"Now, you go on in there and show my daughter a good time. Ok? Just not too good," Adrian said and Peter stepped out of the car. All the sounds around Peter were muted and far away. Peter's mind raced as he thought about Adrian's eyes, the Vulture's mask, that alien weaponry, Liz, those wings and Adrian's soft voice as he threatened Peter's life with the gun in his hand. Peter watched the car as it pulled away and he stood in shock for a few moments. He walked up the stairs to the door where he saw Ned waving at him and MJ swearing at him. Then he heard something pierce the air before a bullet tore through his body, forcing the world around him to freeze and the air to be forced out of his lungs. Peter gasped for air but he couldn't breathe. He felt his heart beat sluggishly as blood poured into his internal cavities and between his organs. He felt blood trickling down his back and soaking into the suit that May had made sure looked perfect on him. A tear fell from Peter's eye. This was it. Peter was faintly aware of falling back and rolling down the stairs but it was filled with numbness and soon his vision went black.
/
"Show me the map again FRIDAY," Tony said and a hologram map came up. "Now this interesting," Tony said as he began to study the map. A few moments later FRIDAY's voice come on.
"Sir, I've received CCTV footage from outside of Mr Parker's school,"
"Mmm," Tony replied, deep in thought. "Anything of interest FRIDAY?"
"Peter Parker appears to have been shot," FRIDAY stated and it immediately seized Tony's attention.
"What's the full situation FRIDAY?"
"Mr Parker is unconscious as the base of the west entrance of the school hall. The footage shows no assailants or evidence of any attack. Peter was shot once in the back and he is non-responsive,"
"Thanks FRIDAY," Tony said as he got into his suit and took off. "Inform Bruce to get the medical bay up and running."
"Yes sir."
/
Ned and MJ watched as Peter gasped behind the double doors. They watched as the colour drained from his face and he fell back, as though he had fainted. They looked at each other and shrugged before they walked outside. Outside, Peter lay at the bottom of the stairs.
"What the hell?" MJ asked.
"Peter? Are you ok dude?" Ned called out. Others waiting outside turned to see what was going on.
"Has he fainted?"
"What a weirdo," Students muttered around them. A few seconds went by and Peter remained motionless. MJ frowned, went down the stairs and Ned followed her.
"Are you ok Peter? You can't just faint, it's not masculine," MJ said, keeping her cool as she knelt down by Peter's face.
"Is he ok?" Ned asked her. Peter was gasping softly but his chest wasn't rising. MJ knew immediately that something wasn't right.
"I don't think that he's fainted Ned," MJ said and Ned looked down at his friend. He knelt down next to Peter. "Can you breathe Peter?" MJ asked. Ned meanwhile saw a dark, wet patch at the back of Peter's suit and he put his hand onto it. When he lifted his hand up it was red with blood.
"MJ?" Ned said with a shaky voice and MJ looked at him.
"Is that blood?" MJ asked as she tried to focus on Ned's hand. People were beginning to gather around them.
"What's wrong with Peter?"
"Is that Peter?"
"What's wrong with him?"
"Why is there blood?" People asked. At this moment Iron Man landed beside Ned, making him jump.
"Is that Iron Man?"
"Oh my God!"
"It's Iron Man!" People cried out, grabbing their phones. Iron Man's head reacted to show Tony Stark's worried face as he knelt next to Peter.
"Has anyone called for an ambulance?" He asked.
"No," MJ replied.
"Good. FRIDAY, how's he doing?"
"Heart rate at 210, blood pressure falling dramatically. He's gone into shock and my scans are showing severe internal injuries to his lungs and heart. There is massive haemorrhaging, surgery is advised as soon as possible," FRIDAY reported.
"Did your suit just say that Peter's needs surgery?" MJ asked Tony Stark while Ned was frozen on the spot, staring at the blood on his best friends back.
"Yes, this is worse than I had anticipated," Tony told her.
"Is he going to be ok?"
"I hope so," Tony said, brushing his hand through Peter's hair. He listened to Peter gasping for a few moments and tears formed in his eyes. "It's ok kid, I'm here, I've got you," He reassured Peter.
"Is he crying?"
"What's going on?"
"Why is Iron Man here?"
"What is he doing?" Students asked.
"Is he ok to move FRIDAY?" Tony asked his AI before he let his emotions get the better of him.
"Peter needs immediate medical attention," FRIDAY replied.
"Ok," Tony said, taking Peter into his arms.
"What are you doing?" Ned asked him.
"I'm going to look after him," Tony said before he took off. "Stay with me kid," Tony whispered to Peter as he flew towards the Avengers compound.
/
"Tony? What's going on?" Steve asked Tony as he landed at the compound with Peter in his arms.
"The kid's been shot, he needs immediate surgery," Tony told Steve as he began to walk inside. Steve looked down at Peter. His hair was thick with sweat and he was gasping for air.
"How bad are his injuries?"
