice came through on the coms.
“On it!” Peter shouted back, changing directions, and flinging himself towards the aliens.
Tony Stark landed lightly on the ground, taking in the damage that surrounded them. His jaw dropped as he watched Stephen Strange do some hand movements and suddenly there was a green tinge of magic and the damage around them started to reverse.
Shards of buildings went flying back into place, dust and debris flying into the air and sinking into position once more. This continued until there was nothing left, New York City standing tall and proud once more.
The magic dispersed and Strange looked to Tony, a smug look on his face and had the audacity to wink at Tony. Tony shook his head, glad that his mask covered his smile. He didn’t need to boost Strange’s ego any more than it already was.
“Neat trick,” Clint said, wondering close. He held several arrows in his hand he had obviously collected on his way over to them. He gave the newly repaired buildings a nod of appreciation. “Looks good.”
“What about these guys?” Natasha asked, kicking one of the dead aliens with her boot.
“Round them up like last time,” Steve said, looking around. “They will have to be burned again.”
There was a woosh and both Sam and Rhodey landed on the ground. Sam’s wings retracted while the face plate on Rhodey’s suit shot up.
“Are we sure that’s everything?” Rhodey asked, looking to Stephen. “Another portal isn’t going to open up, is it?”
“No,” Stephen said. “The message has been sent. Whoever sent them now knows that earth is defended.”
“Good,” Sam said. “Because I could use a nap.”
Before Tony could make a quip, there was crackle over the comms and Wanda’s voice floated through.
“I need some help! Spiderman is down!”
Tony heart plummeted in his chest. He shot off in the sky, vaguely aware that Stephen had followed him. It didn’t take long to find them. Tony stomach churned as he landed on the ground beside them, the blood draining from his face as he took in the scene before him.
Wanda was kneeling on the ground beside Peter, her hands pressed against his side and there was the nauseating sight of blood seeping between her fingers.
Strange landed beside him, looking at the scene and dropping to his knee on the other side of Wanda.
“What happened?” Stephen demanded.
“I don’t know,” Wanda shook his head, voice shaking. “He was saying how lit it had been and then he just dropped to the ground. I saw the blood and I –“ Wanda cut herself off with a shudder.
“Was he hit during the attack?” Stephen asked, looking to Tony.
“FRIDAY, bring up Spiderman vitals,” Tony choked out, his heart hammering in his ears.
FRIDAY did as he asked, the information appearing on his screen. “Karen is informing me that the wound Peter sustained with the hyrbids –“
“Shit,” Tony cursed, cutting FRIDAY off. He had forgotten. How could he have forgotten that Peter had been injured yesterday. He should have benched his kid as soon as he saw him. Peter never should have been fighting.
“Stark?” Stephen prompted sharply.
“The wound was from the last fight. It didn’t have a chance to heal,” Tony said, the words spilling out of him. “Shit, he never should have been here.”
“We need to get him to a hospital,” Stephen said, climbing to his feet.
“Medbay at the compound is fully stocked,” Tony said.
Stephen nodded. “Lift him up for me.”
Tony did as the doctor asked. With the help of Wanda, Peter was tucked up into Tony’s arm, head lolling back in a way that made Tony feel sick.
Stephen had opened a portal to the compound and as Tony stepped through, he cursed himself for not taking better care of his kid.
Peter woke feeling warm. It was a nice feeling and there was a comforting weight pressed against him. Peter shifted into it, making a small sound in the back of his throat as he settled into it.
“Pete?”
Through the fog of sleep, Peter recognized the voice as Tony’s. He grumbled, making a noise in the back of his throat. “Five more minutes, Mr. Stark.”
Tony chuckled and a hand swept through Peter’s hair. “Come on, Kid.”
Peter’s body went taught as he stretched, feeling a flicker of dull pain in his side as he did. He relaxed his body and flicked open his eyes. He blinked away the sleep that coated his vision and found himself staring at a room that was not his own.
“Aww man,” Peter whined. “Am I in the medbay?”
“Sure are,” Tony quipped.
Peter was suddenly aware that he was practically using Tony as a pillow. He felt his cheeks heat up and he started to shift away but Tony’s arm hugged him close, sweeping another hand through his hair.
“How are you feeling?” Tony asked, chest rumbling where Peter’s cheek rested against it.
“Good. Better,” Peter said. “Ummmm – what happened?”
“What happened was that you neglected to tell us that you were bleeding out,” Tony said, his voice sharp. “And you collapsed due to blood loss.”
Peter shrunk against Tony’s side, guilt swirling through him. “I’m sorry.”
Tony sighed. “You scared me, kiddo. What were you thinking? You were hurt! You shouldn’t have been there.”
“I couldn’t not help,” Peter protested. “I had to help the team. Help you!”
“Kid, your health is important,” Tony sighed. He squeezed Peter tight against him. “You could have died, kid. That can’t happen. Not ever.”
Peter swallowed and tucked himself closer to Tony. There was no space between them, and Peter idly picked at the jacket Tony wore. “I’m sorry.”
“I love you, kiddo,” Tony said, his voice quiet.
“I love you too,” Peter whispered back. He closed his eyes as he felt Tony press a kiss to the top of his head.
They were silent for a moment before Peter broke the silence.
“Mr. Stark? Do you think I could start a Google Doc for villains?”
“Kid – what the fu-“