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Peter’s day was not going great. He woke up to see his phone didn’t charge, thus his alarm never went off. He rushed out of bed, threw his clothes on, skipped breakfast (something you never want to do when you have an enhanced metabolism), and ran to make the train. He made it to school ten minutes late, which made him have to get a tardy slip from the office, which then made him even later to class. Who designed that system?
He huffed as he finally collapsed into his chair. Ned, who was sitting next to him as always, leaned over and whispered, “You ok man?”
Peter gave a weak fake smile and a nod. Ned didn’t look convinced but turned back to the board anyhow. Peter was also tired from patrol last night, especially since it had become really cold lately. He did have a heater in his suit, thanks to Mr. Stark, but it only helped so much, and when he got cold he got tired. He made it through the day, dreading the trek back home. His phone was dead so he couldn’t call anyone. He just put his coat over his sweater and stepped out into the blistering cold.
A storm was definitely on its way as the snow was blowing in all directions making it hard to see three feet in front of him. If he could have seen three feet in front of him he would have seen Tony’s black Audi, with Happy in the front seat waiting for him. Apparently Tony had texted him to let him know that Happy would pick him up due to the horrible weather, but of course, his phone was dead and he never saw the text or the car, so he started walking to the train.
His feet were ice cold as his boots were torn up from last year. May had not made enough money to buy him new ones, and he refused to ask Mr. Stark for some. His pride might literally be the death of him. He just kept trudging through the fluffy white glacial clouds beneath his feet. He felt his toes start to go numb, but it was only a few more blocks. He also felt himself slowing down, he was getting so tired.
A block more and his legs were almost completely numb. The white under him suddenly looked suspiciously like a soft white comforter. Maybe he could rest for just a second? ‘No,’ Peter reprimanded himself, ‘I have to get home.’ He thought as he took another step forward and that’s when his knees collapsed.
He had forgotten his gloves in his haste to get to school today, so his hands were already numb as he stretched them out to catch himself. Because of this, the snow under his hands felt like nothing, blissful nothingness. It felt so comfy that he didn’t want to get up, he wasn't even sure if he could get up. He was so tired and his eyelids kept weighing down and closing. ‘Just a small nap,’ he thought, “then I’ll get up.” And so he let his eyes close one last time as snowflakes settled on his lashes.
______
Tony was in the lab, surprise surprise when he got a call from Happy. His eyebrows furrow, since Happy never called when he was driving, even though Tony had a hands free phone in the car. He answered with a hint of anxiety in his chest, “Hey Hap, what’s up?”
“Hey, boss,” He sounded annoyed, but what else was new, “when’s the kid supposed to get out?”
Suddenly his anxiety skyrocketed as he glanced at the clock. 3:30pm. “What do you mean? He was supposed to get out thirty minutes ago.” He tried to keep his voice level, but he was already on edge since the kid never replied to his text about Happy picking him up. Peter always answered his texts; always.
“Well, I didn’t see him come out, although it’s hard to see anything through this snow.” All Tony can think about is how Peter can’t thermoregulate, “Should I go in?”
“Hold on,” Tony said as he turned to look at the ceiling. “FRIDAY, can you track Peter?”
“I am sorry boss, but I cannot.”
“Why the hell not!!” Tony shouted, more from nerves than from anger.
“It appears Mr. Parker is not in his suit and his phone is currently off,” FRIDAY replies.
“His phone’s off?” Tony said with confusion and worry.
“That is correct Boss”
“How long has it been off?” His worry kept growing the more information, or lack there of it, he is getting.
“Since 12:22 am today.”
“Shit!” Tony looks at his text to Peter, he sends it at 1:03pm, he turns back to his call with Happy. “He walked home.”
Happy rarely shows emotion, other than annoyance, but the fear is clear in his voice, “What?! He couldn’t have gotten far in this weather with his temperature regulation problems.”
