The Hurt Spider

A New Home

Peter Parker didn't feel the gun shot to his ribs until he fell onto the cold ground of the alley way. The pain wasn't even that bad at first, and for a second Peter wasn't sure if the bullet had only just grazed him. Then he pressed a hand to his ribs and brought it up to his face, and the second he saw his blood coated palm, his eyes practically rolled into the back of his head. He let out a loud, deep grunt, trying his best to keep his breathing steady, but the sharp pain was just too much, and he felt his vision going blurry. Everything started to hurt, not just his ribs, and he felt like his legs and arms were on fire, like they were about to fall off.

Whoever shot at him soon ran away, because in the distance he heard some yelling and swearing before the footsteps got further and further away. This was it for him. This was how he was going to die. Peter shut his eyes, his energy all gone, and it felt so much better to just lay down and rest anyway.

Peter let his face fall against the cold wet ground, but he soon felt some hands at his side. He thought it was the person to coming back and finish the job, but the hands were gentle, and whoever it was picked him up with ease, carrying Peter in a way that made sure his ribs wouldn't feel any more pain.

"I got ya, kid," the voice murmured. It was a man with a soft tone, but Peter was so out of it he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes to see who it was. The last thing he remembered was the man murmuring something else. "You're gonna be just fine."

~

"Bruce! Bruce! Come on, we don't have much time!" Screamed out Tony Stark. He ran with the pale boy in his arms, his dark hair all messy from the rain outside.

Tony placed the boy on the operating table as Bruce appeared behind him, white gloves on his hands as they both stared down at the teenager.

"He's just a kid! What the hell happened to him? Who did this?" Bruce yelled with wide eyes. "God, he's so skinny!"

"I dunno, we'll figure that out later. We gotta help him. He's bleeding form the ribs, come on!" Tony yelled.

Bruce nodded, cutting the boy's wet shirt off and wincing when he saw the gun shot. It was straight into his ribs, and there was a lot of blood, but the boy was still breathing, and it gave Bruce some hope.

~

When Peter woke up the next day he thought he was in Heaven. All he saw was white. White sheets, white walls, white bed, white... Heart monitor? Peter looked at the monitor with furrowed eyebrows, and followed the cord that stopped at his chest. Was he in hospital? How did he get to a hospital? He was supposed to be dead in that alleyway. Peter tried to lean up on his hands to sit up, but there was a sharp pain in his ribs, and he immediately grabbed at his sides as he winced.

"Hey, don't get up. Just take it easy," a voice said from the doorway.

Peter looked up to see two dark haired man standing by the door. One had his arms across his chest, his dark hair neatly brushed and moustache just above his lips. The other's hair was slightly curly with hints of grey, and he had glasses on. Both men stared at Peter with kind eyes, and he instantly felt more comfortable.

"Where am I? Who are you?" Peter asked.

"I'm Tony Stark," the moustached man, Tony, replied. "And this is Bruce Banner. He was the one who performed your surgery last night."

"Surgery?" Peter murmured, looking down at his body.

"You lost a lot of blood from the gun shot. We had to stitch you up good, but we removed the bullet, and you won't have all that much scarring. You'll be sore for a while unfortunately. Your blood loss will also be and nuisance, but nothing that will keep you down for too long," the curly haired man, Bruce, explained.