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“Aunt May, that's so unfair,” Peter was lying in the medbay, having only woken up for more than 20 seconds for the first time in over a day.
“Peter, you just woke up. You're not patrolling for 2 weeks, you need to rest, and that's final.”
“But- but I'm fine May, I only have a concussion and a couple of broken ribs, I can barely feel it,” Peter really did feel fine, it only hurt if he moved, or breathed, or laughed, or opened his eyes all the way, or think. In his opinion, he was basically fine.
May scoffed at Peter, “Peter, you can't even open your eyes all the way, what says you can go out patrolling, you need bed rest. You literally had a collapsed lung, you are not fine,” May hated saying no to him, but he needed the rest. She knew this was going to be a rough couple of weeks keeping the kid from escaping. He had never been an easy patient to look after, she was very thankful that he had an increased healing factor, cutting the healing time down to a quarter of what a normal person healed in.
“I so can open them all the way May,” he pouted, attempting to open his eyes all the way hurt like hell, the bright lights invading his senses, made his killer headache so much worse. But he couldn't show May she was right, he needed to help the citizens of New York, they needed him. And a little concussion, broken ribs, and a collapsed lung wasn't going to stop him. “See?”
“Peter, let someone else look after New York, you need to rest,” May knew this was going to be a long 2 weeks.
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Peter was being released from the medbay after staying for 2 days, and Tony was bringing him back to his apartment complex, and looking (babysitting) him for a couple of hours, while May finished her shift.
“You know Mr. Stark, I can look after myself for a couple of hours. Dr. Cho said my concussion was gone, and where the tube was is nearly fully healed now, I'm basically fine now.” They were both sitting in the Audi, Tony was driving, but he stopped when he got to the end of the driveway.
“Not a chance kid, May already said you two fought over you going on patrol sooner than advised,” he turned to the kid. “I know it's hard to not go out, but you need to let your body heal.”
“But what if someone gets hurt because I'm not out there to help them?”
“What if the Taylor Swift is actually an alien?” Peter raised an eyebrow at him, not knowing how to respond. “What I'm trying to say is, god I'm not good at this part, I'm trying to say don't focus on the what ifs. Focus on healing, and in a couple of weeks you'll be as good as new.”
“Taylor Swift of all people? I didn't even know you knew who that was.”
“That's what you took away from that?”
“Not just that, just the most surprising thing you said. But I understand what you're saying I guess,” Peter shrugged. “It just sucks getting injured.”
“Yeah it does, I do understand kid, I’m not just saying this to be mean.” He ruffled the kid's hair, and turned onto the road, driving towards the city. “And for your information, I take note of who you listen to, and you seem to only listen to her.”
“Not true, I listen to other people.”
“Name one.”
“Umm, One Direction.”
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“Dude, I am not helping you hack into your suit again. Mr. Stark sent me a really long text message last time, I am not getting in trouble again dude.” Ned and Peter were at Peters studying for an upcoming calculus test. Peter needing help with the material he missed out on, after not being at school that week. They were having a sleepover over the weekend and had planned out a Star Wars marathon.
“I just need him to make sure Mr. Stark doesn't know I'm out on patrol, it'll only be for an hour,” Peter grabbed his suit from the back of his wardrobe. “I'll be fine, I haven't been out in days, and just want Queens to know I'm still here, ya know? Please?”
“I don't know Peter. Aren’t you still injured?” Ned was weary of helping Peter out.
“That was basically nothing Ned, just a couple of broken ribs, they barely even hurt anymore,” Peter lied. “You can be my guy in the chair, if that eases your worry.”
“Just an hour?”
“Just an hour, I promise. Nothing bad is gonna happen in an hour,” at this moment Peter screwed up. He really shouldn't have said the B-word, he tempted fate just by saying it.
“Fine, but if you get hurt, I'm telling Mr. Stark I was forced by you,” Ned really didn't feel right about doing this, but what was the worst that could happen?
“Thank you, Ned!”
