It was stupid really. Spider-Man falling down a hill; but it wasn't really falling if the ground crumbled out from beneath your feet, so really, the hill had thrown him down.

It was also, almost laughably stupid, that it had happened on a school trip through a forest. No cell coverage, which meant no calling for help, which was bad enough without the snake.

Yep, the mother fucking snake.

Peters lungs were sucked of air, because of how suddenly he fell, so there was no scream to alert anyone to the fact that he'd fallen. Ned would have noticed, except he and Peter had been separated by the teacher, for talking too much, on what was supposed to be a focussed science trip.

So, Peter fell, and careened down a hill, crushing plants and foliage in his wake, until he came to a stop by slamming into the trunk of a very large tree.

As soon as his head collided with the bark, it was lights out.

….

That morning, Tony had gotten a phone call from a very nervous young spider.

"So, I know you don't like me going anywhere without my tracker, but I have this science trip, and there's not going to be any service way out there."

Tony was sorting through papers in his office, when he'd gotten the call, and he continued to rifle through them as he spoke, barely taking notice of what Peter was saying.

"Where are you going exactly? Your tracker isn't your average apple junk, it gets decent range."

The teenager didn't seem so sure. "Well, we'll be going out for a hike, and the reception gets really bad. I just don't want you to freak out when my tracker goes offline, or something."

Tony sighed and dropped his papers. "What is the trip for again?"

"Science. We're doing a study on the germination period of the-"

"Okay, whatever. Just keep the tracker with you, I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll refrain from racing to your aid, if it blinks out on my screen."

Peter sighed, relieved; laughing a little through his meek words. "Okay, good. Cause last time, you kind of went nuts and I still don't think they're done repairing that wall at school."

Tony rolled his eyes as he scoffed. "Well, that Flash kid shouldn't have smashed your tracker. It showed that it had been crushed, why would I not assume you'd been crushed with it?"

Peter laughed, making Tony smile just a little. "I know, I know. I'll be back this afternoon, I'll call you after to tell you how the trip went, if you want?" He sounded so hopeful, and while Tony had zero interest in botany and the inane biology trip the kid was on, he cared about Peter.

"Sure, kid. Have fun."

"Thanks, Mr Stark! Bye!"

Tony hung up, and went back to his work, using one hand to tap at his phone. The screen lit up with Peter's tracker coordinates, showing him on his way to his trip, and Tony tried not to be nervous about the fact that Peter would be so far away and without cell service. What if something went wrong? Because something always did with Peter.

No, it would be fine. He would not be a helicopter parent; especially to a kid he was not the parent of.

…...

When Peter woke, it was to swirling green above him, and something dripping from his face. Everything was spinning, and Peter didn't first realise where he was, so he didn't move for a moment, just lay staring up at the trees above him. But his confusion was very quickly replaced with the strong urge to vomit. His stomach clenched painfully, something leapt up his throat, making Peter gag as he tried to sit up.

His back arched, as his body tried to expel everything he had in his stomach, but as soon as he moved, pain tore through his shoulder and chest. His lungs seemed to freeze, unable to suck in any air at all, and his vision blurred as he tried to stay awake through the wave of pain.

It lasted for a moment, leaving Peter panting and exhausted. He wasn't even sure what had happened.

The teenager took a second to just breathe, before assessing his situation. He'd been training with Tony and the other avengers, and they were always telling him to use his head in a fight. Only Thor had been talking about headbuts, but everyone else agreed that Peter was smart and should take advantage of that on battle. Of course, he wasn't in battle, he was on a school trip, but he figured the same logic applied.

First of all, he seemed to be in a lot of pain. He didn't have a very clear picture of what happened but he remembered that sudden weightless feeling you get when you fall, and then a very mean looking tree, which was the one he'd woken up next to.

Peters head pounded harshly, reminding him that he was injured and that he should probably do a mini self assessment before trying to move again.

Given the headache, and the fact that he'd woken up on the ground, he could conclude that he'd hit his head and been knocked out. Which probably explained the dripping sensation on his forehead.

