Growing Up

16 Years Old

Missions were Peter's favourite part of his weekend. That is if there were any. During the school week, Peter wasn't allowed to join missions, so that meant he could only join the fun Friday night-Sunday. Unfortunately for him, bad guys didn't usually wait until the weekend to strike, so Peter was often left to do homework while his dad went with the team on some epic mission. This weekend, however, Peter was able to join in the fun.

"Suit up, Pete," Tony said, tossing the Spider-Man suit to Peter as soon as he had run out of school. "We've got a shoot-out in Times Square. Looks like they got their hands on some alien tech, though."

Peter didn't need to be told twice. By the time Tony parked the car just outside of Times Square, he was dressed and ready to go. Tony called the Iron Man suit to him and a minute later, both Iron Man and Spider-Man were at the scene.

"Look who finally decided to show up," Steve said, walking over to Tony.

"Sorry," Tony replied, "Traffic jam."

Steve rolled his eyes and told Tony where they had set the perimeter. Now all they had to do was get the three hostages away from the men with alien weapons.

"Sounds easy enough," Tony said.

"What should I do?" Peter asked, trying not to bounce too excitedly.

Steve glanced at Peter, hesitant to give him a job but also knowing he would break the kid's heart if he didn't.

"Help Natasha get the hostages out while Clint, Sam, and I take care of the men," Steve instructed, "Tony, make sure NYPD doesn't surround us. We want them to stay back."

"You're the boss," Tony replied before shooting up into the air.

Darting off in the direction Steve pointed, Peter found Natasha hiding behind a building near the hostage site. He slipped up beside her, making sure not to surprise her, and peered around the corner. Before he could get a good look though, Natasha pulled him back, hissing at him not to be stupid.

"Sorry," he whispered back.

"Wait for my signal," she told him.

Peter nodded and together they waited in silence. Suddenly, Natasha nodded at him and raced around the corner where the hostages were. While she took out the man guarding them, Peter untied the hostages and pulled them to their feet. He picked up the little girl and turned to run back around the building when he felt something hot cut through his arm. With a scream, he dropped the girl who raced off after the other two hostages and to safety.

"Peter!"

Peter looked down at his arm to see his suit charred and burning from where the weapon had cut through. The sight of it made him woozy and he stumbled to his knees while Natasha took care of the man who had shot him. As soon as he was taken care of, she turned and ran to Peter side.

"Peter, look at me," she said, yanking off his mask. Peter's head rolled over to look at her but his eyes remained tightly closed. "Peter, open your eyes and tell me what 7 times 4 is."

Peter opened his eyes and groaned, but did not have the right answer.

"12? No, that's not right," he murmured deliriously.

Natasha frowned and over the comm, she told Tony to get over and help her take Peter to the medical bay.

"Aunt Tasha, my arm really hurts."

"I know," Natasha said as Tony dropped down beside them. Turning away from Peter, she told Tony, "He needs to get to Bruce."

"On it," he said, carefully scooping Peter up. As soon as the kid was tucked safely in his arms, he shot off to the medical bay.

* * * * *

Peter felt awful. His arm hurt, his head hurt, and to make matters worse, he was pretty sure he had needles stuck in his arms. Groaning, he pried open his eyes and tried not to look down, knowing he would find needles attached to his arms if he did.

"Dad?" he asked, spotting Tony sitting beside him.

Jumping to his feet, Tony leaned over Peter and made sure he was alright before calming down.

"You got hit by one of their weapons," Tony explained, "Bruce managed to stitch you back together, but we weren't sure if you were gonna be okay for a while there."

Peter smiled lazily.

"I'm always alright," he said. Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Not when you're flatlining."

Peter frowned but didn't have time to say anything else before Tony got up to let the others in. As they surrounded his bed, he was overwhelmed with questions about how he felt and if he needed anything.

"I'm fine!" Peter said. Glancing at his dad, he said, "I'd be better if I was upstairs watching Lord of the Rings, though."

Tony wasn't the only one who shook his head at Peter's request.

"I'm afraid you'll be spending the night, Peter," Bruce said, pushing through the team to stand beside his bed. "Don't worry, though. I'm sure we can manage a movie night down here."

"Fine," Peter agreed, "But can you please take these needles out of me?"

At Bruce's nod, Peter looked away so he could pull the IVs out and put them away. Meanwhile, Tony found Lord of the Rings on the TV in the room and selected the third one. The team arranged themselves in a way where they could see both Peter and the TV, then settled down as Bruce turned off the lights.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Tony whispered as the movie began. Peter gave his dad a look and Tony raised his hands. "Just making sure."

"He's sure," Sam said, scowling at Tony. "No talking during movies!"

Peter grinned and Tony sat back in his chair. He would deny it to his grave, but he watched Peter the entire time instead of the movie. There was just something about hearing his son flatline that made him need to watch him constantly.