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“And there. Mr. Stark won't be notified now that you've left the building in your suit, and if he does look, it'll say your suit is here and not being worn.” sometimes being a computer genius had some downsides in Ned's opinion.
“Sick,” Peter started to undress and put his suit on, the still healing incision site and splotched bruises where his ribs were broken were a stark contrast against his pale skin.
“Peter, that doesn't look healed man, are you sure you should be going out?”
“Yeah I'll be fine,” Peter pressed the spider emblem against his chest. “If May comes, say I'm sleeping or something, she just can't know I'm out, ok?”
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Peter had been patrolling for half an hour, and he was starting to regret it now. Where the incision site was was now hurting. But that paled in comparison to the burning sensation that consumed his chest. Maybe, just maybe, Mr. Stark and Aunt May were correct, but he would rather die than tell them that.
“Hey, Karen?” Peter asked the AI.
“Yes, Peter?”
“How long have I been patrolling for?”
“You've been patrolling for approximately 30 minutes Peter,” she responded, “You seemed to be experiencing some discomfort, would you like for me to contact Mr. Stark?”
“NO,” Peter yelled, “No, no, Karen, I’m okay, but I think I'll head back home now.”
Peter started to swing back home, when he heard yelling, and a bang. Just kidding, gotta help out the little guy real quick, and then I'll go home. He started swinging towards the sound. The sound of the yelling was coming from down an alleyway, where Peter could see a masked man waving a gun in the air, while a man was at the other end, backed against the wall. Holding onto his briefcase for dear life. Peter landed on top of the building and watched the scene below him briefly.
“Just hand me yer case, yer can scapa flow free,” the masked man said. His voice was deep and sounded like he had a cockney accent. Peter did not understand a word of what he said.
“I don't know what dat means,” Peter couldn't help but laugh quietly. The man who was being threatened must have been a teacher or something along those lines, and he had a thick Bronx accent, and Peter was sure the men were confusing each other with their accents.
The cockney man aimed his gun at the Bronx teacher, “Give it here, or I’ll shoot thee.”
“Hey man, didn't your mom say stealing isn't very nice,” Peter jumped down from the top of the building, shooting a web at the cockney man's gun. “And can you please tell me what scapa flow means?”
The man just growled at Peter, “Woah, no need for that, just want to be more educated is all. If you don't want to tell me, you could've just said.”
Peter pulled the web that was attached to the gun and pulled. Which was a mistake on Peter's part, the man's finger was stuck on the trigger, so when he pulled the web, the gun was set off.
“Shit, man, are you ok?” Peter asked the Bronx man, turning around to him after the gun went off. The man's eyes were wide looking at him.
“I tink yuh were shot Spider-Man,” he moved closer to Peter. “should I call an ambulance, or what?”
“What?” Peter looked down and could see the growing red patch on his abdomen. The pain hitting him. “No, no, it's ok, I’ll umm- Just go, and ahhh call the police.”
Peter turned back to the cockney man, who was standing frozen in spot, and webbed him against the wall, before making his way back home.
“Peter, you have been shot in the abdomen, shall I call Mr. Stark?” Karen finally piped up.
“No it's ok, tis just a flesh wound,” Peter was about 10 minutes away from his apartment complex. This is going to be a rough 10 minutes.
“Peter, you need to seek medical assistance as soon as possible,” she sounded worried, Can AI even sound worried? “Peter, Ned is calling you, should I put him through.”
“Yeah, put him through,” Peter said, wincing as he moved his abdomen in a way that pulled against the entrance.
“Dude, where are you? Your aunt just came in here and wants to know if we were hungry. I had to lie to May, Peter, and said we wanted pizza. She's out right now, but she’ll be back any minute, I feel so gross lying to her.” Ned hated lying to May, she was one of the kindest people he had ever met and considered her family.
“I’ll be home shortly, just got caught up in something,” Peter said wincing again.
“Peter, you need to apply pressure, you're losing too much blood,” Karen said aloud.
“What? Peter, are you ok?”
