Tony began to panic as Peter collapsed into his arms, unconscious.
"Friday, get someone down here to help!" he cried, checking Peter's pulse and laying him down carefully on the floor.
"Ms. Romanoff is on her way down now, boss," Friday said. Tony frowned, wishing to avoid the whole interaction altogether, but knew that Peter needed someone with more experience to help him.
Moments later, the elevator opened and Natasha rushed out, sliding to a stop and kneeling down beside Peter.
"What happened?" she asked as she hoisted the boy into her arms and began hurrying him back to the elevator.
"I don't know. Friday told me he was on his way to the lab, but that something was wrong. I came out to check on him and he just collapsed!"
When the elevator stopped moving again, they both ran to the med bay, where Natasha laid Peter down on one of the beds.
"I don't know what to do," she admitted with a worried look on her face, "but Steve might."
"Fine," Tony hissed after a seconds hesitation, "Fri, get Steve over here."
Natasha busied herself with removing Peter's long-sleeve shirt.
"What are you doing?" Tony asked.
"I'm guessing that if something is really wrong, the kid's going to need an IV in or blood work done. It'll be easier to do that if we're not having to deal with his sleeves." She pulled the shirt over his head, and they both gasped. Peter's torso was covered in large scars, and his ribs were unhealthily visible.
The door opened and Steve marched in. "What's going on?" he asked, doing a double take at the unconscious kid on the bed.
"We don't know," Natasha said, "Tony said he collapsed." Steve moved closer, gently pushing past Tony to get a better look at Peter.
"I'm no medical expert, but I know some first aid," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I would almost say this looks like starvation. Lots of soldiers suffered from similar symptoms during the war when they weren't getting enough to eat."
"Starvation?" Tony blurted.
"That would explain why he's so light," Natasha added.
"We need to get an IV in him," Steve said, "but I'm not confident I can do that. Is there anyone else here that could?"
Tony shook his head. "No. I'll take him to the hospital. Put his shirt back on." He activated his nanotech suit as Steve and Natasha slid Peter's shirt over the boy's head, then lifted Peter off the bed. He stopped at the door before turning around to look at the two Rogues.
"I..." Tony said, before dipping his chin. "Thank you." Then he hurried into the hallway and up to the helipad, holding Peter close.
"Well, I guess that was a step in the right direction," Steve said as the door slowly swung closed behind Tony. Natasha nodded, but she still had a frown on her face. "What's wrong?"
"His scars... They looked like large burns. I just can't help but wonder if there's more to this kid than meets the eye," she mused quietly.
~~~
"Hey, Pete."
Peter's eyes slowly flickered open and he drowsily took in his surroundings. Mr. Stark was sitting beside his hospital bed with a smile, but worry shone in his eyes. Black Widow and Captain America stood in the corner of the room.
Wait, hospital bed? Peter thought, doing a double take. He moved to sit up, but Mr. Stark placed a hand on his chest and gently pushed him down again.
"Stay down, kid. You're in no shape to be moving around like that."
"What... What happened?" Peter asked.
"Well, when someone passes out and then won't wake up again, usually you take them to a doctor to figure out what's wrong."
Peter's eyes widened with horror. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Tony! You really didn't have to, I'm okay, really."
Tony raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Not according to several medical professionals, mister." His voice softened into a more serious tone. "Why haven't you been eating enough?"
Peter looked away, trying to hide the tears suddenly welling up in his eyes. "My Aunt hasn't been making a lot of money, so I've been trying to eat a little less," he lied.
"I think we all know that this," Cap said, gesturing at Peter's IV, "is more than 'a little less". You could have gotten yourself killed, son."
Peter blinked rapidly. "I know. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, kid," Tony said. "Has your Aunt been 'holding back' as well?"
Peter shook his head and swallowed. "No, she doesn't know. She's fine."
"Well, I want you both to come to the Tower for dinner from now on. Got it?"
Peter's heart began to race. "Actually, she works a lot during dinner time."
"Then I'll send you home with the leftovers, okay?"
Peter nodded, glad that they were dropping the subject, however briefly. The room became heavy with silence that was only broken as the doctor came into the room.
"I'm glad to see you awake, Mr. Parker," she said, adjusting her glasses. She turned to face Mr. Stark. "May I speak with you privately for a moment?"
Tony nodded, but paused when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out and frowned deeply, turning to look at Cap.
"The others are supposed to arrive at the Tower in half an hour."
Cap nodded. "I'll go make sure there's someone to greet them."
Black Widow frowned as the door closed behind the two heroes, taking a step towards the bed. "Peter, what happened to your chest and stomach?" Peter blinked, confused.
"What?"
"Your chest and stomach have massive scars. How did that happen?" She stood still, maintaining eye contact with Peter.
"I--I got in a car accident when I was little," Peter said, "it killed both my parents, so now I live with my Aunt May."
He could feel his hands getting clammy as she stood at the foot of his bed, clearly aware that he wasn't telling the whole truth.
"I'm a trained spy, Peter," she said, folding her arms. "I know you lied about your aunt, and those scars are much too fresh to have been from an accident from your childhood."
Peter swallowed, but thankfully they were interrupted by Tony and the doctor coming back into the room.
"Don't worry about the hospital bill, kid. I got it covered," Tony said, "and Dr. Wilde here has given me some information and instructions that we'll go over together when we get back to the Tower. Okay?"
Peter nodded, trying to ignore Black Widow's penetrating stare that said our conversation is not over yet.
~~~
"Thank you for driving me, Mr. Tony," Peter said quietly, clutching the pizza boxes in his lap tightly.
Tony turned to look at him. "I'm serious about dinner, Peter. I expect you to be there, okay?" Peter agreed, and then clambered clumsily out of the Lamborghini. He waved goodbye to Mr. Stark before walking up the sidewalk.
When he entered the building, he waited until the fancy car drove away before leaning his head on the door in relief.
He'd had Tony drive him to his old apartment, so now he had a long walk ahead of him in order to get home. And, if he showed up with two boxes of pizza, Ms. Walters would punish him, so he needed to stop by FEAST, too.
After waiting several minutes to ensure that Tony wasn't coming back, Peter stepped outside, trying to bury all the memories that were surfacing. Just a few months ago, he and May had gone out for ice cream, and they'd stopped by FEAST on the way there in order to drop off some clothes that they didn't need anymore.
This time, Peter was alone, and if his days at the orphanage remained the same, it looked like it would stay that way for a long time.
(AN: Don't worry guys, things are going to get interesting in a hot minute here. Just bear with me!)