As Long As The Sun Burns

Chapter Fifteen

"NOOOO!" Tony screamed, thrashing around as best he could, what with a knife stuck in his shoulder. "Stay away from him! Peter! Peter baby what are you doing?!"

"You have to help my dad first," Peter said. "He'll lose a lot of blood. Please, can you just...patch him up?"

"That's not really my forte," Dr. Octavius said.

"Then let me do it. Please? I swear you can do your weird experiment things," Peter promised. "Just let me patch up my dad."

Dr. Octavius smiled. "As a sign of my trust in you, I will allow you to help your father," he said, one of his limbs extending downward and cutting through his ropes. Peter winced and rubbed the sores on his wrists before racing over to where his father was sitting. "Do not make me regret this Peter. There are worse things than a knife to the shoulder."

And with that last threat, Dr, Octavius left the room. (Probably to get whatever mad scientist materials he needed to perform his experiments.)

"Peter! What are you doing? Run!" Tony cried, flabbergasted when his son began to patch up his shoulder.

"I can't," Peter said. "He'll hurt you."

"He's going to hurt you!" Tony hissed.

"I'll heal," Peter said. He was suddenly very interested in the bleeding wound on Tony's right shoulder. "Dad, I swear...I was going to tell you about...the mutation. I was. I just..."

"Peter, Bambino, It's okay," Tony said. "When we get out of here we can talk about it."

"Papa," Peter said sadly. Tony didn't like that. Not one bit.

"Nope. Uh-uh." Tony hissed. "You will not use that tone with me, young man. We're going to get out of here, and that's final."

"Dad, the last time I fought this guy, I ended up with a bruised torso, a broken nose and a slight concussion," Peter said. "And I had the upper hand! I can't beat him alone!"

Tony smiled. "You don't have to. I have a plan."

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"I'm just...I'm worried about him," Tony confessed, looking back at where Peter sat on the floor drawing a picture. He was silent but his eyes kept drooping as his body swayed from side to side as he fought off sleep. "He's not sleeping."

Linda, the child psychiatrist he had called just sighed, holding her hands on her front. "He's been traumatized," she said. "A death in a family can be very hard on children, however witnessing a death can be very traumatic. Peter watched as his Uncle was shot and bled out in his arms. That can be very damaging to anyone's psyche, let alone a child's."

Tony just sighed, running his hands through his hair, a nervous tick he had gotten after the divorce. "He hasn't slept for a full night in weeks. He gets three hours tops, then he wakes up screaming and crawls in bed with me where he just stares at the ceiling until morning. He can't go on like this."

Linda nodded sympathetically. "He may need hospitalization," she said softly. "I'm going to prescribe you small doses of sleeping medication. If he doesn't start to sleep at least five hours a night, come see me."

Tony nodded. He expected that after the second all nighter in a row. His son needed sleep, but he couldn't fall asleep without having nightmares.

"Okay," he said. "Thank you for your help, Linda. I really appreciate it."

Linda nodded. "I really hope he gets better soon. Your son is such a bright kid."