"The bullet has damaged both of his lungs and his heart," Tony told him as he placed Peter onto a trolley. Bruce and Helen quickly assessed Peter as Tony and Steve watched.
"Ok, his air intake is poor, he's pale and he's sweaty," Bruce observed as Helen placed the semi-circle scanner onto the bed and it scanner Peter. A projection of Peter's body came up and everyone gasped. The bullet had torn through Peter's right latissimus dorsi muscle, then ripped through his left lung and his heart's left ventricle before wedging itself into his right lung.
"Oh crap," Bruce said.
"The blood from his heart is pouring straight into his body. We need to get him into surgery now," Helen said as Bruce climbed onto the bed, ripped the clothes off Peter's chest and began connecting him up to monitoring. Helen began to push the trolley towards the surgery room and both Steve and Tony watched them go. Then Tony panicked.
"I need to," Tony said, beginning to follow Peter as he was wheeled away.
"Tony," Steve said, stopping him with a hand on his chest. "Let them work. Peter will be ok."
"You don't know that. He can barely breathe and he's bleeding out," Tony told Steve.
"I know but you have to trust Bruce and Helen. They'll take good care of him. You know they will," Steve told Tony and he began to relax.
"I know," Tony replied. "I know they'll look after him."
"Let's get something to drink ok?" Steve said and Tony nodded.
"Ok," Steve lead Tony into the lounge where the other Avengers were chatting. Their conversations died down and they turned to Steve and Tony as Steve poured Tony some whiskey.
"We heard that Bruce started up the medical bay, is everything ok?" Natasha asked.
"Is it Pepper?" Rhodes asked.
"Pepper's in a meeting," Tony replied.
"It's the kid," Steve told them as he handed Tony the whiskey. "He was shot and Bruce and Helen are currently with him in surgery."
"Is it bad?" Natasha asked.
"It's pretty bad," Steve replied.
"It'll be the blood loss. If he dies, it'll be because of the blood loss," Tony said.
"He's not going to die," Steve reassured him.
"You don't know that!" Tony shouted.
"I know that he's a strong kid."
"He's not strong enough to survive a bullet ripping through his chest."
"He's surprised us before Tony."
"He's 15. Bullets affect us all regardless of our age."
"There's nothing we can do now Tony," Natasha said. "Bruce and Helen will take good care of him."
"I bet that they're ripping his chest open right now," Thor said and everyone shot him a deadly look. Thor looked guilty as Tony put his head into his hands. "Not a good time?" Thor asked.
"No," Rhodes said.
"Oh. My mistake. I'm sure that he's completely healthy and not about to die."
"Just stop talking Thor," Rhodes said.
"Ok, I will stop talking."
"He always makes me smile," Hawkeye said and everyone looked at him. "Remember at Halloween when he tricked us into thinking that his finger had been cut off."
"That was just traumatising," Rhodes added.
"He was cute after we had that big bust up between us," Natasha began.
"Oh, he was adorable," Rhodes said. "He was all hyper, jumping around and talking so fast that none had a clue what he was one about."
"And then there was that time that he got his hand stuck in the blender," Thor added.
"Ah, no, why did have to bring that up?" Natasha asked him.
"Because the blood was shooting everywhere and he was screaming, it was quite something."
"Can someone gag him please?" Rhodes said as Steve lent down to Tony.
"Why don't you join in Tony? It might make you feel better."
"Peter's in surgery, I don't want to joke about how serious this is."
"There's nothing we can do, besides everyone has some very funny stories about Peter," Steve told him and Tony reluctantly joined the group. 7 hours later all the Avengers were drunk and laughing as Bruce appeared. The laughter died down as people noticed Bruce, along with how exhausted he was.
"How's Peter?" Tony asked, suddenly alert.
"He's alive Tony, and he's stable."
"And his injuries? How bad was the damage to his… you know, his…"
"It wasn't good Tony, but myself and Helen have made sure that he is able to heal on his own."
"Where is he?"
"He's in recovery. Helen is with him,"
"Ok," Tony breathed. "Ok," Tony put his head between his legs and tried to take some deep breaths. Rhodes placed his hand on Tony's back for reassurance while Natasha looked up at Bruce. Bruce looked exhausted and his eyes glazed over as he began to fall.
"Bruce!" Natasha shouted and darted over to him. She caught him and Bruce blinked.
"What time is it?"
"It's 2am," Natasha told him, sitting him down and giving him a beer.
"Oh man," Bruce said, opening the beer.
"You should go to bed Tony," Steve said.
"No, Peter's still in recovery," Tony said. "I need to…"
"Helen is looking after Peter, get some sleep Tony."
"I think we should all get some sleep," Rhodes said.
"No because who's looking after Peter?" Tony insisted.
"I will," Natasha said. "I'll look after him," At Natasha's words Tony finally calmed down and allowed Steve to lead him away. "How bad was it really Bruce?" Natasha asked after Tony had left.
"We had to open his whole chest up," Bruce said, rubbing his eyes. "The kid has massive internal bleeding from both of his lungs and part of heart had been ripped to shreds. We managed to stitch him up and start a blood transfusion. He lost about 2 pints of blood to internal bleeding and he's on a ventilator."
