Outnumbered

Chapter 15

"How do I do this?" Steve asks, but Peter's eyes are already closed. "Hey." He feels a hand on his shoulder, opens his eyes to see Steve blurring in front of him, trying to get his attention. Peter's head is swimming, still feels himself dropping despite the juice. He thinks about a glucose tab, but he's not sure he can get his mouth to chew, feels his lips tingling and his ears ringing. He takes in a shaky breath and closes his eyes again. "You've gotta tell me how to do this so I can help you." Steve sounds the most unsure he's ever been in his life. "I'm not really that great with technology."

"He needs another juice box," Tony says through the comms, and Steve puts the pump in Peter's lap before pulling another box from his satchel. He pops the straw in and hands it to Peter, but the kid's hand is shaking even worse now. Scratch that, his whole body is, and Steve is just about ready to start shaking himself. "I'm watching him plummet on my screen. He's 48 with double down arrows. Gotta make sure that basal is paused, Cap, or he's gonna be comatose. Pete, you still with us?"

"Mmhm," Peter mumbles, fighting to stay conscious. "Don' f-feel g-good." His words slur and his breathing is heavy, uneven.

Steve runs an anxious hand through his hair while he looks at Peter's pump. "Tony, I have no idea how to work this thing. It's complicated even though there's only one button!"

"Do you see a diamond in the left-hand corner?"

"No. There's just a box?"

"Does it say insulin on board, on the bottom?"

"Yeah, five units."

"Shit." Tony's thrusters sound in the background of his comm before something heavy hits his armor. "Click the options button on the screen and then click stop insulin. Did you give him the second juice box?"

"I don't see an options button. And no, not yet, I can't do both at once! I clicked and held the button on the top. It's buzzing and beeping at me. It says quick bolus?"

"No!" Peter cries out in a weak panic, his eyelids drooping. "You tryna...kill me?!"

"Cancel, Steve! Hit cancel!" Tony yells. "Jesus Christ!"

"Don't yell at me! I couldn't get past the lock screen to do the options thing!"

"Stop...yelling," Peter mumbles, squeezing his eyes closed. "Hurts. Everything hurts."

"Click the numbers in order," Tony directs. "It'll unlock the screen."

"Tony, I'm scared I'm going to fuck this up!"

"You can do this, Steve," Tony assures him. "Options and stop insulin. Two steps."

"I can't do this, Tony. What if I give him insulin by accident? I'm going to give him the second juice box, see if that helps."

Peter's Dexcom app lets out four shrill beeps and Tony gets an alert on his screen that reads LOW. It means Peter's below 40.

"Goddamnit, can someone get here and help me get this robot off my ass so I can get to Peter? Clint? Someone?!"

"On it!" Natasha calls through the comms.

By the time Peter's finished with his second juice box, Tony is exiting his suit on the rooftop. He kneels down, clad in jeans and a t-shirt, and reaches for Peter's pump. "Stopping insulin, okay kiddo?" A moment later, there's a glucose tab at his lips. "Chew."

"Nauseous," he groans between chews.

"You're still dropping. Hang in there," Tony says, getting his suit back on and pulling Peter into his arms. "I'm gonna get you home, okay?"