Hanging by a Thread 🕷 Peter Parker

twenty four

Peter

Thank God his suit was waterproof, another thing to let Mr. Stark know he appreciated later. Peter was also glad that he'd learned his lesson from falling into a lake last time and was able to hold his breath long enough to find Alexandra beneath the dark, murky water of the East River. 

She was floating listlessly when Peter finally managed to find her. That did not do wonders for his mental health. 

He wrapped his arm around her waist and mustered up all of his strength and pulled them both to the surface. When his head broke the surface of the water, Peter brought his free hand up above the water and shot a web at a nearby dock. He pulled both himself and Alexandra up and out of the river onto the shore.

Peter gently set the still unconscious Alexandra down against the pavement held his breath. "Alex?" He said quietly, pushing a few strands of her soaked hair out of her face. "Alex, c'mon, wake up—"

When she still didn't wake up, Peter ripped his mask off of his face. Even though they were well out of anyone's sight, at this point, Peter wouldn't have cared if anyone saw him. Alexandra's well being was more important than his secret identity.

"Alex, please wake up," Peter begged her. When she still didn't, Peter felt the tears prick at the corners of his eyes. "Alexandra.—wake up." He cupped her face in his hands and felt the tears begin to roll down his cheeks. "Dammit!" He pressed his forehead against Alexandra's, his tears began to fall onto her face.

This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't. "You can't be, you can't be gone!" Peter told her unconscious form. "No, you promised, Alex, you promised I wouldn't lose you!" He sobbed. She promised he wouldn't lose her like he'd lost nearly everyone else. His parents, Ben—he couldn't lose his best friend, too. "Allie, please—wake up—" His chest was beginning to hurt from crying.

Alexandra suddenly gasped and rolled onto her side, coughing up all of the water that had entered her lungs. She coughed up the river water for nearly a minute before she began to gasp for air. She turned her head and looked over at Peter, his eyes were red and puffy, it was probably obvious to her that he'd been crying.

"P-Peter?" She said, still taking deep breaths.

"Oh, thank God." Peter wrapped his arms around Alexandra and pulled her close to him. "Don't you ever scare me like that ever again!" She hugged him back, and Peter felt a wave of calm rush over him.

"What happened?" She asked once they'd pulled away.

"What do you remember?"

Alexandra squinted her eyes and shook her head. "I remember dangling from your web, and you'd just defeated Octavius—and I remember—the river?" She coughed again before squinting up at him. "You were crying." She observed.

Peter let out a strained laugh. He nodded slightly, his wet curls falling in front of his face. "Yeah, yeah I was," He replied and then let out a sigh. "Oh, thank God you're all right—Jesus Christ you scared me."

"I scared me, too." She admitted. There was a small silence and then Alexandra shot up, her eyes wide. "Oh my God! Ned! Is he okay?" She asked. "And Kai and MJ? They were at the game, they weren't hurt were they?"

Peter rested his hands on her shoulders. "They're okay, don't worry," He said. "Kai and MJ weren't hurt, and Ned's with the police, I think." Alexandra sighed in relief and nodded. "We need to get you back up to the bridge so the paramedics can make sure you're okay." Peter got to his feet and then helped Alexandra up.

She was shivering so hard that her legs wobbled and her teeth chattered. Peter slipped his mask back on over his head and shot a web up towards the bridge. He wrapped his arm around Alexandra and she clung onto him, making Peter's heart flutter a bit. He used his web to pull them both back up to the bridge and then led her over to the paramedics.

Peter noticed the chief of police walking over to him, and he decided that he really didn't want to talk to him. He usually avoided speaking to the police whenever possible, so it seemed like that was his cue to leave. He shot a web up to the top of the bridge and swung off, but not before he saw Alexandra's dads rush over to her at the ambulance and wrap her in a huge embrace.

Peter smiled a bit and then swung back towards his apartment so he could change.

🕷

As Peter crawled through his open bedroom window, he heard a voice. "So, been busy lately, kid?"

Peter jumped a bit as he fell from the ceiling and came face to face with Tony Stark. "Mr. Stark!" Peter leapt to his feet, pulling his mask off. "What, ah, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Malibu?"

"I was." Mr. Stark shrugged, standing up. "But I got a frantic phone call from you at midnight asking if I was in town and when I said no, you said 'I've got it handled.' And, no offense, but that tends to mean you got yourself into some kinda trouble. You can't blame a guy for being curious."

Peter sighed, running a hand through his wet hair. Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, kid, what happened to you?" He asked.

"It's sorta complicated—"

"Enlighten me, then."

Peter took a deep breath and began to explain everything to him. He told Mr. Stark about how he went over to Ned's house only to find him gone, how he'd gone to the football game to warn Alexandra, and that only ended up in Doc Ock showing up and taking her. About how Doc Ock wanted to trade Alexandra and Ned's lives for Spider-Man. Mr. Stark clenched his fists when Peter told him about that.

He also told him about the fight, and how he defeated Doc Ock, but not before Alexandra fell into the river and how he'd had to dive in after her.

"She almost died because of me, Mr. Stark," Peter said, sounding guilty. "Because I couldn't keep her safe."

"Hey now." Mr. Stark rested a hand on Peter's shoulder. "That's not true, kid. None of this happened because of you. It happened because people are crazy." He sighed. "If anyone is to blame, it's me." Peter opened his mouth to protest, but Mr. Stark cut him off. "I should've been here like I said I would be. And I guess my security details didn't do a great job. But, Peter, this isn't your fault, you hear me? Don't you ever blame yourself for something like this. It wasn't your fault."

Peter smiled a bit. "I'll try. Thanks," He said.

"Don't mention it, kid."

Peter suddenly wrapped his arms around Mr. Stark and buried his face in the billionaire's chest. Tony seemed surprised at first, but then wrapped his arms around Peter and returned the hug. "I'm not really used to hugs, if I'm being honest," Mr. Stark admitted.

"Oh, this isn't a hug, I'm just getting the door for you." Peter grinned as he opened his bedroom door.

Mr. Stark rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile. "Okay, I deserved that."

Peter smiled again and laughed.

"Well, I'd better get going. You should probably get out of that thing, it's soaked." Mr. Stark gestured to Peter's suit.

He nodded. "Okay. Thanks again, Mr. Stark."

"No problem. Oh, and Peter?"

"Hm?"

"Nice job."

Peter felt pride swell up in his chest. "Thanks." His voice was barely audible. He was afraid that if he spoke any louder, his voice would crack. Tony turned to walk out the door when Peter suddenly thought of something. "Hey, Mr. Stark?"

He turned back around, his eyebrow raised. "What's up?"

"Do you think you could help me with something?"

Mr. Stark shrugged. "Sure, kid. Name it."

Peter took a deep breath. "Do you have any pointers on asking a girl out on a date?"

🕷

Thank you for 1,000+ reads!!!!

Dad!Tony Stark is the best Tony Stark. Also just Tony Stark. Have I mentioned how much I adore this man? He's fantastic. I love him. I love Peter, too. But Tony is just... ALGDLKHALKGJD

TONY STARK DESERVES ALL OF THE LOVE AND SUPPORT IN THE WORLD AND THEN MULTIPLIED BY TEN... THOUSAND.

I really love Tony Stark, okay????