Family Secrets

High Gear

Tony, Pepper, and Steve landed in New York by 5 that night. They rushed to their car, Steve hopping in the front seat and Tony and Pepper in the back. The distraught parents were texting with Natasha and Rhodey madly, trying to get an update on Peter's condition. They'd sent the same text every few minutes: Updates? Unfortunately, the wishes of parents wasn't enough to wake the teen up any faster, and both Natasha and Rhodey sent the same reply: Not yet.

Steve was keeping his cool, much like Bucky had. Tony and pepper needed him to drive and be level headed and make decisions, and that was best done without tears and fears. Steve was worried, of course. Inside his head, thoughts swirled madly, always coming back to the worst. Peter isn't going to make it.

When the three finally made it to the Tower, they jumped from the car. Tony and Pepper ran at the elevator, not caring if Steve was with them. They had to get to their boy.

Steve took a breath and began walking, about to follow them, when a familiar voice stopped him.

"Steve." The soldier turned and locked eyes with Bucky, who was standing by the work bench.

"Bucky!" Steve ran towards him, and the two hugged tightly. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," Bucky whispered. "I've been so scared."

"How is he?" Steve pulled away from Bucky, leaving his hands on the dark haired man's shoulders.

"He's still sleeping, we tried waking him up a bit ago, but he won't move. Ned and MJ figured out it was a student, but other than that, we don't know anything else."

The two men stared at one another. They were best friends for a reason, they were both so willing to put others before themselves. In the safety of each other's company, however, they both let their emotions out. Bucky started crying first.

"Steve, I was- was so s-s-scared!" The man choked out. While he never admitted it to anyone other than Steve, he was plagued by anxiety and fear on the daily, and this incident had only made that worse. Steve pulled him in for a hug.

"I know, I know," Steve murmured, becoming aware of his own tears. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"We got a call from MJ- MJ saying something h-had happened at the school. W-w-when we got there, we all- we all split up to look for Peter, next thing I know, Natasha is s-screaming about getting back to the- the Tower, so she t-takes off. The rest of the team and I made it back, but- but when I got here, I- I- I was so mad! And then- then Peter wasn't..." Bucky stopped, his crying making it hard to continue.

"Okay, okay. That's enough, thank you." Steve said, rubbing circles on Bucky's back. He was crying, but before he could focus on his own feelings, he had to comfort Bucky. "Buck, hey, it's okay. It's all over. Peter's going to be okay."

"It's not all over!" Bucky's wails echoed in the garage. "We don't know who did it! We don't know anything!"

"Then it's time to get into high gear and figure it out."

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Tony and Pepper burst through the med bay doors, looking around wildly. The family was still upstairs, working on possible suspects, but Bruce had come down a few minutes ago when FRIDAY alerted him to the Stark's arrival.

"Hey," the doctor said, with a slight wave. "He's over here. I'm trying to wake him up."

The two parents rushed over. Peter was laying in a white bed, dressed in a white gown. He had gauze over his middle, and some on his head from a cut he got when he hit the ground. He looked so peaceful.

"What happened?" Tony asked gruffly, watching his wife sit next to their son and bring his hand to her lips.

"Didn't... Didn't Bucky call Steve?"

"Yeah, but Steve said there wasn't any information yet!"

Bruce scoffed. "Peter was lured into a trap at school. The kid who did it must be a student, since they got into the school while classes were going on without being seen, and they must have known Peter pretty well, 'cause they were able to get him close and inject some spider repellent. It's primitive, probably looking at a first time villain type, but it did the trick. We had to clean out some fluid from the chest cavity, and he had to be resuscitated 3 times 'cause his lungs and heart kept failing. We're still trying to get him to wake up."

Tony fell forward slightly, catching himself and swaying backwards. His boy...

"Tony!" Pepper called her husband. "He squeezed my hand!"

Tony rushed towards his wife and son. "Peter?"

Peter stirred slightly and his parents were overjoyed.

"Underoos, hey, wake up," Tony whispered, holding Peter's other hand. Pepper ran a hand through the teen's curly hair. He moved again before blinking and squinting.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the med bay," Bruce said. He was crying tears of joy, his beautiful, smart, funny nephew would be okay.

"What did that guy do to me?" Peter's voice rasped softly, and he tried to push himself up in bed, only to fall back onto his pillow.

"Hey, woah, don't over do it, Bambi," Pepper warned, putting a hand on his chest. "You're still pretty sick, babe."

"You got a dose of spider repellent. It's why you reacted so poorly."

Peter scrunched up his face, trying to think this through. "What does... what does that mean for my powers?"

Bruce, Tony, and Pepper exchanged glances. "We aren't sure yet," Tony admitted, gently squeezing his son's hand. Peter's face fell and he started sniffling.

"I- I- I can't just- just not be S-S-Spiderman!" The sudden wail startled the three adults. That's what he was worried about? "People n-n-need me!"

Tony and Pepper stared at their son, unsure of what to do. Pepper moved to hug her boy when he suddenly looked up again.

"Where is Ned? And MJ! Where are they, are they okay? Is everyone else okay?"

Tony chuckled lightly. "Everyone is fine, Peter, please... focus on yourself!" Their son was a little too selfless sometimes.

Bruce excused himself and let the trio talk. Peter needed some family love and good ol' cuddles from his mom. The doctor headed upstairs, hoping to get back to work with the family.

"Hey," he said, slipping back into the situation room. Ned was working on something with Rhodey, trying to get the audio from the SPM app to run a voice check on the mysterious baddie. The rest of the family was talking about updating their security protocol, making sure Peter was never alone. "Where is Steve, Bucky, and Wanda?"

"Uh..." Clint's voice reflected how tired he really was, and he rubbed his eyes with his pointer and thumb before answering. "I think Steve and Bucky went to bed, and Wanda is with MJ in Peter's room having dinner."

"Oh," the doctor said. He watched the family chatter and work. They were all exhausted and stressed and worried, but they were working nonetheless. Stark Tower was shifting into high gear. No one would hurt their boy ever again.