Peter carefully lifted a hand that wasn't attached to his sore shoulder, and touched his hesitant fingers to the warm wetness spreading through his hair.

It was spreading fast, and when Peter brought his fingers back in front of him to see, he confirmed it to be blood.

"Great."

Next was his shoulder. It hurt so badly, and now that he thought about it, he could have sworn he'd heard something snap on his fall down the hill. He figured it was just the foliage he was crushing but apparently not.

Peter knew it was not a good idea to move around after a fall, but he didn't know if anyone even knew where he was. He had to try and get himself out of the situation stupid nature had put him in. Damn cliffs.

Turning his head, as carefully as he could, Peter took a glance at his left shoulder. He couldn't see much, but even the little he could see, didn't look quite right. He didn't want to touch it, he didn't want anyone to touch it, ever, because it hurt. But he needed to know what was wrong with it, and if it was safe to move to get help.

Peter took as deep a breath as his battered body could manage, before walking his fingers over his collarbone. The bubble of nausea rose up his throat once more, but he swallowed it down, as he pulled his fingers away from his shoulder.

It had not felt normal. A normal collar bone, is one straight line across the chest. His was not straight. It had a bump, and a gap. It was definitely broken.

The teenager was no stranger to broken bones, but it didn't make them any less painful or scary. And he was in the middle of nowhere, how was he supposed to call for help?

He forgot all about his self check up, all of a sudden, and he pulled his wrist in front of him and stared at his tracker. The face of the watch was blinking with a 'no signal' sign, and Peter tried to control the fear rising in him. He had told Mr Stark he would be fine, that it wasn't a big deal about going out of range; but now he was alone, and hurt, in the middle of a freaking forest.

He wanted to cry, but he knew from experience that it would only make his headache worse and he tried to clamp down on his emotions. But something wasn't right. Something other than the head injury and broken bone.

His leg felt really weird, and it really, really hurt. It was a burning, aching sort of pain, and his skin had that throbbing, stretched feeling when something swells up and the skin got tight.

But it wasn't just that; there was a strange feeling, like a weight, and a mass hanging off it. Like, something was attached to his calf.

After the awful find of his broken collarbone, Peter didn't want to look; but he had to know and he carefully lifted his head to peer down at his aching limb.

It was a mistake. One that caused him to lose every bit of food he had in his stomach.

…

Ned sighed, annoyed, and bored, and looked back to the back of the group of class kids, to try and catch Peters eye. They had only been talking quietly, but stupid Mr Daniels didn't want them talking about anything other than the stupid germination periods of different species of plants. He'd been moved up to walk beside him at the front of the class, while Peter stayed at the back.

Except, he wasn't there anymore. In fact, Ned couldn't see him at all. He stopped in his tracks, a girl behind him bumping into him as he stood still in the middle of the path.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Where's Peter?"

Mr Daniels stopped walking, annoyed that Ned was causing, yet another, disturbance.

"Mr Leeds, do I need to have you separated from everyone?"

Ned ignored the old crone, looking desperately around for his best friend. They'd all been given a talk before they started the hike, about how dangerous it was to wander off, and now Peter was just missing.

"Where's Peter!?"

A few kids started looking around, at the sound of panic in Ned's tone, and Mr Daniels seemed to finally realize what was going on.

"Where is Mr Parker? Peter? Speak up!"

Kids started to look around, as Ned got more and more panicked the longer he went without finding him.

"Did anyone see where he went?"

Head shook, and faces began to look concerned. Mr Daniels looked a little worried too, pulling a walkie talkie from his bag. "When was the last time someone saw him?"

No one had an answer. No one really paid attention to Peter all that much. Except MJ, who raised her hand. "You separated him and Ned, an hour ago. That's the last time I saw him, cause I moved up the front to tease him about it."

Ned was starting to panic. "He could be anywhere by now!"

Mr Daniels turned on his walkie talkie, and Ned was so grateful that they at least had some connection to some help.

But that minute source of relief was short lived, as another voice rose from the group of school kids. It was Flash, as he looked nervously around at the plant life around him.

