~Iron Family~

The Death of Cap. Jr

The hours turned to days.

His absence in the compound was obvious. Smiles became a rarity, and jokes were even scarcer. Steve organized the couch, making it comfy for when Peter got back. He always made sure that Peter's favorite movie was ready to play on the TV. Although Tony tried to tell him Peter wouldn't be up for a long time, Steve insisted they have it ready for him when he returned. Somehow it made Tony more sad.

After a few days, when his injuries were a little better, they moved him to the infirmary and fed the nurse the story that he'd been in a car accident. No one questioned him, as usual, but he could still sense people knew something had been covered up.

He told the Avengers, of course. They didn't keep secrets, and if they did, they always found out sooner or later.

Tony made sure Peter was never by himself in the infirmary. What if he woke up and there was no one there for him? He would be all alone, with no clue of what had happened.

The idea was too much for Tony, so he stayed by Peter's bedside for days, only leaving when someone else came so he could take a shower. He started off sleeping in the bed next to Peter's, but the blankets were very stiff and uncomfortable. He ended up using the pull-out couch on the other side of the room, where he would have a decent view of Peter to make sure he was doing okay.

Early three mornings after it happened, Peter's friend had come to see him. He had been very distraught.

"Mr. Stark, Peter's friend is here to see him," the nurse called.

"Oh--Ted." Tony got up from his chair and rushed over to him. The guy looked like he had been dunked into an ice bath, rolled up in a blanket, and tossed down a hill. His arms were shaking as he gave Tony a hug.

"Is Peter gonna be okay?" he sniffled.

"I'm sure he will," Tony said, stepping away and patting Ted's arm. They looked down at Peter, who looked peaceful now. His brown curls were spread over his pillow, framing his face like a halo. He looked like he could be Dracula's son or something--he still had bloodstains around his mouth and was almost as pale as the sheets. The fact he could crawl up walls didn't help Tony's fantasy.

Ted looked down at Peter with a horrified expression and Tony gave his arm another reassuring pat.

"I know, it looks bad. But believe me, it was a whole lot worse yesterday. He wasn't even in the infirmary, he stayed on the operating table for two days. This is him doing two hundred percent better."

"So...how did this happen again?" Ted asked, carefully setting down the container of homemade cookies his mom had probably made.

"Erm..." Tony rubbed the back of his neck. "He...there was an accident..."

"What happened?" he demanded more sternly.

Tony bit his lip, taken aback. If only Peter would wake up and tell him if he wanted Ned to know or not.

Better to play it safe, he thought.

"We were playing outside by the road... I, ah--"

"I know about Spider-Man, your honor," Ted sighed. "Can you tell me what really happened?"

Tony raised his eyebrows, surprised. He shouldn't have been--of course Peter would tell his closest friend. Still, somehow he thought that Peter had kept it to himself. And the fact that his trusted his friend with his closest secret over Tony.

He rubbed his goatee for about a minute before responding.

"It's a long story. Why don't you pull up a chair. ... Atta boy."