Wrong Number (Spider-Man)

🕸 8. 'Dad' 🕸

TW: Bullet wound

Peter had been out all night Spider-Manning and he was really tired, but it was Saturday, so he had to go to the internship. He got out bed, flinching as he still had a bullet wound in his shoulder, it wasn't lethal or damaging anything, but it hurt as hell. He took clean clothes on, he almost didn't have any left, as May and him were having a bit of a financial crisis.

He hadn't had a full meal in a while, he got all the food a normal teenager would need, but that wasn't enough for his fast metabolism. May knew about him being Spider-Man, but she didn't know about his fast metabolism, he didn't want her to waste money on his food, that she could use on the bills.

The point of the story was, his wounds didn't heal as fast as they should. He ate some cereal for breakfast and then the spider was out of the door. He ran all the way to Stark Towers and got in, he hadn't slept more than half an hour as there had been a lot of crimes that night, he felt as if he could pass out anytime.

He got there and greeted Gwen.
"Hello Ms. Stacy"
"Just call me Gwen, I don't like being greeted this formal, also are you alright? You don't look too well?" The girl said with worry in her eyes and voice, Peter did look horrible, his hair was not styled and his eyes had dark rings under them.

"Yeah I'm fine" Peter answered, but he knew that it probably sounded more of a question than an answer. "If you say it Pete" Gwen said with a sigh, and Peter went into the elevator and up to Mr. Starks lab.
"Good morning Mr. Stark"
"Morning Bambi... are you okay? you look like you haven't slept in weeks"
"Wow, thank you Mr. Stark" Peter said and tried to laugh, even though he didn't really succeed.

"I'm serious kid, have you been getting enough sleep"
"Ehh, I've been having nightmares lately" That was actually true, the 2-year 'anniversary' of his uncle passing away in his arms is in a week, and the nightmares had doubled.
"Oh, wanna talk about it?"
Peter suddenly felt dizzy, the lack of sleep and being a bit malnourished was probably the reason.

"Uhh, Mr. Stark, I don't feel so good"

Tony looked at the boy in front of him, he had turned a bit paler than before, before Tony even got a word out the boy fainted into his arms.
"Baby girl, call Bruce to my lab!"
"On it boss" came the reply from the Irish voice in the ceiling. Not long after Bruce came running in. "What's the matter Tony?"
"The kid just passed out! Is he okay!?"

Bruces eyes widened with worry and picked up the kid. "Damn he's light, I'm gonna carry him to the med-bay, you're welcome to follow" that was exactly what Tony did, no way was he leaving his ki- the kid alone.

They got to the Medical bay and Bruce immediately started doing scans. After a while Bruce came with the response, Tonys head shot up. "Is he going to be fine?" A very worried billionaire asked. "Yes, he's just lacking sleep and he's malnourished, do you know why?"
"Uhhh, no. He said something about having nightmares lately, I don't know why he's malnourished"

"Theres one thing more, he has a bullet wound in his shoulder"
"WHAT!? IS IT SERIOUS?"
"No, it just needs time to heal, and it must've been really painful to move with, I don't know how he hid it." Bruce said with a worried voice.

"You think this was out on his nightly walk" Tony suggested, remembering how the boy had been stabbed on his walk.
"Maybe, let's ask him when he wake up" Bruce said.
"Sure, and then I'm taking him to eat some food" Tony said, feeling a strong urge to protect his kid.

Peter woke up feeling very groggy, he woke up in a hospital? It looked like a hospital room, but how did he get there? Then he looked and saw Mr. Stark sitting in the corner on a chair.
"Uhhh, Mr. Tony? Where am I?"
Tonys head shot up as he heard his name and walked over to the kid. "Hey Bambi, you scared me a bit there, are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine"

"Kid, the tests showed that you're lacking sleep, malnourished and you have a bullet wound at your shoulder, Bruce has taken care of the bullet wound"
"Yeah, I was out walking at night, after I woke up from a nightmare, I couldn't sleep and I needed some fresh air, and then I was mugged, but I didn't have any money"

"Why are you malnourished?"
"Uhhh, my aunt and I are lacking money, so we don't have enough food every day"
"Your internship is officially paid for now, you're getting 30$ per hour"
"Are you sure Mr. Tony, this is an internship, these are not normally paid for"
"Do you know who you're talking to? I'm a billionaire, if I want to pay you I will pay you"
"Okay, thank you so much Mr. Tony"
"Your welcome Bambi, come on I'm taking you to lunch, on me, do you have any preferences?" Tony said, which caused Peter to light up with a smile.

"Have you ever tried Delmers?" Tony smiled at seeing the kid happy over something as simple as sandwiches. "No, I haven't, let's go" Tony said grabbing his sunglasses and a cap. Which in Peters opinion was a very bad disguise.

After a 10 minute drive they arrived at Delmers Sandwiches. They both went in and Peter greeted the man working in Italian.
"Hey Pete, how's your aunt? Do you want the usual?" He said with a smile.
"Yeah, just the usual"
Tony interrupted "Make it three sandwiches in total of what he's usually having" Peter looked at him. "You're eating 2 sandwiches?"
Tony laughed "no kid, I'm not the one malnourished"

After a bit, the sandwiches were done and they sat down at a table in the corner.
"Wow kid, these sandwiches are great!"
"Yeah I know right, these are the best sandwiches in Queens"
A comfortable silence fell over the two as they ate the food, Peter was very grateful that Tony had bought him two sandwiches instead of one, because his spider-abilities was in desperate need of the extra food.

"Thank you for buying me food dad" Peter said not thinking about talking.

"What did you just call me?" Tony said, the kid had called him dad! Maybe the billionaire did see the boy in front of him as a son, even though he'd never admit it to anyone.
"Wha- Oh my, I'm so sorry Mr. Stark, I didn't think, and you remind me so much of my Online dad, that I just didn't think. So sorry" Peter said, his heart skipping a beat and he was becoming increasingly more red in the face.

He had called Tony Stark for dad, he did see him as a father figure, both the 'real' Tony Stark and the group-chat Tony Stark, but he's his boss and idol!
"No worries Bambi, it's fine" Tony said, a bit disappointed that the kid didn't mean it, and that the kid didn't see him as a dad, actually he kind of did, but that was the group-chat Tony and not this Tony. Tony looked at his son with a smile. "You ready to go back to the lab kiddo?"

~1278 words