"Mr Daniels? Didn't you say there were black rattlesnakes out here?"

…

Peter's brain screamed at him, pure fear and panic, rushing through his entire body, to every cell in his brain. He would have screamed for real, only he couldn't breathe.

There was a snake, attached to his calf. He must have rolled onto it when he fell, because although it was limp, its fangs were buried in his flesh; it's neck obviously snapped where it was hanging lifeless from his leg.

Despite the pain radiating through his whole body, the sight made his stomach heave, and he quickly twisted to the side and vomited into the grass.

He almost blacked out again, at the pain that vomiting caused. The throbbing in his head magnified into a blinding migraine, and his chest and shoulder screamed for him to stop moving. But the worst, was the feeling of the snake being pulled with him and his leg moved, it's body flopping against the side of his calf.

He heaved until there was nothing left, and lay sobbing in the grass.

A broken bone was one thing, but now he had been bitten by a snake, and he was all alone. He didn't know what to do and he was terrified.

If only his tracker was working so that Mr Stark could find him, he could fly in and rescue him like he always did. He would do anything to hear those jets, to know that help was coming; but he didn't even know if his classmates knew he was missing yet, and although Spider-Man was super cool, he would not be getting Peter out of this one.

…

Ned was about to have a full blown freak out. His best friend was missing in the middle of nowhere, and now apparently there were snakes too! He quickly pulled his phone from his pocket, pulling up his contacts and searching for the right one.

"We have to call Mr Stark. He can come and find him."

MJ was looking more concerned than Ned thought she was capable of, almost like she actually liked Peter. "There's no reception up here, how are you going to call him?"

Ned didn't like to stand up to teachers, he didn't like to start trouble; but this was his friend and he would not leave him alone to be eaten by snakes or… whatever snakes did. Did they eat people?

Ned interrupted Mr Daniels ramble to the rangers through the walkie talkie, grabbing the thing right of his hand.

"Yeah, he's about fifteen. He's been gone for at least an hour, we don't know where on the trail he might- Mr Leeds!"

Ned didn't have time to apologise, pushing the button on the side, and avoiding his teachers reaching hands.

"I need you to call this number, and tell whoever answers that Peter Parker is in trouble." Ned rattled off the number, trying to remind himself of all the sticky situations Peter got himself out of on a daily basis. But there was that other part of his brain telling him that, that was Spider-Man, not Peter.

…

Tony had been ignoring the itch on the back of his mind, since he'd gotten off the phone with the kid. The itch that he got everytime he looked at Peter's tracker, and saw that the signal had been lost. He couldn't help but feel anxious whenever he couldn't get in contact with him, but he knew it was ridiculous; it was just a school trip after all.

But then Happy came to his door. "Tony, I got a couple of park ranger types on the phone. They say something's happened to the kid. He's missing."

Tony jumped from his seat, adrenaline rushing through him as his mind raced with all the possibilities of what could have happened to Peter. "Get their coordinates, send them to the suit. Now. I'm going to get him."

….

Peter caught his breath before trying to move again, and promised himself he wouldn't look down at his leg again until the snake was gone. He had been through some scary situations as Spider-Man, but he wasn't a superhero out in the wilderness, he was a kid, and he drew the line at snakes.

It hurt so bad, he was shaking all over, chest heaving with the effort it took to haul in a breath. He didn't even know if the snake was venomous, or what kind it was, but if he had to guess, he'd say it had definitely injected something into him when it's fangs sunk through his skin. He could feel the way his skin was stretching to accommodate the swelling, and it felt hot around the bite.

He knew he needed to get out of the woods, to just find the trail or someone to help him, but it was too painful to move. He couldn't even bring himself to crawl away from his puddle of vomit.

Peter lay in the grass and dirt, and sobbed, hands fisting at the foliage beneath him, as he lay on his back to stare up at the sky. He tried to focus on anything else, other than the pain in his leg; even if it meant focussing on the feeling of blood start to coagulate in his hair.

