IronDad/SpiderSon One-shots

Too cold of a swim

Third Person POV:
Word Count: 1,624
Spooktober 2022 Day Three: Ice

Peter swung as fast as he could towards the scream. If he swung any faster, he was going to be in danger of tearing ligaments and tendons in his shoulder. Karen made that abundantly clear. He didn't care. When a scream like that occurred, he knew he needed to get there and get there immediately. Whoever screamed wasn't close, either. Peter might not have picked up on it if it weren't for the intensity and high frequency of it.

In less than a minute, he found who was screaming. It was a young woman who was at the edge of a lake. A lake he knew all too well. It was the lake that Toomes had thrown him into. He shook that thought out of his head, swinging up beside the lady. "What's wrong, ma'am," he said urgently.

The woman was sobbing as she turned towards Peter. "My son," was all she could gasp out. If Peter wasn't listening as intensely as he was, he probably wouldn't have understood. But he knew exactly what she said.

Sure enough, he turned towards the water and saw splashing. The kid must have fallen off of the bridge a little ways away from them because he was closer to the middle of the water. Peter didn't even think before diving in. He just did.

If Peter was thankful for anything in his life, it was the fact that May and Ben had gotten him swimming lessons at the YMCA. If they hadn't, he probably wouldn't know how to swim. There weren't many places in New York City where you could swim. Well, more so there weren't a lot that you wanted to swim at. The places you could swim at weren't very friendly. Or fun. At least to Peter. Still, those classes he used to hate taking every Thursday night were now his favorite thing that he would later thank May for.

"Peter, you need to get out of this water immediately. Temperatures are dangerously low, especially for you. If you stay in here for too long, you will be at high risk for hypothermia." Karen's voice was right in his ear and urgent. He knew that when she talked like that Tony was going to be getting a phone call very soon.

He couldn't respond. He was too focused on getting to the boy, who was a lot further out from the shore than he financially thought. No worries. He could get there.

And he did. He reached the boy, who was coughing and crying. If it weren't for the big puffy jacket the kid was wearing, he might have gone completely under. Thank god for the mom putting him in a winter jacket. Peter tried to take a deep breath in to talk to the kid, but it was almost impossible. His wet mask clung to his face. He breathed in more water than he did actual air, causing him to cough and inhale more of the water through the mask. He'd definitely be looking into making his mask waterproof for the future.

After a few seconds of struggle, he finally managed to find a spot in his mask where he wasn't purely inhaling water. "Cling onto my back, okay?" He helped put the kid on his back while he treaded water. His muscles were starting to feel the coldness of the water. He was also starting to feel the effects of the cold. He was getting tired. He felt less awake. Less alive. "Hold on tight."

Peter swam as hard as he could through the water. He was doing his best not to focus on the way his body went from fine to like trying to move through glue. He knew he wasn't swimming as fast as he did on the way out, but he was still swimming. He was getting the boy back to the shore, which was exactly what his goal was.

"Body temperature reaching dangerous levels. Alerting Tony Stark." Karen's voice was there, but it sounded echoey. Not a good sign. He wasn't sure how long he had been in the water, but whatever length of time was too long. He needed out and he needed out now.

The boy on his back was crying. Peter couldn't tell if it was from relief or if he was still scared. It would make sense if he was still scared. He probably wanted his mother. A lot of kids want their mothers or fathers after an intense situation. They craved familiarity after something so unfamiliar and scary happened.