“Yep just fine, just a slight flesh wound, Karen end call,” Peter hung up on Ned, feeling guilty, as he swung the rest of the way home.
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“Ned I need your help,” Peter winced as he crept through the window. “I think I've been shot.”
“What?” Of all the things Peter could've said, that was not what Ned expected to come out of his mouth, he assumed Peter reinjured his ribs or something. Peter laid down on the bed, breathing heavily.
“Can you please just check,” he really didn't want to admit how much pain he was in, and how he felt so incredibly dizzy in that moment.
Ned got up from Peter's desk, where he had been attempting to study, and walked over to Peter's bed. Peter had already taken off his mask and pressed the spider emblem on his chest, so the suit was practically falling off of him. Peter's arm was hugging his stomach, the growing red patch making the red suit darker. Shit, this was not how I planned our studying going. Ned pulled the suit off of Peter as gingerly as possible, Peter hissing through his teeth when he got to his stomach region. Peter was now lying on his bed in just his boxers.
“I need you to move your arm so I can see,” god Ned hated what he was seeing. “Fuck, Peter, you've been shot in the stomach.”
“Is fine, jus press down on it, and it will heal shortly,” Peter really felt tired, his eyes felt like they had weights tied to them. His words were starting to slur, and he knew in the back of his mind that wasn't a good thing, but god did he feel tired.
“Peter? I think we should tell May,” Ned started to press down on his stomach, Peter's arm had fallen off of his stomach, his eyes starting to close. “Peter? Bro? Look at me.”
“Mmm no May,” he slurred. Ned tried shaking him awake, getting blood smeared over his chest. “She’ll ge-”
“Peter? Dude, you gotta stay with me,” shaking him wasn't working, so he hit Peter in the face, which in hindsight wasn’t a great idea, but hey, at least it did work. Briefly.
“Mmm awake,” Peter’s eyes opened in slits, the bright red blood on his face was a stark contrast to his washed-out face, “jus a lil wound.”
Ned laughed, 'cause if he didn’t laugh, he would be curled in a ball crying. “I need to call Mr. Stark and get May, Peter, you’re seriously injured.”
“No, misser Stark and Aunt May will be mad.”
“Peter, this is outside my territory,” Ned was still pressing against his stomach, but the blood was still pooling. “No matter how much I press down, the blood keeps on coming out. And I don’t know how to make it stop, the blood won't stop coming Peter. I need to call Mr. Stark or May, Peter.”
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To say Tony was livid would be putting it nicely. When he received the call from May, he thought it would be the spiderling was getting on her nerves, because god did he know how annoying the kid could be when he wasn’t able to do anything except be on bedrest.
What he did not expect to hear was a frantic May calling him, saying Peter had been shot and was right now bleeding out on his bed, while his best friend applied pressure to the wound.
While en route, Tony asked Friday why he hadn't been notified about Peter's injury, or the fact he went out, because it was more than obvious Peter had disobeyed and gone out on patrol, even under explicit instructions from 3 separate adults in his life, to not go out for 2 weeks. And Dr. Cho was pissed that the kid was hurt again when he shouldn't have even been out.
“Boss, it seems as though Peter was never in his suit, his suit never went out, and stayed in his room.” huh? That makes no sense, how else could he have been hurt?
“Thank you, Friday.”
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When Peter arrived at the compound, it was pure madness. Dr. Cho had a gurney waiting for Tony at the landing, to take Peter away. An oxygen mask was placed over Peter’s mouth, and the jumble of nurses and the Doctor was frightening to see.
But Tony trusted them with his and Peter's life.
“There's no exit,” Tony heard one of the nurses say.
“Shit, bring him to the first room,” he could hear Cho say over the chaos. “We need an x-ray and an ultrasound stat, set up a large bore IV, and hang 2 units of O-negative blood. Get OR 1 set up, we'll bring him in shortly.”
He watched as they pushed Peter through the door towards the medbay trauma rooms. Tony walked towards the medbay, still standing on the roof. Watching the kid get rushed off scared the shit out of him. But Tony had research to do.