He tried to keep his eyes on the trees above him, but they were getting blurry, and he was starting to feel cold, colder than he should on such a hot day. His teeth began to chatter, as his body shook harder, and the trees blurred into one mass of green.

Another sob erupted from his mouth, before he clamped down on it, teeth clenching together. He needed to concentrate.

"Focus, Peter. Someone will come. They'll find you. Make noise so they can find you."

It was getting harder to breathe, and his collarbone ached every time he did, but he had to try.

"Help! Help me!" His voice wasn't as strong as he had intended; it was wobbly, and weak, but he had to keep going.

"Please! Ned! Mr Stark! Somebody!"

If he could just wait long enough for someone to rescue him, if he could just stay calm until then, it would be okay.

But the minutes stretched by, until they turned into hours, and he still hadn't been found. Peter's eyes were getting heavy, and his whole body was shaking so badly his teeth were clattering together.

He was tired, and cold, and in too much pain to stay awake much longer. He was giving up.

Tears continued to fall down his temples, into his hair and down into the grass, as he stared up at the blurred expanse of green above him, and prayed for someone to rescue him.

…..

Tony flew as fast as he could, coordinates up in front of him, with Friday giving him directions. He felt as if he'd had way too many cups of coffee, his brain was running a million miles an hour, thinking of any possible way to locate Peter faster.

"How close are we to the group? Get a thermal scan up and running in the background, tell me if you find him. And keep trying to boost the signal to his tracker."

"We are right above where Ned reported to have last seen Peter. Scans running."

Tony watched the trees below him, as carefully as he could, trying to spot anything that could lead him to Peter. After a minute or so of flying in silence, with the scans going, Friday spoke up.

"Scans of the plant life below, compared with the footage from satellites passing overhead earlier in the week, show that one part of the track has slipped away. There is a trail leading down one of the banks, perhaps Peter fell down."

Tony flew towards it, seeing where the pathway crumbled. "What's the thermal scan say?"

"There is a living mass down the steep incline, but I cannot detect if it is Peter or not."

Tony flew faster. "Who else would it be?! Peter! I'm coming kid!"

The trampled, crushed plants lead to the bottom of a bank, where the teenager was laying.

He was sprawled out on the grass and plants, staring up at the sky with half lidded eyes. Tony raced towards him in his Iron-Man suit, lifting the face plate up as he got closer, allowing him to see Peter better.

The kid had dirt streaked all over him, which made it easier to see the tear tracks across his face, and the bumps and scratches over it. Blood was matted through his hair, with a puddle of half dried vomit beside him.

"Friday, call the tower. Get my medical team on a helicopter and out here, now."

Tony went to him, kneeling close to him and hovering his hands above him, unsure of what to do.

"Peter, can you hear me?"

The teenager didn't seem to notice he was there, eyes unfocused and uneven. He was trembling, and sweaty, his face pale and sickly looking. Tony was getting more worried as time went on, especially when he realized that Peters mouth was moving. The kid was mumbling pleas, begging for someone to help him, while totally unaware that someone had.

"Please...help me. Mr...stark...find me."

Tony took one of the kids hands, his fingers smeared with dried blood, and squeezed gently, trying to get Peter to notice he was there.

"Peter, I need you to answer me. I'm here, you're going to be okay. Geeze kid, what happened to you?"

Those bright eyes were slow, but they widened just a bit, as they crept over the trees and finally swept over Tony's face, eyebrows coming down in confusion.

"Mr Stark? You came!" He was weak, and likely in shock, but he smiled at the man above him before beginning to sob once more. "Get it off me, Mr Stark. Please, get it off."

Tony frowned as Peters sobs got louder, and more panicked; and he quickly looked the kid over for what he could be talking about.

"What? Peter, what do you want me to-oh my god." He found it.

"That is a black rattlesnake. They have a very dangerous neurotoxin which they inject through their fangs. This one appears to be dead." Fridays informative chatter did not make Tony feel better.