Happy basically summed up Tony’s anxiety-ridden thoughts. “I’m going to find him, you get back here safely ok?”
“You sure boss, I can go look for him.”
“Too dangerous, I’m not losing both of you to this snow. Just get back here, I’ll find the kid.” His voice gets a bit distorted at the end of his sentence as the suit forms around him.
“Got it, bring him back safely.” He would never admit it, but Happy does care for the boy.
“I’ll do my best.” Tony said in a tight nervous tone, the call transferred to the suit as he was already flying out of the tower. He then disconnects the call. “FRI? Lay out Peter’s route from school to his apartment in Queens.”
A moment later there was a red line on his Hud of the route. He started at the school, flying low as it was hard to see anything but white. He went slow, which really tested his non-existent patience, but if he went fast he was worried he would miss the kid.
He was halfway to the train when he spotted a figure in the snow. His heart dropped into his stomach. Only some of the figure was showing as the rest was covered in the freezing crystals of white. He almost missed them, if he was going any faster he would have. He immediately swopped down. The snow started to melt closer he got because of the thrusters. He knew it was him, but his mind kept repeating, ‘Please don’t be the kid, please don’t be the kid, please don’t be my kid.’
Once he got on the ground he saw a bit of the star wars logo in the backpack sticking out of the snow and he could have sworn his heart stopped. “No no no no no,” He released himself from the suit, and a gust of frigid wind hit him full force. He rushed out of the tower with nothing but jeans and an AC/DC T-shirt. He knelt down, the snow soaking his knees, but he paid no attention to it. All his attention was on the boy laying eerily still in the snow. “Pete?” He reached out to take his hand but flinched back like he had been burned. Although, it was actually the opposite. He reared back because the skin he touched was almost ice cold. He pushed Peter’s shoulder so he was then lying on his back, and that’s when Tony saw his lips. Peter’s blue lips. Once again he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “No no no no, Peter!” His voice was cracking as he shouted above the swirling wind around them. “Kid it’s time to wake up.” He said, tapping him on the cheek. Nothing, “Kid please don’t do this.” He put two fingers on Peter's pulse point on his neck, he has never been more relieved in his life to feel a weak thump. “Nap times over kiddo, time to get up!” He tapped him on the cheek again, a little harder and finally he heard a weak groan.
“M’ T’red” Peter slurred, his blue tinted lip barely moving.
“I know Buddy, but you have to stay awake for me alright?” Tony felt relief and worry at the same time.
“D’n’t w’nna” Peter whined like a petulant child.
“I know you don’t but you have to. You need to stay awake for me.” Tony started to get upp, but his legs had gone partly numb. He can’t have them both be numb or there was no chance Peter was going to make it. He used all the strength he had left in his legs to get up, pushing himself from the ground. He then got back into his suit, the metal legs were a lot more sturdy than his own thankfully. After he was fully encased he bent down and started to lift Peter's freezing cold body from the snow. Peter whined at the movement, “I know buddy, but we're going to get you home and fixed up.” He was too worried to even notice that he called the Tower Peter’s home. “FRI, have Helen on standby at the tower, explain what’s happened and send her Pete’s vitals. Also put his vitals on the HUD.”
“Done,” FRIDAY said just as the vitals appeared on the screen.
Heart Rate: 45 bpm
Temperature: 87 Fahrenheit (30.5 celsius)
Blood pressure: 70/45
Oxygen: 60 %SpO2
“Shit!” He started to take off, “Pete, are you still with me?”
Peter just groaned, Tony wasn't going to ask any more than that, as long as he was awake. He let FRIDAY steer as he was way too anxious to, not to mention he was looking at Petr every few seconds to make sure he was still awake. A little over halfway to the Tower Tony felt a shift in his metal-coated arms. Peter had gone completely limp. “Peter!” There was no reaction. Shit! FRI Thrusters at 100! 1000 even!“
“I do not recome-”
“Just do it!!” Tony shouted before she could finish. At this point, he didn't even care if he accidentally broke the sound barrier. A few minutes later he was landing on the jet's landing pad at the tower. He rushed inside the minute his suit hit the ground, bursting through the door.