When he had arrived at the Parker's residence, Peter's suit had been lying next to him, with a bullet hole in it. Which made no sense if Peter hadn't been out, as Friday claimed. He had been too busy picking Peter up and flying him to the compound to ask Ned or May what had happened. But now Tony had time to dig into what had happened.
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When May had gotten home with the pizzas, she was not expecting to hear Ned’s frantic voice calling out for her, for her to walk into Peter's room, and see her nephew bleeding out on his bed, or to be calling Tony about him being injured again.
Nor did she expect to be driving up to the compound at 8 pm that night, with Ned sitting in the passenger seat crying, blood still stuck under his fingernails, that he was attempting to pick out.
“May, I’m really sorry,” Ned finally said, sniffling, after they were about halfway to the compound.
“Sweetie, this isn't your fault,” her heart broke when Ned apologized to her.
“But it is May, it is my fault. He wouldn't have been out if it wasn't for me.”
“Honey, Peter knew he wasn't allowed out, this isn't on you.”
“But it is. I hacked into his suit so it wouldn't tell Mr. Stark he went out on patrol, he could have died and it would have been my fault,” Ned was crying again.
“Oh Ned, sweetheart, this isn't your fault. Peter would have gone out, even if you didn't help him, he’s stubborn. Was it ok, what you did do? No, but this isn't your fault. Peter knew better. He knew he wasn't allowed to go out, he was still healing. Don't beat yourself up over this Ned,” May put one of her hands on Ned's knees, and rubbed it. “This is on Peter.”
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Peter had been in surgery for 4 hours before he was finally brought into recovery. When Ned and May arrived at the compound, Ned was a mess. As soon as Ned arrived, he burst into tears and admitted what had happened to Tony. Tony was mad at Ned, but he knew that Peter most definitely wore Ned down. Ned promised Tony and May he would never hack into Peter's suit again. (Tony was impressed that the kid, not only once, but twice, hacked into the multimillion-dollar suit. But he wasn't gonna tell the kid that.)
They had been let into Peter's room a couple of hours ago, Ned and May had already fallen asleep on the chairs in Peter's room, Tony didn't blame them, it was nearly 3 in the morning. Tony was still awake, replying to some Stark Industry emails, drinking a cup of coffee.
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Pain was the first thing that Peter noticed, his abdomen hurt like hell. Then he noticed the nasal cannula and the irritating tickle, and god did he hate the feeling. He could smell the antiseptic cleaners, the smell always made his head hurt. The insistent beeping of the heart rate monitor didn't help his head at all. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and everything just felt heavy, but simultaneously he felt like he was floating.
“Mmnaghh,” Peter moaned, trying with all his might to open his eyes a crack.
“Hey Peter,” Peter could hear Mr. Stark and the scrapping of a chair. The little amount that Peter could see, he could see it was pitch dark out, and the glow from Tony’s Starkpad illuminated him. “Are you feeling any pain?”
“Mmmmm,” Peter slurred before succumbing to the darkness.
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Waking up the next time was easier for Peter, and sure everything hurt like hell and it felt like his stomach was consumed by fire, but at least his body didn't feel like it was made of lead. He opened his eyes a crack and was assaulted with bright lights that made him wince and close his eyes instantly.
“Friday lights down to 50 percent,” he heard Mr. Stark say.
“Yes, boss,” the AI replied.
“How are you feeling Peter?” the man asked.
“Awful,” god did his throat hurt, and it sounded absolutely awful.
“Ahh, “ he heard some shuffling, “here, small sips kid, don't want you throwing this up.”
Peter didn't realize how much he was thirsty, but the water gave his throat instantaneous relief. After a couple of small sips, the straw was taken away from him
“Thanks,” he rasped out, he didn't sound as bad as before, but he still sounded rough. At least it didn't sound like he was a chain smoker for the last 60 years. Peter opened his eyes again and could see Mr. Stark was on his left side, worry etched onto his face. “What happened?”