It was disgusting; but Peters leg looked worse. It was swollen and discolored, blood rolling down his calf in twin rivers from the punctures the fangs made. Peter was becoming more distressed, and Tony would do anything to make him feel better, but he didn't think he should mess with something he didn't understand, and decided to leave it to the professionals.

"Peter, I'm going to do everything that I can to help, but I need you to stay still and calm for me. Can you do that? Just keep holding my hand, and talking to me."

"It hurts." He was so trusting, and Tony wished he could make the pain gp away.

"I know buddy, I'm so sorry."

Peter face crumpled, twisting into something agonising, as his voice broke as he shook further. "I'm scared."

Tonys heart snapped in two. This kid couldn't get a break, even when he was on school trips. He carefully avoided the blood and cut on Peter's forehead, as he used a hand to stroke his hair back.

"You don't have to be scared, I'm right here. I'm going to take care of you, Peter. You'll be okay, I promise."

A shout came from above, startling Tony and making him look up to the crumbled path.

"Peter!?"

It was Ned, and his class. The kid was screaming for his friend, having finally found them.

Tony squeezed Peters hand tight as he called up. "Stay there! Everyone stay where you are! I found him, I have a chopper coming!"

But of course, no matter whos giving the orders, Ned is not likely to listen when his best friend is hurt. Tony could hear him arguing with his teacher, the scuffle of feet on dirt, and hands pushed against chests, before Ned was tampling down plant life to get to Peter.

He barely blinked an eye at Tony, solely focussed on his friend, as he ran over and dropped to his knees beside them.

"Peter! Oh my god! What happened?"

Tony had been wondering that same thing, and looked down to the kid as he answered.

"I fell. The path...gave way. Didn't have my webs this time."

Tony was confused for a moment, not because of what Peter said, but how he said it. He didn't sound so scared, anymore. His voice was weak but it wasn't as shaky. Tony didn't know what to say because he thought he knew what Peter was doing.

Even injured, even terrified out of his mind, Peter was still being brave for his friend. He didn't want Ned to worry, so he made jokes, and pretended he wasn't in as much pain as he really was, and Tony was speechless. Peter was still trying to be a hero, in the small way that he could.

Ned looked a little sick as he looked down at his friend, eyes scanning over the damage. He gestured to Peters collarbone. "That's broken. My cousin, Jeremy, once broke it and it looked exactly like that. And that…" He looked at the snake, eyes going wide, but body pulling away from it as if he wanted to look away but couldn't.

Tony went to reassure him but Peter got there first, panting through his joke.

"Hey, d-do you think I could g-get powers from this one too?"

Ned seemed to know what he was doing, and focussed on Peters face, leaning over him and smiling, as he pulled his backpack off and started to unzip it.

"We could call you...Snider-Man. Or Spake? Man?" Tony watched in disbelief, as Peter focussed on his best friends face, hanging onto his every word like a lifeline, while Ned pulled out his hoodie from his bag and began to wrap it around Peter to keep him warm.

"You'll be okay, Peter. Mr Stark said there's help coming. We found you."

Peter rolled his head towards Ned, pressing his forehead against his knee, as Ned smiled down at him and tucked the hoodie carefully around his battered form.

Tony couldn't believe that these two kids, were so strong, pushing their won fear aside in order to protect the other. And he was suddenly reminded of why Peter said he had become Spider-Man in the first place. It was for the little guys, the people that needed a hero. Peter was strong because other people needed him to be, and Ned did the exact same thing.

They may have both been scared, but when someone else needed them to be strong, they stepped up to the plate and became the heros that were needed. It was incredible.

Tony squeezed Peters hand again, lifting a curled finger to Peter's cheeks to dry his tears.

"Yeah, we'll get you home in no time Snider-Man. You just keep breathing."

Peter sucked in a shaky breath, looking tired. "It's hard to see. S'all blurry." His words were slurred and Tony and Ned shared a look above Peters head, before Tony answered.

"That's okay, bud. There's not much to see anyway. Just stay with us, and we'll get it all sorted out."

Peter seemed satisfied with the answer, and Tony and Ned managed to keep him calm until the medics arrived.