Helen, god bless her, was waiting with a team on the other side. “Put him here Tony, we’ll take care of him.” Tony didn’t want to leave Peter, but he knew it was his only option. He deposited the kid as carefully and quickly on the bed as he could and stepped back. As soon as he did so the nurses and doctors swarmed the gurney strapping an oxygen mask to his face, putting on a blood pressure cup, starting an IV, and putting wires with pads on the end on Peter's chest while they cut the freezing wet soaked clothes off of him. And a moment later he was wicked away leaving Tony behind to step out of the suit.
When the suit opened Tony nearly collapsed, but someone caught him. He looked up and saw a blurry Happy standing over him. He didn’t even realize he had started crying unting now. “Boss, you need to breathe.” He also didn’t realize he was hyperventilating until now. “The kid will be okay.”
“How…do…you…know?” He said with a short raspy breath in between each word.
“Because he’s too stubborn not to be.”
That got a huff out of Tony that sounded a bit like a laugh. He worked on slowing his breathing down until he could get a sentence out. “Yeah…Yeah, you're right” He took a few more deep breaths, “I’m just worried.”
To Tony’s surprise, Happy said, “Me too.” Tony stood up straight as Happy let go of him but was close enough to catch him if Tony had another panic attack. “We can wait in the Med Bay waiting room.”
Tony gave a nod, his face still etched in concern, as he walked with Happy to the small waiting room.
_______
A few hours later a tired, but not distraught, Helen came out. Tony and Happy immediately stood, but before either could say a word she cut in, “He’ll be fine.” A breath of relief could be heard from both men. “He came in with stage two hypothermia. We’re warming him up slowly so as to not shock his system. Your lucky, he was a few minutes away from hibernation.”
“Hibernation?!” Tony said in shock and confusion.
“Like a bear?” Happy added.
Helen laughed and shook her head, “No, like a spider.” That made a lot more sense, “Although he didn’t go into hibernation, he will be sleeping a lot for the next few days.”
“Can I see him?” Tony asked in a hopeful strained voice.
“Yes, but even when he does wake up intermittently he might not be very lucid.”
“Doesn’t matter, I just need to see my son.” No one mentioned his slip of the tongue. Or was it a slip? Helen just nodded and led him down the hall until she opened one of the doors that lead to a private room.
He stepped in, not ready to see how small Peter looked. He could barely see Peter since he was covered in a thick heating blanket. He was also a bit lost in all the wires. He was hooked up to an IV as well as a blood bag. Helen explains something about warming up his blood. Not to mention all the monitoring equipment. It was also dead quiet other than the beeping of the heart monitor, which still seemed too slow. Apparently, his stats would improve the warmer he got. Tony thanked Helen and Happy and then they left him alone, shutting the door behind them.
Tony took a seat next to Peter's bed. He grasped Peter’s hand, it was still way too cold, but much better than when he first felt it when he was lying in the snow. “I’m right here Pete, whenever your ready to wake up.” He paused and swallowed the lump in his throat as he remained still. “Also don’t think almost…dying” the word got caught as he uttered it, “gets you out of a lecture about keeping your phone charged.” Of course, the boy still didn’t move, so Tony waited.
Over the next few days, Peter woke up a few times, but never for long and never with comprehension. Tony would hold his breath every time Peter moved. In the few times, he woke up Tony’s relief was short-lived when Peter showed no signs of recognition and then would fall asleep not ten minutes later.
May came the first day and stayed the second, but she couldn’t take much time off work. She reluctantly left after Tony promised to give her updates and send a car the minute Peter was fully awake. It ended up being a total of five days until Peter actually woke up. Tony had fallen asleep in the chair beside Peter’s bed. He had refused to leave his side. Pepper had to force him to go take a shower and eat. He wouldn’t sleep in his own bed, he lied and said that sleeping in the chair was comfortable enough. It was not. Of course, Peter woke up when he was sleeping.