“You were shot” fuck, he forgot why he was in there, all of the prior night's memories flooding him. From the cockney and Bronx men, to the bleeding out on his bed. “I’m not going to lie to you Peter, this was very serious. When I got to you, you lost nearly 10 pints of blood. You needed emergency surgery, where you lost part of your small intestines, and they had to repair the damage to your stomach. God, Peter, you can't keep doing this. You nearly died.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Stark, I didn't know.”
“Peter, why did you go out?” That question stunned Peter.
“I don't know,” he shrugged.
“Cut the bullshit, Peter. Both your Aunt and I said you weren't allowed to go out patrolling for 2 weeks, and Dr. Cho told you to take it easy. I was hoping if you weren't going to listen to May or me, you would at the very least listen to your doctor,” he didn't sound mad, he sounded sad and disappointed. Which was worse in Peter's opinion. “What makes this worse, is you had your friend hack into your suit. What possessed you to make him do that?”
“I'm sorry Mr. Stark, I just- I just wanted to help,” he really did just want to help people.
“Sorry is not good enough this time. Neds hurt Peter, you hurt Ned through your actions. He was terrified you died Peter,” realization sunk into Peter how much he fucked up, it wasn't just May and Tony that were affected this time, but his best friend was affected this time.
“Where are they?”
“They're getting lunch,” Peter didn't know what to do or say, or how to make any of this better.
“Can I see them?”
“They'll be done with their lunch shortly.”
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“Hey Peter, are you feeling ok?” Ned wasn't as energetic as he normally was, he couldn't even look Peter in the eyes. Didn't even come into the room, just stayed standing in the doorway.
“Yeah I’m feeling ok,” he breathed deeply, trying to find the words. “I'm really sorry I did that to you, that wasn't fair, I should have listened to you when you tried talking me out of going before.”
“It's ok Peter.”
“It's really not ok Ned, I don't deserve this. I was a really bad friend to you, you shouldn't have witnessed that.”
“It's honestly fine Peter,” Ned said to him, turning around and leaving the room.
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It had been 3 days since Peter had been brought into the medbay, and Dr. Cho finally was releasing Peter, under strict guidelines.
“Peter, I need to make it clear to you, that you can’t go out on patrol for a month. Your body’s healing factor is slower than normal because you won’t be able to eat like you normally do, is that clear?”
“Yes doc, only broth and yoghurt in small meals. Got it,” Peter was sad it would be taking far longer than normal to heal this time. Everything still hurt, but he was sick of the room and needed to leave.
“That's correct. Tony and your Aunt have all the information about your recovery. Try to take it easy for a bit, no heavy lifting. Ok?”
“Yeah, I understand,” Peter was not looking forward to the recovery this time.
“Perfect, I’ll get Tony, sit tight.'' She left the room to get Tony, and much to Peter's dismay, a wheelchair to transport him to the common room. Peter was going to be staying for the first couple of days at the compound, as May needed to work, and neither adult trusted Peter. But Peter hurt too much to really want to do anything, except watch Miss Americana or Star Wars, and even those felt like chores in his opinion.
“Hey kiddo, ready to leave?” Peter nodded to him, getting up, with the help of Dr. Cho, and sitting in the chair. “Let's go then.”
It took 5 minutes for Tony to push him to the common room elevator. Tony tried talking to Peter during the trip, but Peter just sat in silence.
“Has Ned messaged you yet?” he asked.
“Not yet,” Peter finally replied. “I don't think he wants to talk to me right now, and I understand why. I don't know how I can make this up to him.”
“I'll be honest Peter, you did mess up, and he's hurt. But he'll come around, just gotta give him time.” Peter knew he was right, but it still did hurt, he was mad at himself for what he put Ned through. He traumatized his best friend,
The elevator doors opened, and Tony pushed Peter into the lounge. He helped Peter up onto the sofa, getting a blanket for him.
“Do you want to watch anything?”
“Can you put Miss Americana on?”
“Really?”
“What? It's my comfort movie.”