Ned only started to cry, when he had to step back, to let the professionals handle it. They swarmed over Peter, and Tony and Ned stood back, and while they tried to be gentle, the jostling, and detachment of the snake from Peters leg, was painful. Peter cried out, hands fisting in the grass once more, as he whimpered at the emts touch.

He just wanted Ned and Tony back, and the medical personnel were scaring him, unravelling his superhero bravery.

Ned couldn't see his friend so badly hurt, and scared, and he bit his lip as he cried, watching his friend be triaged and strapped to a backboard.

Tony felt the same fear and awful gut churning anguish that Ned did, and he put his arm around the teenager as they waited.

Once Peter was ready to go, they were all lifted to the helicopter, and flown back to Stark tower where Peter was taken to the medbay to be treated.

Ned and Tony sat outside, waiting for it to be over, until they heard good news.

Tony was never good at comforting people, especially not traumatized fifteen year olds that sat in the chair right next to him, crying and sniffling as his friend was treated. But he tried.

"Thanks for getting the rangers to call Happy. You saved Peter's life, and hey." He nudged Ne's arm until he looked up at him, face red and damp.

"You handled that so well. I've seen grown men break apart in a situation like that, but you kept it together, and you kept him calm. You did really good, Ned."

Ned didn't know what to say, after being so sincerely complimented by his hero. He sucked in a wobbly breath, and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Thanks. Thanks for finding him, and bringing the helicopter. He's gonna be okay right?"

Tony nodded, pointing towards the doctor that was just coming towards them. "I guess we'll find out."

The doctor smiled, and shook Tony's hand, which Tony had to take as a good sign, although Ned still looked nervous, his hands twisting up his shirt as if he were trying to wring water from it.

"Peter's going to be okay. He sustained a mild concussion, and a cut to the head that required a few stitches, but that'll be fine in a few days. His collarbone was broken, but it wasn't too severe, and didn't even need surgery. He will need to wear a sling for a few days, but because it's Peter it'll most likely heal pretty fast. The snake bite was tricky, the venom is fast acting, and he was exposed to a decent amount. However, we were able to give him the antivenom, and stitch up the punctures. It will be sore for a while and will need time to heal, so He is not to get out of bed or use it at all for a while. I'm pleased to say he will make a full recovery."

Ned sighed in relief, as Tony took the Doctors hand once more. "Thank you, so much. Can we see him?"

"Sure, just be aware that he is sleeping and will need to rest in order to recover faster. So, try not to excite him too much."

Tony nodded before hurrying off, with Ned at his side, to Peters room.

He lay in bed, tangled in wires and bandages, with his bad arm and leg resting up on pillows. He was asleep, nasal cannula laced under his nose to assist with his breathing as he slept.

Tony went right to the bed, brushing the hair away from Peters forehead, carefully avoiding the eat row of stitches. "He's looking much better already. He's not so pale."

Ned was less eager to enter the room. He wasn't as brave as he had been before, because no one needed him to be. He didn't have to pretend that he wasn't scared, and Tony could see it in his eyes and the set of his mouth.

He gestured towards him. "Don't be scared, Ned. Come in, sit with him."

The teenager did as he was told, but he didn't lose the terrified look. Tony took his shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Ned shook his head, eyes never leaving Peter. "Is it always that bad?"

Tony didn't know what he was talking about. "What?"

"I know he gets hurt a lot. Being Spider-Man isn't exactly safe, but is it...is it always like that? Is he always that scared?"

Tony looked back to the boy in the bed, as he sighed, thinking about it from Ned's perspective. He didn't see Peter on missions, he only saw the clips on the news, and heard Peters stories. If Peter got hurt, he wouldn't see it, he wouldn't see the blood and the wounds. He wouldn't see Peter crying, or passing out from the pain. But Tony had.

"I know it's scary to see it, but Peter is strong, he always gets through it. And he always gets up to do it again too, because he can't help but be a hero." He wrapped his arm around Ned, and smiled. "Guess that's where you get it from, huh?"