Peter woke to the feeling of heaviness. His body felt heavy and he was pretty sure there was something heavy on top of him. He peeled his eyes open to see a thick blanket that was radiating warmth laying over him. It felt nice, but he didn’t know where he was. He also felt something on top of his left hand. He loosed over to see a bigger hand holding it. He followed the arm with his eyes, moving his head was hard at the moment, to see it belonged to Mr. Stark. He didn’t want to wake the man, he already looked exhausted, even in sleep. His hair was disheveled, his shirt was wrinkled, and he had dark bags under his eyes. Still, Peter needed to know what was going on. From his surroundings he gathered he was in the Medbay, but why?
“Mr. Stark?” Peter whispered hoarsely. One, because talking hurt, his throat was really dry, but also because he didn’t want to startle the man out of his slumber. Mr. Stark moved a little but didn’t wake up. He gave the man’s hand a squeeze as he said, “Mr. Stark?” again.
This time Tony scrunched up his face and slowly opened his eyes. Immediately they locked on to Peter's huge brown ones staring at him. “Peter?” Tony said as he woke up. Then he realized Peter was awake! He was talking! He sat up so fast he got a head rush, “Peter?!” Peter gave a small smile. “You actually within me this time bud?”
Peter looked confused at that but nodded. “Yeah.”
Tony winced at the raspy sound of Peter’s voice, “Hang on.” He reached over to the table beside the bed and poured Peter a cup of water from the pitcher sitting on top. “Drink this slowly.” He put a straw in it and held it up to Peter’s mouth. Peter closed his eyes and relished in the smooth liquid going down his sand dry throat. As Peter drank Tony called up to FRIDAY to message May and send Happy to pick her up.
Once Tony took the cup away Peter spoke up, “What happened?” His voice was still a bit gravelly, but not as much.
“You don’t remember?” Tony asked concern laced in his voice. Peter shook his head, which made his head hurt. “You tried to walk home in a snowstorm Pete.” Recognition flashed in Peter’s eyes as they widened. He suddenly remembered the cold, which made him shiver subconsciously, and falling, and closing his eyes. “You just about gave me a heart attack Pete. You know I have a heart condition right?”
He meant that last part as a joke, but Peter looked down in shame and uttered, “Sorry.”
“Hey, hey it’s okay,” Tony said in a soft tone. That tone was exclusively for Peter, “I’m just glad you’re alright. Why wasn’t your phone charged Underoos?”
“My charger only works at a certain angle and I must have bumped it during the night,” Peter replied truthfully.
“Why didn’t you get a new one?” Tony said, his eyebrows furrowed.
“I didn’t want to make May pay for it.”
Tony’s eyebrows stayed furrowed, “Why didn’t you ask me?” Peter didn’t say anything. “Peter, I’m not exactly strapped for cash, you could have asked me. A charger is nothing.”
“Sorry,” Peter said again.
“You're not allowed to use that word anymore.” Peter gave a small smile at that. “First thing I’m doing is getting you a new charger, but that’s not enough, I think I’m going to put an arc reactor in your phone so it never dies.”
Peter huffed out a laugh, “Mr. Stark you can’t put a fusion reactor in my phone.”
“And why not?”
“I highly doubt it’s safe.”
“Safe than you getting stuck with no way to call for help or receive my texts about Happy picking you up.” Tony countered.
“Sorry.”
“Ah-ah, what did I say?”
“Sorry,” Peter said with a sly smile. Mr. Stark gave him a pointed look, but couldn’t keep the amused grin off his face.
“God I missed your sass.”
Peter laughed again, “You're going to regret saying that.”
“I am, aren't I.” Tony laughed.
All was right in the world again. Peter was safe and awake. His son was safe and awake and Tony wished for nothing more.