“Miss Americana coming right up for the Spiderling,” Tony turned the TV on and played the documentary. “Are you hungry? Need anything?”
“I’m good, thanks Mr. Stark,” the sound of a piano playing in the background.
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Peter didn't even realize he fell asleep until he was being shaken awake by Mr. Stark.
“Hey kid, gotta wake up,” Tony was in Peter's face, shaking his shoulder.
“What?”
“It's time for your next dose of medication, kid, and you need to eat something.”
“Oh?” if he was being honest the pain was becoming pretty intense again. Tony helped Peter up into a sitting position, a small table was in front of the sofa, a bowl of broth, jello, and his medication was on it. Plus his favorite drink in the world, a protein drink. (Peter could go his whole entire life never drinking one of them again, and he would be so much happier.).
“Why don't you see if Ned wants to come around sometime this week?”
“I don't think he wants to see me,” Peter said, after taking his medication.
“It won't hurt to ask,” Peter knew Tony was right. What was the worst that could happen, Ned say no? So he messaged Ned.
Peter: Hey Ned, are you free this week?
It took several minutes before Ned replied.
Ned: idk, why?
Peter: Want to hang?
Ned: how about thursday after decathlon practice? I have homework to give you anyways.
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Peter had counted down the days until Thursday, he was nervous and excited to see his friend. It was only 3 days' worth of waiting, but that felt like an eternity for Peter. He was thankful that he was still sleeping a lot of the day away.
“Come on Peter, you've got to get up,” Tony was shaking Peter awake. “Time to go and see the good doc.”
Peter was having his first check-up since he left the medbay before he saw Ned, “I'm up Mr. Stark.”
“We've got to leave in a couple of minutes, go put some new clothes on, these ones smell,” Peter glared at him, which elicited a laugh from Tony.
10 minutes later, and Peter was lying on the examination bed, as Dr. Cho looked over his incision site.
“Everything is healing perfectly Peter,” she finished up the exam, redressing his abdomen and pulling his shirt down.
“That's good,” he replied, sitting up and moving the edge of the bed.
“You still need to take it easy, otherwise you're good to go. Any questions?”
“No, I'm all good. Thanks, doc.”
“See you next week Peter, take care.”
Tony was waiting for him in the waiting room, looking up when Peter walked through the double doors, “ready to see Ned?”
“Yeah, yeah I am.”
“Perfect, because Ned has just arrived now at the compound,” he said, both of them heading towards the common room. “How's everything healing?”
“Perfectly.”
“That's good to hear.”
Tony walked through the elevator doors and entered the common room. Ned was sitting on the sofa, scrolling through his phone, not even acknowledging when Peter and Tony walked in. Peter walked over to the couch and sat down next to Ned.
“I’ll leave you two be if you need me, or anything, tell Friday,” Tony headed towards his lab that was down the hall from them.
“Hey,” Peter said to Ned.
“Hey,” he responded, turning his phone off.
“Look, I’m really sorry I put you through that, I’ve been trying to think of the words to say, and there isn't anything I can say that can make what I did right,” Peter didn't mean to start crying. “I really am sorry Ned, I should've listened to everyone, and not been selfish.”
“Peter, it’s ok,” Ned began.
“Can you please stop telling me it's okay because you're obviously upset.”
“Fine, I am upset. I’m upset that you nearly died, and I could've been a part of it. I'm upset I had to apply pressure to your stomach as you bleed out. But I'm not upset that you did it. If I had the powers that you have, I would've done the same thing,” Ned was now crying. “I was scared you were going to die, and I couldn't face that. You're my best friend, and I just can't have you die.”
“I'll try not to do that to you again.”
“Please, next time just tell Mr. Stark, instead of coming to me.”
“I promise,” they both hugged each other.
“I have some homework for you. Oh, and Flash is spreading rumors that you're in the psych ward,” Peter rolled his eyes and laughed. “Principal Morita gave him a week’s worth of detentions when he overheard him in the halls though.”
“Good.” they both laughed, “was he mad?”
“Very mad, said it was an injustice.”