Angsting Our Boy Peter

The Book Part 2

When Tony arrived at the Tower on August 10, he was so excited. Peter turned 17 today, and 17 was an incredibly important age. He'd planned a party for Peter. They had made a cake that morning; course, there had been a little hiccup with the oven, which had seemed to upset Peter. He'd left almost immediately, snapping at Thor and Clint on the way out, and apparently walked to school. Tony had meetings all day too, but now it was 6 o'clock, his meetings were over, and it was time for the party.

It was down in one of the conference rooms. Boring location, he knew, but they'd got it all decorated, all his presents were down there. The team was waiting, along with May, Ned, and MJ. MJ had been uncharacteristically excited for this; she'd gotten Peter a puppy, after getting permission from May and Tony, of course, and was bursting with excitement to give it to him. Now Tony had the most important job; bring Peter down. Tony assumed he was in his room - he'd spent an awful lot of time there lately.

The door was closed when he got there, and a quick test of the handle told him it was locked. Tony knocked lightly.

"Pete?" he called softly. "Peter, open up, I've got a surprise for you!"

No response.

"Peter?" Tony asked again, a bit louder, trying the handle again. Still locked. "Peter, are you in there?"

Why would the door be locked if Peter wasn't inside? He wondered. Still, maybe he'd accidentally locked it behind him; that had happened before. Tony wandered throughout the house, looking in every room and calling Peter's name. It was in the living room he found the battered leather book Peter carried with him everywhere.

Tony knew it was wrong, but he was curious. Peter had almost had a heart attack when Tony had almost opened it last week, and the parental piece of him was concerned. So, slowly, checking over his shoulder to make sure nobody was coming, Tony picked up the book and opened to the front page.

It wasn't a book, he quickly realized, but a journal. One with MISTAKES written in large, bold letters right at the top.

Tony's heart dropped as he thumbed through the book. Ben , it said. The Ferry. Disappointing Tony. Disappointing May.

Tony flipped to the last pages. These must have been from today. Burning Tony. Upsetting Clint. Upsetting Thor. Too selfish. Not appreciative enough .

The last line of the last page. Didn't tell anyone .

Tony's heart stopped. His breath hitched. He dropped the book and sprinted back to Peter's room and began pounding on the door.

"Peter!" he shouted, yanking on the handle and punching the door. "Peter, open this door! Peter!"

Tony rammed the door with his shoulder, ignoring the pain that shot down his arm. He rammed it once, twice, three times before it gave, swinging open.

Peter was laying on the ground by his bed, an empty bottle of Steve's pain medication in his hand. His skin was pale.

"No, no, no no no-" Tony gasped, dropping to his knees. "Peter, Peter, what did you do? What did you do?"

Peter didn't respond.

-{}-{}-{}-

The conference room was just below the common floor, the one with everyone's bedrooms in it. MJ sat at the table, heavily laden with gifts and food, holding the squirming puppy in her arms.

"Do you think Peter will like her?" she asked Ned.

"He'll love her, he's always wanted a puppy," Ned assured her.

"Where is Tony and Peter?" May checked her watch. "He went up there ten minutes ago."

"He'll be down soon," Steve shrugged it off. "He's probably trying to drag Peter out of his room."

The team laughed lightly, but the laughter was cut short by a loud crash coming from upstairs. Everyone fell silent, looking up at the ceiling.

"What was that?" Ned asked.

"I don't-" Steve said, but once again was cut off. This time by Tony screaming.

"HELP!" came his strangled screams. "NO, PETER - HELP!"

Everyone was out of their seats in an instant, sprinting from the room. Nobody bothered with the elevator - they took the stairs two at a time, running harder than they ever had before.

When they burst into the living room, their hearts stopped. Tony stumbled out of the hallway, an unconscious Peter in his arms.

"Oh my god, Tony, what happened?" May gasped.

"Steve -" Tony gasped, crashing into him. "You're faster - take him to Cho, now!"

Steve took the teenager from Tony and sprinted away, Tony on his heels. May was steeled to follow when Ned spoke up.

"May," he said softly. "May..."

May turned to look at him, and he gestured down the hall. Everyone went to look. Peter's door was hanging off its hinges, and rolling slowly into the hallway, apparently kicked by Tony, was a small orange bottle.

"Oh my god," May gasped. "Oh my god."

-{}-{}-{}-

Four days later, Tony, Ned, May, and MJ sat in chairs around Peter's bed. He'd been in a coma, and the doctors didn't know if he'd ever wake up.

The puppy meant for Peter sat in MJ's lap. She insisted that she be there, because if, no, when Peter did wake up, she wanted to give her to him. Nobody had the heart to tell her no.

Five days after, nobody had moved. A nurse took the dog out every day, and another brought them food nobody touched.

Six days after, Tony had fallen asleep, his head on the edge of Peter's bed. May was asleep on a hard sofa, and Ned and MJ lay together with the puppy on the floor. Six days, after, Tony was awoken by a hand brushing his head, and he sat bolt upright. Six days after, Tony looked at Peter's sleeping face, and Peter's doe-brown eyes looked back.

"Hey, kid," he croaked.

Peter's eyes filled with tears.

"Hey."