"Did you have to break into his chest?" Thor asked.
"We had to break 8 of the kids ribs," Bruce said. "It wasn't pretty."
"And he's still alive, after all of this?" Hawkeye asked.
"He's a strong kid," Bruce said.
"I always knew that he was strong," Thor said.
"I'm so tired."
"Just relax," Natasha said as Bruce rested his head onto her.
"Peter's going to be out for a while," Bruce told them as he closed his eyes.
"Does he have any family that we need to call?" Rhodes asked. At this moment a phone went off in Bruce's jacket pocket and Natasha picked it up.
"It appears so. Aunt May is calling," Natasha said as she answered the call.
"Peter. I thought I told you to call me if you were going to stay at Liz's house tonight. I've been awake, worried for hours. Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" May said angrily down the phone. Natasha paused before answering. "Peter?"
"My name's Natasha Romanoff and I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but Peter's been seriously injured."
"What's happened?" May asked, her tone becoming soft and scared. "Is he ok?"
"He's had surgery and he's alive and recovering. He's under the care of Dr Banner and Helen at the Avengers tower. You should down come down right away," Natasha said.
"The Avengers? Why isn't he at a hospital?"
"It's complicated. Tony Stark was alerted of the incident and brought Peter here before anyone else had the chance to react."
"What's? What's happened to him?"
"He was shot," Natasha heard May gasp on the other end of the phone. "He has major injuries but he's alive and in recovery after an operation," Natasha repeated for May.
"He's in recovery now?"
"Yes." Natasha repeated.
"Can I come and see him?"
"Of course. I'll meet you at the bottom of the tower when you arrive."
"Ok. I'm on my way," May said and hung up. Natasha looked up and all the eyes in the room were on her. "Go to bed. I'll deal with his aunt when she arrives," The Avengers slowly filtered out. Natasha moved Bruce so that he was resting in a comfortable position on the couch and she covered him with a blanket.
/
The door to the recovery opened and Helen looked at Peter's Aunt May, who looked sick with worry, and standing her was Natasha.
"This is Peter's Aunt, May Parker. I've told her all I know," Natasha told Helen gently.
"Can I see him?" May asked.
"Of course," Helen replied. "But I need you to understand that he is in a critical condition and seeing him might be a shock."
"Ok," May said, nodding. She didn't care if it would be difficult. Her nephew had been shot and he needed her.
"He's heavily sedated so he can't communicate."
"That's fine," May said and Helen exchanged a look with Natasha. She opened the door and May walked slowly into the room.
"Look after her," Natasha said.
"I will," Helen replied and Natasha left.
"Peter," May whispered as she stopped at Peter's bedside. He was unconscious, pale and had lines going into all parts of his body. His chest was covered with thick, white bandages but most striking of all was the ventilation tube sitting firmly in his throat. Tears came to May's eyes and she managed to raise a hand to stroke through Peter's hair. "Hey Peter," She whispered. She leaned over Peter and placed a hand gently on his chest. "It's May. You're, slightly too sexy Aunt," May smiled for a moment before Peter's unconscious face brought her back to earth. She tried to choke back the tears but they fell down her face and onto his chest. "Oh, I'm making your bandages wet," May said, wiping her eyes. "I promised never to cry in-front of you Peter after Ben died but," She looked at Peter and stopped talking. She brushed a hand gently against her nephew's face, careful not to knock the tube. "Stay with me Peter. You have to stay with me ok. The doctor's are taking care of you and I'll help too. Just don't leave ok?" May begged Peter. She stared into his face for a few moments before kissing his forehead.
"He's very strong," Helen reassured May as she came beside her.
"Yeah, he is," May said, glancing at Helen before turning back to Peter. "He's always been strong. Even as a boy I had to tell him that his parents had died. And then his uncle, who he viewed as a father. Both times he was strong. And now it's just me and him. My Peter."
"He's fighting his injuries. I think it's clear that he's wants to stay here, with you."
"Does he need the tube down his throat?" May asked Helen, even though she knew the answer.
"Unfortunately he does. His body is strong but it needs time to heal. The tube is currently providing air for Peter's lungs and without it he can't breathe."
"So it's breathing for him?"
"Yes. When his lungs fully heal we should be able to take him off it. We anticipate that this will be in about a week's time."
"I always taught Peter to stay out of trouble."
"This wasn't his fault."
"Who would shoot a 15 year old kid?"
"We're trying to find the identity of his shooter."
"Was anyone else injured?"
"No."
"Can I stay with him?" May asked.
"Of course you can. If you like, we can set a bed up for you in the spare room and you can stay for as long as Peter is here."
"That would be very helpful, thank you," May said.
"There is a chance that Peter will drift into consciousness every so often while under sedation so having you here might help him to recover faster."
"Having me around always helps Peter to recover," May said smiling. "You'll be ok," She told the unconscious Peter.